Add whatever fruit or nuts (or chocolate chips?) you like to these tasty muffins; they're a blank palette, awaiting your artist's touch.
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan; or line it with papers, greasing the papers.
Whisk together the flour, oats, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and additions of your choice: dried fruit, nuts, and/or chips.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla, butter or oil, and eggs.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix until just blended.
Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, filling each cup three-quarters full. Sprinkle tops of muffins with coarse sparkling sugar, if desired.
Bake the muffins for 15 to 18 minutes, till they're set and a light golden brown.
Remove the muffins from the oven, and let rest in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out to cool completely on a rack. Serve warm.
Want to substitute whole wheat flour for some (or perhaps all) of the all-purpose flour in this recipe? For best results, see How to substitute whole wheat flour for white flour in baking.
