Healthy and Delicious Oatmeal Muffins
A lot of the muffin recipes you’ll find these days tend to make extra-large muffins that contain a high amount of fat and sugar, which may taste great, but they’re not the healthiest option for breakfast or a mid-morning snack.
Our apple oatmeal muffins are incredibly easy to make and use quick-cooking oats, fresh apples, and buttermilk to make a healthier option. Buttermilk helps to reduce the overall fat content and because the apples are naturally sweet we don’t add much sugar, making these muffins a bit lower in carbs as well.
How to Make Apple Oatmeal Muffins with Buttermilk
This is an overview of how this dish is made. Detailed measurements, ingredients, instructions, and times are available in the printable version of the recipe below.
- Preheat the oven and prepare a standard-size muffin pan by lightly greasing the bottom of each cup.
- Thoroughly combine the buttermilk (see below for substitution) and oats in a small bowl and set aside.
- Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl.
- Whisk the egg and melted butter together in a large mixing bowl and stir in the buttermilk-oat mixture.
- Add the dry ingredients and combine thoroughly, then fold in the chopped apple.
- Fill each muffin tin about 2/3 full with batter.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the muffins from the pan and cool them on a rack.
How to Serve Apple Oatmeal Muffins
Although they’re delicious just as they are, we recommend serving our apple oatmeal muffins warmed and spread with a little bit of unsalted butter or whipped cream cheese.
How to Make a Buttermilk Substitute
Buttermilk is a wonderful ingredient for baking as it adds a light, tender texture and mild, tangy flavor to baked goods. The problem, however, is that it’s often sold in larger quantities than you need and will go to waste if you don’t use it up. Making your own buttermilk substitute is an easy way to solve this problem. Here’s how:
- Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a one-cup liquid measuring cup.
- Carefully fill with whole or 2% milk to the one-cup line. We don’t recommend using 1% or skim milk.
- Stir and let the mixture stand for 10 minutes before using.
Makes 1 cup
Tips for Storing Muffins
Like all baked goods, muffins taste best on the day that they’re baked, but it’s likely you won’t eat them up that quickly. You can store them unrefrigerated for two to three days. First, make sure the muffins have cooled completely (very important), then line an airtight container with a paper towel, and add the muffins, leaving a little space between them. To freeze muffins, transfer them to a zip-top freezer bag and seal them tightly for up to two months. Thaw them at room temperature.
To reheat: Wrap muffins in aluminum foil and place them in a 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
Apple-Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup buttermilk, (see notes for substitution)
- 1 cup quick-cooking oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar, (see recipe notes)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped (about 1-1/4 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 °F.
- Prepare your muffin pan by lightly greasing the bottom of each cup.
- Thoroughly combine the buttermilk and oats in a small bowl and set aside.
- Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a medium mixing bowl.
- Whisk the egg and melted butter together in a large mixing bowl and stir in the buttermilk-oat mixture.
- Add the dry ingredients and combine thoroughly, then fold in the chopped apple.
- Fill the muffin tins about 2/3 full with the batter.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the muffins from the pan and cool on a rack.
Recipe Notes
How to Make a Buttermilk Substitute
Buttermilk is a wonderful ingredient for baking as it adds a light, tender texture and mild, tangy flavor to baked goods. The problem, however, is that it’s often sold in larger quantities than you need and will go to waste if you don’t use it up. Making your own buttermilk substitute is an easy way to solve this problem. Here’s how:-
- Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a one-cup liquid measuring cup.
-
- Carefully fill with whole or 2% milk to the one-cup line. We don’t recommend using 1% or skim milk.
-
- Stir and let the mixture stand for 10 minutes before using.
Alice Brydon says
I made the muffins with a Granny Smith apple and 3 Tablespoons of sugar. They were good but not sweet enough for me. I would recommend adding more sugar and also more cinnamon. I served them with a slather of honey-butter spread (equal parts honey and butter). That provided the sweetness I desired and accommodated those who preferred a less sweet muffin. They were very easy to make.
Lynne Webb says
Hi Alice,
You could certainly use 1 additional tablespoon of sugar if you like your baked goods a little sweeter. You could also switch to using a Golden Delicious apple instead of Granny Smith. They’re considerably sweeter, but have a very similar texture to the Granny Smith.
Roberta says
I found these muffins to be very moist, but I added 1 more tbsp of butter because I used old fashioned oats instead of the quick cook, and added 1/4 cup of almond flower. I added 1 tsp of vanilla to the sugar mixture and used 1/4 cup brown sugar instead of white. I thought to use maple syrup or maple sugar the next time. With those changed this recipe came out great. I also used 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice instead of the other spices. Just did’t feel like looking for them in the cupboard. I shredded the apple instead of dicing, that added more moisture to the mixture. In all I made my own recipe but had the basics.
Lynne Webb says
Hi Roberta,
Sounds like your adjustments worked out fine. Thanks for sharing!
Joshua Lawrence says
This looks wonderful, I grew up eating similar muffins and miss them. I wonder what buttermilk is called in Italy..or if they even sell it?
Lynne Webb says
Hi Joshua,
You can substitute buttermilk by combining 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar with enough milk to equal 1 cup. Stir and let stand for 10 minutes before using.