Oat Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping
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A bakery-style muffin with real breakfast energy. These are soft, golden, and loaded with oat goodness and a nutty brown sugar crown.
These are my husband’s favorite muffins, so 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 this oat muffin recipe domes beautifully— guaranteed—and will make you proud.
If you’re a fan of muffins that are crowned with “goodies” on top, you may also like these banana nut muffins, pumpkin muffins, and apple muffins.
“I almost never write a recipe review. These need one…I stumbled upon muffin heaven—absolutely divine.”
What You’ll Need To Make Oat Muffins
You’ll need rolled oats, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, pecans, eggs, and milk.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the streusel topping. In a small bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon, and salt. Drizzle with melted butter and stir until the mixture is clumpy. Set aside.
Pro Tip: Make sure to use old-fashioned rolled oats, not quick oats. Quick oats are cut smaller and steamed longer, so they cook faster but break down more when cooked. Old-fashioned oats keep their shape and add better texture.
Step 2: Toast the oats. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the oats and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until golden and fragrant—this boosts their flavor.
Step 3: Grind the oats and remaining dry ingredients. Transfer the toasted oats to a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add the remaining dry ingredients and process until uniform.
Step 4: Start the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth.
Step 5: Add the milk and eggs. Pour in the milk, then add the eggs, one at a time. Whisk until fully combined.
Step 6: Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Gradually whisk in the dry mixture until evenly moistened. The batter will be thin and slightly lumpy—don’t worry. Let it sit for 20 minutes to thicken up before baking.
Step 7: Fill the muffin tin. Using an ice cream scoop or spoon, fill the muffin cups to the rim with batter. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the tops.
Step 8: Bake and cool. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until golden and set. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or after they are completely cooled, store in an airtight container for a few days. For longer storage, the muffins can be frozen for up to 3 months.
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.
Additional Pro Tips for Muffin-Making Success
- Measure flour the right way: Always spoon flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife. Scooping directly from the bag can pack it in and throw off the texture. Even a little extra can make a difference.
- Chill the streusel if necessary: If your streusel is looking soft or greasy, pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes before using—it’ll hold its texture better in the oven.
- Don’t overmix the batter: Once you add the dry ingredients to the wet, stir just until combined—overmixing can make muffins tough.
- Keep the oven door closed: Muffins are sensitive to temperature changes—particularly in the first 10 minutes or so of baking—if you want to take a gander, don’t open the door; just peek through the window.
- Use your eyes (and a toothpick): Ovens vary, so while the recipe time is a guide, your eyes are your best tool. Muffins are usually done when the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Bake Your Way Through These Muffin Recipes
Oat Muffins with Pecan 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
- ½ cup (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-in (25-cm) 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. Pour in the milk, then add the eggs, one at a time. Whisk until fully combined (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 (190°C).
- 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.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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!