After testing this recipe countless times in my own kitchen, I can confidently say these Banana Oatmeal Muffins are one of the best ways to use up those brown, spotty bananas sitting on your counter. They’re packed with wholesome oats and naturally sweetened with bananas, making them a balanced, feel-good breakfast option. I love baking a big batch on the weekend so my family has easy, grab-and-go muffins ready for busy mornings all week long!
If you are like me, you always buy bananas at the grocery store, but they end up going brown and spotty and then no one wants to eat them. Use those overripe bananas for these delicious banana muffins!
They are loaded with healthy oatmeal and full of banana flavor! A make ahead breakfast is the perfect breakfast, so make a big batch of these muffins and enjoy a quick, healthy breakfast every morning!
Serve these muffins with your favorite muffin recipes, like these 2 ingredient banana muffins, banana blueberry muffins, carrot cake muffins, 2 ingredient pumpkin muffins, sourdough pumpkin muffins, or pumpkin oatmeal muffins!
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Why You’ll Love These Healthy Banana Oatmeal Muffins
These banana oatmeal muffins are the kind of recipe you’ll want to keep on repeat! They’re soft, naturally sweet, and packed with wholesome ingredients that make you feel good about grabbing one (or two!) for breakfast. My family loves them warm from the oven with a little butter, and I love that they’re made with simple pantry staples, no fancy ingredients required. They’re great for busy mornings, lunchboxes, or an afternoon snack with coffee.
Banana Oatmeal Muffins Recipe Ingredients
You only need a few basic ingredients that you can easily find at your local grocery store!
- Oatmeal. Old fashioned rolled oats is best for this recipe. Like these 3 Ingredient Banana Oatmeal Bars, baking with oatmeal adds a lot of fiber and texture to your recipe!
- Flour. All purpose flour or a combination of whole wheat flour and white flour can be used.
- Leavening agents. You will need both baking soda and baking powder.
- Cinnamon and salt. For a little extra flavor.
- Milk. Whole milk, 2% milk, almond milk, or your favorite non dairy milk all would work.
- Melted butter. I think butter adds the most best flavor to these muffins, but you can use coconut oil, vegetable oil, avocado oil, or canola oil instead.
- Sugar. White sugar, brown sugar, or even maple syrup can be used.
The Best Bananas to Use
We all buy that bunch of bananas, and there are inevitably two or three left over that get too soft and brown to eat. I know my kids refuse to eat them unless they are perfectly yellow. A little brown and forget it!
To make banana muffins though, those extra ripe bananas are perfect! Brown, spotty, and a little mushy have the perfect amount of natural sweetness and are easily mashed, to make the most delicious banana muffins.
How To Make Banana Oatmeal Muffins
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Set that aside.
2. In a small bowl or medium bowl, mix together the oatmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix the oat mixture together and set it aside.
3. In a large bowl, add the ripe bananas. Mash them until they are pureed. Add the milk, melted butter, sugar, and eggs to the mashed bananas.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix the muffin batter until the ingredients are just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Scoop the muffin batter into each muffin cup. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted into the center and comes out clean. The tops of the muffins will be golden brown when done.
6. Let the muffins cool on a wire rack and serve.
Banana Oatmeal Muffins Recipe Variations
- Make healthy banana oatmeal muffins! Add Greek yogurt to the batter for more protein, and add a combination of flours. Whole wheat flour and oat flour can be mixed with all purpose flour to add more fiber to the muffins.
- Add peanut butter! Swirl in your favorite peanut butter or add peanut butter chips!
- Add Nutella! Just like peanut butter, Nutella and bananas is a classic combination!
- Add chocolate chips! Dark chocolate chips or semi sweet chocolate chips will add so much flavor to these muffins!
- Make mini muffins! Pour the batter into a mini muffin tin for smaller version of these easy banana muffins!
How to Store Oatmeal and Banana Muffins
Once the muffins have cooled to room temperature, place them in an airtight container or a Ziploc bag. Keep them on the counter for 4-5 days. Do not place these muffins in the refrigerator. They will go stale quickly in the refrigerator.
You can also freeze these delicious banana muffins! Once they are at room temperature, place them in a freezer friendly container or a gallon freezer bag. Freeze them for up to 3 months. You can take them out of the freezer and place the frozen muffin on the counter when you are ready to defrost them.
Banana Oatmeal Muffins Recipe FAQs
Sure! You would need to use 2 flax eggs instead of regular eggs, coconut oil instead of butter, and your favorite dairy-free milk.
Yes! Grease two loaf pans with cooking spray or melted butter and pour the batter into the loaf pans. Cook for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted into the banana oatmeal bread and comes out clean.
To ripen bananas faster than they normally would, place the bananas in a brown bag with an apple. The gases from the skin of the apple speeds up the ripening process. This way will take about a day to ripen.
If you are in a pinch and want to ripen bananas quickly, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place the whole banana on a baking sheet and place them in the oven for 15 minutes. When the skins turn completely black they are ready! Carefully peel the banana and let it cool, then proceed with the recipe.
You need to use old fashioned rolled oats for these muffins. Quick-cooking oats will cook too quickly in the muffins and won't get you that chewy texture that the rolled oats give you.
Steel cut oats won't cook in the muffins. Steel cut oats take a really long time to cook and would be far too chewy in these muffins.
Kind of, I would say! These muffins get their sweetness from ripe bananas and their heartiness from rolled oats, which means they’re full of fiber, whole grains, and natural flavor. There’s no need for tons of added sugar or oil here, the bananas keep everything moist and delicious. You can totally enjoy these as a healthy breakfast or snack that still tastes like a treat!
Definitely! Frozen bananas work perfectly for this recipe. Just thaw them first and drain off any extra liquid before mashing. In fact, I think frozen bananas sometimes make the muffins even better, they’re extra sweet and soft, which adds great flavor and texture to the batter. So if you’ve got a few bananas stashed in the freezer, this is the perfect way to use them up!
More Banana Recipes
- One Bowl Banana Bread
- Banana Nut Bread Without Baking Soda
- Banana Muffins with Self Rising Flour
- Double Chocolate Banana Bread
- Strawberry Banana Pancakes
- 4 Ingredient Banana Bread
- Banana Pancakes
Did you make this recipe and love it?
If you did, don't forget to leave a 5-star review and comment below! Show me your creation on Instagram or Facebook. Just mention @Lynn'sWayofLife or use this hashtag #lynnswayoflife.
📖 Recipe
Easy Banana Oatmeal Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Old Fashioned Oatmeal
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 3 Bananas Brown and Spotty
- ½ cup Milk Whole Milk
- ½ cup Butter Melted
- 1 cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Set that aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the oatmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix the oat mixture together and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, add the peeled, ripe bananas. Mash them until they are pureed. Add the milk, melted butter, sugar, and eggs to the mashed bananas.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix the muffin batter until the ingredients are just combined. Do not overmix.
- Scoop the muffin batter into each muffin cup. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted into the center and comes out clean. The tops of the muffins will be golden brown when done.
- Let the muffins cool on a wire rack and serve.
Video
Notes
- An ice cream scoop ensures that the muffins are all the same size.
- Steel cut oats or quick cooking oats cannot be used. Rolled oats are best in this recipe.
- Bananas that are brown and spotty are the best for this recipe.
Martha says
Most delicious, moist, and easy to make muffin! Added a cup of chocolate chips! Also, used less sugar and they were still sweet enough! A keeper!
Lynn Polito says
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed them! Thanks for making my recipe!
Kris says
These were perfectly tender and moist with just the right amount of banana flavor. The whole family loved them! Will make again. 🙂
Lisa Douglas says
My kids love you, just sayin'! LOL These made our weekday breakfasts SUPER easy and tasty, thank you SO much!
Lara says
I made these for meal prep in the morning and that were delicious. Super moist! Will definitely be a keeper in our meal pre rotation.
Karen Kelly says
The family loved these. I made them last weekend and they stayed fresh for us to eat during the week. The oats really make them filling and satisfying!
Bella B says
Loved this recipe and it was the perfect way to use the over ripe bananas I had. I froze them and taking one out a day for a mid morning snack. 🙂