Whether as a snack or breakfast, our Delicious Maple-Oatmeal Muffins are easy to make and highly customizable.
A simple recipe like this means a dozen warm, tender, just-baked muffins can be a morning reality, even on weekdays. We love that you don’t even need to get out an electric mixer for this recipe, and no sifting or even greasing the pan is required just some liners. Everything in this recipe is a cinch, and cleanup is a breeze. Plus, whole-grain oats and no refined sugar give the muffins a feel-good vibe that’s nice to start the day with!
The basics of oatmeal muffins with a soft crumb, nicely browned top, and excellent flavor (and aroma!) is pretty simple to master: Mix your oats and other wet ingredients together, combine the dry ingredients separately, and stir them together just until barely mixed. This helps prevent the formation of gluten, which could give your muffins a dense, chewy texture. This recipe gets a generous amount of flavor and sweetness from pure maple syrup and balances it with heartiness from oats and pecans. The result is a muffin welcome any time of the day, so take advantage of it; you can easily scale the recipe up and freeze extras.
One batter, so many delicious twists!
Once you have the basic formula for these muffins down, the real fun can start. You have a whole world of excellent mix-ins that go beautifully with the flavors of maple. Cinnamon is a staple with maple, but you could also use pumpkin spice or apple pie spice for a little more depth, or try ground ginger instead. And walnuts, hazelnuts, or pistachios would also be excellent in place of pecans. A favorite as well would be to skip the nuts and get more sweetness from chopped dates or golden raisins, or a splash of color from dried cranberries. You could even take them in a Christmas direction with the addition of finely chopped mixed candied fruit in place of nuts. Or if you’d just like to up the cinnamon flavor and aroma, you can sprinkle the tops with cinnamon sugar just before baking.
How to store leftovers
After the muffins are cooled completely, store them in an airtight container on the counter for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 4. You can reheat them wrapped loosely in foil in a 350°F oven or a 325°F air fryer just until warmed, about 5 minutes. You can also freeze the muffins securely wrapped in plastic and then foil for up to 3 months; thaw them on the counter for about an hour, remove the plastic, and reheat them in just foil as described above.
Serving suggestions
You could also make these muffins a part of a larger brunch spread. Serve them in a basket lined with a colorful napkin, and add a spread to slather them with if you like. A bowl of homemade Whipped Butter or Whipped Cream Cheese is easy and classic. Try Pumpkin Butter or Apple Butter for fall flavor. Or add a frosting to transform them into a fun dessert: dollop them with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting and watch them disappear.
Delicious Maple-Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup quick-cooking oats
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- Powdered sugar for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400℉ and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
- In a small bowl, combine oats and milk. Leave to rest for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Add maple syrup, butter, and egg to the oat mixture and combine.
- Pour the oat mixture into the flour. Stir until just moistened.
- Fold in half of the pecans.
- Spoon the batter into a muffin tin. Sprinkle with reserved pecans. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the muffin springs back when touched lightly with a finger and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool on a rack for approximately 30 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.
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