Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins — Soft, Tender & Delicious

 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins are a simple, wholesome bake made with rolled oats, brown sugar, and plenty of chocolate chips. These muffins have a soft, tender crumb with a slightly chewy texture from the oats, making them perfect for breakfast, snacks, or lunchboxes. They mix together quickly, use everyday pantry ingredients, and bake up beautifully golden. If you enjoy classic oatmeal cookies or hearty homemade muffins, this recipe is an easy and delicious option to add to your regular baking rotation.

  

This recipe I am showing you today is adapted from one which I found in this little book, Muffins, by Susan Reimer. It is out of print, but you can still find good used copies for sale.

There is something really delicious about the combination of oatmeal and chocolate chips. They are a beautiful flavor combination. The muffins themselves have a lovely texture.  They are like muffins are supposed to be, a bit sturdier than a cake with lovely little holes and pebbled tops.

Today I used  milk chocolate chips.  If you are not fond of chocolate chips you could use chopped dates, or sultanas, dried apricots or even currants. 

These would also make great lunch box additions for the kids, or even to bring to work for coffee break.  They would also be great served as a snack after school with glasses of cold milk.  

 

INGREDIENTS NEEDED

TO MAKE

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

There is nothing complicated or out of the ordinary about these.

• 3/4 cup (60g) rolled oats
• 1 cup plus 2 TBS (260ml) milk
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 TBS (225g) plain all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp baking power
• pinch salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 cup (85g) chocolate chips, plus extra for sprinkling on top if desired
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten with a fork
• 1/2 cup (100g) soft light brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup plus 1 TBS (90ml) vegetable oil

 

NOTES ON INGREDIENTS

Rolled oats are large flake oats. Do not use instant or steel cut oats for these muffins.

I use whole milk. You could also use 2% if you wish. I would not use skimmed milk.

Do NOT use self-raising flour.  All-purpose plain flour is what is required.

Check your baking powder to make sure it is fresh.

You can use bottled nutmeg, but freshly grated nutmeg has the best flavor.

I used milk chocolate chips today, but you can use semi-sweet, white, butterscotch, cinnamon, or any other type of chocolate chip you wish. You can even leave out the chocolate chips and replace them with dried fruits.

I used light olive oil.

 

HOW TO MAKE

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

As with any muffin, these go together easily.  It is a simple matter of folding together a number of dry ingredients and wet ingredients, then spooning the batter into muffin tins and baking. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

 

1. Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line a 12 cup medium muffin tin with paper liners, or butter very well. Set aside. (Either way works well.)
2. Measure the oats into a bowl and add the milk. Set aside while you put together the remaining ingredients. (This allows the oats to absorb the milk and soften.)
3. Sift the flour into a bowl with the baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Add the beaten egg, brown sugar, oil and vanilla to the oat mixture. (Mix well together.)
5. Add the oat mixture all at once to the dry mixture and stir to just combine, so no dry bits of flour are left. (Don't over combine or you risk having a tough muffin. A few lumps are quite acceptable.)
6. Divide between the muffin cups, filling them about 2/3 full.
7. Bake for 20 minutes, until well risen and the tops feel quite firm. They should also be golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of one should come out clean. (There might be melted chocolate on it however!)
8. Tip out onto a wire rack to cool.

 

HINTS AND TIPS FOR GREAT MUFFINS

Here are my hints and tips for making sure that your muffins turn out beautifully every time:

1. Mix wet and dry ingredients separately. To prevent the mix from being overworked, first mix the wet ingredients together in one bowl and mix the dry ingredients in another. Make a well in the dry ingredients, carefully pour in the wet ingredients, then stir the mix a couple of times to roughly combine. 

 2. Don't over mix your muffins. The most important rule of muffin making is to not over stir the mix. What you really want is to just moisten the ingredients. Do not stir or beat the batter until it is smooth and lump free. You want the final mix to be lumpy, and thick with a few floury streaks.

 3. Add your flavors last.  While spices should be added with all the other dry ingredients, additions like fruit and nuts should be added last. Give the batter one more light-handed stir once you've added them in just to combine.  

4. Line the pans. You can choose to either grease the muffin tin or line it with paper liners. If you choose to forgo the liners, make sure you grease the base and sides of the cups with oil spray or a little melted butter. If you're not going to eat the muffins for a while, do use paper liners as these will keep the muffins fresher for longer. 

 5. Don't overfill your pans. Aim to fill the cups ¾ full to get muffins with nice round tops and to prevent them from spilling out over the top of the cups.  Often if your tins are over filled the muffins will rise to the top and then collapse on themselves.

 6. For extra interest, add a flavorful sprinkle on top.  Once the muffin cups are all filled, you can choose to sprinkle the tops with more fruit, nuts or a crumble topping, even sanding sugar or cinnamon sugar, for even more taste and or crunch. As the muffins rise these toppings will cook into the tops of the muffin.  

7. Protect your baking pan.  If there isn't enough batter to fill all the cups, half fill the empty ones with water. This will help the muffins bake evenly and will help to protect your pan from buckling. 

8. Cooling them down. Once you remove the muffins from the oven, let them sit in their pan for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack. This is especially important for muffins that aren't in a paper liner, as it will help them from falling apart. However, remove them after five minutes otherwise you risk them going soggy as they cool in the pan. 

9. Freeze extras for later. Muffins freeze beautifully, so if you can't enjoy them all on the day they're baked, wrap them in plastic wrap  tightly,  and put them in the freezer for later. They will keep for about 3 months and reheat wonderfully in the microwave for about 30 seconds on high from frozen. 

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

CAN THESE MUFFINS BE MIXED TOGETHER AHEAD OF TIME?

If you like you can mix together the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately, ready to mix together when you are ready to bake them. The dry ingredients can be kept in a bowl, covered on the countertop. The wet ingredients should be kept in the refrigerator, covered. Bring them to room temperature before mixing and baking. I would not do this more than 24 hours ahead of time.

WHAT ARE ROLLED OATS?

Rolled oats are also known as Old Fashioned Oats. They are a type of oatmeal that has been steamed and then flattened with large rollers to create large flakes. They cook faster than steel cut oats.

CAN I CUT THIS RECIPE IN HALF?

Yes, you can absolutely cut this recipe in half.  Simply divide all of the ingredients by two. Bake times will remain the same and you will be able to make six delicious muffins rather than 12.

CAN THESE BE FROZEN ONCE BAKED?

Yes, these can be frozen after baking. Simply wrap  each muffin individually in some cling film and then place them all into a zip lock baggie, label and date.  That way you can take out as many or as few as you wish to eat. You can thaw them on the countertop for several hours, or you can gently reheat in the microwave for about 30 seconds on high. You can freeze them for up to three months, properly wrapped.

HOW LONG WILL THESE MUFFINS KEEP ONCE BAKED?

They will keep for up to five days once baked. Store in an airtight container.

 

A FEW OTHER MUFFIN RECIPES TO ENJOY

Here are a few other muffin recipes that you might also enjoy!

SPECIAL K BREAKFAST MUFFINS - These are the PERFECT breakfast muffins. Quick and easy to make. Delicious. I highly recommend. Simple and filled with fiber. You can use ordinary Special K cereal, or you can be a bit more extravagant and use one of the varieties which contain fruit.  This recipe makes half a dozen fabulous muffins. 

GINGERBREAD MUFFINS - I am a hug fan of gingerbread anything. I think gingerbread is probably one of my favorite things to bake and eat! They are moist and delicious with a lovely crumb and beautiful ginger/cinnamon flavor. The recipe makes a full batch of 12 fabulous muffins! 

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Yield: 12 medium muffins

Author: Marie Rayner

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 35 Min

A delicious muffin which is filled with oats and chocolate chips. You can use the equivalent in dried fruit if you would rather not use chocolate chips. I always add extra chocolate chips to the top after I spoon them into the pan (prior to baking), but that is a personal preference. 

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (60g) rolled oats
• 1 cup plus 2 TBS (260ml) milk
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 TBS (225g) plain all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp baking power
• pinch salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 cup (85g) chocolate chips, plus extra for sprinkling on top if desired
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten with a fork
• 1/2 cup (100g) soft light brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup plus 1 TBS (90ml) vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line a 12 cup medium muffin tin with paper liners, or butter very well. Set aside.
2. Measure the oats into a bowl and add the milk. Set aside while you put together the remaining ingredients.
3. Sift the flour into a bowl with the baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Add the beaten egg, brown sugar, oil and vanilla to the oat mixture.
5. Add the oat mixture all at once to the dry mixture and stir to just combine, so no dry bits of flour are left. Don't over combine.
6. Divide between the muffin cups, filling them about 2/3 full.
7. Bake for 20 minutes, until well risen and the tops feel quite firm. They should also be golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of one should come out clean. (There might be melted chocolate on it however!)
8. Tip out onto a wire rack to cool.

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