Banana oat muffins are what spotty bananas are for. Oats stretch the batter, keep them filling, and make breakfast feel intentional even when you are mixing in pajamas.
Three black-spotted bananas beat a grocery run. If you only have two, add a spoon of applesauce to make up the volume. Beautifully Chaotic Life freezes bananas in their peels so this batter is always one thaw away.
No mixer. One bowl. Optional chocolate chips if the day needs a bribe.
Yield: 12 muffins · Time: 15 min · 18-20 min bake
Ingredients
Batter
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1¼ cups / 300 g)
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) oil
- ½ cup (100 g) brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1½ cups (180 g) flour
- 1 cup (90 g) oats
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- Optional ½ cup chocolate chips or walnuts
Steps
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Line or grease a muffin tin.
- Mash the bananas well. Stir in oil or melted butter, egg, sugar or maple, and vanilla. Add oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir until combined. Fold in optional chocolate chips or nuts.
- Scoop into cups about three-quarters full. Bake 16 to 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool in the tin 5 minutes, then finish on a rack.
Use-what-you-have swaps
- All oats blitzed half-fine for a denser, GF-ish texture (not certified gluten-free unless your oats are)
- Maple syrup for half the brown sugar
- Walnuts or chocolate chips
- Pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon
- Muffin top pan for crispier edges; watch the time
- Dairy-free milk in place of any dairy you usually add
Tips from a real kitchen
- Mash bananas until mostly smooth. Big chunks make wet tunnels.
- Fill cups three-quarters full for domes.
- Cool in the tin 5 minutes so they set, then move to a rack so bottoms do not steam soggy.
- Oats continue to hydrate as muffins cool. They taste better after 20 minutes.
Make-ahead
Freeze up to 2 months. Grab one in the morning; it thaws by snack time. Room temperature 2 days covered. For a brunch batch, bake the night before and warm 5 minutes at 300°F.
Serve and store
Plain, buttered, or with peanut butter. Pack in lunchboxes with a cold pack. Crumble over yogurt if a muffin gets stale.
If it goes sideways
- **Dense and heavy:** Overmixed, or bananas measured by count instead of volume. Aim near 1¼ cups mashed.
- **Dry:** Overbaked. Check at 16 minutes.
- **Stuck paper liners:** Grease liners lightly or use a greased tin.
Photo/Image credit: Pexels via Pexels (Banana muffins) (Pexels License (free to use))
Photo: Beautifully Chaotic Life (original illustrative image). Beautifully Chaotic Life created this image for the post.
