These absurdly moist and flavorful Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Muffins are my current make-ahead breakfast obsession. Packed with a double whammy of whole grains, these tasty treats are also entirely free of oil and refined sugar. Paired with a tablespoon of nut butter, they are my favorite post-workout snack!
If you're someone who believes the word "muffin" is just a clever marketing term for a cupcake that's for some reason socially acceptable to eat for breakfast, I feel ya. A lot of muffins are packed with butter and sugar, then topped with unhealthy (but delicious) bits like streusel. This recipe for whole grain banana muffins bucks that trend entirely, while still packing a delightfully sweet punch.
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
These whole wheat banana muffins may taste like they belong in the "cupcake for breakfast" category, but they are decidedly nutritious. Made with just ripe bananas, whole wheat flour, rolled oats, greek yogurt, applesauce, an egg and just a *touch* of agave syrup for sweetness, they're a gee dang A+ when it comes to a healthy grab-and-go snack.
Aside from being packed with good for you ingredients, they're also a snap to make. They take a single bowl and you don't even have to get the hand mixer out. You can literally stir them up with a fork!
The whole process takes under 30 minutes, start to finish. That's basically a miracle when you consider that one batch makes enough for two people to eat a nutritious, heart-healthy fiber-filled breakfast all week long!
These healthy banana muffins are also super easy to turn into vegan snacks. Simply swap the egg for a flax egg and opt for a dairy free yogurt. Oh, and feel free to customize them with tasty add-ins like toasted nuts, fresh or frozen berries, or cacao nibs.
Once they're baked, these whole grain banana muffins are also perfect candidates for freezing. Let them cool and pop into a freezer safe container. When you're ready to eat one, just pop out a muffin and let it defrost (or slice it in half and toast it up). Future you is going to be so stoked!
How to Make Healthy (& TASTY!) Banana Muffins
If I'm being honest, the hardest part about making these healthy banana muffins is mustering up the energy to get all the ingredients out of the pantry, measure them and then return them to their rightful places.
While that might not sound like an easy task on days when you're tired, it's absolutely doable. And on the plus side, you'll have a dozen tasty muffins as a reward for your efforts! Here's my mise en place:
Before you get too involved in prep, preheat the oven to 375F. You're going to want to get these bad boys in the oven as quickly as possible after mixing to ensure that the leavening can do it's job.
Peel the bananas into a medium mixing bowl. Using a regular ol' table fork, mash them until pulpy.
Add remaining liquid ingredients to the bowl - applesauce, egg, yogurt, vanilla and agave. Stir vigorously with the fork until your batter is mostly uniform with a few chunks of banana.
Add your dry ingredients to the batter. I might get in pastry trouble for saying this, but I often don't mix my dry ingredients in a separate bowl before adding; I don't want to have to clean the extra bowl!
I personally sprinkle the cinnamon and salt over the wet ingredients and stir them in first. I then toss in the whole wheat flour and sprinkle my leaveners on top. Stir everything together until mixed well and there are no pockets of dry ingredients left.
Finally, stir in your texture. I added just the oats at this step, but if you're using nuts, seeds, granola or berries, this is a great place to fold them in. NOTE: I have a list of optional mix ins listed in the section after this one.
Line a muffin tin with paper liners (optional, but it makes clean up easier) and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Portion batter evenly between the muffin cups. I find that using a disher makes the job faster and more accurate.
Once the batter is evenly distributed, you can either bake the whole wheat muffins straightaway or opt to top them with a little more good stuff. Below I sprinkled half with rolled oats and the other half with walnut pieces.
Bake at 375F for 20-23 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
TIP: Check several muffins from different spots on your pan to ensure that they baked evenly. If some are still gooey, simply remove the "done" ones to a rack to cool and return the pan to the oven for another minute or so.
Allow muffins to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then remove the muffins to a cooling rack.
I love eating these healthy whole wheat banana muffins while they're warm (especially if I add a bit of nut butter). That said, it's important to let them cool entirely before storing them. If you don't, the heat will cause condensation in your container which will then rain down on the muffins and leave them soggy.
Optional Stir-Ins & Toppings
One of the great things about baked goods like these healthy banana muffins is that they are super easy to customize. If you'd like to shake things up a bit, try using the recipe below as a "base," then add in some extra flavor and texture.
While this list is in no way comprehensive, here are some nutritious add-in ideas to get you started:
- Nuts & Seeds - Add some extra protein, fat and fiber using nuts or seeds! I love adding walnuts, pecans, peanuts, sunflower seeds, hemp hearts, flax seeds or chia seeds to my muffin batter. You can also add a dollop of nut or seed butter on top of the muffins before baking to create a little pocket of yumminess!
- Oats - I usually toss a few extra oats on top of the muffins before baking just because it looks cute, but don't feel like you have to stop there. If you're looking for a healthier alternative to streusel or crumble toppings, turning to oat based granolas is an easy swap to make!
- Coconut - If chewy texture is what you're after, some unsweetened flaked or shredded coconut could be a great solution. Coconut and banana also taste really great together, so it's a match made in heaven.
- Cacao - Whether you opt to add crunchy nibs for some crunch or prefer to use ground cacao to give the muffins a chocolate-y makeover is entirely up to you.
- Berries - Berries are an awesome addition to muffins! Try folding in some fresh or frozen blueberries or raspberries prior to baking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Heck yeah, you can! Simply swap in a flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoon water mixed together) and opt for a dairy free yogurt substitute.
Uh-oh. Sounds like one of two things happened:
1.) Your leavening (baking soda and/or baking powder) is expired, ~or~
2.) You let your muffin batter sit for too long before baking. Here's the science behind that:
This healthy muffin recipe calls for two types of leavening, both baking soda and baking powder. Baking powder becomes activated as soon as you add it to liquid. This means that as soon as you mix the wet and dry ingredients, it starts working.
If you wait too long to put your muffins in the oven, the reaction from the baking powder will complete before the heat of the oven can solidify the batter around the pockets of CO2 that the leavening creates, leaving them flat and possibly a bit dense.
While I always suggest that you speak to a registered nutrition professional for any dietary advice, common sense indicates that yes, these are pretty dang healthy. Each whole wheat banana muffin is under 100 calories, has just 7 grams of sugar (most of which is from fruit!) and just 1 gram of fat.
Considering a blueberry muffin from Starbucks packs a walloping 320 calories, 14 grams of fat and 20 grams of sugar, and a comparable muffin from Dunkin' Donuts clocks in at 420 calories, 15 grams of fat and 44 grams of sugar (!!!) , I'd say we're killin' it.
(I can't help but add that we're saving major cheddar here, too - these homemade muffins cost less than 50 cents apiece, while you might spend $2-3 buying one at the coffeeshop.)
Need more healthy breakfast ideas?
Check out some of my other favorite recipes:
If you made my recipe for Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Muffins, holler at me in the comments below so I know how they turned out! I always love hearing from y'all.
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Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Muffins
Equipment
- Paper Muffin Liners (Optional)
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ C Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2 large Bananas
- ¾ C Greek Yogurt non-dairy works here too
- 1 large Egg or sub flax egg
- ½ C Unsweetened Applesauce
- ¼ C Agave or maple syrup, honey or date syrup
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Non Stick Cooking Spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Peel the bananas into a medium mixing bowl. Using a regular ol' table fork, mash them until pulpy.
- Add remaining liquid ingredients to the bowl - applesauce, egg, yogurt, vanilla and agave. Stir vigorously with the fork until your batter is mostly uniform with a few chunks of banana.
- Add your dry ingredients to the batter. Stir everything together until mixed well and there are no pockets of dry ingredients left.
- Finally, stir in your add-ons. I added just the oats at this step, but if you're using nuts, seeds, granola or berries, this is a great place to fold them in.
- Line a muffin tin with paper liners (optional, but it makes clean up easier) and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Portion batter evenly between the muffin cups.
- OPTIONAL: Once the batter is evenly distributed, you can either bake the whole wheat muffins straightaway or opt to top them with a little more good stuff. Below I sprinkled half with rolled oats and the other half with walnut pieces.
- Bake at 375F for 20-23 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. TIP: Check several muffins from different spots on your pan to ensure that they baked evenly. If some are still gooey, simply remove the "done" ones to a rack to cool and return the pan to the oven for another minute or so.
- Allow muffins to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then remove the muffins to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Notes
- I might get in pastry trouble for saying this, but I often don't mix my dry ingredients in a separate bowl before adding. I don't want to have to clean the extra bowl! I personally sprinkle the cinnamon and salt over the wet ingredients and stir them in first. I then toss in the whole wheat flour and sprinkle my leaveners on top.
- I find that using a disher makes the portioning job faster and more accurate.
- I love eating these healthy whole wheat banana muffins while they're warm (especially if I add a bit of nut butter). That said, it's important to let them cool entirely before storing them. If you don't, the heat will cause condensation in your container which will then rain down on the muffins and leave them soggy.
- Nuts & Seeds - Add some extra protein, fat and fiber using nuts or seeds! I love adding walnuts, pecans, peanuts, sunflower seeds, hemp hearts, flax seeds or chia seeds to my muffin batter. You can also add a dollop of nut or seed butter on top of the muffins before baking to create a little pocket of yumminess!
- Oats - I usually toss a few extra oats on top of the muffins before baking just because it looks cute, but don't feel like you have to stop there. If you're looking for a healthier alternative to streusel or crumble toppings, turning to oat based granolas is an easy swap to make!
- Coconut - If chewy texture is what you're after, some unsweetened flaked or shredded coconut could be a great solution. Coconut and banana also taste really great together, so it's a match made in heaven.
- Cacao - Whether you opt to add crunchy nibs for some crunch or prefer to use ground cacao to give the muffins a chocolate-y makeover is entirely up to you.
- Berries - Berries are an awesome addition to muffins! Try folding in some fresh or frozen blueberries or raspberries prior to baking.
