The weekend of our move is finally here! I have been talking about it for so long that you may have thought that it had already happened.

When I was starting to pack up our pantry, I noticed that the carton of molasses was almost empty. To me it seemed like it wasn’t worth packing away in a box, but it was the perfect opportunity to look for a recipe to use the molasses I had left.

Since I didn’t want to go to the grocery store, I took stock of the baking items I still had at my disposal and determined that rolled oats and chocolate chips would have to be key ingredients. I immediately went to Google and searched on [molasses oatmeal chocolate chip] – the result was over six hundred thousand hits! While scrolling down the list of tempting recipes, I settled on muffins.

This totally worked in my favour, as I had found a few muffin liners in the cupboard as well. In fact, this recipe used up all my molasses, muffin liners and chocolate chips. Three less things to put in a box.

This recipe, like most muffin recipes, is very easy. I was pleased that the list of ingredients didn’t call for a lot of sugar (only 1/3 of a cup), spread that over the thirty-six muffins that it made, and you have a relatively healthy treat for your coffee break.

I have found that molasses is an acquired taste. It doesn’t provide a shock of sweetness, but gives a more subtle flavour. In fact, the few times that I have baked with molasses, I have found that flavours are better the second day. I guess it needs a bit of time to mellow out. This batch of muffins was no exception. They were good when they came out of the oven, but they were great the next day.

I think that this muffin formula is a great base. It would be good with raisins or some dried dates. I think that you could even bake this in a loaf pan to create a delicious coffee cake.

I wonder what I will come up with as I start to unpack my pantry boxes. Hopefully an ingredient that I pull out of the box will inspire another round of baking.

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Adapted from:
Food.com

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 4 egg whites
• 4 tbsp canola oil
• 1 3/4 cups almond milk
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Mix together all the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips)
3. Add in the wet ingredients and blend until just combined.
4. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Fill muffin tins about 2/3 full.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean)
7. Eat, Share and Enjoy!