Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins are seriously tasty. Made with wholemeal flour, rolled oats, banana and blueberries, they taste like wholesome yum! You will want to bake these banana blueberry oatmeal muffins over and over and over!
I take a completely different approach to these muffins as opposed to recipes like my Malteser Biscuits and Smarties Cookies.
Whereby they are packed with chocolate, these muffins are packed with bananas and blueberries!
My Blackberry Oatmeal Muffins, Oatmeal Strawberry Muffins and Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins give you alternate flavour combos!
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Recipe Highlights
Of the many things that I know you will love about this recipe, the ones that I think will become your favourite are summarised below:
- One bowl: we only need 1 bowl to make this recipe and a spoon to stir the mixture a few times. There is no sifting involved, it is as simple as can be!
- Wholesome and tasty: using wholemeal flour, we add some extra goodness into the muffins which delivers through taste and texture.
- Loaded with blueberries and bananas: these 2 ingredients compliment each other and go hand in hand SO well. The muffins taste of summer and sunshine with every bite.
- Large size Texas style muffins: sometimes all you want for breakfast is a sweet (but not too sweet) muffin and a cup of tea or coffee. These muffins are the perfect size to be a complete meal!
- Option to use standard 12 hole muffin tin. These make great lunch box fillers and snacks!
- Kid and Freezer Friendly!
- Moist and soft muffins: I did a lot of trialling, testing and developing with these delicious treats to ensure that the texture is soft, dense and moist. Dry muffins are the worst, trust me these won't be!!
Top Tip 1: I was very intentional about making this recipe 1 bowl with little stirring, so don't complicate it with beaters, they are not needed!
Ingredients
Everything you need to make this recipe is shown in the photo below. For exact quantities and detailed instructions, please refer to the printable recipe card below.
As you can see, the recipe calls for:
- Oats: I use regular rolled oats for this recipe. They don't have to be an expensive brand. One of the steps we take is to add moisture (liquids) at the start of the recipe to ensure that the muffins are dense and moist (not dry!).
- Wholemeal self-raising flour: I love using this for muffins as it makes them taste more wholesome and delicious. The best thing is we skip sifting it and simply stir it into the mix! It delivers deliciousness to every bite of the muffins. A home brand version is fine, you don't need the premium stuff for this recipe!
- Buttermilk: we use this to ensure our muffins are soft and moist. It will be found in the milk section of the store, most often in a small carton. The texture is thick like cream and the colour is more yellow in appearance.
- Brown sugar: this is my favourite to use with oatmeal muffins as it is smooth and soft. It can be softly packed into the measuring cup.
- Olive oil: we add this also for soft, moist muffins. If you want to use an alternative such as sunflower or coconut oil you can.
- Egg: always use free range. We add this ingredient with the other wet ingredients to make the oatmeal.
- Blueberries: I am using frozen blueberries. You can do the same or you can use fresh blueberries. The results will be very similar, the choice is more about if the blueberries are in season and readily available or not.
- Bananas: I recommend mashing these when the liquid has been added to the oats as it will give you something to do during that time.
- Baking Powder: this help the muffins to rise. As much as we use self-raising flour in the recipe, it is also a good idea to use a small amount of this for full, robust muffins.
- Salt: only a touch of this is needed. It helps bring out the flavours of the other ingredients when making baked goods.
Top Tip 2: Don't worry about expensive ingredients. Home brand or budget friendly options are totally fine!
Instructions
Here are the step by step instructions to make the muffins. We start adding moisture to the oats, you will need a large mixing bowl for this.
- Add oats, buttermilk, oil and egg to mixing bowl (Photo 1)
- Stir to combine, then let sit for 10 to 15 mins (Photo 2)
- Add flour, baking powder, salt and sugar (Photo 3)
- Stir to combine (Photo 4)
The reason why we let the liquids sit with the oats is because we want them to absorb the liquids. If we simply combined them they would be more like oat muffins as oatmeal has a wet texture!
By creating the oatmeal through the oats soaking, we achieve fluffy, moist muffins!
Top Tip 3: Don't skip making the oatmeal as it affects the results of the texture of the muffins!
How to Make Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins
As mentioned above, adding the wet ingredients to the oats is our 1st step in ensuring that the muffins are going to be moist and soft.
You can use a small bowl and fork to mash the bananas whilst this time passes.
When initially stirring and then stirring to add the dry ingredients, do so till simply combined. There is no need to vigorously stir the mixture.
- Add blueberries and banana to muffin mixture (Photo 5)
- Stir to combine (Photo 6)
- Spoon into muffin tin (Photo 7)
- Bake for 30 mins (Photo 8)
As with the stirring steps above, we simply stir till the fruits are mixed into the batter. This gives us much better results than over mixing as that also squashes all of the blueberries.
We want to keep some whole so that the muffins are literally bursting with blueberry goodness!
Top Tip 4: Using an ice-cream scoop is a good way to ensure that all of your muffins will be the same size. If using a Texas muffin tin, you might need more than 1 scoop.
I used butter when I lined my Texas muffin tin. You can see the difference above as patty liners have a folded edge which leaves an indent on the muffins.
If you want to do this ensure the butter is at room temperature (softer to use) and use enough to ensure the bases won't stick - be liberal!
Top Tip 4: Regular sized cup cake liners fit standard muffin tins and can make clean up easier!
The muffins are golden brown on the outside, soft and tender on the inside, bursting with blueberries and banana!
Mmmmm hmmmm yup, you are going to love them. The taste, the texture, the smell, it is all so good!
How to Guide
How to Store
Store the muffins in an air tight container. They do not need to be refrigerated. Consume within 3 days.
Alternatively you can freeze the muffins so they will stay fresh for longer.
How to Freeze
To freeze the muffins, it is best to let them cool after baking.
Then use cling wrap and individually wrap them. Ensure the cling wrap is tight and pulled firmly.
They will last 3 months in the freezer.
How to Reheat
You can reheat the muffins in the microwave, oven or air fryer.
The microwave will be the fastest method and only take 1 minute.
Substitutions and Variations
There are my switch ins, switch outs and options that you might like to explore:
- You can add a teaspoon of vanilla.
- You can also add a teaspoon of cinnamon if you wish. They are complementary flavours and work well. I don't as I don't want the ingredients list to be a mile long, but go for it if you choose to!
- Use gluten free flour instead of regular flour.
- Push some blueberries into the tops of the muffins.
- Use raspberries or strawberries as an alternative to the blueberries.
- Sprinkle some dried oats on top of the muffins before baking.
Serving Suggestions
My absolute favourite way to serve these is warmed, with a dollop of butter, drizzle of honey and dust of icing sugar.
Sure it is decadent, but it is a seriously delicious combination that works!
If you want to leap out of bed in the mornings, the thought of starting your day like this should help.
This serving suggestion is also seen in the photos throughout the post, so you can see what I am talking about and taste when you try it for yourself!
Expert Tips
The very best of my tips and tricks to make these muffins are summarised below:
- Ensure the oven is preheated.
- If using a Texas muffin tin, use butter to line or make your own paper liners from baking paper.
- When using a regular muffin tin, use cup cake papers (less clean up!).
- If using butter to grease the tin, have it at room temperature and use plenty so the base of the muffins don't stick!
- Do let the oats combine with the wet ingredients for around 10 mins.
- Don't worry about sifting the flour, it is unnecessary for this recipe.
- Don't stir too vigorously when adding the bananas and blueberries. You only need to stir till they are simply mixed in.
- Let them cool in the tin to start with so they don't break when you try and get them out.
- If you use butter as opposed to liners for the muffin tin, when they are baked (and cooled slightly), run a butter knife around the outside of the muffins so that you can easily pull them out of the tin.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the secret to moist muffins?
The right combination of wet and dry ingredients ensures muffins are moist and not over dry.
Also important is ensuring that they are not stirred too heavily or cooked longer than they should be (over baked).
How do you make blueberry muffins taste better?
Using wholemeal flour, brown sugar and bananas in these muffins are ways to ensure they do not taste overly sweet or high in sugar muffins that have little substance.
How healthy is a blueberry muffin?
Each blueberry muffin has 304kcal Calories. They are healthy in the sense that they have 2 types of fruit in them and use wholemeal not regular flour, however they have still got sugar and oil so eat in moderation.
Should I use fresh or frozen blueberries in muffins?
It is fine to use either fresh or frozen blueberries in muffins.
If using frozen, don't defrost, simply add them in.
If using tinned blueberries that have been in syrup, drain but don't rise them.
Should blueberries be washed before baking?
If using fresh blueberries, there is no need to wash them, simply add to the mixture and gently stir to combine.
Related Recipes
I am guessing you like getting your bake on just as much as me. In that case, you might like to give any or each of the following recipes a go. They are similar with different types of yum involved!
- Cornflake Biscuits
- Air Fryer Biscuits
- Air Fryer Croissants
- Nutella Puff Pastry (Nutella Pinwheels)
- Coffee Slice (no bake recipe!)
- Peanut Butter Pinwheels
The smell of these will have you captivated and late risers leaping from their beds!
Adrianne xx
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📖 Recipe
Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Equipment
- 1 12 cup Muffin Tin Or Texas muffin tin Note 1
- 12 Patty Pan Liners
- 1 Large mixing bowl
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 1 Fork
- 1 Small bowl
- 1 Ice Cream Scoop Or 2 soup spoons Note 2
- 1 Oven Mit
- 1 Wire Rack
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats Note 3
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk Note 4
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 egg
- 2 cups wholemeal self raising flour Note 5
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 bananas mashed
- 1 cup blueberries Note 6
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C / 350-375°F / Gas Mark 4-5.
- Use room temperature butter to grease a 12 cup muffin tin or fill with patty pan liners.
- Combined oats, buttermilk, oil and egg in a large mixing bowl. Give it a stir and then let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Use this time to mash the bananas. Note 7
- Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a wooden spoon and stir to combine.
- Add blueberries and mashed bananas, stir gently to combine.
- Spoon into muffin tin and oven bake for 30 mins in preheated oven. Use a skewer at the 25 min mark to see if they are done. If it comes out clean they are. If is has wet blueberries or banana, test in another part of the muffin, it should have no wet batter.
- Use an oven mit to remove the muffin tray from the oven and place on a wire rack. After about 5 mins, remove muffins from tin and allow to cool. Note 8
- To serve the muffins, ensure they have been heated, smear with butter, drizzle with honey and dust with icing sugar!
Notes
- Note 1 This recipe will make 12 standard muffins or 6 Texas size muffins with approximately 4 standard size. Or you can portion the mixture across 2 Texas muffin trays, however the muffins will be slightly smaller.
- Note 2 Using an ice cream scoop will ensure that you get uniform sized muffins with dome tops. If you don't have 1 you can use 2 soup spoons, 1 to spoon the mixture and 1 to scrape the other spoon.
- Note 3 I use rolled oats. You don't need an expensive brand, a cheap or home brand will be fine!
- Note 4 This will be in a cartoon in the fridge section of the supermarket, with the milk. It is smooth and thick. It has the texture of cream and is a pale yellow colour.
- Note 5 Home brand for the flour is fine also, no need to sift, simply add it in!
- Note 6 Fresh or frozen blueberries are fine. If you can't find either, have a look where the tinned and packaged fruit is. You will likely find a tin of blueberries there, packed in syrup. You can use these an alternative. Simply drain the syrup (don't rinse) and add them to the mixture. If the tin is a little more or less than 1 cup, that is fine. There is no need to get an additional tin only for the exact measurement to be right.
- Note 7 If you mashed the bananas as a starting point, simply let the wet ingredients sit with the oats for 10 to 15 mins. This allows for the moisture to get into the oats.
- Note 8 If you used butter to grease the muffin tin and try to remove the muffins whilst they are still hot, you risk accidently pulling the top off the muffin. So let them cool, run a butter knife around the perimeter of the tin and then take them out. You won't have this problem with liners as they don't stick to the pan at all.
Betty Freda says
Oh wow these look amazing cannot wait to try them, thanks.
Adrianne says
Thanks Betty! I enjoyed reading your feedback.
Mollie says
Sugar? Couldn't find the amount....
Adrianne says
Thanks Mollie!! Appreciate you letting me know. I have updated it. 1/2 cup brown sugar. Hope they turned out deliciously!!!
Sylvia says
Made these as soon as I saw the recipe so good thanks for another great recipe.
Adrianne says
Thanks Sylvia, that is great to hear!