Jumbo Apple Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins

If your oatmeal muffins keep coming out dry, dense, and chewy, these Apple Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins are the fix. I make them jumbo, six to a batch, and they’re loaded with fruit. Moist and delish, these are a tasty and filling grab-and-go breakfast.

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These are such a simple muffin to make. No fancy ingredients, no hand mixer, no fuss. Just a bit of chopping for the apples, then mix and bake. Do give yourself a few extra minutes to soak the oatmeal. This is so that the oats soften and lock in the moisture.

They smell so good baking, and are easy enough to make in the morning. Freeze what you don’t eat, for rushed grab-and-go mornings.

Chef Jenn’s Take on Jumbo Apple-Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins

Most oatmeal muffin recipes dump raw oats straight into the batter. That’s why so many of them come out tasting like a dry granola bar: the oats stay chewy, and they soak up moisture from the batter while the muffins bake, so you end up with a crumb that’s dry by the next morning.

Soaking fixes both problems at once. The oats go into the sour cream and milk first, and by the time you mix in the rest, the oats are soft. The batter keeps its moisture instead of losing it to dry oats in the oven.

Oil, honey, and sour cream all go in, and that combination is why these stay soft on day three instead of turning into hockey pucks. A little whole wheat flour gives them a heartier, wheaty edge without making them heavy, and the apple goes in last, in real chunks you can see when you break one open.

What You’ll Love About These Muffins

• The soaked oats give you a tender, moist muffin with no raw-oat chew, and that’s the difference between these and every dry oatmeal muffin you’ve had.
• They’re jumbo. Six big muffins with tall tops, the kind you’d pay four dollars for at a bakery case, from one bowl and about 25 minutes of baking.
• They still taste like breakfast and not like cake, because most of the sweetness comes from honey and there’s whole wheat flour in the mix.

Ingredients

• Sour cream – Full-fat. Plain full-fat Greek yogurt works as a one-for-one swap.
• Milk – Whole or 2%. Unsweetened oat or almond milk also works.
• Old-fashioned rolled oats – Large-flake rolled oats. Skip steel-cut, they never soften enough in a 15-minute soak.
• Dried cranberries – Raisins, golden raisins, or chopped dried cherries swap in one for one.
• Honey – Pure maple syrup works in the same amount.
• Vegetable oil – Canola or any neutral oil. I don’t swap in butter here; oil keeps these soft longer.
• Light brown sugar – Dark brown sugar works and adds a deeper molasses note.
• Egg – One large egg. Pull it out with the sour cream so it isn’t fridge-cold.
• All-purpose flour – Spoon it into the cup and level it off. Scooping straight from the bag packs in too much.
• Whole wheat flour – White whole wheat is milder if you have it. All-purpose works if that’s all that’s in the pantry.
• Baking powder and baking soda – You need both. Check the dates, old leaveners mean flat tops.
• Ground cinnamon – Apple pie spice works if you want a little nutmeg and allspice in there.
• Salt – Fine table salt or fine sea salt. If you only have kosher, use a pinch more.
• Apple – Firm and tart-sweet: Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or Pink Lady. Skip Red Delicious and McIntosh, they turn mushy. One medium apple gives you about a cup diced.

How to Make The Muffins

Scroll down for the full recipe card with exact measurements and printable instructions.

Start with the soak. Stir the oats into the sour cream and milk in a large bowl, then let it sit for 15 minutes while you prep everything else. Use that time to heat the oven to 375°F and line a 6-cup jumbo muffin tin or spray it with nonstick baking spray.

While the oats soak, peel, core, and dice the apple into roughly 1/4-inch pieces. Bigger chunks sink to the bottom, and smaller ones disappear into the batter.

Once the soak is done, add the honey, oil, brown sugar, and egg straight into the oat mixture and stir until it’s smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together both flours, the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt so the leaveners are evenly spread through the flour.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir with a spatula just until you don’t see dry flour anymore. The batter will be thick and a little lumpy, and that’s what you want. Fold in the diced apple and cranberries.

Divide the batter evenly among the 6 jumbo cups. They’ll be filled right to the top, which is how you get a tall bakery-style dome. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, until the tops are set and a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack. If you leave them in the pan much longer, the bottoms steam and turn soggy.

Make It A Meal

For a weekend brunch, I set these out with my Sausage, Spinach and Egg Breakfast Casserole or a tray of Smoked Breakfast Sausage so there’s something savory on the table next to the sweet.

If you’re hosting around the holidays, pour a round of Cranberry Cosmosa to go with them. And if you want a savory muffin on the same spread, bake a batch of my Apple Cheddar Muffins alongside these.

Storage

Store cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 days. Warm one in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds. To freeze, wrap each muffin individually and freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw on the counter.

Frequently Asked Questions