These blueberry oatmeal muffins are simple, wholesome, and satisfying. Made with blueberries, oats, and zero refined sugar, you can feel good eating one or two, or three! Find the easy muffin recipe right here.
Type blueberry muffins into a search engine and within seconds, you’re gifted with millions of results, including my favorite blueberry muffins and lemon blueberry muffins! Does the world really need 1 more recipe? When the results taste this good, my answer is HECK YES! The entire batch was gone in 48 hours and it wasn’t long until I made them again. 🙂
Hearty Texture. Not Flat. Not Squishy.
These blueberry oatmeal muffins have a hearty, wholesome texture because they’re made with oatmeal. Oats in muffins and oatmeal muffins are two completely different things. Oats are a dry ingredient; oatmeal is a wet ingredient. If you want oat muffins instead of oatmeal muffins, you’ll love these applesauce muffins. Today we’re making OATMEAL muffins.
Oatmeal muffins are also different than baked oatmeal (like chocolate chip baked oatmeal cups), which are more like portable oatmeal. Still with me?
These oatmeal muffins are:
- Satisfying
- Simple to make
- Warm + buttery
- Made with oats
- Sweetened with honey
- Bursting with blueberries
Testing this recipe was massively interesting. If you look at this next photo, you can see the difference. The squat muffin on the left was wet and spongey. The tall muffin on the right was hearty, delicious, all the glorious thing I listed above. What’s fascinating is that there is only 1 small difference between the two and that difference is 20 minutes of time!
How to Make Oatmeal Muffins
There are only 2 main steps before baking the muffins.
- Soak the oats in milk for 20 minutes: By doing so, the oats will soak up a lot of the milk. This creates a thicker and creamier muffin batter. The soaked oats won’t actually be the consistency of oatmeal because we aren’t cooking the two together. Rather, the oats will rise to the top of the bowl.
- Mix the batter together: Mix the dry ingredients in 1 bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Mix together, then add the soaked oats & milk. That’s it, you’re done.
Then it’s time to bake the blueberry oatmeal muffins!
Ingredients for Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
Nothing but basics here! Besides oats and milk, you’ll need flour, butter, honey, egg, and a little cinnamon and vanilla extract for flavor. I encourage you to use melted butter instead of oil or a lower fat ingredient. The muffins lost a lot of flavor without butter and when I tested them with applesauce, they tasted rubbery and dry.
If you’re more of a muffins-should-have-chocolate person, go ahead and replace the berries with a cup of chocolate chips. Consider this recipe your oatmeal + honey master muffin recipe and play around with different flavors and add-ins!
Did you know? The thicker the muffin batter, the taller and puffier the muffin will be. A thick batter combined with my initial high temperature trick in the recipe below guarantees tall muffin tops.
More Muffin Recipes
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Banana Muffins
- Morning Glory Muffins
- Blueberry Muffins & healthier Blueberry Banana Muffins
- Triple Chocolate Muffins
- Blackberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Pumpkin Crumb Cake Muffins or Simply Pumpkin Muffins
- Bran Muffins
- Zucchini Muffins
They couldn’t be easier and I would love to know if you try them!
Print
Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These blueberry oatmeal muffins are simple, wholesome, and satisfying. Made with blueberries, oats, and zero refined sugar, you can feel good eating one or two, or three!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240ml) milk
- 1 cup (85g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 1 and 1/4 cups (156g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/2 cup (170g) honey
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (140g) fresh or frozen blueberries (see note if using frozen)
Instructions
- Combine milk and oats. Set aside for 20 minutes so the oats puff up and soak up some moisture. This is crucial to the recipe! (I usually melt the butter now so it has a few minutes to cool.) Don’t do this the night before as that’s too long for soaking. If you find the oats haven’t soaked up any moisture after 20 minutes, give it a stir and wait 10 more minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or use cupcake liners.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl until combined. Set aside. Whisk the melted butter, honey, egg, and vanilla extract together in a medium bowl until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stir a few times, then add the soaked oats (milk included, do not drain) and blueberries. Fold everything together gently just until combined.
- Spoon the batter into liners, filling them all the way to the top. Top with oats and a light sprinkle of coconut sugar, if desired. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 16-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 22-23 minutes, give or take. (For mini muffins, bake 11-13 minutes at 350°F (177°C).) Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
- Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days, then transfer to the fridge for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: For longer storage, freeze muffins for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature or warm up in the microwave if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | 12-count Muffin Pan | Muffin Liners | Cooling Rack
- Milk: I tested the blueberry muffins with unsweetened almond milk, but any milk, dairy or nondairy, can work. If using frozen berries, see note below.
- Oats: I recommend whole oats. Avoid steel cut oats, quick oats, and instant oats. Steel cut oats won’t absorb the milk and quick/instant are too thin and will dissolve in the batter as it cooks.
- Flour: For best taste and texture, I recommend all-purpose flour. If you try whole wheat flour, let me know how they turn out!
- Oil: You can use canola, vegetable, or melted coconut oil instead of the butter, but the flavor will change. I strongly recommend melted butter.
- Sugar: You can use 1/2 cup maple syrup, coconut sugar, or packed light or dark brown sugar instead of honey.
- Berries: If using frozen berries, do not thaw and reduce the milk down to 3/4 cup (180ml). Frozen berries give off so much moisture and the muffins taste a little too wet. Reducing the milk helps. No other changes to the recipe ingredients or instructions.
- Why the Initial High Temperature? The hot burst of air will spring up the top of the muffin quickly, then the inside of the muffin can bake for the remainder of the time. This helps the muffins rise nice and tall.
- Nutrition: Using SparkRecipes calculator and calculated using unsweetened almond milk these muffins come out to 205 calories, 9g fat, 28g carbs, 2g fiber, and 4g protein each.
Reader Comments and Reviews
We have been using your recipes to get a little better baking during quarantine. They have all been so good. For this one I subbed whole wheat flour and they are delicious.
So good!!
The right amount of sweetness. Moist and fluffy even when I substituted whole wheat flour for white flour. I did add a heaping teaspoon of baking powder rather than leveling it. I’m glad I caught the tip about using less milk if using frozen blueberries right before I added the oats to the mix, otherwise it definitely would have been too much liquid. An oat here or there was slightly more fibrous but I was on a time crunch so the oats could have stood to soak a little more. The teenager ate it without complaining, which is a pretty rare occurrence with anything nowadays. Will make again!
We make this recipe often. It’s a great breakfast alternative for busy mornings. Comes out perfect every time!
Followed exactly as written and turned out great! Nice flavor with a subtle/smoother oatmeal texture than other baked goods using oats. Perfectly sweet and I feel good about eating them without the added sugar! Thank you!
I love this muffin! I love the denseness and that they’re not overly sweet, which I initially missed but realize now how much more of the blueberry flavor comes through. I cut the recipe in half and sprinkled a little brown sugar with the oats on top. Mine didn’t rise much above the muffin tin & I had a hard time deciphering if they were done (cuz they were so moist) but now I’ll know what to expect for the next time. Really delicious, glad I found your recipe.
These look fantastic! I’ve made quite a few of your recipes before, and I can’t wait to make these. I am going to have to use frozen mixed berries…but I assume this will be okay, since you said you could use frozen blueberries? My best friend has just had a very early baby and is exhausted, so I’m trying to help by baking for her (especially with oats!) to keep up her energy! Thank you!
Hi PJ! Yes, you can use frozen berries. Do not thaw. Slightly reduce the milk– see recipe note. 🙂
Brilliant – thanks so much! I am sure they will be delicious and I’ll let you know how they go!
These turned out great! I have used wholemeal flour and added few chocolate chips on top. Moist, delicious and relatively healthy thank you 🙂
I was so excited for these as they’ve got so many good reviews.
I’m not sure if the conversion is wrong somewhere (I’m in the UK and used the ml/g)
but these turned out terribly – the batter was so runny when I was spooning this into the cases I thought something was wrong before even baking.
I know I measured everything out correctly as flour is hard to get hold of at the moment so i’d double checked.
When they were baking I thought everything might be okay as they browned nicely and rose a little bit but when I pulled these out (even after extra baking time) they were a sad sloppy mess unfortunately 🙁 inedible.
Hi Ami! Did you use whole oats or something different? How was the oat and milk mixture after soaking? Did you use frozen berries by chance? Those will make the batter a little wetter. Baking for a little extra time will help in the future or you can slightly reduce the milk. Thank you for reporting back!
Mine was exactly the same! I’m in the UK too 🙁 not sure what went wrong but the mixture was so runny! I used fresh blueberries and followed the amounts stated!
This was absolutely fantastic. I followed the recipe exactly and used organic blueberries. Would even throw in some mixed berries next time. Great recipe thanks for sharing. Ate them while they were still hot wowwwww
This is my favorite blueberry muffin recipe of the moment. This weekend I baked 2 batches and gave one to a neighbor, who loved them and asked for the recipe. They are especially great when we are camping for a ready breakfast-on-the-go. I usually make them with whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose and we like them equally well.
I am gluten intolerant wondering if gluten free flour blend will still work for these same quantity? I have gluten free oats.
Hi Lauren, I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour but let me know if you try it!
Hi Lauren,
I made these with gluten free flour and they came out delicious
I made these with gluten free flour and I added nutmug. The honey I used was quite dark, so the muffins were a browner color. Absolutely delicious. Not such a sweet muffin, so the blueberries really hit the palate.
These were the prettiest muffins I’ve ever made – loved the extra height. They also tasted great! I’ll be making these again and again.
These are delicious, I made using mostly fresh blueberries but topped the weight up to the recipe value with chocolate chips. Absolutely devine.
I need to find a way to incorporate bananas into this recipe. I’ve scoured the Internet and can’t find any other recipes that soak the oats (which is now a must!)
Any recommendations on how to make these into a banana version?
Hi Adele, feel free to test the recipe out with mashed banana. You may need to tinker with the other wet/milk ingredients. I do have a recipe for whole wheat banana muffins (with oats and WW flour) if you’re interested. (You can leave out the nuts.)
I did not have enough butter, so I added some applesauce to make up for it. Next time I’ll make the trip to the store for butter! They turned out too wet and ended up being chewy, even after baking for longer than the recommended time. I also used almond milk and vegan butter due to a dairy allergy, which may have impacted it too. The flavor however, was great. I will definitely try this recipe again!
No matter if i follow every detail of a recipe usually it doesn’t taste quite right but this one did! Thanks! I love that there is no sugar in this recipe too
Hi Sally, I found this recipe today and made it. I used vegetable oil instead of butter, but these were phenomenal! So incredibly moist and delicious, just had to let you know that! Next time I’ll use butter, but thanks so much for sharing this!
These are super yummy! I used maple syrup instead of honey as that’s all I had on hand, and added some nutmeg in with the cinnamon because I love nutmeg! Other than that, followed recipe as written. This recipe made 14 for me – which was great because that’s all the liners I had and it allowed me to taste test 2 of them since the other 12 were for a new mama friend. Will definitely be adding this to the permanent collection and making regularly!
I just made this with vegan butter, monk fruit sweetener instead of honey and gluten free flour. They turned out great! Thank you Sally! I have used several of your recipes!
Can I double this recipe? Or do I have to make it twice?
For the best texture I do recommend making it twice.
Great recipe! I didn’t have a muffin tray or honey, but it turned out great! I used white sugar instead of honey and used strawberries and blueberries. I don’t have a muffin tray so I just did a loaf. I baked it on 325 for another 40 minutes after baking it for the 22-23 minutes and it came out great!
I used quick oats and they still turned out DELICIOUS! Followed the recipe otherwise, added some chocolate chips to half for my hubby.
My 11yo daughter made these by herself & the muffins turned out fluffy & delish! She followed the directions exactly incl the unsweetened coconut shavings. Def a winner recipe!
Hi Sally! Thank you for this amazing recipe! I just ate 3 of them out of the oven for breakfast.
I used spelt flour, since Im off wheat.
I also used coconut milk, and extra lite olive oil instead of butter. The texture is still fluffy and moist and just perfect!
I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Absolutely loved these! Made them twice once with blueberries and once with strawberries! Thank you Sally!
Sally,
I’ve loved so many of your recipes! I’m excited to try this one but am low on ingredients…do you think I could use white sugar instead of brown? And any suggestions if I’m out of vanilla and have no other extracts to use?
Thanks!
Hi April, there is no brown sugar in this recipe but you can use white granulated sugar as the honey substitution. Feel free to skip the vanilla extract. If desired, you can replace with an extract whose flavor you’d enjoy here.
second time making this recipe they are delicious!
These muffins turned out great! Thank you for the recipe, Sally. Since my husband is a huge fan of any kind of “loaf”, I was wondering if you – or anyone else – could give me tips on how to turn these into a blueberry oatmeal loaf instead. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
We love these muffins!! They are packed full of juicy blueberries and have the perfect balance of flavors, a lovely hearty yet soft texture, and with an overall complexity I’ve not been able to find in other blueberry muffin recipes. I already had the recipe underway when I realized I didn’t have baking powder, so I used a 1/4 tsp more baking soda plus plain full fat yogurt for acidity, and soaked the oats a bit longer in 1/2 milk (unsweetened coconut) and 1/2 yogurt. Still turned out delicious, but looking forward to following the exact recipe when baking powder is available again! Thank you so much!
So I made these today and only had whole wheat and coconut flour. I used 1 cup of whole wheat, and 1/4 cup of coconut flour. I also added flax seeds (just a little). They came out great! Thanks for this recipe!
This is my first time baking, and I am glad to have found this recipe! Followed the instructions, and the muffins turned out beautifully. Soft and moist and very lightly sweetened, which is lovely. Will be making these again soon. Thank you for the detailed explanations in the recipe.
I have just tried these and wow! They turned out so well. I followed your recipe to the letter. One to make regularly for me. I love that there is no sugar.