Healthy Blueberry Banana Muffins

These Blueberry Banana Muffins are a family favorite and my kids request them all the time. They’re easy to make, bake up fast, and they’re perfect for a quick grab-n-go breakfast or snack. We especially love them split open, toasted, and topped with salted butter and jam. Swoon.

reasons why we love this recipe

• Easy recipe. There’s no need to get out an electric mixer or blender to make these. All you need is a couple of bowls and about 10 minutes to prepare them and less than 20 minutes to bake. So, in less than 30 minutes you can have freshly baked blueberry muffins. Winning!
• Healthier ingredients. These muffins are made with simple, wholesome ingredients that you probably already have on hand. Plus, I love that they’re a great way to make use of overripe bananas!
• Soft, moist, delicious. They are nice and fluffy and plenty moist, thanks to the bananas! The blueberry/banana combination is absolutely perfect and the flavors really shine through.
• Can be made in advance and freeze well. I love to bake these up the night before and wake up to a wonderfully satisfying breakfast. They last for 2-3 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature or up to 5 days stored in the fridge. They also freeze really well. Sometimes I meal prep these on Sunday and enjoy them during the week.

Made these yesterday and they turned out beautifully! Wonderfully high muffin tops and they tasted great. Great recipe! Definitely a keeper.

— Heidi

Ingredients needed

Some of my favorite recipes to experiment with and tweak to make healthier are muffins and quick breads. They are so adaptable and it’s easier than you might think to make them lower in calories and fat. Here’s everything you need to make this recipe:

• Bananas. This recipe is a great way to use up over-ripened bananas! For extra sweetness, make sure that your bananas are ripe with brown spots.
• Applesauce. To reduce the oil needed in these, we’re adding in unsweetened applesauce, which keeps these tender and moist.
• Eggs. You’ll need two eggs to help with binding, provide structure and ensure these bake properly.
• Honey. Because of the natural sweetness in ripe bananas, we’re able to reduce the sugar to just 1/4 cup of honey for the sweetener; where most muffin recipes use 1/2 to 1 cup of white or brown sugar. You can sub with maple syrup, if you’d like.
• Oil. Just 1/4 cup melted coconut oil (olive oil or avocado oil works, too) is needed. With the addition of applesauce, you won’t need very much oil to make these super moist.
• Flour. This recipe calls for a blend of all-purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour. You can also choose to use all whole wheat flour, but these will taste nuttier and be a bit more dense. Feel free to use any combination of flour you’d like.
• Cinnamon. To add warm flavor. Feel free to add a bit of vanilla, too.
• Baking essentials. For flavor, texture and to help the muffins rise, don’t forget the baking powder, baking soda & salt.
• Blueberries. For bursts of juicy blueberry in every bite. Feel free to use fresh or frozen blueberries!

How to make this recipe

These healthy blueberry banana muffins are very easy to whip up! Grab your muffin pan and spray it with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper liners. Here’s the simple process:

1. Stir wet ingredients. Once you mash the bananas, start the batter by stirring together the mashed banana, applesauce, eggs, honey, and oil.
2. Whisk dry ingredients. In a separate large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add liquid ingredients. Gently stir until just combined. Fold in blueberries. Don’t overmix.

4. Fill muffin tin. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cavity completely full.
5. Bake. Place in the oven for 5 minutes at 425ºF. After 5 minutes (without removing), reduce heat to 350ºF and bake for 13 to 15 minutes more and until muffins are golden brown and toothpick inserted comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
6. Cool and enjoy. Once cooked, remove from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. These are incredible with nothing added, but we love to enjoy them with a smear of butter, peanut butter, jam or a drizzle of honey!

Expert tips

• Over-ripe bananas are awesome! Please, please, whenever you have bananas about to go bad, don’t throw them out! Peel them and put them in a baggie in your freezer until you want to use them for classic banana muffins, chocolate chip banana bread, or banana waffles. When you need them, take them out of the freezer and let them sit out for a bit or microwave them for about 45 seconds.
• Room temperature ingredients. When baking, it’s best to start with ingredients that are at room temperature. This helps everything mix together evenly without having to over-mix the batter.
• Measure the flour correctly. Too much flour can cause muffins to be dry and crumbly. Whisk the flour first, then spoon it into a dry measuring cup (don’t scoop) and level off the top (without shaking the measuring cup).
• Do NOT over mix batter. Whole grain baked goods can come out fairly dense. I have found that the biggest thing that helps avoid this is to not over-mix the batter. When you hear cooks on TV saying “stir until just combined,” they mean it. The more you mix, the denser they will be. When you add the wet ingredients to the dry, make sure you only just combine them, and then gently fold the blueberries into the batter. Here’s a little more info on over-mixing batter.

Frequently asked questions

Variations

There are so many different ways to add new flavors to these! Here are a few of my favorite ideas:

• Chocolate. Feel free to add about 1/2 to 1 cup of any type of chocolate chip to the batter. You can even use different flavored baking chips – butterscotch or peanut butter would be great options.
• Fruit. Change up this recipe and use 1 cup diced strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches or another favorite fruit.
• Add-ins. Customize these by stirring in other ingredients such as chopped nuts, toasted coconut, dried fruit, coconut extract or almond extract.
• Streusel topping. Try a delicious streusel topping by mixing together 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 cup melted butter. Sprinkle the streusel over the top, then bake as directed.

Storage tips

These taste so good just out of the oven, but they might even be more wonderful the next day after the flavors have a chance to settle and marry.

• To store. Let cool completely on a wire rack before placing them in an airtight container. Store at room temperature for up to about 2 days. If you need to store for a longer period of time, keep them in the fridge or the freezer. You can microwave refrigerated muffins for about 10-15 seconds to make them taste like they were freshly baked.
• To freeze. Once completely cool, place in a resealable freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to about 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature or rewarm gently in the microwave.

Recommended tools

• Mixing bowls – Any mixing bowls will do the trick. I love this stainless steel, nonslip mixing bowl set from Target.
• Nonstick muffin pan – This is where quality matters! I was given this one from Williams Sonoma and LOVE it. I don’t have to use paper liners and my muffins always come out so easily. As an added plus, there’s never any left stuck to the pan, so it’s super easy to clean.
• Cooling rack – I wouldn’t say a cooling rack is completely necessary, but it’s definitely nice to have one available. These allow for airflow and even cooling of your baked goods.

If you try these, let me know! Leave a comment and if your family loves this recipe as much as mine does, be sure to give it a five star ⭐️ rating! Also, tag @kimscravings on Instagram with a picture of your creation. Be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive more healthy delicious recipes straight to your inbox.