There’s something very traditional and homey about an oatmeal muffin. When I was young, there was a muffin shop in the small town where I grew up. The shop was run by Mrs. Wells and she made the best oatmeal muffins with chocolate chips and walnuts. We used to have them heated with butter and what a treat they were! Over the years I’ve made many different muffins and I always come back to oatmeal when I’m looking for something tried and true.
This recipe is adapted from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook by Jennifer Appel and Allysa Torey. While you may have heard of Magnolia Bakery for its famous cupcakes, the bakery is well known for its classic American baked goods and desserts. Nostalgia is the order of the day at Magnolia, so it’s no surprise that their recipe for oatmeal muffins brings us back to simpler times.
The recipe itself is simple to bring together. I have called for some resting time in the fridge, as I like how the flavours develop after some time. I also find that the batter rises a bit higher if you leave it to rest for a bit. Because of this additional resting time, you will have to add a bit longer onto your preparation stage. You can, of course, bake the muffins as soon as your batter is ready with the caveat that they may be a bit flatter on the top, but equally as delicious.
The original recipe only calls for half a cup of sugar, which means the muffins aren’t overly sweet. I bumped up the sugar a little bit to add more sweetness, but you can adjust the sugar down to half a cup if you would prefer a less sweet muffin. I’ve also added chocolate chips to this recipe because I love the combination of oats and chocolate. Feel free to add whatever tickles your fancy: nuts, blueberries, raspberries, raisins, and more!
Julianne’s Notes
What type of oats should I use?
This recipe calls for rolled oats which provide a chewy texture to baked goods. When you use these oats, they will provide a rustic oat-y look to your bakes. Alternatively, you can swap in quick cooking oats for the rolled. These oats are slightly finer than rolled, so the texture of your final bake will be softer. Swapping out the oats will not affect the taste of the final result.
How do I keep the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of my muffins?
Have you ever made a beautiful batch of muffins only to realize that all of your add-ins have sunk to the bottom when baked? This happens when the add-ins are heavier than your batter. One way to prevent everything from sinking is to lightly toss the chocolate chips in a tablespoon of flour. The flour will cling to the outside of the chips, which will make it easier for them to suspend in the batter. You can use this tip for nuts and fruit as well.
How can I get my muffins to rise?
I’m always looking at bakery-style muffins and wondering ‘how do they get that big rise?!’ I’ve tried a few different techniques and find this one to work the best.
- Don’t be afraid to fill your muffin cups all the way to the top. Typically, recipes call for muffin batter to be filled about ⅔ from the top. By filling the holes all the way, the batter puffs up over the top to create a higher dome.
- Preheat your oven to 450F and bake your muffins for 5 – 6 minutes at this high temperature. Next, adjust the oven temperature down to 400F for the remainder of the baking time. This blast of initial high heat creates steam which helps the batter to puff up…just don’t forget to reduce the initial heat!
- As tempting as it is to peek at your muffins while they’re baking, don’t open that oven door! Cool air will rush in and cause your muffins to deflate, so this is a case where patience is a virtue.
Why are my muffins dry?
Check out my post on Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins for what to do to avoid dry muffins!
Why are my muffin papers soggy and pulling away from the muffin?
Moisture, moisture, moisture! To help prevent your papers from becoming damp and pulling away from the muffin, allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the tin. After 5 minutes, remove the muffins to cool completely on a wire rack. These oatmeal muffins with chocolate chips are very moist so you want to make sure you remove them from the tin early on.
Head over to my Books page to read my recommendation of The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook.
Oatmeal Muffins with Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats, not quick-cooking oats
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled a bit
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450F (230C).
- Place paper muffin cups into your muffin tin.
- Pour the oats and milk into a small bowl and set them aside to soak for 10 minutes.
- Grab a medium-sized bowl and pour in the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and stir together and make a well in the centre.
- Pour the eggs, melted butter and vanilla into the well you made in the dry ingredients. Next pour over the oats and milk and stir everything together with a wooden spoon. Mix together until you see a few traces of flour in the batter.
- Lightly toss the chocolate chips in a tablespoon of flour and add them to the batter. The flour will help prevent the chips from sinking to the bottom of your batter.
- Gently fold the chocolate chips into the batter until just combined. Make sure you don’t over mix your batter or your muffins could turn out dry. There will still be some lumps and this is exactly what you want!
- Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to rest for 1 hour.
- After the batter has rested for an hour, bring it out of the fridge and fill your muffin cups. To create a high dome on your muffins, fill the cups all the way to the top.
- Bake the muffins at 450F (230C) for 6 minutes. This blast of high heat will encourage the muffins to puff up and create that lovely dome.
- After 6 minutes your muffins should have risen over the top of the cup. Be careful not to open the oven door to peek inside, as this can cause your muffins to collapse.
- Reduce your oven temperature to 400F (200C) and bake for 10 – 12 minutes longer. The muffins will be done when they have turned a light golden brown colour. A toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with moist crumbs attached.
- Set the muffin tin on a rack to cook for 5 minutes then remove the muffins from the tin to cool completely.
Notes
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see it! Share it on Instagram #bakersbookshelf
[…] for other quick muffin recipes? You might like my oatmeal chocolate chip muffins or cinnamon sugar donut […]