Oatmeal Muffin

Oatmeal Muffin

Pam or paper muffin liners
2 1/3 C oats
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C white flour
1/2 C (packed) brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
2 T natural oat bran
2 T wheat germ
2 T ground flax seed
2 t ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup browned butter (allowed to cool a bit so it doesn't cook the egg)
1 large egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup boiling water

 Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 18 muffin cups with nonstick spray, (1/4-cup capacity) or 12 muffin cups lined with a tall liner (1/3-cup capacity). Note: I baked these muffins in tall paper-liners using 1/3 C, but when I didn't have a liner, the batter overflowed. So 1/4 C worked beautifully. But the tall ones were more fun!) Whisk oats and next 9 ingredients in large bowl. Add buttermilk, browned butter, egg, and vanilla; whisk to blend. Stir in 1/3 cup boiling water and let stand 5 minutes. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Top with 1 T sugar per muffin to create a nice crust.  Bake muffins until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 17-18 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Turn muffins out onto rack; cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

**I've also added more cinnamon (3t) and nutmeg (1/2 t) just to change it up.  And for another variation I added1 T molasses, 1/2 t ginger, 1/2 t cloves and 1/2 t allspice to make it a gingerbread muffin and my Mom loved it.
**If you don't use a paper liner, sprinkle sugar in the muffin tin before too for a nice crust all around.
**Adapted from alexandracooks.com
**I LOVE muffins at this time of year along side a great bowl of soup.  Perfect meal in my book.
**Little disclaimer, my kids don't love these, so I may try grinding up the oatmeal a bit so they are less chunky.....hmmm. Little buggers. :)