These healthy blueberry muffins are made with whole wheat flour and oatmeal for added nutrition, but they still taste as good as the original recipe!
Just because you’re eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to give up your favorite baked goods! When I need a lighter breakfast option, I turn to options such as breakfast egg muffins, baked oatmeal cups and healthy blueberry muffins.
Muffins are notorious for being loaded with sugar and fat, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I make some simple swaps in this healthy blueberry muffin recipe to create a lighter end product that you can feel good about feeding to your family.
Healthy blueberry muffins ingredients
- Flour: I use a blend of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour to get the optimal balance of nutrition and texture. For the best results, use a white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour.
- Oatmeal: You can use rolled oats or quick oats in this recipe.
- Sugar: These muffins call for less sugar than many other muffin recipes. I use regular granulated sugar for the best texture, but you can use other types of sugar such as raw sugar or coconut sugar.
- Salt: Adding a little salt helps to offset the sweetness of the muffins.
- Baking Powder: A generous amount of baking powder helps to make these muffins bake up light and fluffy.
- Milk: You can use cow’s milk, almond milk, soy milk or coconut milk with good results.
- Egg: Eggs are necessary to make sure everything binds together.
- Oil: Choose a healthier oil such as coconut oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil or safflower oil. You can use butter if you prefer.
- Vanilla: I use pure vanilla extract to add flavor to my muffins.
- Blueberries: You can use fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries in this recipe. If you go with frozen, do not thaw them first.
How do you make healthy blueberry muffins?
Place whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, oatmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl, then stir to combine. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, egg, oil and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients, then stir until just combined. Gently fold the blueberries into the batter. Divide the batter among the cups of the muffin tin, then add a sprinkle of coarse sugar. Bake until the muffins are golden brown, then serve and enjoy.
tips for the perfect muffins
- The coarse sugar on top is optional but it adds a bit of crunch and sparkle. I’ve also sprinkled cinnamon sugar over the tops with great results.
- Blueberry oatmeal muffins will stay fresh for up to 5 days in an airtight container. I recommend storing them in the refrigerator.
- You can freeze these muffins for up to 2 months. I recommend wrapping them individually in plastic wrap, then placing them in a large resealable freezer bag.
- Use paper liners in your muffin tins to make clean up easier.
This recipe is designed to be a happy balance between nutrition and flavor. If you want to make your muffins even healthier, you could try using honey or maple syrup instead of the sugar, and replacing some of the all purpose flour with almond flour.
Recipe faqs
Blueberry muffins in general are not typically a healthy choice. Many bakery style muffins are made with all purpose flour which does not contain a lot of nutrients. Bakery style muffins also tend to have a lot of fat such as butter or oil, and a large amount of sugar. This recipe remedies those issues by using a healthier type of fat in smaller quantities, less sugar, oats and whole wheat flour.
The primary considerations for healthy muffins are the levels of sugar, fat and white flour. Muffins that have less fat, are reduced in sugar, and contain whole wheat flour or oats are healthier than muffins made with a lot of oil or butter, high amounts of sugar, and all white flour.
The most important part of dieting is watching portions and making sure that you consume less healthy items in moderation. You can absolutely eat blueberry muffins on a diet, you’ll just want to only eat one, and make sure it’s within your daily calorie allotment.
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flavor variations
While these muffins are delicious as-is, you can add other ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.
- Fruit: Feel free to swap out the blueberries for diced apples, raspberries, blackberries, cherries or even mashed banana. Dried fruit will also work, just make sure it doesn’t contain any added sugar.
- Toppings: You can add toppings to your muffins such as a sprinkling of oats, or sliced almonds. Another option it to serve them with a dollop of Greek yogurt or peanut butter on top for added protein.
- Flavorings: Add more flavors your batter such as almond extract, lemon zest, cinnamon, nutmeg or finely diced nuts.
These healthy blueberry muffins are perfect for when you want a more wholesome snack without all the guilt!
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Healthy Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- cooking spray
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour I prefer white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups oatmeal quick or rolled oats
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup of blueberries fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons coarse sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Spray muffin tin with cooking spray.
- Combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, oatmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the milk, egg, oil and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir just until all of the ingredients are combined.
- Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups.
- Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the coarse sugar if using.
- Bake for approximately 20 minutes until muffins are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean.
Notes
- Make Ahead: The batter can be made up to a day in advance. Follow the instructions through step 5. When you’re ready to bake the muffins, add the blueberries and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
- Freeze It: The muffins can be frozen for up to 2 months. I freeze them in a resealable bag. When you’re ready to eat them, you can thaw them at room temperature for 30 minutes or microwave them straight from the freezer for about 20 seconds.
Can you subsitute cocoanut or almond milk for the 1% milk?
That should work!
Just made these! I doubled the recipe and used all whole wheat flour and it is delightful! They are so hearty and filling, I am sure they would make a wonderful breakfast to-go. I am bringing them in to work tomorrow for a meeting because I felt like we needed a healthier alternative to donuts, haha.
I completely agree with you on this… when you can find a yummy healthy recipe that you kids can eat, you stick with it! Looks really yummy 🙂
Has anyone tried using ONLY the white whole wheat flour, instead of 1/2 of white and 1/2 wheat?
I haven’t heard of anyone trying it, they would most likely be more dense.
Yes, when I Don’t Have whole wheat Flour!—-
I Made These,—This Morning, They were Amazing, I used Self riseing Flour, And Just A pinch of Baking Soda,—And Two Tablespoons of Coconut Oil—Instead of Canola Oil,—-In the Large Muffin pans, To Die For With Butter!—
What do you mean by oatmeal? I’ve never seen that listed as an ingredient. Is it not just regular oats? Do you have to cook the oata first and the measure them? Like they would count as a wet ingredient? I bake all the time but I honestly don’t know what this means!
It’s just regular dry oats, you can measure it straight from the carton!
Can you make this using only all purpose flour? I have to use gluten free flour and it’s an all purpose flour. Thanks!
Yes, that’s totally fine!
Hi, Just wondering . How many calories is in each muffin ?
140 calories, nutrition information is at the bottom of the recipe!
These were wonderful. Perfectly sweetened, and a little heartier than some low fat muffins. I wants more for the week, so I made a second batch and will freeze them if necessary! Thanks for the recipe!
So glad to hear you liked them!
Can I give this 10 stars?! Oh my gosh these are so good. Made the first batch with the only change some added cinnamon to the sugar topping. Second batch that just came out of the oven I added the cinnamon to the dry ingredients and a bit of lemon zest just to change it up since I am making them a second time two days later. This recipe will be my new go to blueberry muffin recipe. I was so hoping it would be good with the whole wheat flour and oatmeal being healthy additions. Third time I will try reducing the sugar to 3/4 cup and see how that goes.Oh and I reserved a bit of the flour/oatmeal mixture to mix with the frozen blueberries. That way they don’t colour the batter.
Thank you for sharing the recipe.
I’m so glad you liked them! That’s such a smart idea to mix the flour with the berries!!
Did you thaw the blueberries befor putting them in?
I leave them frozen, otherwise they turn the batter completely purple!
Can you smell this? Follow your nose to this recipe! I made these this morning and they were delicious! Only change was to leave out the vanilla and add lemon zest to dry ingredients and juice of half a lemon to wet. Nice job Sara! Thanks for sharing!
So glad you liked them, the lemon zest is a great idea!
So good! And kid-approved! The only think I will change next time is to use fresh blueberries instead of frozen!
Lisa, I”m so glad you liked them! Thanks for reporting back 🙂
I frequently exchange applesauce when a recipe calls for oil, do you think this would work in these muffins?
You could try it, but it might make the muffins a bit on the gummy side. Since there are so many oats in this recipe that oil is really needed to keep things moist. If you try it, please report back!
I have exchanged half the oil in a recipe with natural applesauce (make your own with apples and nothing else) with excellent results. Also have always cut down the amount of sugar (white or brown) in a recipe by 1/2 with good results, too. Our palates have acclimated us to all this sugar and we just have to let our palates adapt to less…it’s not that hard. I’ve successfully replaced almond milk for white milk with very good results. The only time it wasn’t too successful was when I made rice custard. How do you feel about substituting honey in place of sugar in some recipes. Have any of you made your own home-made pizza crust and what did you use in place of white flour? Thanks!!
I think honey can work in lieu of sugar, but it really depends on the recipe. It seems like honey produces a denser baked good. I have used 1/3-1/2 whole wheat flour in pziza dough with good results!
Am I doing something wrong? I see oats in mine and not in yours pictured. Did you process your oats first?
Nope the oats go in as is, not processed!
My daughter would gobble these right up…only if I left her any. They look great.
These look perfect for breakfast! Can’t wait for blueberry picking season 🙂
Your lovely blueberry muffins made me think I need to go and pick some fresh blueberries this summer! My kids would love these as they devour muffins! Pinned, too,
LOVE oats in muffins! You’re completely right about them making the whole batch heartier! Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe!
my almost 3 year old loves muffins too! These look like a great way to add some healthiness back into them because I usually just grab store bought! They look delicious!
It’s always great to find a way to put some hidden nutrition in there- in this case, oats and blueberries! 🙂
Blueberry Muffins are my FAVORITE breakfast food – Cannot wait to give these a try this weekend!
I love the hearty texture of oatmeal anything, and these look to be right up my alley. My daughter sounds like your little one… except every once in a while she says “Mom… I just can’t fill up!” Love those days. And I have a feeling these would work for her, she loves blueberry everything!
These look perfect for breakfast! I love the idea of making a bunch and freezing them so they’re ready to go.
I just made these and they are delicious!!
So glad to hear you enjoyed them, thanks for reporting back!
I made these and they are delicious! My husband loves them!
So glad you enjoyed them, thanks for reporting back!