This recipe for Banana Oat Muffins is one of my all-time favorites, featuring immensely flavorful roasted bananas and a crunchy oat topping. These healthy oat muffins make a hearty, comforting breakfast and they're perfect for meal prep to enjoy throughout the week.
Not much beats a warm, freshly baked homemade muffin. I love the way oat and banana muffins fill the house with the sweet scent of a neighborhood bakery. While I may not be an expert baker (I only had to take a single general baking class for my culinary arts degree a the Culinary Institute of America), muffins are one of the few baked goods that are super easy and quite forgiving.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients you'll find at the grocery store
- Intense banana flavor thanks to pre-roasting the bananas
- Easy to adjust
- Stores well for meal prep breakfast
- Hearty and filling, yet light and fluffy
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Ingredients that Matter
This oat muffin recipe is not made for any specific diet in mind, but it is quite filling thanks to the rolled oats. Below you'll find a round-up of the ingredients you'll need to make these roasted banana muffins:
- Bananas. Use ripe bananas, when possible. I made this recipe flexible enough to use under or over-ripe bananas. My first couple tests were with moderately green bananas, but I also tested with very ripe bananas, and all types work great.
- Rolled Oats. I recommend reaching for old fashioned rolled oats to make these muffins. I did a test with quick oats, and while they will work, the muffins are a bit chewier compared to the nice texture from rolled oats.
- All-Purpose Flour. Most people have all-purpose flour on hand in their kitchen, and it's the best flour for these muffins. Below in the substitutions section you'll find some easy swaps for the flour.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder. Both baking soda and powder are used in this oat muffin recipe. Baking powder provides lift and makes for an airy texture while the soda helps a bit with lift, but also encourages browning.
- Sugar. Use regular granulated sugar for this recipe.
- Oil. Vegetable, peanut, canola or light olive oil will work.
- Eggs. Use a couple large eggs.
- Whole Milk. A splash of whole milk helps keep these muffins nice and moist.
- Vanilla Extract. A bit of vanilla adds a nice complimentary flavor to the roasted bananas.
- Cinnamon. Just one teaspoon of cinnamon adds a nice warm flavor to these muffins without overpowering the banana flavor.
- Salt. Use table salt for this recipe as it incorporates well into the dry ingredients.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make banana oatmeal muffins
Making muffins is as simple as mixing together the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then portioning the batter into a muffin tin and baking until golden and cooked through. Below are more details on how to ensure these muffins are super flavorful, light and airy:
Preheat an oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place paper muffin cups in a standard size muffin tin. Place three bananas on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, until the bananas are blackened.
Remove the bananas from the oven when they are very soft and the peels are black. Cool at room temperature for 5-10 minutes while you prep the dry ingredients.
Whisk together in a medium mixing bowl the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt until well combined. Add the oats and whisk until well incorporated.
Scraped two of the bananas into a large mixing bowl, being sure to squeeze any of the liquid from the bananas into the bowl. Roughly chop the other banana and set it aside.
Gently mash the bananas in the mixing bowl then add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and whisk until well combined (it will still be slightly chunky but be sure the eggs and oil are well incorporated). Stir in the reserved chopped banana. Adding the chopped banana at the end provides bites of gooey banana throughout the muffin.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
Use a spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, being sure all the flour mixture is incorporated but be careful not to overmix.
Make the topping by stirring together oil, sugar, oats and a pinch of cinnamon in a small bowl.
Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups, about ⅓ cup of batter each. It's okay if the batter comes to the top of the cup.
Sprinkle the oat topping on the batter then bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the muffins are golden brown, 20-24 minutes.
Hint: It's important to let the muffins cool for 10 minutes in the tin and then transfer to a wire rack to cool at least another 10 minutes. This will allow the muffins to set up completely.
Substitutions
This recipe was not designed for any specialty diets in mind, but there are some tweaks you can make to the ingredients. Here are some substitutions you can make:
- All-Purpose Flour - If you want to add more fiber to this recipe, try using half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour. This will make for a slightly heavier, but healthier, oat muffin.
- Gluten-Free - You can also swap out the all-purpose flour for a one-to-one gluten-free flour. Just be sure to also use gluten-free oats if you are making these muffins completely gluten-free.
- Oats - I recommend using rolled-oats for this recipe, but you can also use quick-cooking oats if that's what you have in the pantry.
- Bananas - You may be wondering if you have to roast the bananas first. No, of course not, but it's a simple extra step that greatly intensifies the flavor and sweetness of the bananas. Instead of roasting in the oven, you can also microwave the muffins for a few minutes, until blackened and super soft.
What else to add to banana oatmeal muffins
If cinnamon is not your thing, there are plenty of other ingredients you can use to flavor these oat muffins. Plus, there's additional ingredients you can add to make these banana muffins healthier, including:
- Spices - In addition to (or instead of) cinnamon, try using another warm spice like ground ginger, cloves, nutmeg or allspice. Just be sure to use these spices sparingly as they are all quite strong.
- Nuts - Try adding a ½ cup of chopped nuts, like pecans or walnuts to the batter, or add some chopped nuts to the topping.
- Flaxseeds or Chia Seeds - Add a tablespoon or two of ground flaxseeds or chia seeds to the batter to increase the nutrition of these muffins.
- Dried Fruit - Try adding ⅓ cup of dried fruit like raisins or cranberries.
Storage
I don't recommend making these muffins ahead of time, however you can certainly roast the bananas a day ahead and even mix together the dry ingredients a day ahead. Once cooked, the muffins will stay fresh on the counter in an airtight container for about 3 days or up to 4-5 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
You can freeze these muffins in a freezer-safe zip top bag for up to 3 months. When ready to enjoy, transfer the frozen muffins to the fridge the night before and leave them on the counter for about 10 minutes before eating (or you can even microwave them briefly to warm them up).
These healthy oat muffins are great for meal prep. I like to make some on Sunday and enjoy them throughout the week. I do the same with other breakfast recipes, like our Chocolate Baked Oatmeal, Mini Egg Bites with Broccoli and Cheddar or Nutella Overnight Oats.
FAQ
Roast bananas in their peel in a 350F oven for about 15 minutes. The bananas should turn black and very soft. I recommend cooking the bananas on a parchment-lined baking sheet for easy cleaning. Be sure to scrape out all the banana and juices after roasting for maximum flavor.
For best texture, use old fashioned rolled oats to make oat muffins. However, in a pinch you can use quick-cooking oats.
Store leftover homemade muffins in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
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Recipe
Banana Oat Muffins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Description
This recipe for Banana Oat Muffins is one of my all time favorites, featuring immensely flavorful roasted bananas and a crunchy oat topping. These healthy oat muffins make a hearty, comforting breakfast and they're perfect for meal prep to enjoy throughout the week.
Ingredients
Muffins
- 3 medium ripe bananas
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour (198 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (123 grams)
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp. table salt
- 1 ¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats (147 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup whole milk
- ⅓ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Oat Topping
- 3 Tbsp. rolled oats
- 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp. canola or vegetable oil
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
Instructions
Muffins
- To make the muffins, preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and line a standard size muffin tin with paper cups.
- Place bananas on prepared baking sheet and bake until blackened and very soft, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5-10 minutes.
- While the bananas roast, whisk together in a medium bowl the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt until well incorporated. Add the rolled oats and stir to combine.
- Once the bananas are cool enough to handle, scrape two into a large mixing bowl. Roughly chop the other banana and set aside.
- Mash the bananas in the bowl then add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and whisk until well incorporated (the mixture may not be completely smooth and that's okay, just be sure the oil and eggs are well combined). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and use a spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet, being careful not to overmix. Be sure there are no streaks of flour in the batter.
- Spoon the batter, about ⅓ cup each, into the prepared muffin tin. It's okay if the muffin cups are completely full. Sprinkle on topping then bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20-24 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in the muffin tin then remove the muffins to a wire rack and cool at least another 10 minutes, or to room temperature.
Oat Topping
- To make oat topping, stir together in a small bowl the oats, sugar, oil and cinnamon until well combined.
Notes
- Store leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. Freeze the muffins in a freezer-safe zip top bag for up to 3 months.
- You can make these muffins gluten-free by swapping out the all-purpose flour for a one-to-one gluten-free flour and use gluten-free rolled oats.
- No rolled oats? No problem. You can use quick-cooking oats, but note than may be a bit more gummy.
- Try adding 1-2 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds or chia seeds to the batter, if desired.
- Instead of ground cinnamon, you can also use ground ginger, pumpkin spice, cloves, nutmeg or allspice but be sure to use these spices sparingly.
- If you like a sweet muffin, add two more tablespoons of sugar to the batter.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Jon says
I love the roasted bananas! It made the muffins so good.