In college I used to treat myself to these mouthwatering raspberry oatmeal muffins that the coffee shop in the library sold. I usually try to avoid such coffee shop treats, knowing that they’re full of sugar and fat, but these muffins were too good to pass up. After graduating from college and moving from Massachusetts to Chicago I didn’t have access to either the coffee shop or these muffins. Eventually I had to try my hand at creating a recipe to replace them.
The recipe I ended up with is nothing like the ones I got in college. This muffin is actually a rather healthy muffin–they contain no refined sugar, there is no oil, and I use only whole grains. The sweetness of the muffin comes from the juice that the oats are soaked in, the fruit pulp that is used in place of oil and egg, and of course the raspberries themselves. Of course this means that my recipe is nothing like your traditional muffin, but you can eat these essentially guilt free (which is always a plus!). I hesitate to call the muffins a dessert, unless your sweet tooth is on a very low setting, but I imagine with a glaze of some kind these could make a good stand in.
