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.
More muffin recipes!
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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
Grace says
DELICIOUS! Easy to make, easy to follow and absolutely delicious! Made this recipe with my 7 year old and we both enjoyed making it! I made the recipe as is except I didn’t have any baking powder. I used 1/2 a teaspoon of Fage O% Greek yogurt in its place and it came out perfect! Glad the recipe called for ZERO butter too! Thank you!
Kate says
Thank you so much!! And thank you for sharing that tip! I love to bake with Greek yogurt, but I’ve never used it that way. =)
Tracy D. says
Made this recipe this morning. They were fantastic, what a great base. I made some of the recommended changes and a few extras from the comments and some of my own. I used quick oats and oat milk. I added an extra 1/2 cup of oat milk. I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar as suggested as an option. I also made them gluten free by using King Arthur Measure for Measure flour that is enriched with xantham gum. I also added blueberries, raspberries and walnuts. What a great rise and moist delicious muffin. Maybe the best recipe I have converted. Thank you so much.
Kate says
Thank you much!!
Doris Jones says
Tried this recipe. Easy and turned out pretty good
Kate says
Thank you!
Valerie says
I made these muffins my family liked them very much I replace applesauce for the oil yummy oh used half the brown sugar thank you for your Recipes
Kate says
Thank you! I’m glad they liked them!
Katy says
What a great recipe, seems to be very forgiving of substitutions/additions and mine came out great. I just wanted to whip something up for my husband to grab and go in the morning without having to go to the store tonight, so I had to make due. Honey instead of maple syrup? Sure. Quick cooking oats instead of old fashioned? No problem (just add a little extra liquid). White+dark brown sugar instead of light? Why not. Have an apple with some bruises? Throw it in. Worked out fine for me. Definitely a keeper, thanks!
Kate says
Thank you so much! I’m so glad that it’s worked out well with those changes! =)
Sheila says
I made these muffins following the recipe without any variations and they were a big hit! I froze half the batch, but they were out of the freezer and eaten in no time. My partner is now asking when I’m planning on making “those bad boys” again!
Kate says
Thank you so much! I’m so glad that you liked them!
Mary-Ann Saeva says
Great recipe. I made it vegan by using 1 tbsp ground flax and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce.
Kate says
Thank you so much for sharing that! I’m glad it worked well!
Brie says
These were delish! I added a couple tablespoons more flour, since I live high altitude (over 5280). I also added about a quarter cup raisins and a quarter cup pecans just because I’d like nuts and raisins! I found I needed to bake about 5-8 minutes longer than the recipe.
Kate says
Thank you for sharing that! I get questions about high altitude baking, and that’s not something that I can test. So I appreciate when people can share those insights!
Adrienne says
Really great and I added some blueberries
Quick and easy to make
Kate says
Thank you so much! I bet blueberries are great in these muffins! =)
Rebecca A Wagner says
Made these tonight….sooooo yummy. I took the advice of others about sweetness, and decreased the brown sugar by about 30%. While still good, next time I will just add all of it. Split the batter 3 ways and made plain for grandkids, one with walnuts, and coconut for the rest. ALL were delicious, but the coconut was to die for! ***LOVED***
THANKS FOR A DIFFERENT & YUMMY WAY TO USE SOME OATMEAL!!
Kate says
You are so welcome! I’m glad that you liked the muffins! Thanks for sharing those add-in ideas.
Jen says
Made these for my family ! We’re trying some heart healthy quick foods. And these were perfect.
Kate says
Yay!! I’m so glad that they turned out well for you!
Jen says
Just made these!! Trying to make some heart healthy foods for some family. I had some left over batter after making the 12. So I put the extra in a Corning ware bowl and popped it in the microwave for 5 min! It worked perfectly
Kate says
I’m so glad that they worked well! Thanks for sharing that tip! =)
Carrie says
Wow! I just made this recipe and they are amazing!! I added walnuts to some and chocolate chips to some. I will make this over and over. I am not a big sweets person but wanted to make the recipe as is before adjusting it. If you cut back some of the brown sugar, they’d still be delicious I think. However, they aren’t sickeningly sweet as is. Love it! Thank you!
Kate says
Thank you!! I’m so glad that you liked the muffins!
Debbie says
These are a lovely breakfast muffin! I like the slight oat-y and cinnamon combination. Went down a treat with my colleagues. Thank you
Kate says
You are so welcome! I’m glad that they were a hit!
Rebecca E Brennan says
These are amazing! I added some chopped pecans. I love the texture and the fact they aren’t terribly sweet. Definitely a keeper!
Kate says
Thank you so much! I’m glad you liked the muffins!
Ruth Trottier says
Very tasty. I got 18 muffins from the recipe so will be enjoying them for breakfast for more than 2 weeks. I freeze them in freezer bags that have the zipper. Perfect for an 81 year old lady who lives alone in these times of staying home.
Kate says
Thank you! I regularly freeze these muffins so my kids can have them for breakfast. Stay safe, and I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Enza Incalcaterra says
just made them , AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS! I used almond milk with 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup maple syrup I also added fresh blueberries and cranberries
Kate says
Thank you so much!
Tanya Reicker says
These are wonderful. Even my picky teenager loves them. We also like these with raisins, berries and or nuts.
Kate says
Thank you so much!
JC says
These turned out great! Thank you – it’s exactly what I was looking for! I used only 1/3 cup of sugar and I added dried fruit (dates, raisins, cranberries) to the individual muffins after I poured the batter into the paper liners. So I wound up with a variety of healthy, easy-to-grab breakfast muffins. Perfect.
Kate says
Thank you so much!
KT1977 says
My new favorite recipe!! I do not add the brown sugar, or the sugar on top. Use one to two mashed ripe bananas. Also chopped walnuts. Not too sweet- more fiber. Still YUM!!! Freeze well, but don’t make it the freezer very often.
Kate says
Thanks so much! I usually freeze some when I make them, and they freeze really well. Thanks for sharing the tip about the bananas!