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These easy two-minute low calorie English muffins make the best quick and easy breakfast fix! Toast them up and add your favorite toppings.
Craving fluffy and crisp English muffins but watching your calories? This low calorie English muffin recipe will be your ultimate healthy bread fix. It’s tender on the outside but has soft, fluffy pockets in the middle.
The best part? Thanks to the microwave, it takes just two minutes to cook and contains a fraction of the calories and fat that store-bought ones have.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Healthy. No butter, oil, sugar, or flour! This recipe is as healthy as it gets. We have used oats for protein, chia seeds for fiber, unsweetened applesauce for binding, and milk to adjust the consistency.
- Quick and easy. Unlike the traditional muffin that takes hours to make, this recipe takes less than 5 minutes (including prep, cooking, and cooling time). You can even batch-cook them and have them on hand for quick breakfasts.
- Versatile. Spread peanut butter on them, make a breakfast sandwich or even make muffin pizzas- use them like traditional muffins.
Ingredients Needed
You only need six ingredients, a blender, and a microwave to make this simple low calorie muffin at home. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Rolled oats. Also known as old-fashioned oats. Avoid using steel-cut oats as their texture will produce tough and flat muffins.
- Chia seeds. For a bit of texture, fiber, protein, binding, and omega-3. Ground flax seeds could also work, but I sometimes find the flavor can be a little overpowering.
- Baking powder. Gives the muffins the necessary rise.
- Unsweetened applesauce. Adds moisture and softness to the dough. You could use mashed bananas, but be wary that it will make them a little sweet.
- Milk. Use any dairy or plant-based milk to bring the dough together.
- Salt. Just a pinch to add some flavor.
How to make a low calorie English muffin
What I love about this recipe is that you can scale it up if you want to make a big batch or want it as part of a meal prep!
Step 1- Blend the dry ingredients. The key to perfectly fluffy muffins is to blend everything to a fine powder. Add the oats, chia seeds, baking powder, and salt to a blender and blend until a powdery texture remains.
Step 2- Make the dough. Transfer the dry ingredients into a bowl, then slowly stir through the applesauce and the milk to form a thick and smooth dough.
Step 3- Microwave. Grease a 4-inch ramekin or small cereal bowl, then carefully pour the dough into it. Microwave for around two minutes or until the edges separate from the ramekin.
Step 4- Cool, slice, and serve. Letting the muffin cool for a minute or so makes it easier to remove from the ramekin. Slice the muffin in half, toast it, and serve immediately.
Recipe tips and variations
- Always grease the ramekins. Trust me on this- nothing is worse than cleaning up ramekins with half the muffin batter baked into them.
- Allow the muffins to cool down. Allowing the muffins to cool for a minute or two makes it so much easier to remove them from the ramekins.
- Make them in bowls/ mugs. If you don’t have a ramekin, you can use flatter bowls or bowl-like mugs to make them. I have tried them, and my muffins came out great!
- Add a layer of cornmeal! If you’re craving the classic corn smell and the nostalgic crumble, dust the greased ramekins with cornmeal before adding your dough.
- Flavor your dough. Instead of plain English muffins, make them with garlic powder and Italian seasonings for a savory option or cinnamon and raisin for a sweeter breakfast option.
Storage instructions
To store. Because this English muffin recipe takes a few minutes, I often make them fresh. But they keep well in the refrigerator for almost a week.
To freeze. If you wish to enjoy muffins longer, freeze them in freezer-safe containers/bags for up to three months.
To reheat. Toast the muffins in a toaster, oven, or pan until heated through and crispy.
More ways to English muffin
Frequently asked questions
Yes! Portion the dough in greased, oven-safe ramekins and bake in a preheated oven at 350°F until fully cooked. It usually takes 10-12 minutes to get the golden brown tops!
There are just 88 calories in each low calorie English muffin.
Low Calorie English Muffins
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons rolled oats
- 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon milk of choice
Instructions
- In a blender, combine the oats, chia seeds, baking powder, and salt. Blend on high until finely ground.
- Transfer to a bowl, add the applesauce and nondairy milk, and mix to form a sticky dough.
- Place the dough in a greased ramekin and smooth out the top.
- Microwave for 2 minutes on high.
- Let it cool for about 1-2 minutes before removing from the ramekin.
- Slice in half, toast, and enjoy with toppings of choice.
These muffins are amazing! I haven’t had one in years. They are magic muffins and so easy. Thank you! I blended up a batch of 6 and it worked great. I’m going to make them up and refrigerate them to be ready to toast. This Grannie loves them 😉
You think you could use an air fryer instead of a microwave to cook it ?
I haven’t tried- Feel free to experiment and see!
Can’t wait to try this. Got my Chia seeds at the bulk barn today. Sounds better than almond or cocnut flour for sure pinned you to !!!!
I just found your website, and I thought that this recipe would be a good replacement for English muffins for my niece. She’s gluten sensitive, and is surrounded by amazing bakeries where she lives. I made two this morning for myself and my son, and they were SO GOOD! I had to be the grown up and share the last slice with my son. I can’t wait to pass this on to my niece! Thanks!
You are SO welcome, Karen- Thanks for the positive feedback!
The paleo recipes is great !
Thank you, Gladys!
Ok, I answered my own question. I tried again since it’s such a simple recipe. I discovered the high power mode on my microwave (didn’t realize it wasn’t the default setting) and followed recipe exactly and it turned out fantastic! Haven’t had bread in ages so this was a nice treat. BTW, my first attempt did not go to waste….turns out my dog thought it was a good dog biscuit! ? Thanks!
P.S. since it was such a small quantity, I ground up all the dry ingredients in my coffee grinder which worked great!
holy crap this tastes amazing. I just ate it and i am so full right now. No regrets.
Legend!!!!
Can I skip chia? My LEAP diet is limiting right now so no chia yet. Maybe increase applesauce?
You can use a flax egg or a whole egg instead.
So delicious!! I’m obsessed. Also tweaked the recipe by subbing nutritional yeast for chia seeds, doing half-oats half-grits, and adding a splash of maple syrup….perfect Cornbread Muffins!
YUM!!!!
I noticed mine were very seedy and not dough like consistent like yours look in the photos. Any tips?
Does it have to do with the blender?
Would a food processor be better?
Maybe it did not blend the grain into a thin enough consisitency?
Definitely sounds like you didn’t blend it enough- Definitely ensure it is done right 🙂
If making a larger batch (6 of us in this family), would you just multiply ingredients by 6 or would you suggest making each individually and baking all at once?
For the best texture and flavor, I would recommend either doing it individually, or in batches of 4, so the baking powder doesn’t need to be altered!
I love this english muffin recipe! I use 1 Tbsp each of flax, chia, g.f. oats, and 2 Tbsp of Almond flour. I sub plain greek yogurt for the applesauce and use 1Tbsp almond milk. I always bake it for 15 min at 350. It comes out perfect. I let it cool for 20 min then slice and toast it. Yummy!. Thanx for saving the day on breakfast!
You are so welcome, Sheri- Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Oh my goodness! This is some serious gluten free goodness! My gluten eating husband says it takes like a REAL English muffin. We’re not vegan, so I subbed chia for an egg and used skim milk. THANKS!!!
😀 YAY! So glad to hear that, Tammy!
Can it be made without chia? I’m allergic.
Hi Jennifer! If you can eat eggs, swap it with that or a suitable replacement 🙂