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Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins
Everyone loves blueberry muffins for easy, grab-and-go breakfasts or snacks, and we often have over-ripe bananas hanging out on the counter. Combining the two different types of fruit, along with whole grains and natural sweeteners, makes these healthy banana blueberry muffins a more nutritious and satisfying option than their pre-packaged or bakery-style counterparts.
The recipe originally comes from The Black Dog Bakery Café on Martha’s Vineyard — one of my favorite childhood spots from annual summer vacations. The whole wheat banana muffins with blueberries are one of the The Black Dog’s most popular recipes. Think of this treat as a perfect cross between banana bread and blueberry muffins. They’re incredibly moist and rich from the banana in the batter, and they’re bursting with pockets of juicy blueberries.
These are not the light and fluffy bakery-style muffins that taste more like cake (if that’s your preference, try this recipe). Instead, these muffins are naturally sweet, incredibly moist from all of the fruit, have a slightly nutty flavor from the whole wheat flour and oatmeal, and a more dense, chewy texture. So satisfying and tasty!
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for a batch of homemade banana blueberry oatmeal muffins. As always, specific measurements and step-by-step cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Whole wheat flour: a great way to add more whole grains into your diet. Whole wheat pastry flour yields lighter, less-dense baked goods than regular whole wheat flour, so that’s always my top choice for muffins. You can also substitute with all-purpose flour.
- Oats: use old-fashioned “rolled” oats for great texture and nutty flavor.
- Baking soda: the leavening agent that helps the muffins rise.
- Salt: to enhance the other flavors in the muffins and balance the sweetness.
- Ground nutmeg: for warm flavor that makes the muffins taste like they came straight from a bakery!
- Maple syrup: a natural sweetener that keeps the muffins moist and also adds rich flavor.
- Butter: melted butter adds fat, flavor, and moisture to the batter. Don’t omit the butter, because the fat is imperative for light, fluffy muffins. Baked goods with too little fat come out gummy and dense.
- Bananas: about 3 mashed, very ripe bananas contribute flavor, sweetness, and moisture.
- Vanilla extract: for even more warm flavor.
- Blueberries: I prefer fresh blueberries when available. You can substitute with frozen blueberries (do not thaw them first), but the frozen berries often turn the muffin batter an odd bluish-green color.
How many cups is 1 mashed banana?
This can be tricky! If a recipe calls for 3 bananas, how much is that? We all know that measurements are important in baking, so the difference between a very small banana and a very large banana can be significant when baking a batch of muffins.
My recipe calls for 1 ½ cups of mashed banana. One large banana yields about ½ cup mashed, so I used 3 large bananas for a total of about 1 ½ cups. If you’re working with small bananas, you’ll need at least 4 (and maybe even 5). Measuring is always the safest way to make sure that your banana bread turns out perfectly moist, sweet and delicious!
How to Ripen Bananas in the Oven
Want to make these muffins right away, but your bananas aren’t ripe yet? You can ripen the bananas in the oven! To do so, preheat the oven to 300°F. Place bananas (in their peels) on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until mushy and sweet. The banana peels will turn a black, shiny color (and look really weird!), but don’t worry — the insides will be perfect. Just let the mashed banana cool completely before using in the recipe.
How to Make Banana Blueberry Muffins
My blueberry banana muffins are made with whole wheat flour, rolled oats, plenty of delicious salted butter — and no eggs (making them perfect for anyone with egg allergies)! They’re sweetened only with fruit and maple syrup. No fake ingredients, nothing weird, and nothing that’s hard to pronounce! Just wholesome, nourishing, and delicious — proving that we can still treat our families without compromising quality.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Stir together the wet ingredients (maple syrup, melted butter, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract) in a separate medium bowl.
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Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (be careful not to over-mix the batter). The batter will be slightly lumpy, which is fine!
- Fold in the blueberries.
- Divide the batter evenly between 12 paper-lined muffin cups in a standard-size muffin pan.
- Bake in a 350°F oven for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Serving Suggestions
Blueberry muffins are such a versatile little treat. You can offer them for a quick grab-and-go breakfast on busy mornings (just pull one from the freezer and reheat it in seconds); pile some in a basket as a part of a special brunch buffet; set out a few with a glass of lemonade or iced tea for an afternoon snack; or even add them to your bread basket as a side dish with dinner.
We love the variety of a bread basket that includes some homemade bread, a few warm muffins, and a couple wedges of cornbread. It turns an ordinary weeknight meal into a special restaurant-worthy occasion — and you can pull each of these items from your freezer with almost zero effort! Enjoy the banana blueberry muffins at room temperature or serve them warm. They’re best with a smear of soft butter or a dollop of homemade jam!
How to Store Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
Allow the muffins to cool completely on a wire rack at room temperature. Store in a large Ziploc freezer bag or other airtight container. The muffins will last for 2-3 days at room temperature, a week in the refrigerator, or you can freeze the muffins for up to 3 months.
How to Reheat
If the muffins are frozen, allow to sit on the counter for a few minutes while you preheat the oven to 350°F. Frozen muffins will require about 10-12 minutes in the oven; room temperature muffins will only need about 5 minutes to warm through. Alternatively, you can microwave one muffin at a time for 15-30 seconds or just until warm.
Recipe Variations
- Use all-purpose flour, white whole-wheat flour, or whole wheat pastry flour instead of regular whole wheat flour.
- For less-sweet muffins, some readers have successfully cut the maple syrup in half.
- Substitute frozen blueberries for fresh blueberries. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them before stirring them into the batter.
- Give the muffins crisp tops by sprinkling coarse sugar on the batter before baking.
- Add the zest from 1 lemon to your batter to make lemon blueberry muffins.
- Make triple berry muffins by using a combination of blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries to equal 1 cup of berries total.
- Add ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon to the batter for even more warm, cozy vibes!
- This recipe yields 12 standard-size muffins. You can bake the batter in jumbo muffin tins for giant bakery-size treats. You’ll need to increase the total baking time to 45-50 minutes for the jumbo muffins. Similarly, you can bake the batter in mini muffin tins. The mini muffins will bake much faster, so they will only need a total of about 12-15 minutes in the oven.
Tips for the Best Banana Blueberry Muffin Recipe
- The key to a perfect muffin is just barely mixing the ingredients. You want them to come together, but a few lumps are fine. This way they’ll stay moist and tender! Over-mixing activates the gluten in the flour, which can yield dense, dry muffins.
- Fresh blueberries are my preference, when available. Frozen berries tend to bleed into the batter, which can turn the muffins an odd blue-green color.
- Whole wheat pastry flour yields lighter, less-dense baked goods than regular whole wheat flour. You can also use all purpose flour.
- Let the batter rest for 5-10 minutes before baking, if you have the time. This allows the baking soda to activate and incorporate more air.
- To check if the muffins are done, insert a toothpick into the center and make sure it comes out clean. Don’t cook them for too long, or they can dry out.
More Muffin Recipes to Try
- Sweet Cornbread Muffins with Brown Sugar
- Apple Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar
- Old-Fashioned Cranberry Muffins
- Apple Cider Donut Muffins
- Farmhouse Blackberry Muffins
- One-Bowl Zucchini Muffins
- Blueberry Streusel Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Easy Banana Muffins
- Applesauce Pumpkin Muffins
- Morning Glory Muffins
- Chocolate Muffins
- Orange Muffins
- Easy Blueberry Muffins
- Bran Muffins
Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 ½ cups)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them before adding to the batter)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
- In a separate bowl, stir together maple syrup, melted butter, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients; stir until just combined (be careful not to over-mix the batter). The batter will be slightly lumpy, which is fine!
- Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. The muffins do not rise very high, so be sure to fill the muffin cups pretty full!
- Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Notes
- The key to a perfect muffin is just barely mixing the ingredients. You want them to come together, but a few lumps are fine. This way they’ll stay moist and tender! Over-mixing activates the gluten in the flour, which can yield dense, dry muffins.
- Fresh blueberries are my preference, when available. Frozen berries tend to bleed into the batter, which can turn the muffins an odd blue-green color.
- Whole wheat pastry flour yields lighter, less-dense baked goods than regular whole wheat flour. You can also use all-purpose flour.
- Let the batter rest for 5-10 minutes before baking, if you have the time. This allows the baking soda to activate and incorporate more air.
- To check if the muffins are done, insert a toothpick into the center and make sure it comes out clean. Don't cook them for too long, or they can dry out.
- Recipe adapted from The Black Dog Summer on the Vineyard Cook Book.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in June, 2017. It was updated in January, 2022.
It sounds like you will have a wonderful trip, Blair! That’s so great that you get to spend some time with your family. These muffinslook like the perfect snack for the car ride. Love the banana and blueberry combo!
Thank you, Gayle! It’s like banana bread with fresh blueberries in it. Definitely an awesome combo! 🙂
you make the comment to allow to sit for 5 minutes before baking to allow the BAKING POWDER to activate making the muffins lighter. There is NO BAKING POWDER listed in the ingredients, only Baking Soda.
Sorry for the typo. Soda! 🙂 I fixed it.
Thank you for this wonderful delicious recipe. My Dad and hubby really like them! I used half applesauce and half butter like you suggested. No maple syrup. Didn’t have any . My banana s were almost completely black! So I sprinkled a Little Chinese 5 spice on top of each one before popping the muffins in the oven. Wow soo good! It adds a lil sweet warmth . Thanks again,
JM
That’s awesome, Jen! I’m so glad that they were a hit!
I’m sorry I’m not used to writing comments so I SAY 5 STARS ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️+ because of taste, healthy, no sugar
You’re amazing! Thanks, Jen!!
Made them today followed ingredients exactly and they are perfect!
Awesome! Thanks, Jody!
These Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Muffins look amazing. I feel hungry now, great pictures, nice recipe.
These sound so delicious! Pinning to make later!
Any way to lower sugar and saturated fat content?
Hi, Jacquie! Yes! I would cut the maple syrup down (just use as much as you like to taste) and then substitute applesauce for half of the butter. That should work fine! 🙂
So if I replace half the butter with applesauce, is it the same amounts, like I would need to use 1/4 cup applesauce? Thank you!
Hi, Cynthia! Replacing fat with applesauce in baked goods will work, but it will change the texture and the taste of the muffins (less fat = a more “gummy” texture).
If you’d like to try the swap, you would use 1/4 cup of applesauce and 1/4 cup of melted butter.
Enjoy!
I’m just some guy from a faraway land looking for a recipe for whole-wheat banana and blueberry muffins as a nutritious on-the-go snack alternative to store-bought sugary stuff and so I came just for the recipe but got taken in by your heartwarming story behind it. I enjoyed it very, made me smile, can’t wait to try the recipe. And your kids are simply adorable!
Hi, Hugh! Thanks so much for your kind note and for reading the blog post. 🙂 I hope you enjoy the muffins!
So delicious and decent!! Subbed the maple syrup with Smuckers sugar free syrup and they were amazing. Will definitely be making these regularly for a quick breakfast
Yay! So glad to hear that they were a hit, Arianna. Thanks for taking the time to leave a note. 🙂
These sound delicious I don’t really really like whole rolled oats in my baked goods. Could I process them a little so they’re not as chunky and, if so, do you think I’d need to use more or less or bake them for a longer or shorter amount of time?
Hi, Kayleigh! Yes, you can process the oats a bit so that they’re smaller (although you don’t notice big chunky oats in these muffins once they’re baked). 🙂 I would use the same amount of oats and bake for the same amount of time. Just keep your eye on the muffins as they cook, since I haven’t tried those changes myself for this recipe. Enjoy!
You could leave the oats out altogether and use another 3/4 cup whole wheat flour instead.
Sounds like such a fun trip and I’m now dying to make these muffins and try them for myself!
They’re the best!!! Thanks, Emily!
I made this today and they were amazing. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Awesome! Thanks, Sama!
These are our go-to muffins. I make a batch on Sunday and my children and eat them for breakfast all week. I add a 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. Recently, there was a sale on frozen strawberries, so I’ve been making the strawberry banana muffins. They are equally delicious this way! Thank you for the excellent recipe 🙂
Thanks, Amanda! The strawberry version sounds amazing, too! 🙂 So glad that you all enjoy them!
These are great! I subbed out an eighth cup of the flour (I used white whole wheat) for flaxseed meal and added a tablespoon of chia seeds and a half cup of chopped pecans. Turned out wonderful! Perfect level of sweetness and I love the slightly crispy edges. Definitely saving this recipe, thank you!
Wonderful! Thanks, Amanda!
Blair, these are such wonderful, delicious muffins! Made them yesterday as we had some bananas at the perfect stage of being really ripe and we are also very overloaded in blueberries from our bushes now (otherwise I would have tried your banana bread), that this recipe seemed perfect. I like to use Einkorn flour and I wasn’t sure how it would work out since you mentioned these are not high risers anyway, but they rose plenty and looked perfect, just like yours. (Einkorn is lower in gluten, hence my concern.) I love the texture and moisture level and the sweetness is spot on–not too sweet like some muffins can be, but sweet enough. With all the grains and fiber these muffins are really satisfying and keep hunger at bay for a long time. Thanks for another great recipe!
Norma
Wonderful, Norma! I’m so glad to hear that they worked with the Einkorn flour. I’ve never used that flour at all, so thanks for experimenting for other readers as well. 🙂 You’ve reminded me about these muffins and now I want to make a batch. It’s definitely blueberry season around here! Have a great weekend!
Forgot to mention that I used Einkorn All Purpose flour in this recipe rather than grinding the whole berries myself (was in a hurry). This type of flour removes only about 20% of the bran and germ so most of the health benefits of nutrition and fiber are still there–very different from regular AP flour.
Wow, looking at these photos one can see how your boys have grown! Time goes by quickly!
I just made these and my boys loved it and so did hubby and me. We have already munched away more than Hal of it. I skipped rolled oats, since I did not have any. Still they turned out great. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Perfect! That’s great that you’ve found a recipe that the whole family agrees on! 🙂
I subbed half the butter for 2% Fage Greek yogurt. Definitely saving this recipe. Perfect blend of healthy-ish ingredients and great taste
Thanks, Lauren! That sounds delicious! Now I want to try them with the Greek yogurt, too. Great idea!
Delicious! I replaced half of the butter with yogurt and only used 1/4 cup of maple syrup. Sweeteness was perfect! Everyone loved them!
Thanks, Francesca! I’m so glad that your tweaks worked. Sound delicious!
Hi Blair, Michael from Toronto, Canada. I found your recipe in the summer and ever since they are a staple at our place. I will often add a 1/2 cup of chopped nuts and a half cup of coconut (always my go to even in banana bread). Thanks so
Much for this wonderful recipe!
Hi, Michael! I’m so glad to hear that you enjoy the recipe, and I bet the muffins are amazing with coconut and nuts! 🙂
These muffins are amazing! Healthy while using ‘normal’ ingredients. I’ve tried so many healthy muffin recipes, and this one takes the cake! One question – if I don’t want to add the blueberries next time, should I put in more banana? Thank you!
Hi, Emma! No, you can omit the blueberries and keep everything else the same. You can also swap out the blueberries for chocolate chips, walnuts, etc. So glad that you enjoyed them!
I didn’t have enough butter and I didn’t have applesauce but I had apple butter! I subbed the apple butter for half of the amount of butter and I chose to not put any maple syrup in the batter because apple butter is so sweet. I made mini muffins (cooked 5 minutes less) and regular sized muffins and both turned out moist and delicious! I will be making this again but with applesauce and maple syrup next time to see the difference in flavor. Thanks for the recipe- kid and dad approved!
That’s great, Jessi! I’m so glad that you were able to make it work with the ingredients that you had. Thanks for the tip — I love the idea of using apple butter!