Best oatmeal muffins! These maple brown sugar oatmeal muffins are a healthy, hearty, delicious portable breakfast recipe.
Oatmeal muffins may not sound super exciting. But these are no ordinary oatmeal muffins. These are maple brown sugar oatmeal muffins. And they are awesome!
The muffins are sweet and are just hearty enough to be filling without being heavy. They make a great on-the-go breakfast, and I even like them for an easy dessert.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Oats: I haven’t tried using quick oats in this recipe, but I’ve heard from people who have successfully used quick oats to make the muffins.
- Milk: Anything from skim to whole milk will work. Non-dairy milks such as almond milk will also work.
- Oil: Any neutral oil such as canola oil will work.
- Brown sugar: If you prefer muffins that aren’t as sweet, reduce the brown sugar to 1/3-1/2 cup.
- Salt: Or use 1/4 teaspoon of table salt instead of kosher salt.
- Add-ins: I’ve heard from numerous people who have put their own spin on the muffins by adding ingredients like chopped nuts or raisins.
How to make oatmeal muffins
Here you’ll find step-by-step photos showing how to make the recipe. The full recipe is given below.
Step 1: Begin by mixing the oats and milk together in a large bowl.
Step 2: Add in the maple syrup, oil, brown sugar, and eggs until combined.
Step 3: Stir in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt until just incorporated. Don’t overmix or the muffins will be tough.
Step 4: Divide the batter between the prepared muffin tins. The batter will be on the thin/wet side.
Step 5: You can top the muffin batter with sparkling or raw sugar, if you prefer. Bake until the muffins are golden brown and the muffins spring back when lightly touched.
How to freeze
The muffins freeze really well. To freeze the muffins, bake as-directed.
Let the muffins cool to room temperature. Place the cooled muffins in a freezer-safe container, and freeze. The muffins will keep for up to 3 months.
Storage
The muffins will keep for 3-4 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
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Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup milk¹
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup oil²
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar³ packed
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt⁴
- Sparkling or raw sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- Combine the oats and milk in a large bowl.
- Add the maple syrup, oil, brown sugar, and eggs. Mix until combined.
- Stir in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt just until combined. The batter will be wet.
- Divide the batter between the prepared muffin tins.
- Sprinkle sugar over batter, if using.
- Bake for 18-25 minutes, or until the muffins spring back when lightly pressed.
- Let the muffins cool in the tin for 5 minutes.
- Remove to wire rack to finish cooling.
Video
Notes
- Milk: Anything from skim to whole milk will work. Non-dairy milks such as almond milk will also work.
- Oil: Any neutral oil such as canola oil will work.
- Brown sugar: If you prefer muffins that aren’t as sweet, reduce the brown sugar to 1/3-1/2 cup.
- Salt: Or 1/4 teaspoon table salt.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
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Originally published 1/2/2019.
Reader Interactions
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Comments & Reviews
Cheryl Renner says
Awesome. Wish I could post pic. Pretty browning. Not tough.
Kate says
Thank you so much!
jordanandiansmom says
Sooooo good! These are light and fluffy and at the same time have a nice hearty chew. I let my milk oatmeal mixture sit for about 10 minutes. Added 1 cup of coconut, about 3/4 cup dried cranberries and about 2 tsp orange zest. Squeezed the juice from 1/2 a large orange. Also beefed up the spices adding dried ginger and some nutmeg. Very subtle but yummy! This recipe could be used as a launching pad for a lot of different combinations. A keeper for sure!
jordanandiansmom says
oh, and it made 6 regular muffins filled to the top and 24 mini muffins. They puff up so nicely!
Kate says
Thank you!!
Kate says
Thank you so much!! And thank you for sharing your notes! It’s great to hear what has worked for other people. =)
Pauline says
Added dates, so good! Thank you
Kate says
Thank you!
Lucy says
Delicious! I had some vanilla oat milk from a guest that I needed to use up and it worked just fine. Next time I’ll add walnuts and raisins for extra goodies and texture.
Kate says
I’m so glad that they turned out well for you! Thanks for sharing your notes!
Angela Elliott says
I just made a batch and I like them! A great basic hearty oatmeal muffin with good texture. I only had quick oats on hand and seems fine. These were soo easy to make too! After reading other reviews I was expecting them to be alot sweeter, but they aren’t (to me). Oats are very bland so in my opinion any less sweet would be bland unless you are adding something else that adds sweetness like applesauce jam or dried fruit. Obviously sweetness is a personal preference but I would highly recommend to make them as written and then adjust for the next batch if you find them too sweet. I was glad another review mentioned how full the tins were and they didn’t overflow because I was worried about that. They don’t rise very much. Next time I make these I will try adding some chopped nuts/dried fruit, and maybe add some more cinnamon because I love cinnamon. Do you think it would make it too dry? Would I have to adjust something else? Thank you for the recipie!!
Kate says
Thank you! I think you could absolutely use more cinnamon. You could also do a light dusting of cinnamon on top. I find that having a bit of cinnamon on top makes it more noticeable.
Emily Miller says
These were a huge hit at our house this morning. Delicious, chewy, and filling. Thanks for the recipe!
Kate says
Yay!! So glad that they were a hit! =)
Stephanie says
I used instant oats and found these a little dry. I will have to try again with regular oats!
Kate says
Thanks for sharing that tip!
Sheila says
Can I use whole wheat flour? If yes what would the ratio be?
Kate says
Hi! I can’t give you an exact measurement without having tried it. However, when I replace all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour, I start off by replacing half of the all-purpose flour with 1/3 the amount of all-purpose flour and then adjust from there. For example, if a recipe called for 1 cup of all-purpose flour, I would use 1/2 cup all-purpose and 1/3 cup whole wheat as a starting point.
Sheila says
Got it, thanks
Monica Gullett says
Can I use quick oats in this recipe?
Kate says
Hi! I haven’t tried quick oats in this recipe to say for certain.
Anne says
Can you freeze these?
Kate says
You can! I regularly freeze batches of these muffins, and they freeze/reheat well. I let the muffins cool to room temperature and then place them in a resealable freezer-safe container. They keep for about 3 months.
Angelina Whittle says
Are you able to taste the maple flavor in this recipe or is it sort of a blend of darker sugary flavor?
Kate says
The maple flavor isn’t very strong. If you want a stronger maple flavor, I recommend using maple flavor (extract) to bump up the maple flavor.
Andrea Gonzalez says
An you use steel cut oats?
Kate says
I don’t know that steel cut oats would work in this recipe. They have a different texture and usually require a longer cooking time, so I don’t know how well they would sub.
Sheila says
I make these all the time, always a little different. I usually use yogurt instead of oil. Sometimes I add blueberries, sometimes craisins, nuts, chocolate cups… I use this recipe for pancakes. I usually put half the batter into muffin tins and the other half I make into pancakes
Kate says
I’m so glad that you like them! Thanks for sharing that the batter works for pancakes, too!
Garlic Girl says
These were the bomb. Delicious.
Kate says
Thank you!
DebW says
I tried this recipe today and will put it on my muffin go-to list. I really like the subtle maple flavor and hint of cinnamon. Makes a nice change from my “plain” oatmeal recipe. They are so easy and have a great texture as well.
Thanks for sharing!!
Kate says
Thanks!
Marie says
Easy and Oh so yummy! Made them several times now, use corn syrup instead of maple, just cause I have lots of it and don’t use it much. Sprinkle maple sugar flakes on top. My son asked me today whether I ever considered buying another muffin tin and make double!!
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad that you like the muffins!
Charity says
Made recipe they are delicious.. thanks!
Kate says
Thank you!
Paula Ryan says
What can you substitute maple syrup for?
Kate says
I haven’t tried subbing the maple syrup in this recipe. Honey and agave nectar are common subs for maple syrup, but I haven’t tested them in this recipe.
Ashleigh says
Kids and I loved these… made them just as stated but maybe add so more cinnamon or nutmeg. We put homemade pumpkin butter on them this time – delish! Thank you!
Kate says
Thank you!
Luciana Magalhaes says
I made a vegan gluten free version (used equivalent in flax eggs, almond flour and less oil) Just perfect! Thanks for sharing the receipe ?
Kate says
Thank you for sharing your tips! =)