Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins (2 Versions: JJ Bean Copycat and Easy)

Two cranberry oatmeal muffin recipes inspired by JJ Bean Coffee Roasters in Vancouver: one authentic, and one simplified. Made with oats, buttermilk, and frozen cranberries, this recipe is easily adaptable to be dairy free, and include variations for blueberry, raspberry, or other fruits.

Vancouverites will know about JJ Bean, a local cafe chain with giant and satisfying muffins. When I lived in Vancouver, JJ Bean’s muffins were one of my favourite pastries to get for breakfast or a snack. Their muffins were super filling.

Although all delicious, my favourite go-to muffin from JJ Bean was their cranberry oatmeal muffin. The not-too-sweet batter is full of heart-healthy oats (note this is not a sweet “cupcake” type muffin!), complemented by tart and juicy cranberries, bursting throughout the muffin. The oatmeal muffins were available in three flavours – cranberry, blueberry, and raspberry.

Around a year and a half ago, I bade goodbye to my friends and the beautiful west coast and moved back to Toronto. There are many things I miss about Vancouver: the mild weather, the mountain view, the big trees, walks along the water and in my old West End neighbourhood, cream puffs from Breka, muffins from JJ Bean (the list is non-exhaustive). While I cannot teleport myself to Vancouver, some cravings can be satisfied with some kitchen magic.

I have made these oatmeal muffins so many times since moving to Toronto. Sometimes I use cranberries, sometimes blueberries, sometimes stone fruit. This muffin recipe is adaptable to whatever is in season.

I’ve simplified and adapted the recipe as I make these muffins more and more, and I am sharing that simplified version with you also. I know that I will continue to adapt and change this recipe as I adapt and change.

The two muffin recipes I am sharing are a great starting point for experimentation and I hope that you will make them your own as well. After all, recipes that are close to my heart are ones that can be changed from person to person, time to time.

Update: For an even easier and healthier Berry Oatmeal Muffin – try this Healthy Blender Oatmeal Berry Muffin (No Sugar, Gluten-Free)

Two versions of JJ Bean Cranberry Oatmeal Muffin: Copycat and Easy

I share two versions of the recipe. The one here is reverse engineered based on JJ Bean’s ingredient list – (the “copycat oatmeal muffin recipe”).

The one in the recipe card is a version which is slightly easier to make (the “easy oatmeal muffin recipe”).

Which recipe is right for you? The copycat oatmeal muffin recipe uses one egg and more butter. It tastes very close to the actual JJ Bean oatmeal muffins. It has a tender, crumbly texture.

The easy oatmeal muffin recipe uses two eggs and  less oil. The easy oatmeal muffin recipe has a noticeably better looking dome top. It also has the advantage of being a one-bowl recipe.

Developing and reverse engineering this recipe

I reverse engineered this recipe from JJ Bean’s list of ingredients published on their website. Presumably, ingredients are listed in order of weight or amount. As a base recipe to alter, I started with King Arthur’s basic muffin oatmeal variation.

My easy version is intentionally healthier and less indulgent than the original. I’ve decreased the sugar, upped the oatmeal to be equal to the flour, and slightly decreased the fat.

For reference, the ingredients listed on JJ Bean’s website are:

Buttermilk (milk ingredients, salt, bacterial culture), wheat flour, rolled oats, frozen cranberries, brown sugar, unsalted butter, eggs (whole eggs, citric acid), baking powder, molasses, vanilla extract (water, propylene glycol, artificial flavour, citric acid, sodium benzoate), baking soda, ground cinnamon, salt, ground nutmeg.

One egg or two eggs?

I have tested this cranberry oatmeal muffin recipe using both 1 egg and 2 eggs.

The basic muffin recipe from King Arthur uses two eggs, and this was my starting point. However, looking at JJ Bean’s ingredient list, egg comes after butter, which means that there is less egg by mass than butter. A large egg is around 50 grams. This means that two eggs would be too much to mimic the authentic JJ Bean recipe.

In my tests, I found that the muffins using one egg came very close to how I remember JJ Bean oatmeal muffins to taste.

If you use one egg, make sure that the muffin molds are well greased or that you are using liners. The one egg muffins were much harder to remove from the muffin pan than the two egg muffins. Using two eggs made for a looser batter, and a muffin that was lighter and easier to remove from the muffin mold.

Even though the one egg muffins were closer to copying the JJ Bean muffins, my preference is to use two eggs. In addition to the extra protein (very minor, but still) and lighter texture of the muffins, there is the simple fact that I can skip the step of lining or greasing the muffin tin when using two eggs.

The answer to the question comes down to whether you prefer a more tender, crumbly muffin (1 egg) or one that is bouncier and lighter (2 eggs). One egg or two egg, I leave it to your discretion.

Butter or oil?

I have made these cranberry oatmeal muffins with many variations. Sometimes I use oil, sometimes butter.

Butter is certainly tastier and closer to the original JJ Bean muffin. The advantage of oil is that it is easier to work with. No melting and less dishes.

If you use oil, use a neutral one like canola or avocado.

Notes on ingredients and substitutions

Buttermilk: Buttermilk makes for a muffin that is tender and true to JJ Bean‘s ingredient list, but is easily substituted with milk or non-dairy milk and 1 tablespoon of vinegar of lemon juice.

Oats: This recipe uses rolled oats, which are pulverized in a blender or food processor, which creates a more varied texture. If you do not have access to a blender or food processor, oat flour can be used instead.

• If you are going for authenticity, pulverize until evenly smooth and fine (or use oat flour). JJ Bean oatmeal muffins have a very even crumb with no visible oat flakes.
• Alternatively, rolled oats can be used whole, after being soaked in the buttermilk (or non-dairy milk) for 10-20 minutes. Both instant oats or minute oats and large flake oats/rolled oats will work. Instant oats will require less soaking time and rolled oats will require more. Whichever oats you use, the muffins will still taste good, but the texture will vary.
• My favorite version uses oats that are somewhere in the middle, half powdered and half textured, but with no visible flakes of oats.

Flour: I use spelt flour in the photos and video, but whole wheat flour or white flour will work just as well. For authenticity: use white flour. We are not too fussy about the gluten content – cake flour, all purpose, use whatever is handy!

Frozen Cranberries: The fruit can be changed depending on what is available and in season – I have made this recipe with many varieties of fruit including apples, plums and peaches, but cranberries are classic! 

• Frozen berries work best in this recipe. For blueberry or raspberry variations, substitute the same amount of your frozen berry of choice for frozen cranberries.
• Cranberries should be frozen. I do not recommend using fresh cranberries for this recipe. I have tried, (after having some fresh cranberries leftover from Thanksgiving season,) and discovered that fresh cranberries will float to the top of each muffin instead of being evenly dispersed.
• If you are using fresh fruit, I recommend dicing (if large like apples or stone fruit) and tossing in dry ingredients before mixing the wet and dry ingredients together.
• You are free to use however much fruit you like (i.e. more than 120-200 grams). The downside to using more fruit is that the muffins may be very tender and difficult to handle. The upside is that lots of fruit makes for a juicy tasty muffin!

Butter: This recipe calls for unsalted butter, but because only a small amount of butter is used, either salted butter or unsalted butter will work as the additional salt content in the salted butter will be insignificant. You could omit or decrease the written 1/8 tsp salt if you use salted butter.

• For a dairy-free muffin, use oil in place of butter. If using oil, I recommend using between 40 g and 50 g oil. 50 g is roughly ¼ cup.

Notes on method

Measurement:  This recipe was developed using metric measurement for ingredients. I recommend measuring the ingredients with a digital scale for accuracy.

Mixing: When mixing dry ingredients, make sure that there are minimal brown sugar lumps. You can mix the wet and dry ingredients aggressively when they are separate but be sure to be gentle once the wet and dry are combined.

• ONE BOWL VARIATION: Instead of combining the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls, you can opt to combine everything in one bowl. It is important to first mix all the dry ingredients in one large bowl to ensure that the spices and leavening agents are well combined. Then add all of the wet ingredients into that same bowl before mixing until combined.

Filling: The recipe as written makes 12 regular muffins or 6 jumbo muffins with no muffin tops. If muffin tops are desired, only fill 5 jumbo muffins/10 regular muffins or less (this is an estimate).

• If you can find them, JJ Bean uses giant muffin tins that are taller than standard jumbo muffin tins available to the public. A taller muffin tin will produce a closer texture to JJ Bean oatmeal muffins, which if you look closely, has a denser crumb on top and a more open crumb at the base of the muffin.

Baking: Bake the muffins on the top rack. Jumbo muffins may require more time than regular muffins. Check the muffins after 15 minutes.

Storage and Reheating

These muffins keep in a container at room temperature for 3 days. In the fridge, the muffins can be kept for a week. In the freezer, even longer.

After the first day, cranberry oatmeal muffins taste best when reheated in the oven or microwave. Stored at room temperature, 30 seconds in the microwave is enough to refresh a jumbo size muffin.

JJ Bean Copycat Oatmeal Muffin Recipe Measurements

For those of you who want a copycat JJ Bean oatmeal muffin, I’ve got you here.

In short, for the most authentic JJ Bean oatmeal muffin experience, use butter instead of oil (the butter is also slightly increased); one egg instead of two; and oatmeal ground very fine (see above Notes on Ingredients). I also recommend using less oatmeal than what my version in the recipe card uses.

To make copycat JJ Bean cranberry oatmeal muffins, follow the method below in the recipe card, but use the ingredient measurements in this section.

The measurements below follow the ordering of the JJ Bean publicized ingredients list. This is what you should use for the copycat oatmeal muffin variation:

• 230 g buttermilk (1 cup)
• 140 g wheat flour
• 100 g rolled oats (pulverized in a food processor or blender to a fine flour)
• 100-200 g Frozen cranberries or other fruit mix (Note: I recommend 200 g of fruit but the original JJ Bean cranberry muffin does not have that much fruit)
• 80 g brown sugar
• 60 g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 extra-large egg (50-60 g)
• 14 g (1 tbsp) baking powder
• 10 g (1 tsp)  molasses
• 3/4 tsp vanilla
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg

Print Recipe

Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins: Easy Version

Cranberry oatmeal muffins inspired by JJ Bean Coffee Roasters in Vancouver. Made with oats, buttermilk, and frozen cranberries, this recipe is easily adaptable to be dairy free, and include variations for blueberry, raspberry, or other fruits.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: American, Canadian

Diet: Vegetarian

Keyword: Baking, Cafe, Copycat, Muffin

Servings: 6 jumbo muffins

Equipment

• 1 jumbo muffin tin or regular muffin tin

Ingredients

• 230 g buttermilk (1 cup) OR (215 g milk AND 15 g vinegar (1 tablespoon))
• 120 g flour white, whole wheat, or spelt
• 120 g oat flour or rolled oats, pulverized in a food processor or blender
• 70 g brown sugar
• 60 g unsalted butter melted (if using salted butter, omit 1/8 tsp salt) OR 45 g oil
• 2 large eggs 100-110g (see notes)
• 14 g (1 tbsp) baking powder
• 10 g (1 tsp) molasses
• 5 g (1/2 tsp) vanilla
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 120-200 g Frozen cranberries or other fruit mix

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425. If desired, prepare your muffin tin with liners or grease the muffin tin if it is not non-stick.
• Combine the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in two separate bowls. If the dry ingredients are clumpy from the brown sugar, whisk or rub the brown sugar with your fingers until evenly combined.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Briefly combine with a whisk (20-30 seconds). Some lumps are okay. Now add the frozen cranberries or other fruit and fold to combine.
• Divide the batter into muffin pans. Bake on the top rack for 15-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of the muffin comes out clean. A muffin using more frozen fruit may require more baking time (20-30 minutes). Regular size muffins will be done sooner than jumbo size muffins.
• Remove from muffin tin to a cooling rack while still warm.

Video

@hellenshouse

copycat JJ bean oatmeal muffin recipe two ways! so easy to make. i think their cranberry oatmeal muffins are the best! what are your favorite jjbean muffins? Recipe here: 🔗https://hellenshouse.com/cranberry-oatmeal-muffins/ #jjbean #vancouverlife #vancouverfoodie #vancouverfood #copycatrecipe #oatmealmuffins #cranberrymuffins #easybakingrecipes

♬ original sound – Hellen Chan – Hellen Chan

Notes

The amount of fruit will depend on the type of fruit. For very sour fruits like cranberry for instance, 120 g may be appropriate.

The recipe as written makes 6 jumbo muffins or 12 regular muffins with no muffin tops. If muffin tops are desired, fill the muffin pan more (making less muffins).

For a less crumbly muffin, use two eggs. As described in the post, I have tried this recipe with both one egg and two eggs. The two-egg muffin holds up better. The one egg muffin is difficult to remove from the pan sometimes (so take care in greasing the pan or using liners) but very close to JJ Bean’s oatmeal muffin.

Tips for removing the muffin: if you forgot to grease/line the muffin pan and used only 1 egg (which is more crumbly), use a spoon or something with larger surface area to help remove the muffins.