Leftover oatmeal chocolate muffins

These healthy leftover-oatmeal chocolate muffins will have your kids eating breakfast feeling like it’s dessert. Even my kids that don’t really care for muffins, or even oatmeal gobble these up.

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. So, I began trying different leftover-oatmeal recipes. This one was our fave, until I decided to recreate them into a chocolate muffin! Now I no longer hesitate to make a big batch of oatmeal that might not get eaten, because these muffins are such a favorite, my kids now request them!

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 some delicious chocolatey goodness that you can feel good about! They make a tasty treat and even a healthy breakfast. The leftover-oatmeal will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

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 leftoveroatmeal.

Cinnamon Coffee-cake muffins

Leftover Oatmeal Muffins with Salted Honey butter

Leftover oatmeal bread

How do you make leftover oatmeal chocolate muffins?

These muffins whip up quick in just one bowl and have a simple list of ingredients. I love how uncomplicated this recipe is. You can whip these up in about 30 minutes start to finish. That is how it has easily become a favorite, as I know I can make them even on a busy morning!

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 melted butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cooked oatmeal 
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (not optional *wink)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Grease or line a muffin tin.
2. Whisk the egg, honey, melted butter, vanilla and milk into a medium sized bowl.
3. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Mix in the oatmeal and chocolate chips.
4. Scoop the thick batter into prepared muffin tin.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Careful to not overbake.

If you want to play around with some added in flavorings, here are some we’ve tried that are a fun compliment to the chocolate.

• cinnamon
• instant coffee or espresso powder
• flaked sea salt sprinkled on top
• salted honey butter drizzled over the top
• 1/4 chopped nuts added

A few tips for making leftover-oatmeal chocolate muffins

• The batter is thick. A dough whisk makes it easier to mix by hand when you add in the oatmeal and chocolate chips.
• A muffin scoop makes it a dream to scoop out, if you have one.
• These are really good- so make a double batch! The measurements are super easy to scale.
• The baking powder amount is correct, and if you scale up, no need to double it.
• I love to cutout parchment paper into 4″ strips and then into thirds and smooth into my tin. They pop right out of those. Cupcake liners tend to stick more than I like

• These will be just perfectly baked when they spring back to the touch. Because they are dark, it is harder to tell when they are baked without a golden hint to gauge by. 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 and the butter for coconut oil.

• 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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