Don’t throw away that leftover oatmeal after breakfast! Instead, make these Leftover Oatmeal Muffins with Salted Honey Butter. You won’t be sorry!
For years, we’ve had a love-hate relationship with oatmeal at our house. I love it. The kids hate it.
I make it, and sometimes I can get the kids to eat it . . . or not.
When I was left with uneaten oatmeal in the pot (or an untouched bowl at the table, ahem), I used to stick it in the fridge with an intention to reheat it later. But if my kids can sometimes tolerate a bowl of fresh oatmeal for breakfast, they most certainly never warm up to the idea of old, reheated oatmeal. Fair enough.
And so I created these Leftover Oatmeal Muffins. They are, hands down, everyone’s favorite way to eat oatmeal at our house.
Leftover Oatmeal Muffins
The texture of a leftover oatmeal muffin is it’s best feature. It’s tender, moist, and has just a little bit of chew. They’re bread-like, but there’s also something extra special that takes them up a notch.
You can use whatever kind of oatmeal you like best. These work with steel cut oats, rolled oats, and even quick oats if that’s what you have. Leftover oatmeal is often what I have around here, but you can most certainly cook up a serving of oatmeal just for these muffins. They’re delicious enough to go the extra mile!
I like to mix in 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/4 cup of cacoa nibs (the crunch is spot on!), but really you can put whatever you like in Leftover Oatmeal Muffins. These are good with fruit, berries, raisins, or even chocolate chips. Make ’em how you like ’em.
Salted Honey Butter for the Win
Now, the Salted Honey Butter is not strictly necessary . . . but also, it’s necessary. It’s just so so so good and I don’t want you to miss out on something delicious.
Really, a smear of salted honey butter on a warm, fresh-from-the-oven leftover oatmeal muffin has the power to spread little rainbow bursts of happiness to all who taste it. And I’m only slightly exaggerating.
It’s just butter, honey, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of cinnamon. But oh my, it’s tasty!
The Best Part
And I saved the best part for last. You can make them in one bowl (aside from the pan you used to cook your oatmeal), so easy clean up. And, you can probably make these from start to finish in 30 minutes or less. That’s my kind of recipe.
These muffins are the perfect antidote to the dreary January weather, so I hope you’ll give them a try!
Leftover Oatmeal Muffins with Salted Honey Butter
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups flour
- 2 Tablespoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or berries, fruit, raisins, chocolate chips, etc.)
- 1/4 cup cacoa nibs (optional)
- 1 cup cooked oatmeal
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 egg
For the Salted Honey Butter
- 5 tablespoons salted butter at room temperature (very soft)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 generous pinch of salt (I like Maldon Sea Salt Flakes)
- 1 pinch of cinnamon (optional)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a standard 12 cup muffin tin, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Whisk together. Stir in the nuts and cacoa nibs if using.
3. In the same bowl, add the oatmeal, butter, honey, milk, and egg and stir until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
4. For larger muffins, scoop about 1/3 cup of batter into each muffin tin cup (for 9 or 10 muffins). For smaller muffins, scoop about 1/4 cup batter into each muffin tin cup (for 12 muffins).
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until the tops spring back when gently pressed and the muffins are lightly golden. Remove from oven and let sit in muffin tin for 3 to 5 minutes. Gently turn them out and cool just enough to enjoy them. Serve warm or at room temperature.
6. For the Salted Honey Butter, just mix everything together and serve at room temperature.
Vanessa Andrade says
Hi, would this recipe work in a cake or bread pan? Excited to use up my oats, but I don’t have a muffin tin pan.
Thanks!
somethewiser@gmail.com says
I haven’t tried this as a loaf, but most muffin recipes convert to bread pretty easily. Here’s what I would try, a standard loaf pan at 375 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes (use a knife or toothpick in center to check doneness). Let me know how it turns out!
Leila says
I’ve made these so many times that it has made it to the ingredients I post to the inside of my cupboard for quick reference. Perfect texture and perfect way to use up extra oatmeal (which we eat almost every day!). I never leave comments on blogs but this is one recipe I come back to over and over again. Thanks for crafting such a great muffin and sharing it with the internet!
Laurie says
My guy really liked this recipe. I am gluten free and want to convert it. My cooked oatmeal had raisins and little milk and still turned out great. Thanks
Gabriele Hunt says
Thanks for the recipe! So happy to have another great recipe for leftover soaked oats.
Was wondering if Laurie subbed with a GF flour ?
I used almond meal flour and added one more egg but the muffins didn’t rise . Still tasty though ! I’m new at using Gluten-free flour and it can be tricky.
Linda Brelin says
Terrible recipe 2 Tablespoons of baking powder makes it dry and tastes like baking soda. Don’t waste your ingredients. I had to throw them all away. I’ve been a cook for 57 years so I know how to cook.
Wendy says
I taste a little baking powder but I’m thinking I did not mix all powder in well enough.
Susan Skylark says
This recipe was just begging to be made gluten free, and the results were some of the best looking muffins I’ve ever made gluten free or traditional. I was rather leery about the 2 Tbsp of baking powder but figured I had better stick with the recipe since I was already monkeying with the flour. They were very pretty but definitely had a baking powder after taste and that was using baking powder without aluminum in it, I can’t imagine these are even edible if your baking powder has aluminum in it (as gluten free baking uses a lot of extra leaveners I switched brands to avoid the after taste sometimes imparted by said aluminum). Curious if it was a typo, I looked for similar recipes and they all call for the same amount of baking powder, save a brief reference to one in the Fanny Farmer Cookbook that used 4 tsp instead of 6. But I tried again, using my gut feeling that 2 tsp might actually be enough, and it was. They didn’t rise quite as high but the texture was also better with far fewer giant holes in them and by far the best textured gluten free muffins I’ve ever mad and without the baking powder after taste.. To convert to gluten free I used 3/4c oat flour, and 1/4 cup each corn flour, millet, and brown rice flour plus half a tsp of xanthin gum. I also added a splash of vanilla and a couple tablespoons of sourdough starter. Overall a very good recipe and an interesting technique if you can adjust the baking powder a tad, I think I’ll try it with my gf yeast bread.
Cortney Thomas says
Can you give me the GF tweaks you made?