Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Oatmeal Raisin ... Nope -- Not Cookies!


On Sunday morning, I was in the mood to bake. This is a fairly frequent occurrence on Sunday mornings, while I'm still in my jammies and waiting for my coffee to brew. And now that the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are over, I didn't even have to go in to work ... whew!

Of course, tonight begins yet another major Jewish holiday: Sukkot [sooh-KOTE], a harvest and pilgrimage festival. The tradition is to build a sukkah [SOO-kuh], a temporary structure with 3 sides and a roof made of natural materials, which is reminiscent of the flimsy housing the Israelites relied upon during their wandering in the desert. Sukkot (not just the name of the holiday, but also the plural of "sukkah") are decorated, and it is customary to spend as much time as possible -- particularly eating meals -- in them during the course of the 8-day holiday.



And so, how does this all relate??? On Sunday morning I baked Oatmeal Raisin Muffins, which would be perfect treats to enjoy in the sukkah -- as a light breakfast with coffee, as a snack with tea or cocoa, as an offering to friends who come to visit and share the holiday with you ... or even if you're just sitting in your jammies on a Sunday morning, whether you're celebrating Sukkot or not.

Hag Sameach! [HAHG sah-MAY-ack] = Happy Holiday!

Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1-1/3 cups buttermilk
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

Place the oats into a skillet and toast them, stirring frequently, over medium-low heat just until they're fragrant and slightly golden; place into a large mixing bowl.

Add whole wheat flour, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In a large measuring cup, combine buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla; pour over oat mixture and stir to mix. Stir in raisins.

Divide batter among the muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.






7 comments:

Andrea the Kitchen Witch said...

This muffin needs to come out of the computer and into my hand, please! It looks delicious!! Is that your sukkah? its huge!! And really neat, too! What a fun place to hang out and share a meal with friends. Sounds like a fun holiday to me :)

Unknown said...

Oh those look lovely! They would go perfect with my coffee, mind sending one or two or three my way?? :)

Cranberry Morning said...

All my life I've read of The Feast of booths or The Feast of Tabernacles, but have never seen a photo of how it's done. Thank you for posting this! And the recipe looks delicious too. With fall starting, I'm getting in a baking mood!

Yenta Mary said...

Oops -- should've clarified: that's not my sukkah. I've never built one -- not enough room in the back yard, and I'm also the least handy person on Earth! That's the sukkah that's put up each year where I work. It's not decorated yet, and it looks really pretty when the lights are on; but I needed the photo, and this is how it looked yesterday after the pine roof was put up, so I went with it ... :)

wacki04@TheKing'sCourt IV said...

Thanks for joining in What's Cooking Wednesday!!!

Love the title too, because as soon as I heard it, I immediately thought cookies,lol!!!

Beth Zimmerman said...

HEAVENLY! I love muffins! And Oatmeal Raisin sounds yummy!

Sheila said...

Sounds delish!


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