These lightly-sweetened apple and oatmeal muffins are a cinch to whip up for a weekend breakfast treat.
Made with chopped apple, buttermilk and quick-cooking oats, they get most of their sweetness from the apple, so not only are they quick and easy to make, they're low in sugar and fat as well.

These muffins are delicious just the way they are, but we recommend serving them warm with a little butter and/or whipped cream cheese.
Apple-Oatmeal Muffins
This quick and easy muffin recipe combines oatmeal, fresh diced apple, buttermilk and spices for a low-fat, low-sugar breakfast treat.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 10 to 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 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 medium 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.
Notes
Recipe Notes:
We happen to like our baked goods very lightly sweetened and this recipe definitely falls into that category. If you prefer your muffins a tad sweeter, you can feel free to increase the sugar from 2 to 3 tablespoons.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 133
- Sugar: 4g
- Sodium: 195mg
- Fat: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 22g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 21g
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.