Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredient list

• 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.
• Buttermilk: is the best option because it adds some tenderness to the batter, but milk works just as well.
• Unsalted butter.
• Egg: fresh, large.
• Sugar: I use white granulated or light brown sugar. Both work well.
• Flour: my first choice is all-purpose flour, but have used cake flour when that's all I had and it works well.
• Salt: I like to use kosher salt when baking. But regular table salt works just fine.
• Blueberries: use fresh or frozen blueberries without defrosting, they both work well. If fresh, make sure they are washed and dried.

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, in fact, 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 make sure you have ingredients at the right temperatures, equipment needed, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier!
• Baking time: keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look the same or very similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. Use a thermometer inside the oven (like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that the temperature is right. I recommend you keep track of 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 in the end at a higher temperature 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. For a tangier muffin, substitute half of the liquid for natural Greek yogurt.
• 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, or add a tablespoon of honey or maple syrup to the batter. Or eat them with honey or maple syrup (my favorite way).
• Flours: substitute half the amount of all-purpose flour for finely ground whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour for a more textured (and a tad healthier) blueberry muffin recipe.

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°) oven for 5-10 minutes. Eat warm.