There are some mornings where having something made ahead of time, something preferably more portable than a bowl of cereal, is advantageous. Sundays tend to be that way in our house. Often Chris or I need to be early to church, sometimes both of us, and if I don't have something made ahead of time, one or both of us forgets to eat breakfast. We usually remember an hour or so later, just before church is starting, and too late for there to be anything done about it.
This time around, I made pumpkin oat muffins. Chris loves pumpkin just about anything, and I thought that he might remember breakfast if it was something really appealing. (He had to be early this time, I didn't.) These muffins have the advantage of being firmly established on the breakfast muffin side of things, (as opposed to the cake muffin, mostly a dessert) and as such I was happy to give my son one for breakfast as well, without worrying about a sugar high and subsequent crash. Their base is whole wheat flour and oat bran (ground up oatmeal) as well as rolled oats. The recipe hails from the era that feared the egg yolk, the 1990s, and so there are two egg whites, but you could probably use one whole egg if you so desire. The recipe also calls for canned pumpkin, but I can attest that if you find yourself without plain canned pumpkin, but with canned pumpkin pie filling, that will definitely work just as well.
Pumpkin Oat Muffins, from Kitchen Magic, S.D. Extension Homemakers Cookbook, 1992, recipe from Hazel O'Bryan
Ingredients:
1 1/3 c. oat bran (ground up oats, throw some in a blender, food processor, or spice grinder, grind to a powder)
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. rolled oats
1 1/4 c. milk
2 egg whites (1 whole egg would probably work too.)
2 T. vegetable oil
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. ginger
1 t. cinnamon
3/4 c. pumpkin
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 T. baking powder
Opt. Streusel topping:
3 T. flour
3 T. brown sugar
1 T. cinnamon
(The recipe doesn't call for this, but I would add a bit of butter to the streusel next time, to help it stick a bit more.)
Directions:
Combine milk, bran, and rolled oats in a bowl. Mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and spices. Blend in pumpkin, egg whites, oil and raisins. Add oat mixture, then add flour mixture and stir until just blended. Mix streusel ingredients together, if using. Put batter in muffin tins. Top with streusel, if using. Bake at 350ºF for 20 minutes. This made 16 muffins for me. Enjoy!