These healthy banana muffins have no flour: just rolled oats! The recipe is easy to make in a blender and comes out irresistibly tasty.
Here’s a fan favorite recipe we can’t get enough of: these Healthy Banana Muffins! The idea was born when reader Lisa asked us, “Could you create more healthy muffin recipes?” We set about to create a muffin that was 1. easy to make 2. healthy 3. irresistibly good. It’s still a favorite to this day! My mom always has a batch in her freezer for healthy breakfasts. This healthy muffins recipe uses rolled oats and is easy to whip up in a blender. Throw them in the oven, and they come out fluffy and delicious! No one will believe the magic.
Why make this healthy banana muffins recipe?
So, what’s so special about these muffins? There are loads of recipes all over the internet. But here’s why you should add this healthy banana muffins recipe to your arsenal:
- They’re made with mostly oats and bananas: no flour! That’s right, there’s no flour at all in these muffins! It’s basically like eating oatmeal and a banana.
- No refined sugar! They’re lightly sweetened with maple syrup. Most muffins are like eating a cupcake for breakfast. Instead, this recipe is lightly sweetened with maple syrup.
- They’re blender muffins! If you haven’t made blender muffins before, it’s time to start! Somehow whizzing everything together in a blender makes for less mess than a normal muffins recipe.
What people are saying
After trying this recipe out for us, reader Lisa who requested these muffins loved them! In fact, she said “The healthy banana muffins were great and super easy to make. So easy that I’ve made them twice already! The entire family enjoyed the recipe — it’s a winner!“
How to make healthy banana muffins
We make these healthy banana muffins all the time and our Larson gobbles them up! Several of our family and friends do the same. And we feel good about serving them to him since it’s basically like eating oatmeal and a banana! (Not a cupcake.) Here’s how to make banana muffins, our way:
- Add ingredients: Throw bananas, oats, maple, oil, and a few spices in a blender! (see the recipe below)
- Blend: Blend until the batter is smooth. Pour into muffin cups.
- Bake: Bake 35 minutes until fluffy and baked!
Storage and freezing info
Blending the oats in this way is basically like making oat flour while you make the batter (here are all our oat flour recipes for more with this concept). It’s the perfect go-to healthy snack or breakfast!
These healthy banana muffins also freeze well: just pop them in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Take out a few and pop them into the fridge for use in lunches throughout the week.
Variations on healthy blender muffins
Over the years, we’ve found readers love the healthy banana blender muffin concept. So of course we had to create a few variations on this recipe! Here are a few different flavors using the same blender muffin idea with rolled oats:
- Add blueberries for Healthy Blueberry Muffins or Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Opt for Favorite Applesauce Muffins
- Try Healthy Zucchini Muffins or Apple Zucchini Muffins
- Grab Apple Gluten Free Muffins
This healthy banana muffins recipe is…
Vegetarian, gluten-free, and dairy-free. For vegan and plant-based, substitute 2 flax eggs for the eggs.
Print
Healthy Banana Muffins (with Oatmeal!)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 9 to 10 muffins 1x
Description
These healthy banana muffins have no flour: just rolled oats! The recipe is easy to make in a blender and comes out irresistibly tasty.
Ingredients
- 3 large very ripe bananas (1 ½ cups mashed)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups rolled oats, plus more for topping
- ¼ cup neutral oil (sunflower, vegetable or grapeseed)**
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon allspice (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Place all ingredients in a blender, breaking the bananas into pieces as you add them. Blend everything on high for a minute or two until a smooth batter forms.
- Place 8 to 9 muffin cups into a muffin tin and pour the batter divided evenly between the cups; the amount of muffins will depend on the size of the bananas and type of oats*. Sprinkle the tops with extra oats and gently press them down.
- Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes* until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the muffin tin and allow them to cool a few minutes before serving. Store refrigerated or frozen.
Notes
*Note: The amount of muffins can depend on the size of the bananas and the type of oats. When we used sprouted rolled oats, we noticed the batter came out much thicker and only made 8 muffins. With large bananas and rolled oats, we got 9 muffins. We’ve had others get more than 9, anything up to 12; if so, bake for about 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
**One reader has tested these banana bread muffins with ¼ cup applesauce in place of the oil: she said both versions were good! The apple sauce version was nice and moist, dense but a bit flat. The oil version was great, lighter and a bit more dry.
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Banana bread muffins, Healthy banana muffins, Banana oatmeal muffins, How to make banana muffins, Blender muffins, How long to bake banana bread muffins
These are amazing! I used coconut oil as it’s what I had; I’d like to try subbing flax eggs but love the texture and flavor so much I’d hate to change it.
Easy. Hearty. Good for you ingredients. ??
Coconut oil is perfect! I think flax eggs would work well. Thank you for trying it out!
These are delicious! I added walnuts and raisins to the batter just before pouring, ended up with 12 muffins (I had 3 super sized bananas), and the texture is very satisfyingly chewy. What a great use for the brown bananas I had in the fruit bowl :) It’s currently too cold to be making smoothies so this was a quick and tasty recipe. Thank you!
Oh, so glad you loved these — and glad it filled up a pan of 12! Thank you for making them!
These look so good! Do you have any suggestions if I don’t have a blender? (I know, I know…). Would a food processor work?
Haha! Yes a food processor should work! Just blend for quite a while until all the oats are pureed and the dough is smooth. I saved my Instagram Stories of making the muffins so you reference that for the consistency! It’s here in my Story highlights, called Banana muffins.
Thank you!! Can’t wait to try these. :)
These are great. My kids (4 & 8) love them. My 8 year old son actually made the recipe himself, except the oven. A great recipe for cooks young and old and a great healthy muffin.
Awww you are kidding! This warms our hearts to hear! Thank you for sharing that :) Hi to the kiddos!
Yum! The whole family loves these. I added flax seeds because I add flax seeds to everything, haha. My 18 month old daughter is a FEIGN for these. She knows some basic signs, including “thank you.” We usually have to tell her to “say thank you,” but when I give her one of these muffins she does it automatically, haha. We’ll definitely make these again.
Oh we are SO glad to hear this! I love hearing that your daughter says thank you automatically for these. SO CUTE!
These are so good! My husband came home and said the house smelled like banana bread, haha. I always make mini muffins for my 2 and 4 year olds, to make the muffins stretch for a while, and I got 24 minis with a little batter left over. I also was curious how they’d do as pancakes, because we make pancakes every other day and these are similar to the banana pancakes I make often. These were great as pancakes, too! These will be on repeat in our house, both ways!
What a great idea to try them as pancakes! Now we have to try it too. I’m so glad to hear that minis work well too! Thank you so much for making the recipe.
You made me so happy! I’ve been on a strict elimination diet for 18 months now due to eosinophilic enteritis. After reviewing your recipe with all allowed ingredients, I made them. It was like heaven to me since I haven’t eaten any baked goods for so long. I even gave one to my registered dietician and gastrointestinal doctor and they both loved them.
I also started following your podcasts and enjoying them greatly. Your son is a doll!
Thank you again for making my stomach and heart so happy!
Oh wow, this makes us SO so happy to hear! It makes our day to know that these muffins are one baked good you can enjoy! So glad your doc and RD loved them too :) Thank you for listening to our podcasts! And Larson says hi too :)
Hi! When making mini-muffins, how long should I bake them? I can’t wait to make these!! Yum!
We haven’t tried this as mini muffins! We’d suggest taking a look at 15 minutes, then checking with a toothpick every few minutes after that until they are cooked through. (This type of muffin takes longer than the standard muffin to bake because of the dense oat batter, so keep that in mind!)
Look delicious! Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe.
I only had 2 bananas so I added 1/3 cup applesauce. I love how easy this was (I used a food processor). The texture is so nice and they’re really tasty. Thanks!
I love this recipe and have shared these muffins with lots of friends and family, I’ve also shared your website. The only thing different that I do is add some dried fruit and nuts.
Thanks so much for sharing!
I made these and they came out sooooo good!! I did accidentally buy steel cut oats and wasn’t sure how that would effect the final muffin, so I used 1 cup quick cooking steel cut oats, and then used half cup rolled (cause that’s what I had) and half cup flour. I used flax eggs and coconut oil. I also added chocolate chips and pecans! I ended up with 12 small perfect muffins that I can throw in the freezer and then take with me!! Anyway, they’re so much better than I could have imagined even though I had to alter the recipe a little. The steel cut oats definitely add texture!! Can’t wait to try another muffin recipe!
So glad you loved it and that the steel cut worked!
These are AWESOME! So glad I found your website. I used old fashion oats that had already been ground to flour. Added everything to my food processor, blended about 30 seconds. That was all that was needed. The muffins came out soft and moist just the way I like them. Not chewy at all. Now to try something else.
This is probably a silly question – but in 2 of your recipes it calls for “rolled oats – save some for toppings.” My question is- does this mean the oats need to be cooked first? I’m a terrible baker but after 2 years of gluten free- I can’t eat any more scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, smoothies or gluten free toast and jam! I need variety in my life :)
Haha!
We just put the raw oats on top. Since it’s just a sprinkle, the texture doesn’t really matter.
You should also check out our classic oatmeal for breakfast: https://www.acouplecooks.com/best-oatmeal-recipe-vegan-gf/ The oats are toasted and delish. We make it most everyday.
These were sooo delicious. Used flax eggs to make it vegan, subbed coconut oil, and sprinkled a few chocolate chips on top. Definitely the best healthy baking recipe I’ve tried yet. Looking forward to making these again – and also will be trying your oat applesauce muffins asap.
So glad you enjoyed them! :)
What if I don’t have maple syrup??? What should I use?
You can use honey instead!
These are amazing! I made these for my one year old and he really enjoys them. He can’t have egg so I substituted them with 2 heaped tbsp of presoaked chia seeds. I also left out the vanilla and spices. I managed to make 26 mini sized muffins and added some blueberries to some and sultanas to others. As I had to cook in batches, I actually found that the longer the mixture sat, the fluffy the muffins became. Very happy and will continue using this recipe :)
So glad you enjoyed the muffins! Love the mini idea.
The easiest, tastiest muffins ever!
( and so moist)
Such a good way to add those extra over ripened bananas and oats! I threw in some raisins and subbed sugar free maple syrup.
All your recipes are amazingly easy, seem to always come out just right
( cause they’re so simple ) and taste so good!
Thank you for sharing such a diverse amount of recipes
( loving the healthy vibe ) that I can actually ace, with me!
I can see it’s a real labor of love for you guys!
★★★★★
Thank you! So glad you love them.
Made this using a loaf pan. Came out great.
★★★★★
These are now my go-to for weekend baking with my toddler! I’ve found that you can easily do variations by replacing 2 of the 3 mashed bananas with some other healthy option: for pumpkin muffins, I replace two of the mashed bananas with a cup of pureed pumpkin. For sweet potato muffins, a cup of pureed sweet potato. For chocolate banana muffins, I replaced the 1/4 cup oil with 1/4 cup melted butter + 1/2 bar of unsweetened baking chocolate, melted together in a double boiler. Options abound! Thank you so much for this perfect and versatile recipe.
★★★★★
So glad you are loving them! :)
I’ve made these muffins a few times now and they are just wonderful!!! I do add crushed up walnuts and put extra walnuts on top with cinnamin and they are delicious!! Thank you so much!!
★★★★★
What can I sub for the egg? My son is allergic to dairy.
You can substitute with equal amount of flax eggs! Here’s how to make it: https://www.acouplecooks.com/flax-egg/
These are so easy and so good! Love that they’re *just* sweet enough.
★★★★★
As a newly vegan family it was hard for us to find a dessert we’d like that wasn’t filled with too much flour or sugar. These muffins, along with the blueberry muffin recipe, are so clean and were a HUGE hit in my family. We had to substitute the egg for flax eggs but it was still sooooo delicious. I even made one of these batches with chocolate chips and my kids ate them up either for breakfast, snack, dessert… however they could lol. I just had to contain myself from eating the whole batch. Thanks so much for this!!
★★★★★
So glad you loved them! Thanks for making.
Just made these because I happened to have 3 large bananas that needed to be used. Very easy and quick to throw together, taste delicious!
★★★★★
I am so happy with these muffins! Muffins are tricky and you’re never sure exactly what the texture is going to be. But these are chewy, very flavorful, and moist. I really love them! I also love whipping them up in the blender. I added a half cup of raisins and a half cup of pecan pieces; and the third banana I folded in at the end so there would be bigger pieces. Not only do they make good breakfast, they also make good supper with, maybe, cottage cheese or yogurt and fruit. Thanks for this!
★★★★★
So glad you are loving them! Thanks for making :)
New favorite muffin recipe! It’s been hard finding good GF baking recipes but this one is a winner! So delicious and satisfying. Like mini banana breads. I could see walnuts being a great addition. Thank you!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed!
I have made these muffins many times. They’re a crowd pleasure and great for breakfast or a snack. I like them best when the bananas are large.
★★★★★
These are great!! Will make them again! I used applesauce as another person suggested instead of oil and it worked really well, much healthier than other recipes. I used the Large silicone muffin pan and made six nice sized muffins. Thank you for the recipe!
★★★★★
Made these for breakfast this morning. 2 out of 3 kids actually ate them, which is saying something—my kids have never eaten any of the healthy things I make! I enjoyed them too. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Haha! Thanks for making!
Thank you for this recipe. I love love love it and so do my family and friends. It’s my go to when baking as we have quite a few gluten intolerant people at our church, it means they can eat morning tea. And our daughter who is gluten intolerant can also have a treat. I change out the maple syrup for honey and don’t use the allspice. I have passed this recipe onto so many people because, after all, if you find something so good you need to share it. I’ve also shared your website. Thank you so much again.
With kind regards
Meg Riley :)
★★★★★
So glad you are loving it! Thanks for the comment :)
This recipe defies the order of nature, being both DELICIOUS and SIMPLE. I would add “forgiving,” since I realized about 5 minutes into the cooking time that I had forgotten the maple syrup . . . I yanked the pan out of the oven and stirred a half teaspoon of syrup into each muffin. They still rose beautifully and tasted amazing, despite this screw-up and despite the total amount of maple syrup ending up only half of what is called for (in 12 muffins). They have a beautiful natural sweetness and wonderful crunchiness from the oatmeal on top. This recipe is a winner! I’ve been cooking for more than half a century, and I’m sharing my careless mistake so the less experienced cooks know that mistakes are part of the game, and there are few mistakes that can’t be remedied. Just smile and act like whatever came out of the oven is EXACTLY what you planned.
★★★★★
Hahah! So glad they turned out :)
I made the muffins using the applesauce instead of oil and didn’t blenderize, just used a spoon to mix well. They came out moist and the texture was awesome! Also, it made 12 delicious muffins!
★★★★★
These muffins are magnificent! I have tried so many “healthy” muffin recipes and they were all lacking. Happy to have found this recipe and your website. I didn’t have maple syrup so substituted with two tablespoons of raw, local honey. My bananas were really, really ripe so I didn’t use 1/4 cup.
★★★★★
Just wondering if in the Healthy Banana Muffin recipe, the one Tablespoon of vanilla is an error and should be one teaspoon.
I made them and added blueberries and some lemon zest – DELICIOUS!
★★★★★
We like the full tablespoon! You can add as much as you like.
Can you substitute oat bran for the oats?
I make these muffins at least once a month when I have ripe bananas that need to be used. I love them!! SO easy to freeze as well
★★★★★