These date and oat muffins are super easy to make, and they taste absolutely fantastic! If you’re a fan of sticky toffee pudding or date squares you’ll love these breakfast muffins made with rolled oats, wholemeal flour, buttermilk and chopped dates.
Easy Date & Oat Breakfast Muffins
If you’re looking for something a little different for a breakfast muffin, you’ve come to the right place!
I recently stumbled across this recipe in an old Canadian notebook one of my grandmothers sent me some years ago. It was a little yellow stapled-together, typed out on a typewriter and photocopied compilation entitled ‘Muffin Time!’, created by Lindel Distributors with the help of their friends.
I have no idea who Lindel Distributors were, or even which side of Canada they came from, but let me tell you, it’s a treasure trove of muffin recipes!
These muffins are remarkably easy to make, and they’re deliciously moist and flavoursome. Despite the brown sugar content, and the natural sugars in the dates, they’re almost savoury in taste.
I’ve slightly adapted the original recipe which called for wholemeal flour only – I’ve used equal parts wholemeal and plain/all-purpose flour. I’ve also sprinkled the muffin batter with a little rolled oats before baking, for decoration.
Serve with a generous slab of butter and a little jam for a leisurely breakfast.
Ingredients needed
- rolled oats
- buttermilk – or sour milk
- whole wheat flour
- plain flour
- baking soda
- baking powder
- salt
- brown sugar
- dates
- egg
- butter
How to make these date and oat muffins
- Mix oats and buttermilk in a bowl and set aside to soak.
- Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown sugar and dates in a bowl.
- Beat the egg and melt the butter, and add to the oat mixture.
- Stir the oat mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Spoon into a prepared muffin tin.
- Bake in a preheated 190 °C/ 400 °F oven for 20 minutes.
Date & Oat Muffins Recipe Video
These date and oat muffins are super easy to make, and they taste absolutely fantastic! If you’re a fan of sticky toffee pudding or date squares you’ll love these breakfast muffins made with rolled oats, wholemeal flour, buttermilk and dates.
Tips for making these easy breakfast muffins
- use paper muffin cases or grease your muffin tin well. Alternatively, silicone muffin pans are fabulously non-stick.
- if you don’t have buttermilk you can substitute an equal quantity of full-fat milk, but add two teaspoonfuls of vinegar to sour it.
- use ordinary dried cooking dates for this recipe – not those fancy Medjool ones.
- make them even healthier by using 100% wholemeal flour instead of half wholemeal half white.
- these muffins freeze well – make a batch at the weekend and defrost for breakfast at a later date!
How many Weight Watchers Points are in this muffin recipe?
There are 9 Weight Watchers Smart Points per date and oat muffin.
Date and Oat Muffin Recipe
Ingredients
- 110 grams porridge oats
- 225 ml buttermilk see notes
- 75 grams wholemeal flour
- 75 grams plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 130 grams brown sugar
- 150 grams dried dates chopped
- 1 large free range egg
- 50 grams butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190 °C/ 400 °F and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases, or grease well.
- Combine the oats and buttermilk in a small bowl and set aside.
- Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
- Stir in the brown sugar and chopped dates, making sure all the pieces of dates are separated and covered in flour.
- Beat the egg, melt the butter and add to the oat mixture.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry just until everything is combined. Don't overmix.
- Spoon into the prepared baking tin - each muffin cup should be about 3/4 full. Sprinkle with a little more rolled oats for decoration, if desired.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
- If you don't have buttermilk, use full-fat milk and add two teaspoonfuls of vinegar to it to make it sour.
Nutrition
Other Breakfast Muffins You Might Like
A few other easy and tasty ideas for breakfast!
Easy Blueberry Weetabix Muffins
This half batch of deliciously spiced blueberry muffins is made with leftover Weetabix and other store-cupboard ingredients; perfect for a weekend brunch or after school snack.
Pear and Pistachio Muffins
Quick and easy, these Pear and Pistachio Muffins will become a firm favourite with their moist, soft crumb and lovely texture.
Healthy Bran Muffins
These healthier bran muffins have wholemeal flour, banana in place of much of the oil and a nutritional boost from wheat bran and flax.
Banana & Walnut Breakfast Muffins
Banana and walnut breakfast muffins – Delicious and easy to make, with no refined sugar or added fat.
Healthy carrot muffins - vegan and nut free
These healthy carrot muffins will go down a treat with anyone looking for a delicious, filling bake that is low in refined sugar.
Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon associate, we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Thank you for helping me do what I love: mess up my kitchen and share recipe stories.
Mum of three, daydream adventurer, OU Life Sciences graduate, occasional crafter, ex-pat Canadian & quite possibly Britain's most northerly food blogger.
Samantha says
I’ve had a lot more free time on my hands recently and have been trying to get into baking. These look delicious and like they wouldn’t be too difficult to make!
Debbie Skerten says
I love to find new muffin recipes and these sound wonderful. Thank you for putting WW sp on too. I can make a batch, freeze and have one for my breakfast still sticking to my WW plan.
Jones says
Wow that is some seriously lovely and delicious looking muffin! I really love these especially with coffee 😉
Clear Lifestyles says
I think these look healthy, and we all want healthy cake don’t we?
Mellissa Williams says
Since my son has been home from uni he is eating me out of house and home. This recipe looks brilliant for healthy muffins so I am going to try them with these
Jane says
Oh man, your description of these beauties made my mouth water! Gorgeous recipe, will be making it this weekend
Mandy says
What a lovely sounding recipe – I love using dates in baking. Thanks for linking to my carrot muffins as well.