Apple Oatmeal Muffins: Steam Oven and Conventional methods
Oatmeal muffins are easy, healthy and open to so many flavor combinations, from these apple oatmeal to banana oatmeal muffins, oatmeal chocolate chip or blueberry oatmeal muffins.
Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C, combination steam setting. If your oven has variable steam settings, choose 30% (if not, don’t worry! Just set to combi steam at the correct temperature and the oven will figure out the humidity for you). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper muffin liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the chunks of apple and stir so they’re coated with the dry ingredients.
2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 4 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp fine salt, 3/4 cup diced apple
In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the oatmeal and mash with a fork to break up clumps. Add the milk and butter, and stir or whisk to combine.
2 eggs, 1 cup oatmeal, ½ cup whole milk, 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, and stir to just combine.
Divide the batter evenly between the wells of the prepared muffin tin. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the muffins comes out clean, about 15 minutes. The muffins will look lightly browned and well risen.
Remove the cooked muffins from the oven and turn onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Method - conventional oven
Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. If your oven has a convection (fan) setting, use that and set the temperature to 350°F/180°C. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper muffin liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the chunks of apple and stir so they’re coated with the dry ingredients.
2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 4 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp fine salt, 3/4 cup diced apple
In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the oatmeal and mash with a fork to break up clumps. Add the milk and butter, and stir or whisk to combine.
2 eggs, 1 cup oatmeal, ½ cup whole milk, 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, and stir to just combine.
Divide the batter evenly between the wells of the prepared muffin tin. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the muffins comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. The muffins will look lightly browned and well risen.
Remove the cooked muffins from the oven and turn onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
These muffins are best fresh from the oven and will go stale if not eaten on the day they’re made.
If you have leftover muffins, wrap well and freeze. Defrost in a low steam oven and warm or toast to serve.
My cooked oatmeal is usually made from rolled oats but steel-cut or pin head oatmeal makes really special muffins with a fantastic texture. If you haven't planned ahead with your cooked oatmeal, soak 1/2 cup rolled oats in 1/2 cup hot water or milk for 20 minutes before starting the recipe.
The brown sugar in this recipe can be swapped out for white sugar or a mix of the two, or omitted entirely in favor of 1/4-1/3 cup honey or maple syrup.
Variations:
Healthy banana oatmeal muffins (low sugar): omit the apple and one of the eggs. Reduce the sugar down to 2-3 tablespoons. Mash 1 large or 2 small ripe bananas and stir into the wet ingredients.
Blueberry oatmeal muffins: swap the apple chunks for blueberries (fresh or frozen). If you want your muffins to be more like a traditional blueberry muffin, swap out the brown sugar for white.
Banana blueberry oatmeal muffins: add a half cup of blueberries to the healthy banana oatmeal muffins above.
Oatmeal choc chip muffins: swap the apples for semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chunks of dark chocolate. Sprinkle a few rolled oats on top of the muffins just before they go into the oven.
Cranberry oatmeal muffins: swap the apple for dried cranberries and the brown sugar for white sugar. Add the zest of a lemon or half an orange to the wet mixture.