Leftover oatmeal blueberry muffins

After I realized how fast my kids gobbled up these healthy leftover-oatmeal chocolate muffins and this leftover oatmeal sandwich loaf I wanted to find more ways to use up that leftover oatmeal. These moist delicious leftover oatmeal blueberry muffins are the new favorite! They never last long in my kitchen. I always have to make a double batch for our 9 kiddos. Blueberry is my kids’ favorite, but I’ve tried quite a few other mix-ins with success, depending on what I have available. I hope you love these and enjoy this delicious use for your leftover oatmeal, as well.

I never quite know how much oatmeal to make for our growing family these days. Some days most of the kids will eat it cheerfully, and others, only some. Then I was left with a big pot of cold gooey oatmeal no one wanted. Now I no longer hesitate to make a big batch of oatmeal that might not get eaten.

Can you save leftover oatmeal?

You can save leftover oatmeal in the fridge to potentially reheat and eat as is, or even better, save it to use in this muffin recipe whenever you want a delicious snack that you can feel good about! These muffins make a tasty treat and even a healthy breakfast. Leftover oatmeal will keep in the fridge for up to a week, so don’t toss that leftover oatmeal. Tuck some away to whip up a batch of these when you get time.

What can I make with leftover cooked oatmeal?

These muffins are definitely the favorite option around here for using up leftover oatmeal, but here are a few more recipes we enjoy making with our leftover oatmeal.

Chocolate muffins with leftover oatmeal

Leftover Oatmeal Muffins with Salted Honey butter

Leftover oatmeal bread

How do you make leftover oatmeal blueberry muffins?

Having made these so frequently, I do have some tips, but don’t let that discourage you. You can whip these up in about 30 minutes start to finish in one bowl- except add the blueberries last with my tip down below. With a few simple ingredients, fiber from the oats, and honey to sweeten, these are a tasty snack you can feel good about.

What you’ll use

These tools are helpful but not absolutely necessary. I’ve included some links here to make it easy for you to find them.

• Standard whisk
• Dough whisk
• Kitchenaid mixer (just to make it easier, but not necessary with these)
• Muffin Scoop
• Parchment paper cupcake liners
• Muffin tin

(Some of these are affiliate links, which just means I might make a tiny percentage, but it doesn’t change the cost to you. See my full disclosure here.)

What you’ll need

• 3 tablespoons neutral oil or melted butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cooked oatmeal 
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup blueberries fresh or frozen
• 2 Tablespoons cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Grease or line a muffin tin.
2. Whisk the oil, egg, honey, vanilla and milk into a medium sized bowl.
3. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix the oatmeal in until just incorporated. Be careful to not overman.
4. Scoop the thick batter into prepared muffin tin.
5. Add 4-6 blueberries to each muffin and squish down in the batter. This prevents the batter from turning blue while mixing. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar if desired.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes until they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted comes out dry with some crumbs. Careful to not over bake.

If you want to play around with some different mix-ins, here are some we’ve tried!

• Add 1 Tablespoon lemon zest and omit the cinnamon and cinnamon sugar.
• 1/2 chocolate chips instead of the berries
• 1/2 dried fruit such as cherries, with 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Omit the cinnamon and cinnamon sugar.

Tips for making leftover oatmeal blueberry muffins

• The batter is thick. A dough whisk makes it easier to mix by hand when you add in the oatmeal.
• A muffin scoop makes it a dream to scoop out, if you have one.
• If your muffins are coming out a bit greasy on the bottom of the wrapper, try adding a small amount of rice to each compartment before adding your muffin liners. Bake as usual. The rice absorbs the extra oil.
• Add the blueberries after putting the batter in the tin.
• The baking powder amount is correct, and if you scale up, no need to double it.
• If you have no paper muffin liners- no worries. Cut parchment paper into 4″ strips and then into thirds and fold into tin. They pop right out of those.

• These will be just perfectly baked when they spring back to the touch. A toothpick inserted leaving just crumbs and no moisture also is a sign they are done.

• You don’t want to over bake them. A little bit under done makes for a moister muffin .
• You can make these dairy free easily by swapping out the milk for a dairy free option.

• I have not experimented with alternate flours for this recipe, but subbing half whole wheat still makes a delicious muffin! You sure could give other flours a try and let me know how it goes!

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