Oat flour is a new addition to my pantry and I'm using it quite often these days. It's nothing but finely powdered oats. You can prepare it yourself using quick cooking oats and a food processor. I also noticed that cookies baked with oat flour are not as dense as the ones baked with whole wheat flour. I recently baked fat-free chocolate chip cookies using part all-purpose flour and part oat flour and I didn't feel any difference at all taste-wise.
Though the cookies were not the exact replica texture-wise because I had used unsweetened applesauce instead of butter. It felt more like a muffin/cake than a cookie. I'm still working to perfect a low-fat chocolate chip cookie recipe. Until then here's a recipe for cranberry muffins using oat flour. The original recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens' Off the Shelf Baking. I have made a couple of changes to make it egg free and healthy.
Recipe
Low-Fat Oat Flour Cranberry Muffins Recipe
Healthy and egg free cranberry muffins using whole wheat flour and oat flour.
Need To Convert Measurements?Check out the Baking Measurement Chart!
Ingredients
- 1 cup White Whole Wheat Flour
- ¾ cup Oat Flour
- ½ cup Sugar
- 1 teaspoons Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Dried Cherries OR Cranberries
- ¼ cup Chopped Walnut
- 2 tablespoons Plain Non-Fat Yogurt
- ¾ cup Fat Free Milk
- 3 tablespoons Oil (Any Flavorless Oil)
- 1 teaspoon Shredded Orange peel (I used 2 tablespoons Orange Juice instead)
- 2 to 4 tablespoons Water/Milk
- to sprinkle on top Quick cooking oats (Optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F for 15 minutes. Line muffin pans with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl sift together the flours, salt, baking powder. Add sugar, dried fruit and the nuts. Combine well. Make a well in the center and set aside.
- In a liquid measuring mug measure the milk, add the yogurt, orange juice (or peel) and whisk well.
- Add the wet ingredients to the flour all at once and stir just until combined. Do not over mix. At this point I felt that the batter was very thick, so I added another 2 tablespoons of milk. The consistency felt right after adding the milk.
- Now spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each two thirds full. I have a ladle which holds 3 tablespoons of batter and it's the perfect amount to bake the perfect sized muffins. Sprinkle oats on top, if using.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Mine was done by 19 minutes.
- Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups; serve warm (See Taste).
My Notes
- The original recipe used 1 and ¾th cup of all-purpose flour. You can go with it if you are not a fan of whole wheat flour or don't have it. Baked goods with whole wheat flour definitely don't taste exactly like its white counterpart. Like tofu, whole wheat pasta, it's an acquired taste. We have got used to it now. So you may want to start slowly, maybe 1 cup of all-purpose flour and ¾th cup of whole wheat flour/oat flour.
- Oat flour is readily available in some of the grocery stores. You can make it at home too by finely processing quick cooking oats in a food processor/mixer. Since oat flour does not contain gluten, it cannot substitute 100% of all purpose flour/whole wheat flour. Baked goods will not rise if it is only used. So it has to be used in combination with either all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour.
- I didn't have fresh oranges to make the zest, so I went with 2 tablespoons of store bought orange juice. This does not give that fresh orange flavor, but be careful not to go overboard with the juice because sometimes the store bought juice has a bitter after-taste and it spoils the taste of the baked goods.
- I have used 2 tablespoons of yogurt in place of one egg white mentioned in the recipe. Even after using 2 tablespoons of orange juice I found that the batter was very thick, so I had to use another 2 tablespoons of milk. I think the whole wheat flour and the oat flour absorbed more moisture. So consider what type of flour you are using and add water as required.
- The original recipe is supposed to yield 12 muffins but I got only 9.
Taste & Texture
- The tartness of the dried cranberries and the orange flavor is a winning combination. But don't try tasting it warm if you are using whole wheat flour. The original recipe used all purpose flour but I have used a combination of whole wheat flour and oat flour, so it did not taste good when the muffins were still warm. It was a sticky and bitter mass of dough inside, which really freaked me out. Thank God I was patient enough to come to a conclusion the next day morning and was relieved that it tasted good. Actually good enough that my son had it for breakfast everyday.
Did You Make This?I love seeing what you made! Leave a review comment below and be sure to tag me at @EgglessCooking when you share a photo!
sl says
madhu,
thanks for this recipe. i tried this yesterday. overall, i am happy with the result. but a few things i thought i'll ask you.
i had to these variations - instead of flour, i powdered whole quaker oats and used it. i used raisins instead of cranberries. i mixed baking soda and cream of tartar in 1:2 proportion to get baking powder. i used 2% milk and yogurt.
i noticed 2 things. when i used paper cups for the muffins, a thick layer stuck to the paper. should i coat the paper with non-stick spray?
also all the muffins had a thick outer layer which appeared to me as 'over baked', but inside was nicely done.
do you have suggestions what i can try altering next time?
Madhuram says
SL, thanks for trying the recipe. Yes, coating the paper liner with cooking spray will make it much easier. This is more necessary in this recipe because it is a low fat muffin. Or you will have to leave the muffins for a couple of hours before peeling it from the paper. Regarding the thick crust, I would guess the temperature was a bit too high (for your oven), or you over mixed the batter.
swarna says
I ma going to try this based with savory recipe so i can pack my sons box example reduce sugar by 1/2 add spinach, chedar instead lets see how it comes
Meenal says
Hi,ur eggless baking recipies are gr8..I have bookmarked almost every eggless cake/muffin recipie of urs.I have some Oat bran which i want to use up..Can i powder that n use as Oat flour in this recipie..? Or do i need to buy Quick cooking oats n powder them instead..Also, in general pls let me know wats the difference between"Oat bran" and "quick cooking oats".Can the oat bran be directly powdered and used for recipies which call for oat flour or u have to roast them and powder..? I have a lot of confusion on this and need ur guidance.I live in Denmark and i havnt seen the quick cooking oats in stores here..hence i got a big pack of oat bran.Thnks in advance.
Best regards,Meenal.
Meenal, I'm sorry that I couldn't get back to you immediately. Oat bran and oat flour is quite different though both are products of oat. Oat flour is readily available in some stores or if you can't find it simply powder quick cooking or rolled oats in a blender/food processor until its fine like all purpose flour. Oat bran is the outer covering of the oats. Even though I have not substituted this for oats/oat flour, I'm guessing that you won't get the desirable texture if you substitute it.
I have 2 baking recipes in my blog using oat bran, maybe you can try that to finish off the oat bran you have.
http://www.egglesscooking.com/2009/05/20/oat-bran-cookies/
http://www.egglesscooking.com/2009/09/21/pear-oat-bran-muffins/
kalindi says
oh my god! thank you so much! i am the worlds worst baker and always have problems making nice muffins cakes etc. this was so easy and they are really tasty. i didnt have oat flour so i just blended oats up quite small and it worked and i used coconut rather than cranberry the second time. love this site and am now looking forward to baking new things 🙂
You're welcome Kalindi. It's so wonderful to hear that the muffins turned out good.
Nguher says
Hi, been reading your submissions of baked goods made with whole wheat. I have a problem with whole wheat baking.Anytime i bake with whole wheat the insides don't get cooked,pls help me what am i doing wrong? Wait to hear from you.
I gathered few points from various websites, maybe you can try it the next time you bake with whole wheat flour. Try adding at least 1/3rd cup of all purpose flour so that the baked good does not become very heavy and looks like uncooked. Also sift whole wheat flour a couple of times to incorporate air into the dough/batter, so that it does not become very dense. Also allow the baked goods to cool completely. (This is from personal experience, I feel that leaving it to cool overnight makes the texture more preferable). I also read that if baking completely with whole wheat flour it is advisable to increase the quantity of any liquid in the recipe a little bit or else the baked goods may become dry, but I'm thinking that is not the problem in your case. If nothing works try your luck with white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour.
Mansi says
gosh! they look so yummy! you are truly a genius at all these eggless baking concoctions! wish you stayed somewhere near 😆 thanks for sending it to SHF!
sai says
hi madhu, what whole wheat flour do u use? is it the atta from indian stores? or a diff one? is it diff from whoe wheat pastry flour?
Sai, for this recipe I have used King Arthur's white whole wheat flour. Reg. whole wheat flour, I don't have any particular brand. Whole wheat pastry flour is different from both white whole wheat flour and the regular wheat flour. It's more finer in texture but retains the goodness of the regular wheat flour.
shruthi says
hey madhu my !st event! pls participate and spread the news!
thank u!
Sadhana says
Madhu the muffin looks very yummy. Yes i also use the Oats flour extensively. It is very versatile and you can mix it in Paratha, Appam or Dosai also.
Bharti says
I haven't experimented too much with oat flour. Sounds like it isn't too complicated. Maybe I'll try it next time.
It's good Bharti. You don't get the raw smell like when you use whole wheat flour, no difference in taste. I also tried one traditional south Indian recipe replacing it for the rice flour and it came out so good.
roma says
Nice muffins, love the fancy paper cups. Wish I could get them somewhere too.
Vaishali says
Madhuram, how beautiful are those muffins? I love that color!
I too am a huge fan of oat flour-- because it is light and gluten-free, it tastes absolutely delicious in baked recipes. I often add it to pancakes and waffles, because it brings a freshness to the taste.
Hari Chandana says
Woww...looks yummyyy.. amzing click!!.. thanks for the recipe.. 🙂
nithya says
I've never thot of buying oats flour...this sounds interesting.thanks for the wonderful recipe.