This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
These blackberry oatmeal muffins are one of my favorite breakfast recipes when blackberries are in season. The sweetness of the blackberries pairs so well with the oats, making them a delicious and healthy breakfast that you can meal prep and freeze.
If you’re looking for a perfect muffin recipe for back to school, these blackberry oatmeal muffins will hit the spot. Blackberries are typically at peak season in late summer and around August. Now is the perfect time to make these muffins and freeze them to have on hand the rest of the year.
Using fresh blackberries is the key to this recipe and while they do contain seeds, if you cut them while fresh, it’s easy to remove the large seeds if that’s an issue for you. Otherwise just leave them in!
Choosing Fresh Blackberries for Muffins
For this recipe I bought a giant package of blackberries at Costco and they were delicious. Peak season in the south is July through August, and can extend a little bit more through October. Buying them during this time almost guarantees really sweet berries, but here are some tips for choosing them in the grocery store.
- Check for any mold – Open the box and shuffle the berries around, also looking underneath. You want these blackberries to be as fresh as possible.
- Choose ripe blackberries – Ripe blackberries are plump and slightly tender, versus hard and tight.
- Look for a deep purple and black color – If a berry is red or lighter purple it is not ripe.
When you get home, don’t wash berries until you’re ready to use them. The only exception to this is if you wash them in a water and vinegar solution, completely drain them and pat totally dry, then store in an open air container.
Ingredients
The ingredients for these blackberry oatmeal muffins are simple! I actually used a version of my favorite cinnamon oatmeal muffins as inspiration.
- Blackberries – Use fresh, in-season blackberries that are not frozen (or have been thawed and dried).
- Oatmeal – Rolled oats are best, not quick cooking.
- All purpose flour – This can also be substituted with Bob’s 1:1 gluten free flour with good results.
- Light brown sugar – Just a small amount adds a wonderful flavor and texture to these muffins without being overly sweet.
- Applesauce – A natural sweetener that also keeps these muffins moist on the inside.
- Vegetable oil – I use vegetable oil here for a mild flavor and also to keep these dairy free, but you could definitely substitute coconut oil or butter. It may just change the texture slightly.
- Milk – I used oat milk for this recipe but whatever you have on hand will work!
The list is rounded out with an egg, cinnamon, vanilla, and a touch of extra sugar.
How to Make Oatmeal Blackberry Muffins
You need two large bowls to start – dry ingredients in one, wet ingredients in the other. Then all there is to it is to mix the wet ingredients into the dry ones, and pour into the muffin tin to bake.
Step 1: Combine dry ingredients. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Start with the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
Step 2: Combine wet ingredients. In a smaller bowl, mix the wet ingredients – a lightly whisked egg, milk, vanilla, oil, and applesauce.
Step 3: Mix the ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry using a wooden spoon or a dough mixer. Stir till just combined. Then fold in the blackberries until just combined, being careful to not overmix.
Step 4: Fill into muffin cups. Spoon the cinnamon oatmeal muffin mixture into paper muffin cups and top with extra sugar.
Bake for 5 minutes and then turn the heat down to 350 degrees F to continue cooking another 15-17 minutes.
Storage Instructions
Allow the blackberry oatmeal muffins to cool completely on a wire rack before transferring them to a container for storage.
The muffins will last about 2 days at room temperature in an airtight container. I typically transfer mine to a large freezer bag and store in the freezer up to 6 months. I don’t recommend storing them in the refrigerator because they will dry out much faster.
How to Reheat Muffins
Blackberry oat muffins defrost pretty quickly at room temperature! I would recommend leaving them out on a plate, covered with a towel for about 20-30 minutes. Or you can cover them with tin and reheat in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes.
Oatmeal Muffin Tips
- Use whole rolled oats, not quick cooking oats or instant oats.
- If your oven hasn’t been calibrated in a while, watch the cooking time. Muffins with oats tend to overcook easily, especially if using a gluten free option. This will make them crumbly. Start with a lower cooking time.
- Don’t let the muffins cool in the pan. After 1-2 minutes, remove them from the muffin tin and allow them to cool in their wrappers on a wire rack.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, just replace the egg with 2 tablespoons of additional applesauce or your favorite egg substitute.
I highly recommend using fresh, or using fresh ones you’ve frozen yourself and defrosted. This is because blackberries can be super tart if not ripe and you have a better chance of getting great blackberries that are sweeter if you can taste them before adding to the muffins.
If you hate large blackberry seeds, simply cut them out and dispose when you roughly chop the blackberries. I didn’t do this and they personally don’t bother me, but we all have our things!
Yes! These will work really well with other berries and I highly recommend fresh blueberries. For strawberries, I recommend going with my strawberry cream cheese muffins.
Substitute the all purpose flour for Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour and use certified gluten free rolled oats.
Berry Muffin Recipes
For more berry muffin recipes like these blackberry oatmeal muffins, check out these delicious ideas.
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 review in the recipe card! Don’t forget to tag me @thedizzycook on Facebook and Instagram, and follow along on Pinterest for more great recipes!
Blackberry Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups rolled oats
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup gently packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup apple sauce
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup milk of choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cups fresh, blackberries, cut in small pieces
- 1½ tablespoons white sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients – rolled oats (NOT quick cooking/instant/steel cut), flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and ½ teaspoon salt. Stir to combine. In a separate large bowl, combine the sugar, apple sauce, egg, vegetable oil, milk, vanilla,. Mix until thoroughly combined and smooth. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring till just incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Taste the blackberries, if sweet, no extra sugar is needed. If a bit tart, stir them with 1 ½ tablespoons of white sugar, then gently fold into the batter till just mixed.
- Prepare a muffin pan with paper cups or grease the pan well. Fill the batter, almost to the top of the cups or pan. Sprinkle the tops with extra white sugar and rolled oats, if desired.
- Bake at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F without removing the muffins. Bake another 15-17 minutes until cooked through. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes then remove to continue to cool on a wire rack. If you eat them while still hot, they'll be more crumbly!
Notes
- My oven is recently calibrated and these took exactly 20 minutes to be done. It’s better to go low on the cooking time. If cooked too much, these will be more crumbly.
- Sub 1 egg with your favorite egg substitute or 2 tablespoons of apple sauce.
- To make all gluten free, use your favorite 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour or oat flour.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hello! I have been suffering with Basiliar Artery Migraines for a while. They started to get better and got worse again, so I’m on an adventure to change my diet and came across your page. Do you happen to have a dairy free section? I’m both severely allergic to dairy and apples. Is there something I could use as a substitution for applesauce in most of your recipes like this one? what could I use to sub for Cottage cheese for your other recipes? Thank you!
Hey Emily, I’m currently working on reclassifying all my recipes for my dairy free section, but it will take me a while. If you search “dairy free” in the search bar it will give you quite a few, then there are a lot of recipes I give subs for dairy in the post so look out for that as well. Subs depend on what you’re making, so feel free to ask on a specific recipe. For applesauce, I’d actually see if you can tolerate bananas, because that would make the best sub. I find they’re hit or miss for people. If you’re doing HYH strictly, you could do blackberries instead of blueberries for this recipe, and sub oil for the butter. It will change the muffin texture – but I’m sure you’re used to this!