Oatmeal Muffins are a hearty (if not glamorous) breakfast muffin. Soft and moist thanks to a blend of oil and butter and a splash of buttermilk. Textured with oats, and full of flavor thanks to brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.
With a hearty texture reminiscent of an oatmeal cookie, these oatmeal muffins are a classic, reliable muffin that’s likely to join the ranks of your favorite breakfast staples (buttermilk pancakes, anyone?). Be sure to check out the how-to video below the recipe!
We’re about due for a new muffin recipe around here.
How about a good, solid, reliable oatmeal muffin. Sure, it might not be the most glamorous (it’s no fluffy frosted cinnamon roll, after all), but is still sure to brighten up your Monday morning.
It’s a practical muffin with practical ingredients. A blend of butter and oil for the best flavor and moisture. A generous splash of buttermilk (or this buttermilk substitute) for flavor and tenderness. An extra egg white for extra rise and a nice proud muffin top (let’s give ourselves a point for extra protein, too). Generously flavored with molasses-rich brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Oh, and who could forget that glorious mountain of streusel topping (recipe for that adapted from the top of my favorite coffee cake). This oatmeal muffin is sounding more and more glamorous by the minute, now that I think of it.
Tips for Making Oatmeal Muffins
If you’ve tried some of my other muffin recipes (my chocolate chip muffins, by chance?), these tips might not be new to you. They’re important, though, and bear repeating.
Measure your flour with a light hand
If you are using cups (rather than weights), never scoop your flour directly into your measuring cup. This increases your chance of over-measuring your flour, leaving you with too dense, too dry oatmeal muffins. Instead, stir your flour and spoon it into your measuring cup, then level off the cup with the back of a knife. Even better, get a kitchen scale (this is the one I use, inexpensive and accurate, affiliate link), this was a game changer for me!
Don’t over-mix your ingredients!
Over-mixing is one of the cardinal sins of muffin and cake-making. Stir your ingredients too thoroughly and you’ll end up with dense, dry results. Your dry and wet ingredients should be combined gently and hand-stirred (use a spatula or spoon, and never an electric mixer) and noticing a few fine flour streaks in the batter is fine.
Oh, and another cardinal sin: over-baking. Even a minute or two too long in the oven can degrade the end result. Make sure your oven isn’t running hot and always start with just a little less baking time than you think you need. You can always add another minute or two to the end.
Two oven temperatures is better than one
We start our oatmeal muffins in a hot, 425F oven and then after a few minutes (without opening the oven door) we drop that temperature to 350F to complete the baking process. Baking our muffins this way allows the batter to begin to rise, and then dropping the temperature allows the interiors of your muffins to finish cooking without drying out. This gives us tall muffin tops and soft, moist centers.
What Kind of Oats Should I Use for Oatmeal Muffins?
I tried this recipe with both old fashioned and instant oats and it works both ways, with just subtle differences.
Using old fashioned oats will make your muffins overall lighter and slightly fluffier, but you’ll have more of a chewy texture from the oats. They’re more… noticeable… in every bite. That’s not a bad thing, just worth noting!
Using instant oats will make your oatmeal muffins a bit denser (the oats in general will make them more dense than your typical muffin) but I found that, if I had to choose, I preferred the finer texture that resulted from using instant oats.
Enjoy!
Be sure to check out my Oatmeal Muffin Recipe VIDEO just below the recipe! If you enjoy these videos, please consider subscribing to my YouTube Channel so you can be the first to see all of my cooking videos <3
Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
- ¼ cup (57 g) melted butter
- ¼ cup (60 ml) avocado oil or vegetable oil or canola oil may substitute vegetable oil
- ¾ cup (150 g) dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg white room temperature preferred
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk room temperature preferred **click link for an easy buttermilk substitute**
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch cornflour in UK
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg optional
- 1 cup (70 g) old fashioned or instant oats*
Oatmeal Streusel
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup oats
- ⅓ cup (66 g) light brown sugar tightly packed
- ⅓ cup (66 g) sugar
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 5 Tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F (215C) and line a 12-count muffin tin with paper liners.
- Combine melted butter and canola oil in a large bowl. Add sugars and stir well.¼ cup (57 g) melted butter, ¼ cup (60 ml) avocado oil or vegetable oil or canola oil, ¾ cup (150 g) dark brown sugar, ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
- Stir in eggs, vanilla extract, and buttermilk.1 large egg + 1 egg white, 1 Tbsp vanilla extract, ½ cup (120 ml) buttermilk
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Add oats and stir again until combined.1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg, 1 cup (70 g) old fashioned or instant oats*
- Gently stir ingredients together using a spatula until just combined.
- Divide batter into prepared pan, filling liners ¾ of the way full.
- Prepare your streusel topping
Streusel Topping
- Prepare streusel by whisking together flour, oats, sugars and cinnamon.1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup oats, ⅓ cup (66 g) light brown sugar tightly packed, ⅓ cup (66 g) sugar, ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pour the melted butter into the mixture and, using a fork, stir until crumbles form.5 Tablespoons butter
- Using your hands, evenly divide streusel over muffin batter, piling the crumbly streusel over the batter and gently pressing the topping into the batter.
- Transfer to 425F (215C) oven and bake for 8 minutes, then, without opening the oven door, reduce the oven temperature to 350 (175C) and bake another 12 minutes, or until tops are just beginning to turn golden brown.
- Allow to cool and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
More Muffin Recipes You Might Like:
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Beronica
These were great! Can you please tell me how I can add banana to this recipe, how would I do that?
Sam
Hi Beronica! I would recommend using my banana muffin recipe. 🙂
Bruce
I don’t know what went wrong. The streusel got very dark and hard and cemented itself to the papers all around, making it impossible to perl them at all neatly. Only half the streusel cooked, too. I made sure the butter got mixed in, so that isn’t the problem.
Sam
Hi Bruce! I’m so sorry this happened. This is really weird. Is it possible your oven temperature is too high? Or maybe the muffins were cooked a little bit too long?
Bruce
I figured out that it was the batter that cooked up around the streusel and overflowed. I filled the cups too full. I’m trying them again this weekend, so I’ll portion them more carefully. I’ll let you know.
Bruce
Better this time, but still not like yours. My batter is wetter, and could probably make 15 muffins filled to the level I see in the video. The batter still cooked up around the streusel, but not as badly. I’ll probably try them one more time, being sure not to fill them beyond 2/3. They are tasty, at least.
I used my little cookie scoop to portion the streusel – one scoop, press it down, Another scoop, press it down.
Sam
Hmmm I really wonder if your pan is slightly smaller than mine. It’s just important to worry about how high the batter is in each cavity. Just one more thing to check, you are not using self rising flour correct? I am having a hard time trying to figure out why the batter would go around the streusel. The streusel should be embedded but shouldn’t be consumed by the actual muffin. I hope the third time is a charm. 🙂
Bruce
I’m not sure why I can’t reply to your later message. No, it was AP flour. I keep the self rising in a different place. I think muffin tins are a standard size, and I actually used s different tin this tome. Anyway, they were tender and delicious, so I don’t care too much that they’re ugly. It will probably be a while before I make these again, but I’ll let you know how they are.
Deborah Rober
Can I use whole wheat flour and add oat bran without ruining the recipe. It sounds great.
Sam
Hi Deborah! I would be worried that the whole wheat flour would dry out the muffins a bit. 🙁
Shau
Hi Sam, been a fan of yours throughout my maternity leave! Your recipes have been helpful and have used it to help me in lactation by adding flax seeds and brewer’s yeast. It still tastes the same and it gives me an excuse to eat more sweets. 😜
Sugar Spun Run
Congrats on your new baby, Shau! I am so glad that you have been able to use my recipe as a base for your lactation cookies. I am happy that even with the added ingredients they still tasted delicious and hopefully helped as well. Thanks so much for commenting. Enjoy those sweet baby snuggles. 🙂
Jyoti
I’m so glad I found your oatmeal muffin recipe. I made them today by adding some walnuts it came out sooooo good. Thank you for sharing!!😊
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the muffins, Jyoti! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Robin
My whole family loved these, especially my three year old twins.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that the oatmeal muffins were such a hit, Robin! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Laure
Hi great recipe! Thank you so much for sharing. Can I turn it into a loaf and how long shall I bake it for? Thanks
Laure
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Laure! I have never baked this recipe in a loaf pan but it should be fine. Since I haven’t done it, I can’t give you an exact bake time. I recommend just keeping an eye on it. I hope that you enjoy it! 🙂
Dawn Doughty
Oh WOW! As I was getting stuff together for this recipe, I happened to see a few things I decided to try as add ins. An extremely ripe banana, some walnuts (which I toasted first), and some dried apple slices (I softened them by putting them in the microwave with a little water, about a teaspoon of brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon). They came out amazing! Moist, delicious, rich and totally satisfying! I made them for my 4 year old granddaughter to have for breakfast before Pre-K or after school as a snack but holy cow! I might just warm them up and serve them with vanilla ice cream for dessert tonight! 😂😂😂 Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I will be using it often!
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Dawn! I am so happy that you enjoyed the oatmeal muffins. I love the extra ingredients you added in, sounds perfect! I hope that your granddaughter enjoys them as well. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Sharon
Your recipe is wonderful! I really hate it when people change a recipe and then comment based on their changes; that said, I did add a very ripe banana, mashed, and a tablespoon more flour.
What kind of baker runs out of cinnamon???? So I ran out of cinnamon and had to sub cardamom. Still, so delicious! Used regular oats and followed the rest of your great recipe. On my second warm, luscious muffin now…
THANK YOU!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the muffins, Sharon! I have run out of too many things I should never run out of, it happens. O well. 🤷♀️
Patti
My husband said these were the BEST muffins he has ever eaten. EVER!!!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this! Thank you for commenting, Patti! 🙂
Richard Witherington the 3rd
What’s the butter milk substitute?? Link not working?? I’m in the UK
Ta and pip pip tally ho
X
Sam
Hi Richard! Try this link. 🙂
Pat
Made these muffins over the weekend and they are delicious; no surprise there!! Thank you Sam!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them Pat! 🙂
Karen
What if I don’t have dark brown sugar? Can I use light brown sugar? Just wondering why you use cornstarch in the UK?
Sam
Hi, Karnen. You can use dark brown sugar. The corn starch really helps with the texture of these muffins. 🙂
Cindy W
Can I use steel cut oats? and do I really need to use the streusel topping?
thanx
Sam
You can go without the streusel, the muffins just may need a little less time in the oven 🙂
I haven’t tried with steel cut oats so I can’t say for sure. I’m guessing they could be pretty tough and chewy in the muffins so I’m not sure I’d recommend it, but if you try them out please let me know how it works!
Caryl Cammer
Can raisins be added with no adjustments?
Sam
Hi, Caryl. I think that would work just fine. 🙂