These bakery style Blueberry Banana Oat Muffins are light and fluffy, bursting with juicy fresh blueberries and a crisp oat topping. Ripe bananas reduce the added refined sugar and rolled oats make these delicious muffins a great way to start your day.
A light and fluffy muffin is one of my favorite things to order at a bakery, but nothing beats them fresh out of the oven at home. They are super simple to make and you should absolutely try this recipe if you want a hearty, yet airy, slightly sweet, tangy, and decadent blueberry lemon muffin.
This is the ideal recipe for meal prep for those busy weekday mornings or even just a quick snack. Whether you have young kids (like me) at home or just a busy schedule first thing in the morning, nothing beats a grab-and-go breakfast that's filling and delicious. Fall is fast approaching, and that means I'm making Strawberry and Almond Baked Oatmeal, Homemade Cinnamon Granola, or Mini Egg Bites with Broccoli and Cheddar to make our mornings a little easier. You can bet this blueberry oat muffin recipe is certainly in that rotation.
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Ingredients That Matter
This banana blueberry oatmeal muffins recipe uses a handful of fresh ingredients along with some pantry staples. Here is what you need to make this recipe:
- Blueberries. Use ripe fresh blueberries if possible. You can use frozen blueberries, even smaller wild blueberries, if desired.
- Bananas. A couple very ripe bananas adds moisture and sweetness to these muffins, allowing us to cut back the sugar a bit.
- Oats. Old-fashioned rolled oats are best in this recipe, but you can also use instant or quick-cooking oats. Steel cut oats are a bit too dense for muffins.
- All-Purpose Flour. Regular all-purpose flour is ideal for this recipe, but you can use half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose, if desired.
- Granulated Sugar. Since this recipe uses ripe bananas, you can get away with ½ cup of granulated sugar (most recipes for regular blueberry muffins call for a lot more!). Use light brown sugar, if you'd like.
- Oil. A bit of light oil, like olive oil, melted coconut oil, or vegetable oil adds moisture to these tender muffins. Melted butter also works.
- Milk. I recommend whole milk, but you can use whatever type of milk you have.
- Lemon. The zest of lemon provides nice floral notes while a splash of lemon juice brightens the flavor and compliments the blueberries.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda. The recipe uses both baking powder and baking soda.
- Vanilla Extract. Just a little vanilla extract goes a long way, but you'll definitely miss it without it.
- Eggs. Use a couple eggs. Room temperature works best.
- Butter. The streusel topping uses a bit of unsalted melted butter.
- Table Salt. A bit of salt helps all baked goods taste great.
See recipe card for quantities.
Step-By-Step Instructions for Banana Blueberry Oat Muffins
If you've never made muffins before, don't feel intimidated! They are actually quite simple to make. Here is how these blueberry banana oatmeal muffins come together:
- Start by preheating the oven to 350F and lining a standard-size muffin tin with muffin cup liners or liberally spray with cooking spray. Add ripe bananas, sugar, oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla to a medium bowl.
- Mash mixture with a fork or potato masher until mostly smooth. Be sure to mix as you mash to emulsify the eggs into the wet ingredients. Set aside.
- Whisk together in a large mixing bowl the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt until well combined.
- Wash and dry the blueberries well. Add to the bowl with the flour.
- Toss the berries gently to coat well in flour.
- Make a well in the center and pour in the wet ingredients and add the oats.
- Gently fold the mixture until well combined, but be careful not to overmix (it should take about 30 stirs). Some very small streaks of flour or lumps are okay. Set aside.
- Add more rolled oats, sugar, flour, a pinch of salt, and melted butter to a small bowl and mix with a fork. The mixture should resemble small pebbles.
- Fill prepared muffin cups full with the batter, about ⅓ cup each, using an ice cream scoop or measuring cup. The cups should be completely full. Note: Depending on the size of the bananas, you may have leftover batter.
- Generously sprinkle the streusel topping on each muffin cup. Use all the topping. It's okay if the topping creates a mound. Bake in the center rack until a toothpick comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool for at least 5 minutes. Remove each muffin from tin and cool completely on wire rack.
Adam's Pro Tip
How do you keep the blueberries from turning the muffins blue? Great question! Tossing the berries directly into the dry ingredients first and coating well with flour helps reduce the chance the liquid will spill out into the batter. Plus, you can reduce the color change by carefully folding the batter.
Substitutions
This recipe is surprisingly versatile and easy to adjust based on your dietary needs and even flavor preferences. Consider the following tweaks:
- Gluten-Free- These muffins are not gluten-free as written. But you can do so by simply switching to a gluten-free all-purpose blend. Be sure to use purity protocol gluten-free oats, especially if you have celiac disease or gluten allergy.
- Dairy-Free- Swap to a plant-based milk alternative like almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, or cashew milk. For the topping, simply use melted coconut oil or a light vegetable or olive oil.
- Less Sugar - You can use light brown sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup or honey. You could drop the sugar to ⅓ cup, especially if your bananas are very sweet.
How to Use Unripe Bananas
If your bananas are not yet ripe but you really want to make this recipe, there is a way to quickly ripen your bananas. Well, not actually ripen them, but roast them. Roast them??? Yup! That's how I make all my Banana Oat Muffins. Here's how:
- 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.
Storage
Leftover banana blueberry oatmeal muffins should be stored in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days, or longer in the fridge. My wife happens to like them refrigerated because it firms them up a bit, but I like the light and airy texture when stored on the counter.
You can place them in a freezer-safe zip-top bag and pop them in the freezer for a month or so. Transfer them to the refrigerator the night before you want to eat them, or microwave until just warm, checking every 15 seconds.
Other Muffins to Try
Once you learn how to make muffins, the sky is the limits! Here are some of my favorites
- Blackberry Banana Oat Muffins - similar to these blueberry banana oat muffins, but without the lemon.
- Gluten-Free Blackberry Muffins - A light and fluffy gluten-free muffin.
- Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins - Big chunks of chocolate and mashed bananas make for a delicious breakfast that almost feels like dessert.
- Nutella Muffins - These are almost like dessert also, filled with gooey Nutella.
FAQ
Yes, you can use fresh or frozen blueberries to make muffins. You do not need to thaw frozen berries first, but be sure to dry them well.
Toss the berries first in the dry ingredients. The flour will coat the berries and reduce the chances of the blueberries bleeding out into the batter and turning it blue.
Store leftover muffins in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days. They will likely dry out if stored longer. You can also store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 5 days. Microwave them for 15-30 seconds to reheat them. Muffins stored in the fridge tend to get gummy, however.
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Recipe
Blueberry Banana Oat Muffins
- Total Time: 1 hours
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Description
These bakery style Blueberry Banana Oat Muffins are light and fluffy, bursting with juicy fresh blueberries and a crisp oat topping. Ripe bananas reduce the added sugar and rolled oats make these delicious muffins a great way to start your day.
Ingredients
Streusel Topping
- ½ cup rolled oats
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 pinch table salt
- 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Muffins
- 2 medium ripe bananas
- 2 large eggs, preferably room temperature
- ½ cup whole milk (or plant-based alternative)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (see note)
- ⅓ cup oil, such as olive, canola, vegetable, or melted coconut oil
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. lemon zest
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 ½ cup (180 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. table salt
- 1 cup (6 oz.) fresh blueberries (see note)
- 1 cup rolled oats
Instructions
Streusel Topping
- Place oats, flour, sugar, salt and melted butter in a small bowl and mix with a fork. The mixture should resemble small pebbles. Set aside.
Muffins
- To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350F and line a standard-size muffin pan with paper muffin liners or liberally spray with cooking spray.
- Mash ripe bananas in a medium bowl with a fork or potato masher and add eggs, milk, sugar, oil, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice and stir well to combine. Set aside.
- Whisk together in a large mixing bowl all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt until well combined. Add blueberries and gently toss to coat completely in the flour mixture. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients along with the rolled oats. Fold with a rubber spatula just until combined, about 30 stirs (avoid overmixing). The mixture may be a bit lumpy. Small streaks of flour are okay.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups using an ice scream scoop or measuring cup, about ⅓ cup per muffing cup. The batter should fill the cup completely. You may have some leftover batter depending on the size of your bananas. Generously sprinkle the top of each muffin with streusel topping. Use all of the topping. Bake in the center rack of oven until a toothpick comes out clean and the muffins are golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes then remove each muffin and transfer to wire rack to cool completely at room temperature. Store leftovers in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days or 5 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Using very ripe bananas allows this recipe to use less refined sugar than in most blueberry muffin recipes. You can use light brown sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup or even honey. In addition, you can use as little as ⅓ cup, if desired.
- Fresh blueberries work best, but you can also use frozen blueberries, even frozen wild blueberries. There is no need to thaw them, but be sure to dry them well.
- Tossing the blueberries in the flour mixture helps prevent the color of the muffins from turning blue.
- To make this recipe gluten-free, use purity protocol gluten-free oats and gluten-free all-purpose blend.
- Swap in plant-based milk and use melted coconut oil or regular oil in place of the butter to make this recipe dairy-free.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
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