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These baked oatmeal muffins are made with wholesome ingredients for a hearty and delicious breakfast your family will love.
Best Oatmeal Muffins
While I have several recipes for incredible overnight oats, these muffins are another portable option you can enjoy on the go! They have a soft, hearty texture similar to my traditional baked oatmeal, and the incredible flavor combination of my crockpot oats with apples and cinnamon, but in a muffin.
Ingredients
To make these healthy breakfast muffins, you need old-fashioned oats (I don't recommend using quick or steel-cut oats), baking powder to help the batter rise, salt, cinnamon, butter, any regular or non-dairy milk, egg, maple syrup or honey to sweeten the batter, and chopped apples (pears, bananas, or frozen berries also work). You can optionally add dried fruit or nuts for great texture and flavor.
How to Make Baked Oatmeal Muffins
Below you’ll find a quick visual of the recipe, but first, check the easy steps to make these baked oatmeal muffins!
- Combine the dry ingredients.
In a large bowl, stir the oats with the baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and fruit/nuts (if using). Adding the fruit into the dry ingredients helps prevent it from sinking to the bottom of the muffin while baking. - Make the batter.
In a separate bowl, whisk the butter, milk, egg, and maple syrup until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. - Let the batter sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
It allows the oats to absorb some of the moisture before filling the muffin cups. - Fill and bake.
You can fill each cup a little more than ¾th of the way since this recipe has no flour. Bake in a preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Oatmeal Muffin Mix-Ins
Here are a few ideas to stir into the batter for a heartier, more flavorful baked oatmeal muffin.
Chopped fruit: apples, pears, and bananas bake into the oatmeal and enhance the overall flavor without added sugars. Fresh or frozen berries are another great option.
Nuts: walnuts, pecans, cashews, or any of your favorite chopped nuts are a source of healthy fats and will make these muffins even heartier.
Dark chocolate chips: who doesn’t love a warm muffin with melted bits of chocolate? Try using dark chocolate, which has antioxidants and minimal added sugars.
Pumpkin pie spice: swap cinnamon for pumpkin spice and thank me later.
How to Store Oatmeal Muffins
You can refrigerate these baked oatmeal muffins in an airtight container for up to 4 days or freeze them for up to 2 months. To reheat them, remove the paper or silicone wrapper and microwave for 1 minute or until warmed through. If your oatmeal cups are frozen, defrost them in the fridge overnight, then warm them in the microwave the next morning.
Baked Oatmeal Muffins
Watch how it’s made:
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
- 2 cups milk
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup honey or maple syrup
- 2 small apples, chopped (or any 2 cups of chopped fruit)
- ¼ cup chopped nuts, optional
Instructions
Prep:
- Preheat the oven to 375F and line a muffin pan with 12 paper or silicone liners.
Make the batter:
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, chopped apples, and nuts if using.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk the butter, milk, egg, and maple syrup until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
- Let the batter bowl sit for 5 to 10 minutes for the oats to absorb some of the moisture before filling the muffin cups. This helps the muffins have a better texture.
Bake:
- Evenly distribute the oat batter into the lined muffin pan, filling each cup a little more than ¾th of the way. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow the muffins to cool 5 minutes before removing and serving.
Serve & store:
- You can enjoy these muffins slightly warm or at room temperature.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
Amanda says
I just made these with apple, pear and raisins and they didn’t turn out like a muffin at all. I baked them for 35 mins and let cool for 10 mins. They don’t stay together and are quite wet kinda like regular oatmeal. What did I do wrong?
Laura Fuentes says
Amanda, did you make any substitutions? The batter is actually quite thick/sticky… not runny at all.
Amanda says
The only substitution I used was organic quick oats and not rolled oats.
Amanda says
I put them back in the oven so we will see 🙂
Laura Fuentes says
“Quick Oats” will not work. The recipe spcifically calls for rolled oats=old fashioned oats. Quick oats are more processed than old-fashioned oats, so they cook up a bit quicker and are mushier in texture. They also won’t absorb as much moisture from the batter and thus create a “runny” muffin as well. (Instant oats take this one step further, require no cooking, and also have the texture of glue. Never use these in baking)
While flavor is the “same” when you cook a bowl of breakfast oats, in baking the quick oats require a lot less liquid. A chef once showed me oatmeal cookies make with Quik oats and others mades with old fashioned, the Quik oats cookies were flat and runny, and the old fashioned were fluffy like they should be. She made them at the same time with the same recipe. This is also true in other forms of baking.
I’m sorry your muffins did not turn out this time. They are delicious when made according to the ingredients in the recipe.
Lori says
These look wonderful. I have been looking for an easy, basic recipe for baked oatmeal and I am sure this is it! Will be making these tomorrow with strawberries and chocolate chips. How do you think pumpkin would work in these?
Laura Fuentes says
I think canned pumpkin would work but add the equivalent amount of extra oats.
Tracy says
I made these for my husband to grab and go on his way out the door to work this morning. I added craisins and walnuts and substituted agave nectar instead of maple syrup. My husband LOVED them. He said he could eat them every day! Thanks for the recipe!
Laura Fuentes says
awesome Tracy!
Megan says
I made these last night and LOVE them — I made them with chocolate chips and peanuts — and could not be happier. Thanks for the great recipe 🙂
Laura Fuentes says
awesome! this is one of my go-to recipes as well. 🙂
Karen says
These look really good! Could I use quick oats, or does it have to be the old fashioned rolled oats?
Laura says
Karen, after a couple of trials quick oats will significantly change the texture of the batter. you are going to have to add extras in order to make the batter ticker. I don’t recommend it.