Cinnamon swirl muffins with oatmeal are a crunchy, tasty treat, ideal with breakfast or for a snack. This healthier vegan muffin recipe is easy and fun to make.
These were inspired by the cinnamon crunch muffins from Sam’s Club, which I totally love flavor-wise, but they are not the best for nutrition. They are quite large and filling. According to mynetdiary.com, each muffin contains 740 calories, 39 grams of total fat (11 of which are saturated), and 54 grams of added sugar.
That would be more added sugar than someone should have all day if eating 2,000 calories as it exceeds the 10% of calories recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Why We Love These Muffins
-Each of my Cinnamon Swirl Muffins contains only about 200 calories – and you can get that a bit lower if you use unsweetened almond milk.
-They are made with oats for some extra nutrients like beta-glucan soluble fiber and magnesium (learn more from this article from the Harvard School of Public Health – The Nutrition Source – Oats)
-The cinnamon-sugar-oat mixture is swirled through the muffin for tasty flavor throughout. The top browns nicely for a sweet crunch!
-They are just the right size for a lunch box, afternoon or mid-morning snack, or to add to your breakfast.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Streusel Mixture
- Rolled oats – or use chopped nuts like walnuts or pecans for a nice crunch
- White sugar – I suggest organic or a brand you know is vegan, if that’s important to you
- Vegan margarine – keep this in the refrigerator until you need it
- Cinnamon – you may have heard the recent news about lead contamination in cinnamon. This article from Consumer Reports lists which brands they recommend avoiding: 17 Ground-Cinnamon Products Could Be Contaminated With Lead, the FDA Warns.
Muffins
- Nonstick cooking spray
- All-purpose flour – this adds to a lighter texture. You can use white whole wheat flour or part of each, if you prefer.
- Rolled oats – for the muffins themselves, you will grind these oats into coarse flour using a food processor or chopper processed into flour.
- Brown sugar
- Baking powder
- Salt – I use iodized salt. Iodine is an important nutrient that people may not get enough of (add source)
- Plant-based milk – I have tested these with soy and almond milk. The soy milk is much higher in protein. Both are usually fortified with calcium, and almond milk may have up to 50% more calcium than the soy milk, depending on the brands selected. Unsweetened versions of both are suggested.
- Neutral oil – light olive, grapeseed, avocado, or canola.
- Applesauce -choose unsweetened applesauce or make your own, like my honeycrisp applesauce recipe.
- Pure vanilla extract – for flavor
How to Make Cinnamon Swirl Muffins with Oatmeal
For the cinnamon streusel mixture, place the oats, white sugar, cinnamon, and vegan margarine into a small bowl. Don’t leave the margarine out before you make this: it should be cold.
Run a pastry blender or use two knives to cut through the mixture until it is just combined. The margarine may be in small pieces or mashed together a bit. Place this in the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 400℉
- Place a cupcake wrapper into each muffin tin. Spray the inside of each lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
- Process one cup of rolled oats in a food processor or chopper for about 30 seconds on high until they look like coarse flour.
Normally I would use my food processor, but this little chopped on the left was included with my new immersion blender, so I used that. it was the perfect size. It took about 30 seconds to get the oats to a flour-like texture. Don’t worry if there are some larger pieces.
- Place the oatmeal flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Stir the mixture well with a whisk.
- Place the plant-based milk, oil, applesauce, and vanilla extract into a medium bowl and stir these well with the whisk.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients (I like to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula to get everything out). Mix this with a large wooden spoon just until you can’t see any more flour: don’t overbeat the batter or the muffins will be tough.
- Scoop the batter evenly into the 12 cupcake liners.
- Place about a tablespoon of the streusel mixture on top of the batter for each muffin so it is even divided.
- Swirl the cinnamon streusel topping through each muffin with a butter knife. Try to get some of it into the middle of each muffin.
- Bake the muffins for about 24 minutes. The tops should be slightly browned, and a toothpick inserted into the middle should come out clean.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then place them on a cooling rack to allow them to cool to room temperature.
Variations
These could be added to the muffin batter. There is not a lot of space to swirl the streusel mixture around, so I suggest just about half of a cup for the batch:
- Chopped pecans
- Chopped walnuts
- Raisins
- Chopped, peeled apples
- Dried cranberries
- Fresh or frozen blueberries
- Mini chocolate chips (look for vegan ones)
You could substitute pumpkin spice mix for the cinnamon in the streusel mixture.
Storage
Store these cinnamon swirl muffins in a covered airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You may want to heat them for a few minutes in the oven or about 20 seconds in the microwave before eating. After 3 days, place them in a freezer-safe bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Cinnamon Swirl Muffins with Oatmeal (Vegan)
Equipment
- Small bowl
- Pastry blender or 2 knives
- Food processor or small chopper
- Large bowl
- whisk
- Large spoon
- Rubber spatula
- Muffin tin (for 12 muffins)
- Ice cream scoop
Ingredients
Cinnamon Streusel Mixture
- ÂĽ cup rolled oats
- ÂĽ cup white sugar organic
- 3 tablespoons vegan margarine
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Muffins
- nonstick cooking spray
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour (172 grams)
- 1 cup rolled oats, processed into flour (101 grams)
- â…“ cup brown sugar
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Âľ cup plant-based milk like soy or almond
- ÂĽ cup neutral oil like light olive, grapeseed, canola, or avocado
- ÂĽ cup natural applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cinnamon Streusel Mixture
- Place the oats, white sugar, cinnamon, and vegan margarine into a small bowl. Run a pastry blender or use two knives to cut through the mixture until it is just combined. The margarine may be in small pieces or mashed together a bit. Place this in the refrigerator.
Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 400℉
- Place a cupcake wrapper into each muffin tin. Spray the inside of each lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
- Process one cup of rolled oats in a food processor or chopper for about 30 seconds on high until they look like a coarse flour.
- Place the oatmeal flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Stir the mixture well with a whisk.
- Place the plant-based milk, oil, applesauce, and vanilla extract into a medium bowl and stir these well with the whisk.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients (I like to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula to get everything out). Mix this with a large wooden spoon just until you can't see any more flour: don't overbeat the batter or the muffins will be tough.
- Scoop the batter evenly into the 12 cupcake liners.
- Place about a tablespoon of the streusel mixture on top of the batter for each muffin so it is even divided.
- Swirl the cinnamon streusel topping through each muffin with a butter knife. Try to get some of it into the middle of each muffin.
- Bake the muffins for about 24 minutes. The tops should be slightly browned, and a toothpick inserted into the middle should come out clean.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then place them on a cooling rack to allow them to cool to room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
If you have tried these cinnamon swirl muffins with oatmeal, please let me know how you liked them in the comments below.
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