When juicy blueberries meet oatmeal muffins you get the best of both worlds. These are moist, soft, not-too-sweet gorgeous muffins that freeze wonderfully and are ready in under 45 minutes! A great breakfast on the run or an afternoon snack with your favorite beverage.
Breakfast and snacking muffins
These are great blueberry breakfast muffins, a sibling to the very popular oatmeal muffin recipe and the apple oat muffins.
It became a lifesaver in the morning as I'm not a breakfast person except for coffee.
So grabbing a fruit muffin with oats on the go is perfect. I keep them frozen and warm them in the oven while my coffee is getting ready.
- Soft, thanks to the oatmeal and buttermilk.
- Easy to make, they're ready in under an hour.
- Keep well in the freezer or refrigerator.
More muffins for busy mornings
What our readers are saying:
This one is a keeper! Easy, moist and delicious. And I loved that I had all of the ingredients on hand. (Jeanne)
These were delicious! The oats really helped with the texture and moistness. I used blueberries I had picked & frozen. I will definitely make these again. (Barbara)
These were so moist & delicious - I definitely will be making them again! I used brown sugar instead of white and also threw in some chopped pecans as I had some that needed using. Thank you for sharing the recipe! (Gigi)
Ingredient Notes
Quantities are listed in the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
- Oats: I always use old-fashioned oats (also called rolled oats or traditional) because they have more texture. But you can use quick-cooking oats. The muffins might be a bit chewier and/or wetter.
- Blueberries: use fresh or frozen blueberries without defrosting, they both work well. If fresh, make sure they are washed and dried.
- Buttermilk: is the best option because it adds some tenderness to the batter, but milk works just as well.
- Sugar: I use white granulated or light brown sugar. Both work well.
The oatmeal
This is the part that makes these muffins wonderfully soft, tender, and moist.
Oatmeal is mixing oats with a liquid, in this case, buttermilk or milk. When they're left to hydrate together, even if it's for a few minutes, the oats soften and change their texture enough to become tender and wonderfully chewy in the baked muffin. So don't omit this step.
Mix lightly and let wait aside (image below) while preparing the rest of the recipe. The liquid might not cover all of the oats.
How to make oat blueberry muffins
I strongly believe in muffin recipes that involve a light mixing of ingredients, the old-fashioned way.
They're easy to put together, and the results are dense but tender, just the right texture a muffin should have if you ask me.
In this recipe, we start with the oatmeal mixture, and the rest of the ingredients are added to it. So it's a one-bowl situation, something we love around here.
Add sugar to the oatmeal mixture and mix until combined.
Add egg and stir to combine well. No need to beat.
Pour in the melted butter and whisk until it's all integrated. The batter will be shiny.
Add the dry ingredients and the blueberries and fold until barely combined. Don't be tempted to mix too much.
Vintage Kitchen Tip
Combine the muffin batter with a wire whisk, a spoon, or a spatula. No need for electric beaters of any kind; they will overbeat the mixture, so they're discouraged to use in this recipe.
The final batter
After adding the dry ingredients mix lightly. Overworking it after adding the flour can produce tough muffins as the gluten starts to develop. We don't want that.
As you can see in the image below, there are very small patches of barely mixed batter here and there. That is fine. Don't worry, there will be no dry spots after the blueberry muffins are baked.
Muffin pan
You can use regular or mini pans. Or jumbo individual muffin tins. Simply adjust the baking times and start checking them 5 minutes earlier for mini ones and 5 minutes later for jumbo.
I like to use regular muffin pans with paper liners, but you can either spray them with baking spray, or butter and flour. If you do the latter, I recommend you put the pan in the fridge while making the batter, just like we do when preparing bundt cake pans. They will pop out more easily after they're baked.
Kitchen Notes
- Organization: Read the recipe first and ensure you have the ingredients at the correct temperature, the utensils and equipment needed, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Baking time: consider that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as possible, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer (like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend tracking how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Oatmeal: Don't skip this step if you want softer and chewier muffins.
- Butter: Make sure it's lukewarm (but still liquid) when you add it so it mixes better, as the temperatures of both mixtures are similar. If you add hot butter to a colder preparation, it will probably seize here and there and won't integrate as it should.
- Baking: They don't brown too much, but you can bake them for a couple of minutes at a higher temperature at the end to achieve a more golden top. They will still be moist.
Variations
- Liquid: besides buttermilk or milk, as the recipe suggests, you can use almond milk or orange juice. Substitute half of the liquid for natural Greek yogurt for a tangier muffin.
- Flavorings: add some lemon or orange zest to the batter or a ground spice like cinnamon.
- Berries: Raspberries and blackberries work wonderfully also.
- Sweeter muffins: These are barely sweet, but you can sprinkle each muffin top with a teaspoon of sugar before baking, add a tablespoon of honey or maple syrup to the batter, or eat them with honey or maple syrup (my favorite way).
- Flours: To make a more textured (and a tad more wholesome) blueberry muffin recipe, substitute half the amount of all-purpose flour for finely ground whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour.
Storing
I firmly believe all muffins should be eaten within hours of being baked.
That said, these keep well for a day (maybe two) at room temperature. After that, I recommend refrigeration as they contain fruit, and it can ferment or decay quickly when not stored properly.
Freezing: I keep these blueberry oat muffins frozen since I don't consume the whole batch in one sitting. Well wrapped (there's a whole post on freezer baking if you're interested) they keep for a month. When ready to eat, pop the frozen muffin in a medium (350°F or 180°C) oven for 5-10 minutes. Eat warm.
Related recipes you might like:
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Easy Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins
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Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ¾ cup buttermilk or milk, at room temperature
- ¾ cup brown or white sugar, packed + extra for sprinkling before baking
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch of ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Turn on the oven to 350°F (180ºC).
- Mix 1 cup rolled oats with ¾ cup buttermilk or milk in a large bowl and leave to hydrate while preparing the rest.
- Line 12 muffin cups with liners. Or butter them.
- Add ¾ cup brown or white sugar to the oatmeal mixture and mix. Then 1 egg and stir to combine. No need to beat.
- Stir in 5 tablespoons butter, melted, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and pinch of ground cinnamon and combine everything well without beating.
- Add the remaining sifted dry ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons baking powder to the oat mixture.
- Fold in 1 ½ cups blueberries with a spatula just until blended. Don’t overmix the batter at this point and try not to crush the berries much.
- Fill the muffin cups ¾ full, dividing the mixture as evenly as possible. Sprinkle the tops with extra sugar, about ½ a teaspoon for each muffin.
- Bake 25-30 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick comes out dry.
- Let cool on a wire rack.
- Store in the fridge after one day or freeze for up to a month, always covered in plastic wrap or in an airtight container.
Anonymous says
I accidentally put some cayenne pepper in. It's always next to the cinnamon. Guess I better reorganize the spice cabinet. Both warm the throat and they are delicious .
Renee McK says
These are delicious. I used 1/2 c. dark brown sugar and 1/4 c white since that’s what I had on hand. They came out moist, tender, and oh so good.