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March 5, 2019

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Muffins

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brown sugar oatmeal muffins on a mini cake stand with text overlay that reads "brown sugar oatmeal muffins" and "joeats.net"

close up of brown sugar oatmeal muffin with bite taken out and butter knife with a dab of softened butter. Kitchen towel and mini cake stand in background

When I was in high school I was all about the early mornings. Because my dad had to bring me at school before he went into work, I would crawl out of bed at 5:30, often before the sun was up. By the time he dropped me off it was only about 7:15 and my first class didn’t start until 9. So basically I had a lot of time to kill. Some days I’d catch up on homework I hadn’t finished the night before, other days I would nap in the sophomore lounge. But at some point on most mornings I’d wander into the dining hall to see if Jerry was there prepping for the day.

brown sugar oatmeal muffins on a mini cake stand

Jerry was in charge of lunch time at my high school and thusly was a very important man. In the quiet morning hours though, before throngs of plaid skirt wearing high school girls queued up for taco salad (a Thursday tradition), he could be found quietly stocking beverages or unpacking boxes of muffins. I honestly don’t remember much about our exchanges other than that they were brief but courteous, and usually involved me handing him a dollar and him in turn handing me a giant Price Club muffin.

metal muffin tin with five brown sugar oatmeal muffins on top of striped kitchen towel. One muffin missing.

Jerry passed away recently. I heard about it via some social media outlet – probably Facebook. I hadn’t thought about him once in the time between graduating high school and reading of his death roughly 15 years later. And I can’t say that we were ever very close. But it does make me think fondly of those dark, quiet mornings and of those muffins. I’m glad that I have that one memory of him, and that occasionally when I eat a muffin, especially the kind you know is just cake masquerading as a breakfast food, that I’ll think of him and how he was always there on those early mornings.

overhead of brown sugar oatmeal muffins waiting to be baked in a metal muffin tin

These muffins are a little different than the ones I would get from Jerry, which were more dessert than breakfast, mammoth, and individually wrapped in plastic. But they are sweet and delicious and reminiscent of younger days. I hope you make them, or if not, that you make something today that stirs up a nice memory.

overhead shot of baked brown sugar oatmeal muffins in metal muffin tin

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Brown Sugar Oatmeal Muffins

close up of brown sugar oatmeal muffin with bite taken out and butter knife with a dab of softened butter. Kitchen towel and mini cake stand in background
Print Recipe

Fluffy muffins meet nutty oatmeal topped with brown sugar streusel which is pretty much breakfast nirvana – also a great way to use up leftover oatmeal.

  • Author: Jo
  • Prep Time: 10 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 Minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 12 Muffins 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

For the streusel topping:
1/4 C oats
1/4 C flour
1/4 C brown sugar
2 T turbinado sugar*
4 T cold, unsalted butter (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
pinch of salt

For the muffins:
1 1/4 C all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/4 C oil
1/4 C plain yogurt (I used whole milk, but greek would also be fine)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 C dark brown sugar
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 C cooked steel cut oatmeal, cooled*
4 T unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375° F. Grease a standard muffin tin with non-stick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.

In a small bowl combine all of the streusel ingredients. Combine with your hands, pinching the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles very coarse breadcrumbs (the largest pieces will be about the size of a pea). Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and cinnamon. Whisk to combine.

In a medium bowl (or large measuring cup), combine the eggs, oil, yogurt, vanilla, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cooked oatmeal. Whisk until smooth.

Stir the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until there are still a couple dry streaks of flour left. Add the melted butter and continue to stir just until butter is incorporated and no dry flour remains.

Portion the batter evenly into the muffin tin (filling each well about 3/4’s full). Top each muffin with a heaping tablespoon of the streusel mixture, pressing it gently into the batter to adhere.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly dry (a few moist crumbs attached are good, wet batter is not) and the streusel on top is golden brown.

Let cool in the tin for ten minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling. Serve warm with butter.

Notes

*If three types of sugar seems a little fussy to you, you can skip the turbinado sugar in the streusel and instead just use all brown sugar. I do love it though because it gives the topping a nice crunch.

*Steel cut oatmeal is the nuttier, chewier, version of oatmeal, before it gets rolled out into those thin flakes. You can also use cooked, rolled oats if you’d like, but make sure they’re on the thicker side, but don’t use instant or quick cooking.

Keywords: brown sugar oatmeal muffins, oatmeal muffins, streusel topping, breakfast muffins, quick breakfast

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @jo_eats_ on Instagram and hashtag it #joeats

Brown sugar oatmeal muffin on small white plate in foreground. Mini cake stand with stacked muffins in background

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Jo Eats

Hi, I'm Jo!
I'm a self-taught, home cook who loves pretty much all things food. I am obsessed with creating, photographing, and sharing beautiful and accessible recipes with YOU. Thanks for stopping by!
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