Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins are gluten-free and made from rolled oats and oat flour. They bake up soft and fluffy, with optional oat crumble topping.
I've been really enjoying oatmeal muffins lately, and after this recipe, I plan to bring you more. The muffins that I mean are made entirely with rolled oats, half of which are ground into fine oat flour. There are no other flours or grains in these muffins, so they're gluten-free.
While I don't require a gluten-free diet, I still love these Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins because I enjoy oats. These muffins are light and fluffy, which I didn't really expect when I started experimenting with oat muffins. However, to get them to be light and fluffy, you'll have to take a few extra steps that aren't typical of most (flour-based) muffins. Keep reading to learn how.
How to make Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
Making muffins that are completely made from oats and oat flour requires grinding half of the oats into a fine flour. I find that my coffee grinder does the best job of this (in two batches), but a mini food processor or regular food processor will work too. Alternatively, if you have oat flour on hand, you could use that.
Whisk the oats and oat flour together with sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, milk, eggs, oil, and vanilla.
Use a mixer
Pour the liquid ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients, and mix on low just until combined. Turn the mixer up to high, and mix for for two more minutes. Note that using an electric mixer (you could use either a hand mixer or a stand mixer) is necessary when making these gluten-free oat muffins. Skipping the mixer will result in flat, sunken, dense muffins that will still taste ok, but will definitely look weird and have an inferior texture.
Rest the batter
Once the batter is mixed, let it rest for at least an hour (cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and put it in the fridge). This helps to ensure that the oats are fully hydrated, will allow the batter to thicken, and will result in a better rise and fluffier muffins. Note that this resting step will make ALL muffins better, not just gluten-free or oat-based ones.
Just before baking, carefully fold the blueberries into the batter. Using fresh blueberries results in less blue color bleeding into the batter. If you use frozen blueberries, make sure not to thaw them, as using frozen berries helps to prevent the color bleed.
Scoop the batter into paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup about ¾ full. If desired, top each batter portion with about a teaspoon of the oat crumble mixture, and bake until the tops of the muffins are golden brown.
Cool the muffins for about 10 minutes before serving. Cool completely to room temperature before storing in a zipper bag or airtight container.
The muffins can be kept at room temperature if you plan to eat them within the next 2 days, but put them in the freezer if you want to keep them for longer. Thaw at room temperature or in the microwave before serving.
Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins Ingredients
- Rolled oats - you will be using rolled oats in 3 different ways for this recipe. You will be grinding some of them into a fine, flour-like powder, you will be using some of them whole in the muffin batter, and you will be using some of them in the Oat Crumble Topping. Make sure you're using rolled oats (they might be called "Old Fashioned" oats. Don't replace them with instant oats or steel-cup oats. If you already happen to have oat flour on hand, you can use that instead of grinding your own oats.
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Table salt - if you use kosher salt instead, use 1 teaspoon.
- Plain or vanilla Greek yogurt - or replace with your favorite dairy-free version to make these muffins dairy-free
- Milk - any milkfat percentage will work, or use your favorite dairy-free milk to make these muffins dairy-free.
- Canola oil or any other neutral-flavored cooking oil
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Blueberries - you can use either fresh or frozen blueberries here, but using frozen blueberries tends to cause the blue color to run into the batter. To minimize this, add the berries to the batter frozen, don't thaw first.
- Melted butter - you only need a small amount for the optional oat crumble topping. Use a dairy-free butter alternative instead to make these muffins dairy-free.
- Brown sugar - a small amount of brown sugar is used in the oat crumble topping. Replace with granulated sugar if you don't have any.
- Cinnamon - a small amount of cinnamon is used in the oat crumble topping. Omit it if you don't like cinnamon or don't have any.
Want more muffin recipes?
Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins Nutrition Notes
The nutrition information in the recipe below is for one muffin if you make 12 muffins from the recipe. If you make more (smaller) or fewer (larger) muffins, the nutrition information will vary accordingly.
If you're making these muffins for someone who follows a gluten-free diet, make sure they can tolerate oats, as not everyone can. Also, make sure the oats are labeled as gluten-free.
To make these muffins dairy-free, replace the yogurt and milk in the recipe with dairy-free versions of each. Also, replace the butter with a dairy-free butter alternative or skip the Oat Crumble Topping.
Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
Equipment
- Paper Muffin Liners optional
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups rolled oats divided
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt see note
- ½ cup milk see note
- ¼ cup canola oil or other neutral-flavored cooking oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Oat Crumble Topping (optional)
- ¼ cup rolled oats
- 1 Tablespoon melted butter use a dairy-free butter alternative to make these muffins dairy-free
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Add 1 ¼ cups of the rolled oats to a clean coffee grinder or mini food processor. Pulse until the oats are finely ground, to the texture of flour (you might have to do this in a couple of batches if using a coffee grinder).
- Whisk together the ground oats, the remaining 1 ¼ cups rolled oats, ¾ cup granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon table salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a small bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together ½ cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt, ½ cup milk, ¼ cup canola oil, 2 large eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a hand mixer on low speed until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Increase the mixer to high speed and mix for an additional two minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and place in the fridge to rest for at least an hour, or up to 12 hours, or overnight.
- In the meantime, mix up the Oat Crumble Topping (if using). In a small bowl, stir together ¼ cup rolled oats, 1 Tablespoon melted butter, 1 Tablespoon brown sugar, and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon. Set aside until ready to use.
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by lining the cups with paper liners. Fold 1 cup blueberries into the batter with a spatula. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Top each muffin with a little bit (roughly 1 teaspoon per muffin) of the oat crumble topping.
- Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it. Cool the muffins for 10 minutes before serving. Store any leftovers in a zipper bag in the freezer and thaw at room temperature or for a few seconds in the microwave.
Notes
Nutrition
Leave a Reply