I love the flavor of maple and I love baking with it. This recipe appealed to me but I immediately noticed it had salt overload, so I reduced it by half. Also, tho’ I always bake with boldly flavored Grade B maple syrup, I wanted to ensure bold maple flavor, so I omitted the cinnamon and added 1 tsp. of maple extract. As I mixed up the batter, I was concerned – it was curdly, although it did correct once I added the dry ingredients. I was again concerned as they were baking - flat, spreading into “muffin tops” rather than rising into a rounded dome, and caving in the center. I often notice this feature in coffee houses and bakeries, so maybe that’s considered okay, but it doesn’t appeal to me. I prettied them up with an additional layer of maple flavor by brushing on more maple syrup I had reduced to a thick consistency onto the baked muffins. So now I’m ready for the taste test. First of all, my caved in muffin (which I cleverly tried to disguise with a sugar acorn decoration) fell apart into a plate full of cakey crumbs! Moist crumbs tho,’ so I’ll give it that anyway. And for all the maple in these muffins – the Grade B syrup, the maple extract and the glaze of concentrated maple syrup, they weren’t very maple-y at all. The taste was ok, oat muffin-like and not too sweet, but I have a rule for myself and my baking. If I don’t feel confident giving something away (mostly for pride reasons), the recipe is a failure for me. I will not give these away.

These were really good - moist and great flavor. I followed the recipe exactly. Only change I will make for next time is to cut the salt in half - just a tiny bit salty but otherwise a keeper!

Because I have one child with a lactose allergy, I substituted vegetable oil for the butter and lactose-free milk in place of the half-n-half. I also cut back the salt to a healthy pinch. I've cooked with oatmeal before so I knew to mix all the wet ingredients together, then add the oatmeal and let it sit for 15 minutes to soak up some of the liquid. After that, I folded in the sugar and the remaining dry ingredients. I was able to get 11 smallish muffins from this recipe--I baked them at 350* for twenty minutes. VERY dark looking muffin but they smell incredible. My issue with this recipe was that the muffins were quite sweet, for us adding the additional brown sugar was overkill. I'd like to make this again but omit the brown sugar completely. As is, a solid muffin recipe.

These muffins are great. I also put the oatmeal in with the "liquid ingredients". I used fat free milk in place of the half and half.

These are the most AWESOME muffins. I've been looking for a oatmeal muffin recipe and this is defenitely the one I will keep making. Shelley

I also substituted wheat flour and they turned out great! But one thing I would change is the salt, I would cut that in half, they tasted a little salty. Also, try putting plain cream cheese spread on top, it is amazing!

Good flavor

The flavor was great, but very sweet and cakelike for a muffin, which is not what I look for in a breakfast treat. Also, the muffins crumbled terribly when I took them out of the tins, even with greasing. So I ended up using the crumbs as a cake topping for an apple crisp, and it was good (but obviously not what I had hoped for when I ventured to make the recipe).

Delicious! I make these with whole wheat flour and leave the rest of the ingredients the same. Sometimes I add the streusel topping from the "Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal Muffins." I've made these several times and they always come out moist and delectable. Best muffins ever!

These turned out very dry for me (crumbly) and I tend to like a denser cake/muffin than these were. I also agree that these were much to salty (at least for my taste buds). Perhaps with the baking soda, you could omit a portion of the additional salt. They are otherwise a nice flavor, I just am not a fan of the consistency.