Blueberry banana oatmeal muffins are filling, delicious and so flavorful. Easy to make with simple ingredients, these banana blueberry oat muffins are bursting with flavor and great for a healthy breakfast or snack anytime! Naturally gluten free, dairy free and made with no eggs, these blueberry oat muffins will quickly become a family favorite!
Why you will love this recipe
- Simple ingredients – these muffins are made with easy to find ingredients you likely already have in your kitchen. These healthy vegan oatmeal muffins are the perfect use for those spotty bananas you have sitting on the kitchen counter!
- Easy to make – all you need to make these muffins is a large bowl and a muffin tin. No special equipment needed! Simply stir together all the ingredients, divide the batter between the muffin tin and bake. Great recipe to make with your kids!
- Great for meal prep or freezer prep – these hearty, filling banana blueberry oat muffins are the perfect filling breakfast and are also a great on the go snack that isn’t too sweet! You can make a double batch and freeze them for later or enjoy them all week long for a quick and easy breakfast prep!
- Great for picky eaters! If you have a picky eater that doesn’t love eating oatmeal, these muffins can be a great way to get them to get the same ingredients in a different, more approachable way. Who doesn’t love muffins? This blueberry banana oatmeal muffin recipe is vegan, gluten free, dairy free, egg free and naturally sweetened. You can also make this nut free by substituting sunbutter for the almond butter.
Ingredients
- Bananas – the riper the bananas, the sweeter the muffins! This recipe is a great use for those spotty, brown bananas you have on your counter. If you find your bananas aren’t that ripe, add an additional tablespoon of maple syrup to help ensure the muffins are sweet enough!
- Dairy free milk – use whatever your go-to dairy free milk is. I typically use cashew milk or almond milk, but you could also use oat milk, coconut milk (in the carton, not the can) or flax milk.
- Ground flax – ground flax (plus the dairy free milk) replace eggs in this recipe, making it egg free. You can use pre-ground flax (sometimes called flax meal) or you can grind your own flax using a coffee grinder.
- Maple syrup – maple syrup helps to sweeten the muffins (so they are sweet but not overly sweet). You could also use date syrup or honey (not vegan). I have not tried this recipe with a low carb liquid sweetener, but you could try that as well.
- Oat flour – oat flour is a fine flour made from oats. If you don’ have oat flour in your kitchen you can make your own using a high-speed blender! If you need this to be gluten free, be sure your oat flour is also labeled gluten free.
- Rolled oats (sometimes called old fashioned oats) – the oats are super filling and really help to make these banana blueberry oatmeal muffins a substantial snack or meal. You can also use quick oats in a pinch. Note if you need this to be a gluten free recipe, be sure to find certified gluten free oats (this ensures they weren’t processed in a plant with other gluten based grains).
- Baking powder – baking powder helps the muffins rise as they bake.
- Almond butter – almond butter is the fat in the recipe (instead of something like butter or oil). The almond butter also provides flavor and a small amount of protein. You can also use peanut butter, cashew butter or sunbutter in place of the almond butter.
- Blueberries (fresh or frozen) – this muffin recipe is perfect for those times of year when you have an excessive amount of fresh blueberries on hand (or you buy too many bags of blueberries from Costco). You can use fresh or frozen without any changes to the recipe.
How to make blueberry banana oatmeal muffins
Start by preheating the oven to 375F.
In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork or a potato masher.
Once the bananas are mashed, add the liquid ingredients (dairy free milk, maple syrup) and the ground flax. Stir well.
Add the dry ingredients (oat flour, rolled oats and baking powder) to the wet ingredients and stir well.
Add the almond butter to the batter and mix to fully incorporate.
Stir in the blueberries. If frozen, only stir enough to incorporate or the berries will start to bleed into the batter turning it purple.
Scoop the muffin batter into the muffin tin lined with parchment paper or silicone muffin liners.
Once the muffin tin is full, transfer the muffins to the oven and bake at 375F for 40 minutes.
After baking, allow the muffins to cool in the muffin tin at least 10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to finish cooling before enjoying. Note: the muffins are very fragile right out of the oven and will fall apart if you lift them from the muffin tin too early.
Top tips
- Use fresh or frozen blueberries. When using frozen blueberries, wait to pull them from the freezer until right before adding them to the batter. Once the frozen blueberries are added to the batter, stir just to combine, don’t overmix or the batter will start to turn purple from the juice of the blueberries.
- The riper the bananas the sweeter the muffins. As bananas get riper, they get more brown spots on the skin. You want a soft bananas with very spotty skin. If you don’t have super ripe bananas on hand, check out my tips below.
- Let the muffins rest before transferring them to cool. Because these blueberry banana oatmeal muffins are egg free, they are more fragile and need time to rest before they are transferred to cool.
- I recommend using a silicone muffin liner or a parchment paper liner when making muffins. This helps to ensure the muffins don’t stick to the pan and these two options always peel right off the muffins. Paper liners tend to stick to the muffins and are hard to get off.
- If you are using a silicone muffin tin (instead of a metal one), the cooking time may vary. I have not tested this method but from my experience the silicone muffin tins don’t retain heat as well as traditional muffin tins.
Other additions
- Lemon zest (for a lemon blueberry oatmeal muffin)
- Coconut flakes – you can use regular or toasted coconut flakes. They would add flavor and texture to the muffins
- Cinnamon, nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice to change the flavors
- Chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews, pistachios) or seeds (hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds) for taste and texture
Common questions
Can you use frozen blueberries to make muffins?
Yes! Unless it’s the summer and fresh blueberries are inexpensive and easy to find, I almost always bake with frozen blueberries. When using frozen blueberries, the trick is to add them at the very last minute and only stir to incorporate them in. Scoop the muffins immediately once the frozen berries are incorporated.
If you add the frozen blueberries too early, the batter will likely take on a purple hue. The flavor will still be delicious, but the color of the muffins may change slightly.
Can you use other berries instead of blueberries?
Yes! You can make these banana oatmeal muffins with any berry you have on hand (fresh or frozen). You can use raspberries just like blueberries (no changes required). If you use strawberries or blackberries, be sure to cut them down into smaller pieces first.
You can also use cherries, peaches or nectarines in place of the blueberries. Be sure to remove the pit of the cherries and the pit and skin of the peaches or nectarines before chopping into small pieces.
What kind of oats can be used?
These blueberry oatmeal muffins can be made with rolled oats (old fashioned oats) or quick oats (which are rolled oats that have been cut down into small pieces). Unfortunately you cannot bake with steel cut oats, as the outer coating will not get soft enough in the time it takes to make the muffins.
What is oat flour?
Oat flour is made by grinding oats down into a very fine powder. The oat flour you buy in stores has a similar texture to all purpose flour or gluten free flour blends. I typically have a bag of oat flour on hand but you can also make it yourself using a high speed blender.
How to make oat flour
Add rolled oats to a high speed blender and blend on high until the oats have been transformed into a fine powder. This can take 30 seconds to a minute, and you may need to pause and shake up the blender to ensure all the oats have been blended. Some people like to pass this through a fine mesh sieve to ensure there are no big chunks but that is not necessary for this recipe.
Store leftover oat flour in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid for up to 6 months.
What if you don’t have ripe bananas on hand?
The bananas add sweetness to the recipe but also help to add moisture to the muffins. Even if your bananas aren’t super ripe, they are still needed for this recipe.
If you don’t have ripe bananas on hand, add an extra tablespoon of maple syrup to the recipe.
If your bananas are hard to mash, warm them up in the microwave or on the stove. Heat the bananas in the microwave (about 20-25 seconds) or on the stove in a sauce pan with a lid (medium low heat, 4-5 minutes). Heating the bananas helps make them easier to mash.
Storing leftover banana blueberry oat muffins
Fridge: Store leftover muffins in an airtight container or bag in the fridge for up to a week. Enjoy leftover muffins cold from the fridge or you can allow them to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. If you want warm muffins, heat in the microwave (30 seconds) or the air fryer 2 minutes at 350F.
Freezer: Freeze oatmeal banana blueberry muffins in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months. You can defrost the muffins in the microwave (30 second intervals for 1-2 minutes) or on the counter for 2-4 hours.
Substitutions
- Bananas – bananas give this recipe taste, sweetness and help provide moisture to the batter. If you do not have bananas or hate bananas, you could also try using applesauce, canned pumpkin or canned sweet potatoes in place of the banana. You will likely need about 1 cup of these to replace the bananas.
- Dairy free milk – use whatever your go-to dairy free milk is! If you can tolerate dairy, you could also use regular milk. If you don’ have any milk on hand, you can make your own dairy free milk by combining ½ tablespoon of almond butter (or cashew butter or sunbutter) with 1 cup of water in a high speed blender.
- Ground flax – you can make your own ground flax by grinding up flax seeds in a coffee grinder or a high speed blender. You could also use chia seeds or ground chia seeds in place of the ground flax.
- Maple syrup – maple syrup helps to create a sweet but not overly sweet muffin. You could also use brown rice syrup, date syrup or honey in place of the maple syrup. Note that the date syrup and honey may make the muffins slightly darker when baking.
- Oat flour – oat flour helps to give these muffins structure while baking. If you don’t have oat flour and don’t want to make your own, you can also use your favorite all purpose gluten free flour of choice. I would not recommend using coconut flour (coconut flour absorbs too much liquid) or almond flour (it won’t provide enough structure for the muffins).
- Rolled oats – I recommend using rolled oats (sometimes called old fashion oats) but if you are in a pinch you could also use quick cooking oats. Steel cut oats cannot be used in this recipe as they will not soften in time.
- Almond butter – almond butter helps to ensure the muffins stay moist and also give a depth of flavor to the muffins. You could use peanut butter, cashew butter, tahini or sunbutter (this will make the muffins nut free).
- Blueberries – you can use fresh or frozen blueberries in this recipe. You can also substitute the blueberries with raspberries, strawberries (cut into small pieces), cherries (pitted and cut) or blackberries (cut into pieces0.
If you love this recipe, you should try
High Protein Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins
$4.82 Recipe/$0.40 ServingIngredients
- 2 large bananas, mashed - $0.33
- 3/4 cup dairy free milk - $0.43
- 3 tbsp ground flax - $0.21
- 3 tbsp maple syrup - $0.93
- 1/2 cup oat flour - $0.30
- 1.5 cups rolled oats - $0.60
- 1 tsp baking powder - $0.06
- 2 tbsp almond butter - $0.46
- 1 cup blueberries - $1.50
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Mash the bananas in a large bowl.
- Add wet ingredients (dairy free milk, maple syrup) to the bananas, add ground flax and stir well.
- Add dry ingredients (oat flour, oatmeal and baking powder) to the wet ingredients. Stir well.
- Add almond butter to the bowl. Stir well to fully incorporate.
- Add fresh or frozen blueberries to the batter. Stir to incorporate.
- Divide the batter to fill the 12 muffin liners in the muffin tin.
- Bake at 375F for 40 minutes.
- After 40 minutes, remove from oven and allow the muffins to cool at least 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Cool completely before enjoying.
Notes
- You can use fresh or frozen blueberries. When using frozen blueberries, wait to pull them from the freezer until right before adding them to the batter. Once the frozen blueberries are added to the batter, stir just to combine, don’t overmix or the batter will start to turn purple from the juice of the blueberries.
- The riper the bananas the sweeter the muffins. For best results, use a soft banana with very spotty skin. If you don’t have ripe bananas, add an additional tablespoon of maple syrup.
- Let the muffins rest before transferring them to cool. Because these muffins are made with no eggs, they are more fragile and need time to rest before they are transferred to cool.
- I recommend using a silicone muffin liner or a parchment paper liner when making muffins. This helps to ensure the muffins don’t stick to the pan and these two options always peel right off the muffins. Paper liners tend to stick to the muffins and are hard to get off.
- Fridge: Store leftover muffins in an airtight container or bag in the fridge for up to a week. Enjoy leftover muffins cold from the fridge or you can allow them to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. If you want warm muffins, heat in the microwave (30 seconds) or the air fryer 2 minutes at 350F.
- Freezer: Freeze in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months. You can defrost the muffins in the microwave (30 second intervals for 1-2 minutes) or on the counter for 2-4 hours.
