If you read my blog, you know that sometimes, when Trader Joe’s has produce in bulk for a really good price, I buy it. Then, I am stuck with tons of produce wondering, “what in tarnation am I going to do with all this?”
This is the burden I have to bear as a girl who loves both food and bargains.
So now I find myself with a surplus of blueberries and peaches. So I made these DELICIOUS Banana Blueberry Oat Muffins, made with 100% whole grains and absolutely no refined sugar!
It’s a good thing I bought blueberries in bulk because it took me several attempts to get this right. Baking with whole grains is much different than baking with all-purpose flour.
For one thing, whole grain baked goods can come out fairly dense. I have found that the biggest thing that helps avoid this is to not over-mix the batter.
When you hear cooks on TV saying “stir until just combined,” they mean it. The more you mix, the denser it will be.
So when you add the flour and oats to the wet ingredients, make sure you only just combine it, and then gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
A note about over-ripe bananas: please, please, whenever you have bananas about to go bad, don’t throw them out! Put them in your freezer until you want to use them for muffins, bread, or banana chia seed pancakes.
Freeze them whole, and when you need to use them, microwave for 45 seconds and remove the fruit from the peel. The peel will turn black and look unappetizing, but the inside is soft, sweet, and perfect for baking.
While we are on the subject of freezers, these muffins can be frozen for up to 6 months in an airtight container or bag. When you want one, simply remove from the freezer and microwave for 30 seconds to one minute for a quick and easy breakfast.
To serve, I recommend cutting the muffin in half, spreading butter on it, and grilling cut-side down for a couple of minutes in a cast iron skillet.
Hey, there has to be butter somewhere, right?
The result will be a toasty, buttery, crunchy outside with a soft, warm inside. Yum, I think I will go make one right now!
Of course, they are delicious on their own as well :-)
Now I have to think of something to do with those peaches… peach cobbler?
Any other ideas?
Banana Blueberry Oat Muffins (made with whole wheat flour and honey)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 eggs
- 2 ripened mashed bananas
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour pastry flour is best
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1.5 cups fresh blueberries or other berry, see notes about using frozen
- turbinado sugar if desired, for topping muffins
Instructions
- Add coconut oil (1/2 cup) and honey (1/4 cup) to large mixing bowl. If coconut oil is solid, microwave for 15 seconds, until honey and oil are softened.
- Cream together with a mixer on high speed.
- Add eggs (2) and Greek yogurt (1/2 cup). Mix together until very well combined.
- Add the 2 mashed bananas, vanilla (1 teaspoon), cinnamon (1 teaspoon), pinch of nutmeg, baking powder (1 teaspoon), baking soda (1 teaspoon), and salt (1/2 teaspoon). Mix until well combined.
- Add flour and oats- stir until just combined.
- Fold berries (1.5 cups) in to mixture.
- Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners; fill each cup evenly with mixture.
- Sprinkle the tops of each muffin with turbinado sugar (optional).
- Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Video
Notes
- Storage: These muffins can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for 5 days. They can be frozen in an airtight container or bag for up to 3 months.
- Not a fan of coconut oil? Extra-virgin olive oil can be used instead. Substitute the same amount.
- Honey Substitute: You can also use brown or white sugar, or maple syrup, instead of honey.
- You can use frozen berries for this, but keep in mind, it's likely that the muffins will be more colored blue/purple.
- To make them gluten-free: you can use a gluten-free flour mix substituted with a 1:1 ratio (I have not tried this personally, but I have readers who have substituted with no problem).
- For a dairy-free version, use your favorite dairy-free yogurt.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Natasha
Definitely do not need sugar! These muffins are delicious. I just warmed mine for 15sec with margarine.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks! So glad you liked them :-)
A
I’ve really enjoyed these muffins in the past. I don’t have coconut oil on hand, so I’m wondering if I need to change anything if I use butter in its place?
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you like them! I’ve never used butter in them before- I recommend using olive oil in place of coconut (I’ve done that numerous times with great results, or another kind of oil, like canola, in a pinch). Butter may work, but the muffins may be a little bit dryer. Hope that helps!
A
Thank you! My olive oil has a really strong taste, so I did 2/3 canola and 1/3 olive. They came out delicious as ever!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Woo hoo! So glad you liked them!
Jennifer Martinson
Everyone in my family loves these muffins! So moist and delicious!
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks! So happy you all liked them!
Claudia crowder
Can I use olive oil instead of coconut oil ??
Elizabeth Lindemann
Definitely! I do that all the time and it comes out great. Hope you like them!
jason
delicious, easy, and healthy
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks! So glad you liked them!
Jill
These are amazing! Just what I was looking for, not totally gluten free or not sweet, but no added sugar….
Thanks so much for adding to my favorite muffins repertoire..
Elizabeth Lindemann
SO happy you liked them! :-)
Jill
These are amazing! Just what I was looking for, not totally gluten free or not sweet, but no added sugar….
Thanks so much for adding to my favorite muffins repertoire..
Diane Buss
I thought these muffins were quite good. Definitely less sweet, but I expected that and prefer that. The bananas I used were really really ripe and I did sprinkle a little sugar on top before baking.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks! I’m so glad you liked them!
AK
The recipe only calls for 1/4 cup honey: are these muffins less sweet than traditional banana blueberry muffins?
Elizabeth Lindemann
These muffins are definitely not super sweet. I personally think they are sweet enough, with 1/4 cup honey in addition to the natural sweetness from the bananas and the blueberries, and the turbinado sugar on top. The yogurt also imparts a little bit of sweetness. That said, if you have a big sweet tooth, feel free to increase the honey to 1/2 cup, and/or replace it with brown or white sugar, which is a little bit sweeter than honey!
Angelina Whittle
Hi Elizabeth,
I haven’t baked with whole wheat pastry flour, what is the difference in results ( texture, taste, bake time . . .) versus unbleached and whole wheat combination?
Elizabeth Lindemann
Whole wheat flour results in a bit of a denser result. The high gluten content in white flour, along with the super fine grain, makes baked goods super fluffy. Using whole wheat flour to bake results in more density, and it CAN be a little dryer, and it has a more nutty, earthy flavor. It’s also more nutritions (more vitamins, minerals, and fiber). I don’t always bake with whole wheat flour for this reason, as I don’t think it’s appropriate in every situation. BUT, I really think it’s great for these muffins. They stay moist from the addition of bananas and oil, and because they are muffins rather than a whole loaf or something, they tend to be really fluffy still. I just made a banana bread recipe that I used part white flour and part whole wheat, for this very reason. I’d give it a shot and see how you like it, and then next time, you could experiment with different ratios! If you DO choose to use white instead of whole wheat, the cooking time should be about the same, but you should use a little more white flour, since it absorbs less liquid than the whole wheat. I’d say about 1/4 cup more for this recipe. Hope that helps :-)
Helen
I’m making these tonight. They sound good, easy and I too really really like how you put amounts of ingredients within the instructions! Why doesn’t everyone do this?
Thank you.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Hope you like them! And thanks for your feedback on the ingredients in the instructions- it’s something new I’ve been trying and I’m glad to see it’s helpful! I’m trying to go back and update all my old recipes to have the ingredient amounts :-)
Krista
I made these for my boyfriend and he loved them! They’re delicious and easy to make. Thank you for putting the ingredient amounts in the instructions as well!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you and your boyfriend liked them! And I’m so happy to hear the ingredient amounts in the instructions were helpful- I’m trying to update all my old recipes to have them, because I get sooooo annoyed myself if I have to keep scrolling up and down to reference the amounts. Love getting feedback like this!
Jeanne Cameron
I tried your recipe and they turned out amazing. I used canola oil instead of coconut, sour cream instead of yogurt and an extra half a banana (left over from my breakfast). Very moist and light. I shared with my 95 year old neighbor and he loved them too.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you and your neighbor liked them! I make these at least once a month, if not once a week. They never last long at our house!
dgman
Hi,
Honey is not a low glycemic sweetener so can monk fruit be substitutedfor it in this muffin recipe?
Elizabeth
Hm, I’ve never tried that before (and admittedly, I’ve never even heard of monk fruit as a sweetener!). However, I think it definitely could. As an alternative, you can leave out the sweeteners all together and add another super ripe banana to both sweeten the muffins and make them more moist. Hope that helps!
jz
I used what I had at home so here were my tweaks:
– (real) maple syrup instead of honey
– homemade buttermilk (using that link you provided in a comment) instead of the yogurt
-butter instead of coconut oil
– used the full 2 cups of blueberries but frozen (previously bought fresh) and lightly coated in flour
They were delicious! Thanks!!
Elizabeth
So happy you liked them! Thanks for your substitutions and changes- I can’t wait to try with maple syrup soon!
Carys
I need to avoid dairy and acidic foods like lemon and vinegar. Can I sub the yogurt for almond or coconut milk?
Elizabeth
Hm, good question! I haven’t tried it, and I think you’d need to make some adjustments to sub it. Alternative milks are more liquidy than yogurt, so I’d use less. And there is fat in the yogurt you’ll be missing, so I’d add a little more oil. Or, you might want to look into getting a vegan yogurt made with coconut milk instead of using a milk alternative for this. Hope that helps!
Carol
I used two very large bananas. I made these as specifed for a holiday muffin exchange. They never made it to the party. My 3 kids and husband ate all 18 in less than one hour. They said they were
“phenomenal!” I’m going to try to make them with a 1:1 gluten free flour next time so I can try them. Thanks for another great recipe.
Elizabeth
So happy your family liked them so much!! I make them SO frequently. My toddler always gobbles them up. Thanks for the comment!
Mythri
can I use oat-flour instead of oats?
Elizabeth
I’d stick with oats for this, since oat flour will have a lot more density so I don’t think you can sub one for the other. If you don’t have the option of oats, maybe try using half the amount and see if that works? Hope that’s helpful!
Sarah
So good! Modifications: 1/2 c Carrington brand coconut oil/ghee vs coconut oil. 3 bananas. I only had white flour vs wheat flour. 1.5 c frozen blueberries
Elizabeth
So happy you liked it! Thanks for sharing your modifications :-)
Dan
Fantastic recipe. I was really surprised how light they are. Definitely on the money with the not over mixing advice. I added almonds and flax seeds and it was still very light. Thanks.
Elizabeth
So happy you liked them! I seriously make these once a week- love them!