These Banana Oatmeal Muffins are easy to make and full of flavor and texture. They are perfect for breakfast or snacking.
With over 2 million page views, hundreds of five-star reviews, and almost 100,000 social shares, this is my most popular muffin recipe that readers keep coming back to make again and again.
Excellent muffin recipe! I made them a few weeks ago and I'm making them again right now. My three and a half year old granddaughter loves them! This recipe is a keeper for sure! Thank you!
Oatmeal banana muffins
These tasty banana muffins have plenty of banana flavor and get a chewy texture from the old-fashioned oats. And to take these muffins a step further, I’ve added a delicious oat topping.
No special equipment needed when making these muffins. You need a bowl, a heavy-duty spoon for mixing, and a muffin tin for baking. Whether you’re a novice in the kitchen or an experienced baker, these banana oatmeal muffins will get you rave reviews in your kitchen!
My top tips for making these muffins include
- Use Very Ripe Bananas: Overripe bananas with dark spots or fully brown skins work best, as they provide natural sweetness and a moist texture.
- Don’t Skip the Oats: Use old-fashioned oats for a chewy texture that complements the banana flavor. Quick oats can alter the texture and may not absorb liquid as well.
- Perfect Crumb Topping: Ensure the crumb topping is mixed until it resembles coarse crumbs. This adds a sweet, crunchy layer to the muffins.
- Even Muffin Sizes: Fill the muffin cups evenly using an ice cream scoop.
If you are looking for a little variety, here is another tasty banana muffin recipe to try!
Banana Oat Muffin Ingredients
- Oats - Use old-fashioned oats or rolled oats. They have a thicker texture than quick oats and are perfect in this recipe.
- Flour - Regular all-purpose flour is used. Be certain to measure your flour using the fluff and scoop method.
- Bananas - The riper the bananas, the better. Choose very brown bananas. You’ll need 1½ cups of mashed bananas which is about 3 bananas.
- Sugar - Two types of sugar are used in this recipe. Granulated sugar is used in the muffin batter and brown sugar is used for the topping.
- Oil - The oil adds moisture and helps create a perfect crumb. Use a light-flavored oil like canola or vegetable oil.
- Spices - Ground cinnamon and nutmeg add the perfect amount of spice.
- Vanilla - Use pure vanilla for the best flavor.
- Leavening - One egg, baking powder, and baking soda are all used in this recipe.
How to make Banana Oatmeal Muffins
- Mix the oatmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar in a large bowl.
- In a smaller bowl mix egg, oil, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and stir.
- Stir in mashed bananas.
- Fold together until well combined.
- Divide into 12 sprayed or lined muffin tins.
- Mix the remaining oats, melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Sprinkle topping over unbaked muffins.
- Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 15-20 minutes.
You might also enjoy these muffins baked into a loaf of oatmeal banana bread.
How to store Banana Oat Muffins
Once the muffins are fully cool, store them in a single layer in an airtight container. Store at room temperature for 3-4 days.
To freeze the muffins, place fully cool muffins in a freezer-safe container or bag in a single layer. Muffins are best used within 1-2 months.
Tips for making Banana Oatmeal Muffins
- Use fresh baking powder - baking powder can lose its effectiveness and if old, your muffins might not rise properly.
- Fully preheat your oven - I use a separate oven thermometer in my oven to make certain my oven has reached the proper temperature. My preheat light often turns off before the oven has reached full temperature so I always give it extra time.
- Do not overmix batter. Just stir until everything is mixed in. Over-stirring can cause tough muffins.
- Use an ice cream scoop for even-sized muffins. Plus it makes putting the batter in the tins easy peasy!
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
Check out all my muffin recipes!
Oatmeal Banana Muffins Recipe
Equipment
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Cups oats (old fashioned oats or rolled oats)
- 1 ¼ Cups flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 whole egg
- ¼ cup oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½ cups ripe bananas, mashed (about 3-4 bananas)
Topping
- ½ cup oats (old fashioned oats)
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a large bowl mix oatmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and sugar together.1 ½ Cups oats, 1 ¼ Cups flour, ½ cup sugar, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, pinch ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon salt
- In a smaller bowl mix egg, oil and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and stir. The mixture will be very dry at this time.1 whole egg, ¼ cup oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Fold in bananas. Keep folding until all the dry ingredients are mixed in.1 ½ cups ripe bananas, mashed
- Divide into muffin tin that has been either lightly sprayed with a nonstick spray or lined with paper liners.
- In another bowl combine topping ingredients. Sprinkle over muffin batter.½ cup oats, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons melted butter
- Bake at 375°F for 18-20 minutes.
Video
Notes
- Use very ripe bananas. The peel should have lots of brown spots and the bananas should mash easily.
- When measuring flour, don't overpack the measuring cup. Fluff up flour with a spoon or scoop, and then gently scoop it into the measuring cup and then level the cup.
- The batter may be a bit dry if bananas are not fully ripe.
- If batter is too dry add 1-2 tablespoons of milk.
- Use old fashioned oats or quick oatmeal. Steel cut oats do not work for this recipe.
- The old fashioned oats will add texture to the muffins.
Nutritional Disclaimer:
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Mad about Muffins
Anaa J says
Just wanted to say thank you for this absolute winner of a recipe!
I make it all the time and its so versatile and forgiving. I even omit sugar sometimes for kids and still works fine- LOVE IT!
Kathy says
Thank you!!! I love hearing about people making my recipes...especially when they love them!
Kathy 🙂
Katie says
These are fantastic! No changes made, can't wait to see if they freeze well!
This recipe is going in the family cook book.
Kathy says
Thank you! 🙂
Jenell says
I made these with about 1/4 cup of sugar, and I added extra cinnamon and also some pumpkin pie spice since that tastes good in any baked goods ;). I used 2 large ripe bananas and a handful of very ripe raspberries. On top I just sprinkled some cinnamon/sugar mix and a few sprinkles since I will be sharing them with kids. This is a very good recipe.
Kathy says
Thank you! I love your additions! A little cinnamon and sugar and pumpkin pie spice is always a good thing!
Kathy 🙂
Mandy says
Turned out pretty dry - should have some other ingredient to make it a bit more moist.
Kathy says
Hi Mandy,
I'm sorry these didn't work for you. These are a hearty, dense muffins, but shouldn't be dry. Keep an eye on your baking time and oven temp. Also make certain your bananas are really ripe!
Kathy
Dee says
Can this be made into a loaf?
Kathy says
Hi Dee,
Yes it can be made into a loaf. However, I did rework the recipe a bit to make the loaf a bit less dense. Here is the recipe Oatmeal Banana Bread. Let me know how it turns out!
Kathy 🙂
Bev says
Perfect recipe! I love oatmeal and these were so delicious! My husband, who doesn’t care for oatmeal, had 3 of them right out of the oven! Thank you, I will make these again!
Kathy says
Love it!!! Thanks so much! 🙂
Jennie says
Kathy, this recipe rocks! Hubby came home with a monster bag of old fashioned oats, and your muffins were the perfect thing to bake with them. We always seem to have very ripe bananas saved in the freezer, so out they came. Ended up using 4 of them to get over 1 and a half cups worth.
Had no brown sugar, so made due with golden sugar for the struesel topping. Subbed out some of the white flour for whole wheat and some oat flour.
The muffins came out delicious 🙂. Happily shared some with my Mom & sister for Mother's day. Wish I had a second muffin tin to make a double batch!
Thanks for the great recipe.
Kathy says
Thank you!!! Great idea to store those over ripe bananas in the freezer. That way you can have them whenever you're ready to bake. Thanks for sharing your tips!
Kathy 🙂
Amandine says
I just made these and they're delicious! I only had 2 bananas so i added 1/2 cup applesauce. I forgot the sugar but I like baked goods less sweet so it was perfect. I used coconut oil for the topping as I'm DF, it worked great. I added choc chips in the muffins and added pumpkin seeds to the topping and finishing salt.
Kathy says
It sounds like you made these work perfectly! Thanks for letting me know all your substitutions and how it worked. Love the idea of the pumpkin seeds and I laughed out loud about the forgotten sugar! I have been know to forget something too from time to time! 🙂 Thanks so much for your comment.
Kathy 🙂
LoisLee says
I made these and thought they were very good. I did a few changes for my diabetic husband. I used 1/3 cup Truvia Brown sugar for sugar in muffins. But did add 2 TBL cane sugar in mashed bananas. Also I added 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips and 1/2 cup walnuts. I also used the Truvia brown sugar in topping. They were plenty sweet enough with these changes.
Kathy says
Thanks so much for your tips! Glad these worked out so well for you. I love the idea of adding a little chocolate and walnuts!
Jamie says
I followed the reciepe and used half a cup sugar. I should have used more because they tasted so plain.
Kathy says
I'm sorry these weren't sweet enough for you. Did you include the topping? That usually adds enough sweetness, but everyone does have their own taste.
Kathy 🙂
Helene says
So - update. Made a loaf instead of muffins because I didn’t have a muffin tin. It came out delicious however, Kathy also has a recipe for banana oatmeal bread and it’s basically the same recipe but includes sour cream or yogurt. I guess it’s to add more moisture. The loaf I made came out delicious but will definitely use sour cream as per Kathy’s recipe. 😄
Kathy says
Hi Helene,
Thanks for the update! I'm glad you've discovered both recipes. When I first converted the muffins to the loaf, I found the loaf to be too dense so I needed to lighten it up a bit. The recipe works perfectly when baking with the smaller muffin size.
Thanks for baking and letting us know your experience!
Kathy 🙂
Helene says
So I didn’t have a muffin tin so I made it into a loaf because I couldn’t wait to make this recipe! Stay toon for the results 😄
Laura says
I had a Costco bag of roasted, shelled pumpkin seeds to use. I added almost a cup to a doubled batch. I put some in the topping also. So yummy! A great recipe.
Kathy says
Sounds like a yummy addition! Thanks for sharing your idea! 🙂
Katriona says
Made a double batch of these last night! Excellent recipe! Used some GF Namaste flour that I had, just because. Also added a cup of chopped walnuts. Did the recipe exactly as written other than the nuts. These got gobbled up! Will keep this recipe for sure. Thanks Kathy!
Kathy says
Thank you!!! 🙂
Holly M says
I just made these tonight for my family of 6 and doubled the recipe. They are delicious and everyone needs to slow down and save some for breakfast! I followed the recipe as it is written and they turned out amazing.
Kathy says
LOL!!! 🙂 Glad everyone loves them so much! You would think a double batch would be plenty. Maybe you'll need to bake again in the morning! 😉
Terry says
I just made these according to the instructions, and they came out great! I used 1.5 cups of thawed, mashed bananas. They were perfectly done, light, fluffy and delicious. Combining all the dry ingredients allows me to prep them ahead of time, making for a fast snack. This one’s a keeper! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Kathy says
Thank you!!! Prepping ahead of time is a great idea and does make the actually baking much faster! Thank you for your comment. I really appreciate it!
Kathy 🙂
Marni says
I departed from the recipe a bit and soaked the oats in a bit of milk, as I do for another oatmeal muffin recipe. I added the oats and other wet ingredients to the dry base, then added bananas. A cup of chocolate chips went in at the end. Yummy and popular as a Saturday morning breakfast. Served with cheddar cheese, strawberries, blueberries and grapes. Yummy,
Kathy says
Thanks for sharing your tips! 🙂
Anne J says
These were great! And a HUGE thank you for adding the ingredient measurements under the instructions! No more scrolling up and down to make this recipe. It’s a game changer.
Kathy says
Thank you!!! I'm glad you enjoyed the muffins and the recipe! 🙂
Robin says
These are soooooo good! They are moist, they are flavourful and they are so easy. I did them without the topping and put butter with a berry compote on top. 10/10. Amazing.
Kathy says
That's great Robin! So glad you loved them. Is there something about them that made you give them a 2 out of 5 stars? If there is, please let me know.
Kathy 🙂
Kelsey says
These muffins were amazing! I added a flavorless protein powder to up the macros and it didn't mess with the way the muffins turned out.
Kathy says
Sounds great! Thanks so much for your tips!!! 🙂
Denise says
What kind of oil
Kathy says
Hi Denise,
You'll want to use a mild flavored oil. I usually use canola or vegetable oil.
Enjoy!
Kathy