Oat Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping
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These hearty muffins have a wholesome “oatey” flavor and a crunchy streusel topping.
These are my husband, Michael’s, favorite muffins — and when they mysteriously disappear from the countertop, I know who is the likely culprit! They’re hearty with a wholesome “oatey” flavor and crunchy streusel topping. I love them because they bake up so nicely. Typically, homemade muffins don’t rise as high as bakery muffins. It’s not the fault of the home baker; it’s simply difficult to create those dazzling high domes without an industrial convection oven. But these oat muffins dome beautifully — guaranteed — and will make you proud.
What You’ll Need To Make Oat Muffins
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by making the streusel topping. Combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
Drizzle with melted butter and stir to combine. The mixture should be clumpy.
Set that aside, then move on to the oats. Melt the butter in a pan.
Add the oats and cook for 6-8 minutes, until the oats and fragrant and golden. This step enhances the oat flavor.
Transfer the oats to a food processor.
Process until the oats are finely ground.
Then add the remaining dry ingredients.
Process again until uniform.
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar.
Add the milk and eggs.
Whisk to combine.
Gradually add the flour, stirring with the whisk, until the mixture is evenly moistened. It will look a little lumpy — that’s okay.
The batter will be quite thin. Let it sit for 20 minutes to thicken; it will thicken up quite a bit.
Using an ice cream scooper with a wire scraper or a spoon, fill the muffin cups to the rim with the batter.
Then top with the streusel.
Bake for 22-25 minutes.
Let the muffins cool in the pan for ten minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Serve warm.
Note: My starting point for this recipe was this oatmeal muffin from Cook’s Illustrated. I found their version to be a bit too dense, so I adjusted the ratio of oats to flour (increasing the flour and reducing the oats), and I also increased the leavening agents. For flavor, I added more cinnamon and reduced the salt.
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Oat Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping
These hearty muffins have a wholesome “oatey” flavor and a crunchy streusel topping.
Ingredients
For the Topping
- ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ⅓ cup packed light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup finely chopped pecans
- 1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Muffins
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
- 1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1¼ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1⅓ cups packed light brown sugar
- 1¾ cups milk
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
For the Topping
- Combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl. Drizzle the melted butter over top and stir to combine. The mixture will be clumpy. Set aside.
For the Muffins
- Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners (or grease with a nonstick baking spray with flour in it).
- Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the oats and cook, stirring frequently, until the oats turn golden and fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the oats to a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process into a fine meal. Add the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda to the oats and pulse until the mixture is uniform.
- Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add the milk and eggs and whisk until the mixture is smooth (if you have lumps, I find it helpful to warm the mixture a bit in the microwave.) Gradually add the flour/oat mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring gently with the whisk until the dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Do not over-mix; the batter will look a little lumpy -- that's okay. You will notice that the batter is very thin; let it sit for 20 minutes to thicken (don't worry -- it will thicken quite a bit). Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Using an ice cream scoop with a wire scraper or large spoon, divide the batter equally into the muffin cups; they will be filled to the rim. Evenly sprinkle the streusel topping over the batter. Bake until golden and domed, and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 22 to 25 minutes. (If your oven has hot spots, rotate the muffin tin halfway through baking.)
- Let the muffins cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Serve warm or after they are completely cooled, store in an airtight container.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The muffins can be frozen in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag for up to 3 months. Thaw for 3 – 4 hours on the countertop before serving. To reheat, wrap individual muffins in aluminum foil and place in a preheated 350°F oven until warm.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (12 servings)
- Serving size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 423
- Fat: 17g
- Saturated fat: 9g
- Carbohydrates: 62g
- Sugar: 32g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 7g
- Sodium: 377mg
- Cholesterol: 65mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Hi Jenn…this is the perfect oat muffin I’ve ever made! The topping is so crunchy and scrumptious. I only reduced the light brown sugar on the muffin batter to 2/3 of your recipe and it’s snuggle perfectly in 12 standard size muffin pan (USA pan). I forgot to put the muffin liner but after 10 minutes resting on wire rack, it can come out easily. Thank you very much for your great recipes. You truly are one talented and perfectionist Chef!
I’m sorry to say that these muffins were a disappointment. For starters, this much batter makes many more than 12 muffins. I had to add a second muffin pan and bake an extra 4-5 muffins – and that was after filling each muffin tin to the brim. Perhaps also because of the large quantity of flour in the muffin recipe, the muffins are not nearly sweet enough (and I don’t need them to be super-sweet). The streusel topping is too floury and doesn’t stick to the muffins – even though I took the time to gently pushed it down into the batter a bit. The muffins also stuck hard to the muffin tin liners, so removing them from the liners was a mess. Especially considering the amount of time and effort that went into making them, I would not use this recipe again, unfortunately.
These looked so good and worth the time, alas, they were flat and spread all over the tin, what happened? Your recipes always turn out so well, I am wondering what went wrong this time!
Hi Jane, Sorry you had a problem with these. They definitely should’ve risen nicely. Is it possible that you could’ve made a measuring mistake?
Made these for a friend’s pot-luck breakfast. Everyone loved them. I’d recommend making a double batch of the topping, though, since I definitely got 24 (not the listed 12) muffins out of the batch, and the crunchy-sweet streusel is the exciting part.
Hi- You mentioned convection ovens in regards to muffin baking. I never use the convection setting on my ovens (mostly from lack of knowledge). Should I use them for baking & if so how long would these bake on the convection setting? Thanks (love all your recipes)
Hi Jill, All of my recipes are based on baking with the standard setting (not convection). You can use the convection setting if you’d prefer. While the adjustments vary by manufacturer, typically you’d need to either by lower the oven’s temperature by about 25 degrees or by shorten the cooking time by about a quarter. Here are some guidelines that may help.
I made these for my daughter when she was home visiting and she loved them. Now she is back in Denver and wants to try making them. I am not familiar with higher altitude baking. Will she have to adjust the recipe? Thanks for any help!
Tracie, So glad she liked them. This link has some great tips/adjustments needed for high altitude baking. Hope that helps!
What is your suggestion for making these ahead of time? Can i make batter the night before and bake in the morning or should i bake at night and heat in the morning?
I would suggest baking them the night before and them reheating them in the morning. They can be reheated in the microwave. Enjoy!
I made these today and they turned out PERFECT!!!!! I can see why these are your husbands favorites. I made 6 muffins and then I made 24 mini muffins for my grandson. These are a winner in my book. Thanks for sharing it with me.
Can you replace quick cook oats for the old fashion oats?
Hi Virginia, I think that will work since they get ground into oat flour anyway. Please let me know how they turn out!
Love your recipe, but how would it fit into a dessert plan for a diabetic type 2?
Thank you, Jere. Unfortunately, it would not. Sorry!