August 19, 2012

More Muffins and My Grandma

Over the river and through the rocks, to Grandmother's house we go! We really did go over a river... no woods, but lots of rocks. We're visiting my Grandma in Southern Utah! We had to see her at least one more time before we left... besides, it's hot, and she has a pool! She's my biggest fan. Her comments make my day, and she was SO excited to make a recipe with me to post for you! Grandma, meet Everyone. Everyone, meet my Grandma!
She's a very special lady, and actually a celebrity in the cookbook world! Maybe no Barefoot Contessa, but if you have ever heard of The Lion House, in Salt Lake City, she was the Food Manager for about 8 years in the 80's. She was in charge of ordering the food, supervising the cooks, quality control, and putting together the menus for the restaurants and events!
She also compiled the Lion House Christmas Cookbook!! She gave me one as a wedding present. :) My favorite cut-out sugar cookie recipe comes from that cookbook. I'll show it to you later. Her whole life is inspiring, from her own education, to raising 6 kids (5 boys!), to hauling them to Wisconsin while Grandpa got his PhD, then following him around the world to London and Nigeria! She's always up for anything, hikes and new experiences, and even new technology! She leads our huge extended family with grace, love, a sense of humor, and unwavering support of us all, no matter where we've been, what we're doing, or where we're going. She adopted my husband on sight, keeps up with everyone's adventures, and keeps track of everyone's birthday. She is constantly serving, learning, and teaching, in her family, neighborhood, and church. I hope I am half as wonderful as she is when I "grow up". Whenever that may be. My Grandma is the matriarch of our cooking clan, and as the first-born daughter of her only daughter, it's only fitting I carry the birthright forward into this new blogging generation! And now, our yummy muffins!

Berry Yogurt Breakfast Muffins (adapted from The English Kitchen)

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not instant!)
3 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup vegetable oil
about 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen berries
granola

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a muffin tin really well and set aside.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl. (Fun old sifter!)
Whisk in the oats. Beat together the brown sugar, yogurt, oil and eggs. 

Stir gently into the flour mixture, mixing only to combine. Gently fold in the berries. Spoon into the greased muffin tin. 
Sprinke about 1 Tb of granola over top of each.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until well risen , and the tops spring back when lightly touched.Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove and cool on a wire rack, or serve warm!
Sooo... If you looked at the original, you may notice my muffins don't remotely resemble Marie's... Funny story about that! I was having so much fun cooking in Grandma's beautiful kitchen, (covet, covet...) and chatting, that I completely forgot the sugar!! 
So after all those perfect pictures I took, I yanked them back out of the oven, scooped them out of the muffin pan and back into the mixing bowl, stirred the sugar in, re-greased the pan, plopped them back in and put them back into the oven, as fast as I could! The batter turned purple, and the granola got stirred in... I was just praying they would rise at all! So these are not over-cooked, they aren't chocolate or whole-grained, they're just purple! (Which apparently bakes up brown!)
They're still REALLY yummy. I think I would like the granola better on top, but they won me over anyway.
And they rose!! Stephen even liked them. They're like yummy health food. Yogurt, oats, granola, berries... They must be good for you! I like them so much I want to make them when I get home, and I'll give you an update on what they're supposed to look like.
Until then, I'll smear them with some oh-so-healthy butter *giggle* and polish off a few more.

7 comments :

  1. Found you trough the Sunday link up! Your grandma seems like one awesome woman, The Lion House! That's really cool!:)
    And I have to say, im jotting down this recipe and can't wait to try these! They sound and look delicious!
    Thank you for sharing the recipe and about your wonderful grandmother!
    Happy Sunday!<3

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  2. Just yesterday, I was thinking I needed a berry muffin fix! And I even have ALL of the ingredients!

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  3. Hi April, Your muffins look delicious! Thank you for stopping by my blog. I used a pastry cutter to make it. You can purchase it at this website. You can select the diamond pattern or the leaf pattern. It works really well and easy to use.

    http://www.pastrychef.com/LATTICE-MATRIX_p_1144.html

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  4. I love everything that you said about your grandmother. What a woman! And I am seriously drooling. Those look magnificent. When we actually find a time to get together, we should make these. Yes? ;)

    Thanks again for the hug. It made my morning, and seriously helped me get through my day. :)

    Loves!
    Shaylee

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  5. What a wonderful tribute to Grandma! You certainly take after her, and I'm sure when you're all 'grown up', you'll be a lot like her! :D

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  6. Love your tribute to Mom, you write beautifully. And those muffins look awesome!

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  7. This post contains one of the best summaries of Mom that I've ever seen. I made these last week, without the granola, and they were GREAT! I couldn't resist chucking in some lemon zest and flavoring, though... Must... tinker... with recipes! Can't help myself.

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