Mocha Oatmeal Muffins from Back In The Day Bakery Cookbook

Note to self: It's not a good idea to bake when you are sick. I turned a simple muffin recipe into an almost two hour venture. I managed not to actually screw the recipe up, though I made an adjustment that altered the recipe a little. More on that later.

Artisan Books is one of our sponsors for Project PB&J, so to promote them Cindy and I decided to bake a few recipes from the cookbook the winners will receive. I learned about Back in the Day Bakery from Cindy and have been mesmerized with their recipes ever since.

BACK STORY -

A long, long time ago, I tried cooking oatmeal with coffee. I learned about it through various blogs and thought it sounded good, but in reality it tasted too bitter and fostered my hatred of oatmeal. But when I saw these mocha oatmeal muffins from Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook, I knew I needed to give the combination a second chance. (Thanks for copying the recipe, Cindy!)

Because muffins are baked (duh), the coffee flavor would have more of an opportunity to mellow and blend with the other flavors. These are described as a breakfast muffin, which makes sense because people often drink coffee and eat oatmeal (separately) for breakfast. However, 'mocha' isn't just coffee - it's chocolate and coffee... For breakfast. But that's okay, since we who eat chocolate tend to be slimmer.

(I really don't eat chocolate very often. I don't eat salads, either... I digress.)

So I carefully measured out the ingredients, double- and triple-checking. When I'm sick, I tend to overlook the most obvious details and make boneheaded mistakes. I did replace half the all-purpose flour with white whole wheat intentionally. The one I'm-going-to-do-it-anyway-and-hope-it-doesn't-mess-anything-up" move I made was to substitute whole oats for the quick oats called for in the recipe. I measured the same amount and coarsely ground them. Once the batter was mixed together and I filled the 12-cup muffin tin, I had extra batter remaining.

I encounter this "problem" quite a bit when I make muffins and cupcakes, and I don't know how it happens. Perhaps I ended up with more oats than the recipe called for, subbed in white whole wheat flour, or I didn't fill up each muffin tin as much due to the makeshift parchment liners.

But I didn't yell or curse, because I had mini cupcake liners! As the first batch baked, I filled almost two dozen mini muffin tins with the remaining batter. They're pretty cute. I'm pretty satisfied.

I liked the way the muffins baked up. There was a subtle tang from the buttermilk, which keeps the crumb moist and tender. The mocha flavor is always a favorite flavor combo of mine, so of course I enjoyed that aspect of this muffin. While they might blur the line between a muffin and a cupcake because of the addition of chocolate, the level of sweetness places it back in the muffin category. It's clearly not a dessert if we're judging it by how sweet it was, though it's special enough to perk up your mornings.

You will not be disappointed if you make these. And I'm going to stop talking because I'm sick and shouldn't be rambling.

Recipe after the jump.

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Mocha Oatmeal Muffins
Recipe from Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients -

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups quick-cooking oats, plus extra for sprinkling
4 large eggs
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup freshly brewed strong coffee
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Directions -

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly spray 12 large muffin cups with cooking spray, or fill them with paper liners.


2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until thoroughly combined. Stir in the oats.


3. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter, buttermilk, coffee, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts with as few gentle strokes as possible.


4. With a large ice cream scoop or spoon, scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them approximately two-thirds full. Sprinkle the tops with oats and turbinado sugar.


5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops or golden. The tops should be firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin should come out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.


6. Turn the muffins out of the pan and enjoy warm or at room temperature. The muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Overcome A Running Slump By Trying Something New

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Spartan Race for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

We have all experienced a running slump at some point in our lives. Sometimes we can work our way through it in a few weeks, other times it lingers for months. It is not easy to find the motivation to continue putting one foot in front of the other when running starts feeling monotonous.

If you are currently going through a rut, one way to work through it is to try something new and unfamiliar. If you can't think of something new, you might consider a different kind of race, one that focuses less on running and more on the experience, such as the Spartan Race series. Spartan Races are challenging trail races of varying distances that include obstacles of all kind, like water, mud, and fire. Expect to get down and dirty, maybe even a little bruised, and expect to challenge yourself differently than you have before.

Go ahead, ask me what I'm smoking. I admit that my idea of a good time doesn't often include mud and fire, but it would definitely be a good way to alleviate the boredom of your everyday run around the neighborhood. If you're interested, you can check out their website for a complete list of events, frequently asked questions, and much more. If you're worried that the Spartan Races would be too challenging for you, fear not - there are different distances and levels so that everyone can participate.

Have you ever completed a Spartan Race or obstacle race before? Share your experiences in the comments and let us know what it's like and what to expect!

Notre Dame Holy 10k Race Report

As you may recall, I entered this race on a whim. It wasn't planned and I wasn't even sure I wanted to run it, but I'm glad I did.

The flat course loops around and through the Notre Dame campus. The constant change of scenery is nice and you'll never be alone on the course because there will always be a half marathoner somewhere along the way.

The unfortunate part is that there will always be a half marathoner somewhere along the way. During the trail portion of the race, the paths are so narrow that you're weaving in and out of clustered runners, running around puddles and more groups of runners, and making sharp turns, sometimes around... You guessed it, more runners! The issue might have been resolved had the 10kers started out first, and as the 10k field was much smaller it might not have been as bothersome to the faster half runners.

Weather-wise, I got lucky. It has been hot all week and I was worried how that would affect my race. Then on Friday it started to rain and cooled down, and by Friday evening I was assured of cool temperatures and overcast skies on race day.

I ran a 48:51, a one minute personal record. My splits averaged 7:51.

My objective for this race was to determine where I am at in my training. For example, I felt much more fit during this race than I have during previous races. Usually, I feel like I'm hanging on the last two miles due to a lack of fitness, but today I felt strong (I was told that I looked pissed during the final .2, though).
Another example is that I didn't feel like I failed to run hard enough. Sometimes I am able to end races with a rather strong finishing sprint because I ran too timidly. Part of the problem is that I didn't have an idea for a goal pace. Running tempos has helped solve the problem (as well as input from others) and prepare me for what it feels like to run fast and strong.

Because I didn't start my watch at the beginning and because I kept hitting "lap" at the wrong mile markers, I don't have accurate mile split. I'm upset, as I really looked forward to going over my splits for this race. I'm pretty sure I ran a negative 5k the last half, though. Or maybe I didn't. Whatever.

Mentally, I don't remember much about the race. I was concentrating pretty hard on my pace, how I felt, and dodging runners that I didn't notice much else, though that wasn't a concern of mine anyway. I did keep note of a woman who had passed me around mile 3, whom I used as a rabbit. She had more of a kick the last two miles and I lost sight of her, though she was just faster than I was so I wasn't going to try and catch her.

To end on a food related note, I woke up at 6:00 AM. I ate a waffle with strawberries and syrup, followed by a cup of tea with milk and sugar. I finished that with a cup of coffee with a splash of milk. About an hour before the start of the race, I took an energy shot. Fifteen minutes before the race, and after my warm up, I ate half a packet of honey stingers. It sounds like overkill, but if there's one thing I have figured out about my racing, it's how to fuel beforehand. I know how much I need to eat so that I have enough energy to last through the race without feeling stuffed.

The end.