Healthy Oatmeal Muffins — 😍❤️🎉 These healthy oatmeal muffins won’t jeopardize your New Year’s resolutions and are skinny jeans-friendly. No oil, no dairy, and just 1/4 cup of brown sugar!
Table of Contents
Healthy Oatmeal Muffins Recipe
These brown sugar muffins are a dump-everything-all-at-once-into-one-bowl-and-stir recipe — my favorite kind.
The muffins are very soft, moist, and super springy. Plus, they have wonderful chewiness, and great texture thanks in part to the oats. But there’s no oil or butter, no dairy, and just 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar in the entire batch. Really.
I used Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almondmilk, and it’s tied with Silk’s newer Unsweetened Cashewmilk as my two favorite milks for baking. Very low in calories, high in calcium and protein, very smooth, and irresistibly creamy. I get great results every time.
I honestly couldn’t believe how much flavor these skinny muffins packed given the very small amount of sugar. They’re a perfect grab-and-go breakfast or snack, and they freeze well so you can make a double batch and pull them out as needed!
What’s in Healthy Oatmeal Muffins?
To make these healthy breakfast muffins, you’ll need:
- Egg – I haven’t tested this recipe with flax eggs or chia seed eggs and can’t guarantee your results if you do
- All-purpose flour
- Rolled oats
- Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almondmilk – You’re also welcome to use another milk (dairy or non-dairy), if desired. Just be sure to use an unsweetened milk, otherwise your healthy oatmeal muffins will taste far too sweet
- Sugar-free pancake syrup
- Dark brown sugar
- Silk Vanilla Dairy-Free Yogurt – You can substitute with your favorite Greek yogurt or lite sour cream if that’s what you keep on hand. If using plain yogurt, I recommend adding a splash of vanilla extract
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Healthy Oatmeal Muffins
To make these healthy oatmeal muffins, simply add all the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir until just combined. Here’s an overview of the process:
- Add the dry ingredients and wet ingredients to a large bowl, and blend just until smooth. Be careful not to overmix!
- Use a large cookie scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup to portion the muffin batter, spooning the mixture into a muffin tin greased with cooking spray or lined with paper liners.
- Bake until the tops of the muffins are set and springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin pan.
- Transfer the oat muffins to a write rack to cool completely at room temperature.
What to Serve with Oatmeal Brown Sugar Muffins
Recipe FAQs
Most of the sweetness in these healthy oatmeal muffins comes from the sugar-free pancake syrup. If you want to use real maple syrup, feel free, but the oatmeal muffins won’t be as skinny since real syrup is packed with calories. You can also try using honey or maple syrup for natural sweetness.
No, rolled oats (aka old-fashioned oats) are a must. Instant or quick oats are more finely ground and act more like flour. Using instant oats would result in super dry muffins.
I love the simplicity of these muffins, but you can experiment with any mix-ins you like best! Ground cinnamon is a great way to add extra warmth and enhance the sweetness of the muffins. Or, you could fold pecans, walnuts, or even chocolate chips into the batter for extra flavor and texture.
I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten-free flours but believe it would work just fine with a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour.
Stored in an airtight container, leftover muffins will keep fresh at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Yes! I love to freeze extra muffins for later. They will stay fresh in a sealable bag or airtight container in the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw them in the fridge overnight, or quickly defrost them in the microwave.
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
Skinny Oatmeal Brown Sugar Muffins
Equipment
- 1 (12 Cup) Muffin Pan
- 1 Large Bowl
- 1 Large Cookie Scoop or 1/4 Cup Measuring Cup
- 1 Wire Rack
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup old-fashioned whole-rolled oats, don’t use quick cook or instant; they’re finer and act more like flour and batter will be too dry
- ½ cup Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almondmilk, Silk Unsweetened Cashewmilk or another milk may be substituted
- ½ cup sugar-free pancake syrup, lite syrup or real maple syrup may be substituted
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed (strongly recommend dark, although light brown may be substituted)
- ¼ cup Silk Vanilla Dairy-Free Yogurt, Greek yogurt, sour cream, or lite sour cream may be substituted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 10 of the 12 cavities of a Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan (note you will not use all 12) very well with cooking spray or grease and flour the pan; set aside. (I don’t prefer the cosmetic look of muffin liners.)
- To a large bowl, add all the ingredients and whisk until smooth and combined, without needlessly over-mixing.
- Using a large cookie scoop or 1/4-cup measure, evenly distribute the batter into 10 of the cavities of the prepared pan, filling each cavity no more than 3/4-full or muffins will overflow while baking.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until tops are set, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Use your judgment when evaluating doneness because muffin pans, ovens, ingredients, and climates vary. Start watching closely at about 16 minutes.
- Allow muffins to cool in pan on top of a wire rack for about 10 before removing and placing on rack to cool completely. Gently rim each cavity with a knife if necessary for easier removal.
Notes
- Muffins will keep airtight at room temp for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Healthy Muffin Recipes:
Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Trail Mix Vegan Muffins – Fast, easy, healthy, and made with your favorite trail mix ingredients!
Oatmeal To-Go Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins — Like having a bowl of warm pumpkin oatmeal in portable muffin form! Fast and easy!
Vegan Mini-Chocolate Chip Mini-Muffins – Fast, easy, no-mixer recipe for healthy muffins!
Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Mini Blender Muffins — Gluten-free, grain-free, soy-free, dairy-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free! Under 100 calories each, easy, and taste amazing!
Skinny Blueberry Muffins — These easy blueberry muffins are made with Greek yogurt instead of butter, and there’s only a little vegetable oil and sugar in these. Don’t worry, these don’t taste healthy at all!
Skinny Mini Sweet Potato Muffins — A cute title for cute little muffins that are only 64 calories each. The muffins are super soft and tender in the interior with slight chewiness around the edges.
Flourless Blueberry Banana Blender Muffins — No flour or oats, no butter, and no added white or brown sugar yet they’re incredibly moist, super soft, perfectly sweet, and are bursting with blueberries!
This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.
I have a question. Could agave syrup and maple flavoring be substitute of I run out of enough actual maple syrup ? 😬
Yes that would be fine. Enjoy!
What a great article! This site is so jam-packed with valuable information that I can’t wait to delve in and use the tools you’ve provided. I have a similar piece that will undoubtedly be helpful. Click Here to check it out
I am wondering if you can substitute almond flour for the white flour in the recipe?
I don’t recommend it since it doesn’t have gluten and I don’t think the texture will be very good. If GF is the issue, try a GF flour intended for baking.
I made a triple batch of these every two weeks while on maternity leave! I LOVE them and they are so easy to pull out of the freezer and the perfect snack while breastfeeding! Even my haphazard baking skills couldn’t mess up your easy-to-follow instructions! About to make a whole bunch for a girlfriend who just had a baby! Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this recipe has been a total keeper for you!
Very moist. A very nice “anytime” treat! Will most definitely be making these again!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you will definitely make them again!
yes, only 1/4 cup sugar but add 1/2 cup of syrup ?
Yes. In an entire batch of muffins. That is not much. Compare it to other muffin recipes.
Made this this morning, used 5% greek yogurt and pure maple syrup. Baked up perfectly, and they are AMAZING!
Thanks for the 5 star rating and glad you loved the muffins! Pure maple is always delish!
Can you one of those store bought unsweetened applesauce cups to make moist? I use this in cakes especially carrot cakes?
I have only made the recipe as written and it turns out great. My recommendation is to do that.
hi- i just tried these and the batter came out VERY runny and the muffins were still very very soft after baking for 35 mins. what would you suggest? I also had SO much batter left over- could have made 12 muffins but it said to only make 10 so they all overflowed :(
All pans vary so fill to an appropriate amount for your pan. I’d say if batter was excessively thin to use a smidge more flour next time. Thanks for trying the recipe.
I made them with 1/4 cup more flour and they came out perfect! so good! I did get 12 muffins though
Wonderful!
These are so yummy. I added cinnamon, an apple, and chopped walnuts and they turned out wonderful too!!! Thanks for the recipe!!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Love your additions!