Super healthy banana oatmeal muffins are naturally gluten free and so simple to make. They're naturally gluten free and made with no butter, no oil and no refined sugar. Make the batter in the blender!
What's special about these banana oatmeal muffins
When my children were small, it was always really important to me that they have a healthy and hearty breakfast. Not everyone is hungry first thing in the morning, but these super healthy banana oatmeal muffins were beloved by all 3 of my children, and were easy for little hands to eat at the bus stop.
They freeze beautifully, and they're ridiculously easy to make with super basic pantry ingredients, including bananas, sour cream, eggs, coconut sugar, and oats. Add in some salt and some leaveners (baking powder and baking soda), and you have a high-rising, tender and hearty muffin that is truly satisfying.
I typically like to make the batter for these muffins in the blender, as it's the only way to make a smooth batter. And a smooth batter leads to a smooth muffin, but if you don't have a blender, you can still make them as long as you have oat flour on hand.
A healthy, hearty muffin for breakfast
Other than a small handful of chocolate chips (which you could easily replace with much more virtuous chopped nuts of nearly any kind), these muffins are just.so.good.for.you. And because they're packed with whole grains, they're really satisfying.
These banana oatmeal muffins also have very little sugar. There's just 1/2 cup of coconut palm sugar in all 12 muffins. There isn't even much fat. Just that added by the sour cream or yogurt and the egg yolks—no butter or oil.
But they're still moist, tender and just flat out delicious. Like a hearty gf banana bread, but with the batter made in the blender!
How to make banana oatmeal muffins
These so-called “blender muffins” are made by placing all of the ingredients except for the chocolate chips in a blender or food processor, and pulsing until smooth. It's important to add in the wet ingredients first, though, including the bananas, sour cream, and eggs, before placing the granulated coconut sugar and oats on top, or your blender won't be able to work.
Then, add some chocolate chips to the batter, mix them in by hand, and transfer the muffin batter to the prepared wells of a muffin tin. Bake until a tester comes out with no more than a few moist crumbs attached, about 18 minutes.
In case you don't have a blender, I wanted you to have options. You can use a mini food processor to grind the oats into a flour and to blend the sugar and bananas, and then simply mix the rest of the batter by hand with a bowl and spoon.
It's not a perfect solution, but the muffins are still absolutely delicious, hearty and healthy as ever. There are so many other gluten free breakfast ideas here on the blog, and most of them don't require any sort of blender or food processor.
Banana oatmeal muffins ngredients and substitution suggestions
Sour cream
If you don't have sour cream on hand, you can still make these muffins. Just try plain, Greek-style yogurt. It must be Greek-style or you'll be adding too much moisture and the recipe won't work properly.
Dairy free banana oat muffins
The only dairy in this recipe as written is sour cream. If you'd like to make these muffins dairy free, try using plain dairy free Greek-style yogurt in its place. Be sure you're not using anything fat free or the muffins may be tough.
Oat-free banana oatmeal muffins
In place of the oats, since they're blended here, try using quinoa flakes and grind them into a powder as best you can. For more information, please visit our post oat substitutes.
FAQs
Yes! If you don't have a blender, you can use a food processor. If you don't have either one, as long as you can replace the oats with oat flour, you can still make these muffins. Just whisk together the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and coconut sugar in a mixing bowl. In a separate, smaller bowl, peel and mash the bananas with the sour cream and beaten eggs. Add the banana mixture to the oat flour mixture, and mix to combine. Follow the recipe instructions as written starting on step 4.
Oatmeal tends to make baked goods tough if you overmix the batter. Be sure to pulse the muffin batter just until it's blended, and don't keep blending or processing past that point.
Yes! Try replacing the chips with raisins, or your favorite dried fruit, cut into small pieces. You can leave the chips out entirely, but your muffins will be shorter.
Did you grease the wells of the muffin tin and/or the cupcake liners with cooking oil spray before baking? Otherwise, muffins tend to stick after baking.
When baked goods rise in the oven and then fall as they cool, they are usually underbaked in the center. That is often due to a too-hot oven, that bakes the outside of baked goods quickly, and before the center has had a chance to bake all the way through. As steam escapes, the muffins fall.
Yes! You can replace palm sugar with an equal amount, by weight, of brown sugar.
Yes! You'll need to defrost them, and they'll be quite slimy when you do, but the muffins won't mind at all. Just defrost either in the refrigerator overnight (be sure they're in a bowl or sealed container, as they'll leak liquid as they defrost) or in the microwave at low enough power that they don't heat much (depending on your microwave's total power, I'd defrost at 40% or 400 watts (lower if your microwave is more powerful than that) until soft). Then peel, weigh (include the liquid from the defrosted bananas), and blend.
Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Equipment
- Blender or food processor see recipe notes for alternative
Ingredients
- 2 ½ (250 g) peeled medium ripe bananas roughly chopped
- ½ cup (114 g) sour cream at room temperature
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (80 g) coconut palm sugar (or the same amount of light brown sugar, by weight)
- 2 ¼ cups (225 g) old fashioned rolled oats (certified GF if necessary)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease or line the wells of a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside.
- In a blender or food processor, place the bananas, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, sugar, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Pulse or blend on high speed until well-blended. (See Recipe Notes)
- Add about 3/4 of the chocolate chips to the batter, and mix by hand until evenly distributed throughout.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared wells of the muffin tin.
- Shake the tin back and forth to distribute the batter into an even layer in each well.
- Sprinkle the tops evenly with the remaining chips.
- Place the muffin tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Serve immediately or wrap tightly in freezer-safe wrap and freeze. Defrost at room temperature before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Equipment
- Blender or food processor see recipe notes for alternative
Ingredients
- 2 ½ (250 g) peeled medium ripe bananas roughly chopped
- ½ cup (114 g) sour cream at room temperature
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (80 g) coconut palm sugar (or the same amount of light brown sugar, by weight)
- 2 ¼ cups (225 g) old fashioned rolled oats (certified GF if necessary)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease or line the wells of a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside.
- In a blender or food processor, place the bananas, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, sugar, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Pulse or blend on high speed until well-blended. (See Recipe Notes)
- Add about 3/4 of the chocolate chips to the batter, and mix by hand until evenly distributed throughout.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared wells of the muffin tin.
- Shake the tin back and forth to distribute the batter into an even layer in each well.
- Sprinkle the tops evenly with the remaining chips.
- Place the muffin tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Serve immediately or wrap tightly in freezer-safe wrap and freeze. Defrost at room temperature before serving.
Emily says
I have saved ripe bananas in the freezer for smoothies. Would these work for the muffins if I sliced them in 1/2″ slices? If so, should I defrost them first? Thinking that weighing them frozen might throw off the quantity. Thank you
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Emily, Yes, they would definitely work. Yes, you’ll definitely have to defrost them first, but there’s no need to slice them. The reason to slice them is to make it easier to blend with the other ingredients. You won’t weigh them frozen because you’ll have to weigh them without the peels, assuming you’ve frozen them that way, as the peels won’t come off until they’re defrosted. Otherwise the weight is the same. I just added an FAQ about frozen bananas, actually, since it’s a common question, so please see the FAQs section of the post if you’d like some advice on defrosting them. I hope that helps!