Blueberry Banana Muffins are a total treat, especially when they taste like they came from a bakery. This easy recipe is a favorite—the muffins are sweet enough to taste like a treat, but wholesome enough to fill up little tummies and provide energy for a few hours.
Blueberry Banana Muffins
I love to make this healthy muffin recipe on the weekend to store and serve for quick breakfasts and snacks throughout the week. They store extremely well in the fridge and are great either served chilled or slightly warmed up. You can also make them without dairy and nuts, which is nice for families who have restricted diets in the house!
TIP: This muffin recipe comes together really easily in a food processor—which is important since I know you likely have a little one running around underfoot!
Blueberry Banana Muffins with Oatmeal
You may wonder why so many of my muffin and bread recipes have ground rolled oats as the base, rather than flour. The short answer is because it’s an easy way to make gluten-free baked goods without needing a whole long list of specialty flours. (Just be sure to buy gluten free oats if you need them to be certified.)
A longer answer is that I like making muffins with a dose of whole grains for both long lasting energy and a bit of fiber, and with this recipe, I was thinking of something that I could bring to a mom friend who’s about to have a baby. (Oats are always recommended as a good food to help with milk production!)
TIP: This recipe is a great alternative to regular oatmeal if your kids aren’t big fans. It has similar nutrition and is easy to make ahead and store in the fridge until breakfast time. (My toddler likes the mini muffins topped with cream cheese!)
Ingredients in Blueberry Banana Muffins
To make this recipe you’ll need:
- rolled oats
- shredded unsweetened coconut
- ground flaxseed (sometimes called “flaxseed meal”
- baking powder
- salt
- cinnamon
- eggs
- very-ripe-with-brown-spots bananas (about 2 cups)
- coconut oil, melted (or canola oil or butter)
- vanilla extract
- honey
- fresh or frozen blueberries
TIP: You can use maple syrup instead of honey if you prefer. And you can skip the coconut if you don’t like it and use more oats instead.
Blueberry Banana Muffins Step-by-Step
Here’s how to make this recipe:
- Gather your ingredients.
- Place everything into the bowl of a food processor except the blueberries.
- Grind until smooth and uniform.
- Remove the blade of the food processor and stir in the blueberries.
- Divide among a greased muffin tin and bake.
- Let cool slightly in the tins, then remove and serve warm or store in an airtight container and serve on future days.
TIP: To make these without a food processor, mash the bananas well and use oat flour, either store-bought or homemade—just grind your oats into a powder in a blender.
Banana Blueberry Muffins without Refined Sugar
These muffins taste like a cross between baked oatmeal and a fresh blueberry muffin. Much of the sweetness comes from the fruit, though there is some honey added to balance the flavors. There’s no refined sugar, if that’s something you’re watching in your toddler’s diet or your own.
Dairy-Free Blueberry Banana Muffins
These muffins are totally moist, but don’t require any dairy. Hopefully this allows more kiddos to enjoy them and it means that you can make these even when you might be short on milk! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
TIP: There’s also an egg-free variation at the end of the recipe!
Can I make these with other berries?
You sure can! We’ve done them with fresh and frozen raspberries and they work really well. I think diced strawberries would be great too.
Tips for Making the Best Blueberry Banana Muffins
- Use very ripe bananas with black spots for the best flavor and sweetness.
- Use honey or maple syrup as you prefer.
- Make them standard size or as mini muffins.
- To make them without coconut, simply substitute with additional oats.
- To make them without coconut oil, use canola oil or melted and slightly cooled butter.
I’d love to hear your feedback if you’d tried this recipe so please comment below to share!
PrintBlueberry Banana Muffins with Oats
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 28
Total Time: 38 minutes
Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Category: Breakfast
Method: Baking
Cuisine: American
Description
Like a cross between a fluffy blueberry muffin and baked oatmeal, these muffins are moist and packed with yummy nutrition.
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups sliced very-ripe-with-brown-spots bananas (about 2 medium/large bananas)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (or canola oil or butter)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and coat well with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Place the oats, coconut, and flaxseed into the food processor and process for about 30 seconds or until the oats resemble a coarse flour. Add the rest of the ingredients except the blueberries and process to combine well. Remove the blade and stir in the blueberries. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups to just to the brim.
- Bake for 28-30 minutes or until the edges are just starting to turn golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the centers comes out cleanly. Let cool in the pan. Run a paring knife around the edges of the muffins and gently remove from the pan.
Notes
Serve warm or store in the fridge for up to 5 days and serve chilled or slightly warmed. Freeze cooled muffins in a zip top freezer bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 3 months.
To make these without the shredded coconut, simply omit and add 1/2 more oats.
To make nut-free: Use canola oil or butter instead of the coconut oil and use additional oats instead of the coconut.
To make these gluten-free: Use certified gluten-free rolled oats.
To make these Egg-Free: Omit the coconut. Soak the flaxseed in 1/4 cup water for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup milk (dairy or nondairy) to the batter. Bake as directed.
To make these as mini muffins: Use a mini muffin tin and bake for about 18 minutes.
To make this without a food processor: Use oat flour and mash the banana well before mixing everything together in a bowl.
Hi, I don’t have flax seeds at home. Can I substitute it with something else ?
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You can use additional oats and it should be okay!
Hi! Think I can use chia instead of flaxseed? Or any other flax subs? Thanks as always!
Excellent recipe! I gave up on regular blueberry oat bake recipes because they always crumble apart when I try to cut them into pieces for my 15 month old. Grinding the oat first makes a much better consistency, and the banana and coconut add great flavor. He gobbled it up!
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Hi, how do you mix in frozen blueberries? Do they tend to sink to the bottom of the muffin tin? Thank you for this amazing recipe!
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Just stir them in. The batter may clump a bit if it gets cold from the frozen berries, but they shouldn’t sink to the bottom of the muffins.
Hi Amy!!
I have made this recipe a few times now and love it every time! Today, however, I am about a cup short on bananas – can I sub applesauce or those kids’ fruit pouches? Thanks!
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Hi! I think applesauce should work instead though I haven’t tried this that way. If you have 1 cup sliced bananas, I would add 1/2 cup applesauce (not a full cup since I think that would make them too wet). Let me know how it goes!
What a versatile recipe! So I actually ended up with a scant cup of bananas, and added a 1/2 cup of flavored applesauce (had pear on hand but you’d never know it).
They came out just as good as if I’d had the full 2 cups of bananas…I could have even used closer to 3/4 cup of applesauce and they would’ve been great too.
Thank you, Amy!
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Oh, and forgot to mention that although I do use a food processor to grind the oats, I finish mixing it all together in a bowl with a whisk instead of completing it in the processor, just in case any other readers are interested…and I also use sweetened coconut (and then cut back on the honey). YUM!
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These came out great! Loved just tossing everything into the food processor to do the “work”. I added an extra 1/2 cup of oats as suggested since I didn’t have shredded coconut. Made them in a mini muffin pan and followed all your instructions and they were perfect. Super tasty and my 20 month old and I were devouring them at snack time. Thanks for sharing and for including a substitutions list!
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I made these today and LOVE them! The kids loved them and the adults too, what a great recipe 🙂
Hooray!
We love these muffins! My son has an egg and nut allergy so we followed her instructions to make them allergen free, and they turned out delicious. Amy is so gracious to always take the time to include those notes for us allergy people ☺️
I used a mini muffin pan, doubled the recipe and froze the rest! They still taste great thawed.
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