Oatmeal Banana Muffins
Wholesomely delicious oatmeal banana muffins are a cozy yet healthy addition to any breakfast or snack that are naturally gluten-free and vegan.
Sometimes you just need a muffin, ya know? They’re just so tasty and comforting and (especially in the case of these oatmeal banana muffins) can be so nourishing, too!
There’s just one problem: soooo many muffin recipes, muffin mixes, or bakery muffins kinda clash with what works for me. Even if at first glance they may look like they’re a fit with my food allergies and sensitivities, often they’re loaded with so many chemicals, preservatives, and unnecessary ingredients that I wouldn’t even have space to tattoo them all on my arm. Enter: these oatmeal banana muffins.
So what makes these oatmeal banana muffins so healthy?
These oatmeal banana muffins have simple, wholesome, nourishing ingredients. While it’s hard to find any one ingredient (with the exception of water) that’s a fit with every single different dietary restriction or lifestyle, these muffins fit quite a few. They’re naturally gluten-free (with the use of certified gluten-free oats and oat flour), vegan, and free of all other top eight most common food allergens.
Oatmeal banana muffins recipe notes and substitutions:
While these oatmeal banana muffins are pretty versatile with minimal ingredients already, there are a few ways to make substitutions to further customize to fit your personal dietary needs. I think we tested this oatmeal banana muffins recipe half a dozen different days, so I’m happy to share some tips and lessons learned through all the variations!
- Oats & oat flour: choose certified gluten-free if needed.
- Milk: you can use any type of milk or milk substitute plant-based beverage you desire. The only thing I don’t recommend is full fat canned coconut milk, as I have not tested it and the thicker coconut milk consistency will likely pose more noticeable differences in the final product.
- Oil: I used coconut oil but you can use any neutral-tasting oil or melted butter that fits your needs. I did try swapping oil for a little extra milk/ milk substitute, but the oil yields much tastier and satisfying finished oatmeal banana muffins. I never tried substituting yogurt or applesauce for oil, but my gut tells me it won’t be quite the same as oil or melted butter.
- Coconut sugar: While I haven’t tested other granulated sugar options, other granulated sugars (i.e. cane sugar or beet sugar). I did test maple syrup, and you can substitute 1/3 cup liquid sweetener (i.e. maple syrup or honey) instead of the 1/2 cup of coconut sugar. Even with the reduction of amount, the muffin with liquid sweetener will still be moister with a much softer crumb.
- Crumb topping: You can sub different oils, but I highly recommend keeping the maple syrup instead of coconut sugar in the crumb topping. The coconut sugar in the crumb topping doesn’t hold as well and the crumb topping tended to fall off a bit more with the coconut sugar versus the maple syrup.
- Flax eggs: While I haven’t tested these muffins with eggs, omitting the flax eggs (flax and water) and subbing two eggs should still yield a great product! You can also sub ground chia seeds for the ground flax seeds, creating a chia egg instead of flax egg.
As you can see, we’ve tested this oatmeal banana muffins recipe extensively and we’re pretty happy with the finished result! We seriously have been making them on a weekly basis! They’re an easy whole grain addition to breakfast and make for a satisfying snack or treat that for most people doesn’t give a big blood sugar spike, due to the fat, fiber, and small amounts of protein in the oatmeal banana muffins.
When you make some oatmeal banana muffins of your own, be sure to leave a comment and recipe rating below and share your muffins on social media (tag @nutritiontofit and #nutritiontofit). Looking for more healthy breakfast recipes? Try these NTF faves:
- Baked Vanilla Oatmeal Custard
- Green Smoothie Oatmeal
- Banana Buckwheat Pancakes
- Blueberry Matcha Overnight Oats
- Chocolate Banana Kefir Chia Pudding
Don’t forget to pin this recipe for later!
Oatmeal Banana Muffins
Ingredients
For the Muffins:
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 6 tbsp water
- 3 bananas (brown and overripe)
- ¼ cup coconut oil (or other neutral oil, like avocado oil)
- ½ cup milk/ milk substitute of choice
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 1 ¾ cups oat flour
- 1 cup oats (old-fashioned)
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking soda
For the Crumb Topping:
- 3 tbsp oats (old-fashioned)
- 3 tbsp oat flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a muffin tin by gently greasing tin with coconut oil or lining with muffin tin liners.
- Stir together the ground flax and the water and set aside for a few minutes. After a few minutes the flax/ water mixture should be thickened and slightly gelatinous, almost an egg-like consistency (this is used as an egg substitute in our recipe).
- Mash the bananas until they're a smooth and even consistency.
- To the bananas add the flax eggs, coconut oil, milk of choice, and coconut sugar. Stir together until evenly combined.
- To this wet mixture add the dry ingredients: oat flour, oats, cinnamon, and baking soda. Stir until evenly combined.
- Pour (or spoon) the batter into the prepared muffin tin.
- To make the crumb topping just stir together all the crumb topping ingredients until evenly combined.
- Sprinkle the crumb topping mixture evenly over the muffin batter.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Allow to cool for several minutes in the pan, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Muffins can be stored at room temperature in an enclosed container up to four days. They can be frozen up to one month.
Nutrition
You really can’t go wrong with banana oatmeal muffins! Its a classic everyone will love
I’m getting VERY interested in oats again, bring on Fall please! yum!
The bonus of making baked goods like this is that pretty much everyone can eat it! It’s gotta be tough with allergies no doubt but if you can share in all the goodness that is a win!