One spring weekend during high school, my dad dropped me off at a friend’s house. Between our busy schedules and how she lived a few towns away, we rarely saw each other, so we took advantage of that sunny Saturday and planned an entire day of fun.
Around noon, we walked two miles along the bike paths and trails in her neighborhood that eventually led to a cute downtown area. She suggested one of the smaller local restaurants, and the hostess immediately seated us outside at a small table for two.
I opened the menu and started scanning the various options. My friend pointed out her favorites, including a cranberry and apple spinach salad and another of goat cheese and mixed greens, while a waiter set down two frosty glasses of ice water and a petite wicker basket in the center of the table.
After we thanked him, my friend pulled back the linen napkin to reveal two types of warm, freshly baked bread: an airy white sourdough and a heartier whole wheat. Whole oats garnished the tops of the latter, and as we thoroughly enjoyed snacking on both beautifully soft varieties while waiting for our entrées, I made a mental note to try decorating my next batch of muffins the same way.
The following weekend, back in my own kitchen, I pulled out a set of mixing bowls and got to work. After dolloping the batter into our well-worn muffin tins, I sprinkled a tiny pinch of oats on top of each one. I smiled down at the pale flakes, slid the pans into the oven, and set a timer.
When it beeped, I slipped my hand into an oven mitt and placed the tray on top of the stove. Impatient, I leaned against the granite countertop and stared at their beautifully tall domed tops, lazy curls of steam rising from the tip of each, silently willing them to cool faster. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I gently picked up the first one to move it to a wire rack…
And all of the oats fell off — every last flake.
The same thing happened again… And again… And again. No matter how gingerly I touched them, the toasted and slightly crunchy oats popped right off and scattered all over the floor. Not a single one remained on the muffins.
By the time all twelve sat on the cooling rack, I couldn’t help but laugh… And I also learned a valuable lesson.
Oats do much better inside of muffins!
So that’s the way I made these ultimate healthy oatmeal muffins! I folded the oats into the batter, rather than sprinkling them on top, and I absolutely loved the way they turned out.
Incredibly soft, deliciously cozy, sweet and spiced and scrumptious… They always seem to disappear quickly — because they’re perfect for breakfast, mid-morning coffee breaks, and even afternoon snacks!
QUICK OVERVIEW – THE ULTIMATE HEALTHY OATMEAL MUFFINS
Difficulty: Mainly easy, including for many beginner bakers.
Taste: Lots of warm spices shine against a cozy backdrop of oats.
Texture: Very tender and moist, with soft oats in every bite.
KEY INGREDIENTS TO MAKE THE ULTIMATE HEALTHY OATMEAL MUFFINS
Let’s talk about what you’ll need to make these ultimate healthy oatmeal muffins! Many of these ingredients are baking staples, so there’s a good chance you already have just about everything you need.
Oats. No surprises here! To make these healthy oatmeal muffins, you’ll use instant oats. They’re also called “quick cooking” or “one minute” oats — and they’re not the ones that come in individual packets with flavors like maple brown sugar or apple cinnamon!
Just like traditional old-fashioned rolled oats, instant oats only include one ingredient: oats. However, they have one key difference. While old-fashioned rolled oats are large and thick, instant oats are much thinner and smaller. This size difference means they soften faster, so using instant oats gives your muffins the best soft and tender texture!
Tip: If you’d like to make your ultimate healthy oatmeal muffins gluten-free, then use certified gluten-free instant oats. They work perfectly!
Flour. I tested a few types of flour. Regular whole wheat flour and white whole wheat flour were my two favorites! They both have the same health benefits, like extra fiber and micronutrients, and produce the same moist and fluffy texture.
Yet I noticed that they yielded slightly different flavors. Regular whole wheat flour provided a subtle nuttiness, which added to the muffins’ coziness, but it also muted a bit of the spices’ flavor. (We’ll get to what those spices are in a minute!) With its milder taste, white whole wheat flour completely faded into the background, so the flavor of the oats and warm spices truly shone.
So if you’re a big spice fan (like I am!), use white whole wheat flour! If you’re not too picky and mainly want cozy-tasting muffins, go with regular whole wheat flour (it’s usually easier to find!) — or just reach for whichever of the two flours currently sitting in your pantry stash.
Tip: If you’d like to make your ultimate healthy oatmeal muffins gluten-free, then see the Notes section of the recipe. I’ve shared my top gluten-free recommendations there!
Spices. That’s right — plural! You’ll add cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to these healthy oatmeal muffins. Cinnamon adds that familiar comforting flavor you know and love, while nutmeg provides richness and ginger yields an extra cozy background warmth.
I played around with the amounts of each of these spices. Without any other mix-ins (like carrots, zucchini, or apples — like I’ve done in different variations!) to distract from or complement their flavor, I found I craved more spices in these muffins. After multiple rounds of testing, I landed on a ratio that yielded the perfect warm, cozy, and comforting flavor!
Tip: I highly recommend using Saigon cinnamon! It has a slightly richer, sweeter, and stronger flavor than regular cinnamon. It’s basically the only kind I use in my baking now, and I buy it online here. (It’s really affordable!)
Unsalted butter. Only a small amount! Many muffin recipes call for ¼ to ½ cup of butter or oil (if not more!), but you only need ½ tablespoon for this recipe. That helps keep your ultimate healthy oatmeal muffins low calorie and low fat! But I promise they’re just as moist and soft as other muffins. We’ll cover why that is momentarily!
Tip: You can easily substitute any neutral-tasting oil for the butter. Coconut, canola, and plenty more — so feel free to use whatever you’re most comfortable with!
Egg whites. These bind together the ingredients, and they also contribute to your oatmeal muffins’ structure. The whites contain the majority of the protein in eggs, and that protein helps your muffins rise in the oven and also helps prevent them from collapsing while cooling.
Greek yogurt. One of my favorite ingredients in healthy baking! I’ve used it to make just about everything imaginable: muffins, scones, pancakes, waffles, cakes, cupcakes, brownies… Even frosting and whipped cream!
In this recipe, Greek yogurt adds the same moisture to the batter as extra butter or oil — but for a fraction of the calories. It’s also full of protein, so it gives your healthy oatmeal muffins a protein boost too!
Milk. Just about any type will work, so feel free to use whatever you already have in your fridge! I typically use unsweetened almond milk, unsweetened cashew milk, and fat-free milk the most.
Sweetener. To sweeten these ultimate healthy oatmeal muffins, I turned to another one of my favorite ingredients: liquid stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing refined or artificial (aka it’s clean eating friendly!). It’s also highly concentrated, so a little goes a long way. You only need 1 ½ teaspoons to sweeten your entire batch of muffins!
Tip: Many stevia brands and products have different sweetness levels, so they’re not necessarily 1-for-1 substitutes for each other. For the best results, I highly recommend using the same one that I do! I buy it online here because that’s the best price I’ve found. It’s not a “one-time use” ingredient either — you can use it to make all of these other recipes of mine too!
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY OATMEAL MUFFINS
Now that you’ve gathered your ingredients, let’s cover how to make the best healthy oatmeal muffins! Like I promised earlier, this recipe is fairly simple and straightforward. Still, I have some tips to share with you to ensure your muffins turn out perfectly!
Measure correctly. I know, I know… I sound like a broken record and say this all the time — but it’s incredibly important! So yes, I’m going to repeat myself yet again.
Make sure you measure each of the ingredients properly, especially the oats and flour! Use this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Too much of either one will dry out your muffins, particularly the oats. They act like little sponges and soak up lots of moisture from the batter!
However, for liquid ingredients (the ones given in mL), skip the scale and use regular measuring cups instead. Almost every liquid ingredient has a different density, which means that they all have different weights per volume. So unless you’re willing to look up each one’s density and do the math to convert from mL to grams… Regular measuring cups are much faster — and more accurate!
Mix by hand. That’s right! Put away your stand mixer and hand-held mixer. They tend to overmix low-fat batters, like this one. Overmixing leads to rubbery, gummy, dense, or tough textures. Not good… But if you make your batter by hand, your healthy oatmeal muffins should turn out perfectly soft and tender!
So use a whisk where explicitly instructed and a fork for everything else. Yup, that’s right — a fork! Not a spatula or wooden spoon. I know it sounds strange, but there’s a reason behind this logic…
Spatulas and wooden spoons have flat, wide surfaces. A fork has empty space between its tines. Those empty spaces let ingredients pass through and mix together more efficiently, which also helps guard against overmixing, so a fork helps yield a softer and moister texture. I use this fork trick all the time — and it works like a charm!
Soak the oats. I already built this into Step 2 of the recipe, but I want to cover why! In your first bowl, you’ll mix the oats with the Greek yogurt and some of the milk. By doing so, the oats start soaking up moisture ahead of time, so they begin to soften before you even pop your muffins into the oven. That helps create an even better moist and tender muffin texture!
Hint: It’s the same way my overnight oats recipes work! Mixing the oats with yogurt and refrigerating them overnight yields the same soft texture as if you had cooked them the more traditional way in the microwave or on the stove.
Tip: Make sure you let the oats sit in that yogurt-and-milk bath for at least 10 minutes. As long as you soak them first, before measuring any of the other ingredients or mixing them together, they should have enough time to begin plumping up and softening!
Prep the liners. Low-fat batters, like this one, tend to stick to muffin liners like superglue. (Trust me… I spent an embarrassing amount of time prying one batch out with an offset spatula and toothpicks!)
So before dolloping the batter into your muffin cups or muffin liners, generously coat them with nonstick cooking spray. This little trick means the muffins should pop right out of the pan or, if you’re using liners, they should peel away quite easily, just like with traditional muffin recipes.
Bake. It’s time! Slide your pan into the oven, set a timer, and wait… Impatiently, if you’re anything like me. (The extra cozy aroma wafting throughout the house doesn’t exactly help!) The muffins should rise nicely in the oven, with beautifully tall domed tops, and they’re done baking when the centers feel firm or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs attached.
Then all that’s left to do is eat — the best part!
THE ULTIMATE HEALTHY OATMEAL MUFFINS – FLAVOR VARIATIONS
Think of this healthy oatmeal muffins recipe as a fantastic blank canvas. With a few tweaks and mix-ins, you can easily customize them to suit your tastes and satisfy your cravings! I’ve included some of my favorite flavor variations below. (I highly recommend starting with the carrot one… Those muffins taste like carrot cake!)
- Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Carrot Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Morning Glory Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Peach Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Zucchini Oatmeal Muffins
FAQS ABOUT THE ULTIMATE HEALTHY OATMEAL MUFFINS
Are these oatmeal muffins sugar-free, low calorie, low fat, gluten-free, or clean eating?
They sure are! As written, these healthy oatmeal muffins are clean eating, sugar-free, low fat, and low calorie (compared to traditional recipes!). I’ve also shared my top recommendations for making them gluten-free in the Notes section of the recipe.
Can I use old-fashioned rolled oats?
Kind of! Measure the same amount of old-fashioned rolled oats, but pulse them in a blender or food processor first, until they’re ⅛ to ¼ of their original size. This makes them closer in size to instant oats, so your muffins should have a similar soft and moist texture.
What about a different flour?
Yup! White whole wheat flour and regular whole wheat flour are my two favorites, but whole wheat pastry flour and all-purpose flour also work. (See the Notes section for my gluten-free recommendations!)
Can I use whole eggs?
Yes again! Use two large eggs, and reduce the milk by 1 tablespoon to compensate for the added volume from the yolks.
I don’t like stevia. Can I substitute something else?
Absolutely! I understand it’s an ingredient that doesn’t necessarily work for everyone, so I’ve included multiple different sweetener options in the Notes section of the recipe. Check there — and remember you’ll need to change the amount of milk to compensate for this modification too!
How about a different type of milk?
You bet! Almost any type will work, so feel free to use whatever you already have in your fridge.
I like a strong spice flavor. Can I add more?
You sound just like me! You can absolutely bump up the spices, if you’d prefer. Remember, cinnamon = coziness, nutmeg = richness, ginger = warmth. Cinnamon is often the easiest one to tweak, so try starting there. (If you aren’t using it already, I also highly recommend Saigon cinnamon — it has a stronger flavor!)
My muffins turned out gummy or dry. Why is that?
There are a few common culprits. First, make sure you’re measuring the ingredients correctly. Too much flour or too many oats will quickly dry out your muffins and can make them crumbly. (And don’t use a kitchen scale for any ingredients given in mL!) Second, gently mix by hand. No stand mixers or hand-held mixers! Third, don’t overbake these muffins. That will also make them dry!
(See the “How to Make the Best Healthy Oatmeal Muffins” section above for more details about each of these!)
What’s the best way to store these healthy oatmeal muffins? And how long do they last?
Store any leftover muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They should keep for at least four days, if not longer! These oatmeal muffins also freeze really well. (I typically recommend removing any paper liners before freezing. They don’t always peel away as easily after thawing.)
Time for breakfast! And when you make your own, would you mind leaving a comment and rating the recipe? (You can also snap a picture and share it with me on Facebook!) I’d love to hear what you think of these ultimate healthy oatmeal muffins!
The Ultimate Healthy Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (75g) instant oats (gluten-free if necessary and measured like this)
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 ¼ cups (300mL) nonfat milk, divided
- 2 cups (240g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tsp liquid stevia (see Notes!)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and coat 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray. (If using liners, then line 12 muffin cups with liners and coat them with cooking spray.)
- In a medium bowl, stir together the oats, Greek yogurt, and ¼ cup of milk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a third bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, vanilla, and stevia. Add in the oat mixture, stirring until no large lumps remain. Stir in ½ cup of milk. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and remaining ½ cup of milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts.)
- Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 26-29 minutes or until the top feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few dry crumbs attached. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Blueberry Muffins
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Chocolate Muffins
♡ The Ultimate Healthy Morning Glory Muffins
♡ Healthy Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Quick Bread
♡ Healthy Apple Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
♡ Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
♡ Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Snack Cake
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy muffin recipes!
Is it possible to use all oatmeal instead of flour?
We really appreciate your interest in our recipe, Eileen! We haven’t tried using additional oats in place of the flour, and we don’t know that we’d recommend it. The texture would be quite different and much denser, and the muffins wouldn’t rise the same way, if at all. We also don’t know whether the amounts of liquid ingredients would need to change to compensate for that substitution.
We’d love to hear what you think of these muffins, whether you try the recipe as written or decide to experiment on your own! We always enjoy hearing about what recipe tweaks work out! 🙂
I love your recipes.I like to add some protein to baked recipes. Would it work to substitute 1/4 cup of whey protein for 1/4 cup of the flour? I use whole wheat pastry flour. Thank you!
We’re honored to hear you love our recipes, Grace!
We haven’t personally tried adding any protein to this recipe, so I’m not completely sure. All protein powders behave differently in baking recipes, so it’s tough to predict the exact results of adding or substituting any particular one. 😉 You might want to read through our Protein Powder FAQ page if baking with protein is something you’re interested in! It would be a good point of reference and might help if you decide to experiment on your own with this muffin recipe!
We also have a few flavors of protein muffins that already include protein in the recipe that you might be interested to try.
You also might like our oatmeal raisin energy bites. They use plant-based protein, not whey-based, but at least the flavor would be similar!
Whatever you decide, we’d love to hear about your results! 🙂
Do I need to make any adjustments to the recipe for 1/2 cup of soaked raisins
I love that idea, Lynsta! You should not need to make any adjustments as long as you make sure all of the excess liquid is thoroughly drained from your raisins before folding it into the batter. We’d love to hear what you think if you decide to try it! 🙂
Ok, but the real questions is how DO the restaurants get the oats to stick on top of their rolls? A mystery we may never solve. These muffins look like the ones from Costco, except obviously much healthier. I feel sick just looking at those Costco muffins, but in a good way. With these, it’s all beauty without the bellyache.
You’re the sweetest, Brittany! After 10+ years of following your blog (gosh, time flies!!), I have an idea of what your standards are like when it comes to baked goodies… So hearing that truly means a lot! ♡ Wish I could share a freshly baked batch of these muffins with you!
These definitely need more sweetener.
We’re honored that you tried this recipe, Myrna! That sounds disappointing and not how these muffins are supposed to turn out, so I’d love to work with you to figure out what happened!
Can you let me know the exact brand and product name of the stevia you used?
Or did you happen to use one of the sweetener alternatives that we listed in the Notes section?
Once I know that information, we should have a much better idea of what happened!
I didn’t have stevia so I googled. What would the equivalent be? And it told me to use the same equivalent in either honey or maple syrup, so that’s probably where the train went off the tracks…
We’re happy to help, Myrna! We understand baking with stevia can be tricky! That’s a big reason why Amy included an explanation about the liquid stevia that we use in her blog post above this oatmeal muffins recipe. (Look for the “Sweetener” header in the “Key Ingredients to Make the Ultimate Healthy Oatmeal Muffins” section!)
In a nutshell, many stevia brands and products have different sweetness concentrations, so they’re not necessarily 1-for-1 substitutes for honey or maple syrup — or even each other! We also understand that not everyone has access to (or enjoys!) the same liquid stevia that we do, so Amy always tries to include numerous sweetener alternatives in the Notes sections of these stevia-sweetened recipes. She did that for this recipe!
Two of those sweetener alternatives she offered are honey and pure maple syrup. No Googling necessary — we’ve done the work for you! 😉 Just look for the “Stevia Notes + Alternatives” header in the Notes section of this oatmeal muffins recipe box, below the Instructions, where we’ve shared exactly how much honey or maple syrup that you’ll need to replace the liquid stevia that we used.
It sounds like there’s a chance that you used honey or maple syrup as a 1-for-1 substitute for the liquid stevia. If that’s true, that would be why your muffins lacked sweetness! For the liquid stevia that we used (and linked to!), 1 ½ teaspoons is the sweetness equivalent of ¾ cup of granulated sugar!
So if you’d like to use honey or pure maple syrup, we recommend using the amount and modification that Amy provided in this recipe’s Notes section. Your muffins should taste and turn out much better! 🙂