There’s an infinite number of ways to achieve a perfectly perky muffin, from not overmixing batter to using jumbo molds or fancy industrial ovens. But as a former professional baker, I’m here to share one more trick that helps muffins rise to the occas…
There’s an infinite number of ways to achieve a perfectly perky muffin, from not overmixing batter to using jumbo molds or fancy industrial ovens. But as a former professional baker, I’m here to share one more trick that helps muffins rise to the occasion. And it all has to do with how you fill—scratch that—how you don’t fill the muffin tin.
I learned this clever practice when I worked at Levain Bakery in New York City. Instead of filling every cavity, like most recipes tell you to, use every other cavity. At the bakery, we’d generously spray the pans with Pam, add fat plops of batter, and be rewarded with super-domed muffins. Kind of like an Alice in Wonderland toadstool, only made of tender cake and studded with jammy blueberries.
Everyone will want seconds of this delicious strawberry muffins recipe! It’s got a tender fluffy crumb and and a cream cheese swirl topping. Here’s a recipe that turned out even more delicious than we imagined…these insanely tasty Strawberry Muffins! Imagine: a muffin with a tender crumb: just sweet enough and delightfully moist. Then top that with a strawberry cream cheese swirl, that coats everything in sweet savory richness. Our 4 year old Larson had the idea of making strawberry muffins (genius!), so we turned our favorite pumpkin muffin into a berry based one. Turns out, this one is even better than the original! What’s great about these strawberry muffins Some strawberry muffins have little chunks of strawberries in the batter, much like you would a blueberry muffin. But when we tried that type of strawberry muffin, the bits of berry made the batter soggy. Here’s what makes this strawberry muffin great: The strawberries are incorporated in a cream cheese swirl. This way, the berries incorporate into a creamy topping, leaving the bottom portion of the muffin perfectly moist. Man, is it delicious! The muffins are just sweet enough. Many muffins are glorified cupcakes: these are just sweet enough to be […]
Everyone will want seconds of this delicious strawberry muffins recipe! It’s got a tender fluffy crumb and and a cream cheese swirl topping.
Here’s a recipe that turned out even more delicious than we imagined…these insanely tasty Strawberry Muffins! Imagine: a muffin with a tender crumb: just sweet enough and delightfully moist. Then top that with a strawberry cream cheese swirl, that coats everything in sweet savory richness. Our 4 year old Larson had the idea of making strawberry muffins (genius!), so we turned our favorite pumpkin muffin into a berry based one. Turns out, this one is even better than the original!
What’s great about these strawberry muffins
Some strawberry muffins have little chunks of strawberries in the batter, much like you would a blueberry muffin. But when we tried that type of strawberry muffin, the bits of berry made the batter soggy. Here’s what makes this strawberry muffin great:
The strawberries are incorporated in a cream cheese swirl. This way, the berries incorporate into a creamy topping, leaving the bottom portion of the muffin perfectly moist. Man, is it delicious!
The muffins are just sweet enough. Many muffins are glorified cupcakes: these are just sweet enough to be aptly called a muffin.
They’re moist from applesauce! Applesauce makes a perfectly moist cake portion of the muffin, without it being too buttery or oily.
How to make and swirl the cream cheese topping
These strawberry muffins are pretty straightforward: the only part that needs a little more explanation is the cream cheese swirl. Here’s what to know about this part of the recipe:
Dice the strawberries into small pieces. This helps the strawberries to integrate into the cream cheese — it will turn pink but still have strawberry chunks (this is intended!).
Place dollops of cream cheese on top of the muffin batter. Use a heaping 1 tablespoon.
Use a toothpick to swirl and push the cheese into the batter. Swirl it in so that it incorporates into the top portion of the muffin batter.
Storage info for strawberry muffins
Because there’s cream cheese on top, you’ll want to store these strawberry muffins in the refrigerator instead of at room temperature like other muffins. Here are a few pointers:
The muffins are the best the day of making. Wait after baking until they’re about room temperature, then devour. They taste incredible the day of.
Refrigerate for 5 days. Pop them into the fridge for storage. Remember to let them warm back to room temp for a minute or two before you enjoy them.
Do not freeze. The cream cheese topping doesn’t hold up well in the freezer, so we don’t recommend freezing here.
When to serve them!
These strawberry muffins are great for when you have a bunch of strawberries you don’t know what to do with. They’re absolutely perfect for entertaining, too! Here are a few ideas for how to pair them:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Add 12 muffin cups to a standard muffin tin.
In a medium bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, rolled oats, brown sugar and cinnamon with the baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt.
In another bowl, combine the applesauce, neutral oil, and vanilla extract. Wait to add it to the dries until you’ve made the cream cheese topping.
Dice the strawberries into small pieces. Use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or electric hand mixer to combine the cream cheese, sugar, and strawberries: beat them on medium speed until fully combined (the cheese will turn pink but still have chunks of strawberries).
Mix the wet ingredients (applesauce, oil and vanilla) into the bowl with the dry ingredients (flour, oats, etc.) and stir until a smooth batter forms.
Divide the batter evenly into the 12 muffin cups. Dollop a mounded tablespoon of strawberry cream cheese onto the center of each muffin. Then use a toothpick to swirl the cream cheese until it is smoothed onto the top and partially worked into the batter (see the photos).
Bake for about 25 to 28 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the muffin portion. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins and place them on a cooling rack. Cool 1 hour until room temperature. Enjoy or refrigerate up to 1 week (these muffins do not freeze well).
These cozy banana oatmeal muffins are easy to whip up in a blender! Add streusel for a sweet crunch, or go healthy with a sprinkle of oats. Got a few spotty bananas on hand? Try these cozy Banana Oatmeal Muffins! These tasty muffins are beautifully fluffy and moist, perfect for using up this tasty fruit. Even better: they’re mostly made with whole grain oats! There’s a bit of flour to give it a light body, but these muffins are almost just as a bowl of oatmeal. Top them with a light streusel topping and they’re a tasty treat that works any time of the day. Here’s how to make them! Banana oatmeal muffins…made in a blender! These banana oatmeal muffins are so cozy and easy to whip up! The key: they’re made in a blender! It blends the oats into a fine flour, and makes it easy to put together the dough. There are no mixing bowls needed! Here’s what to know about this type of muffin: Use the ripest bananas you can. Bananas make magic when they’re brown and spotty. The riper the better, here! You’ll get a beautifully banana-scented flavor and the best sweetness. A quality blender makes […]
These cozy banana oatmeal muffins are easy to whip up in a blender! Add streusel for a sweet crunch, or go healthy with a sprinkle of oats.
Got a few spotty bananas on hand? Try these cozy Banana Oatmeal Muffins! These tasty muffins are beautifully fluffy and moist, perfect for using up this tasty fruit. Even better: they’re mostly made with whole grain oats! There’s a bit of flour to give it a light body, but these muffins are almost just as a bowl of oatmeal. Top them with a light streusel topping and they’re a tasty treat that works any time of the day. Here’s how to make them!
Banana oatmeal muffins…made in a blender!
These banana oatmeal muffins are so cozy and easy to whip up! The key: they’re made in a blender! It blends the oats into a fine flour, and makes it easy to put together the dough. There are no mixing bowls needed! Here’s what to know about this type of muffin:
Use the ripest bananas you can. Bananas make magic when they’re brown and spotty. The riper the better, here! You’ll get a beautifully banana-scented flavor and the best sweetness.
A quality blender makes easy work of it. A high speed blender is best: but these work in even the slowest of blenders. It just takes a while longer!
Don’t over-blend. Whiz just until the ingredients come together into a smooth dough.
Add streusel topping or an alternative for healthy banana muffins
The fun part about these banana oatmeal muffins? They have a crunchy, sweet streusel topping! It adds just the right sweetness to every muffin bite. But if you want an even healthier banana oatmeal muffins? Here’s an alternative:
The streusel blends butter, oats, flour, sugar and cinnamon. Mix them together with a fork until crumbly. You can also use coconut oil as a vegan option.
Turbinado sugar makes the crunchiest topping. Turbinado sugar is raw sugar with large, light brown crystals. It makes a great crunchy texture on top. Use brown sugar as a substitute if desired.
For healthy banana oatmeal muffins, use just oats and sugar. Roughly chop the oats with a knife. Then sprinkle both raw oats and turbinado sugar or brown sugar on top. It’s easier and healthier!
Variations and mix-ins!
There are lots of great mix-ins for banana oatmeal muffins! Of course if you’re looking for a healthy banana muffin, stick with them as is. But to mix it up, try these variations:
Blueberry bananamuffins: Fold 1 cup blueberries into the batter before baking.
Banana chocolate chip muffins: Add 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips to the batter.
Banana walnut muffins: Add 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts to the batter.
Storage info for banana oatmeal muffins
What’s the best way to store banana oatmeal muffins? These muffins have special storage instructions because of the crunchy topping. Here’s what to know:
Store at room temperature 4 days with a paper towel, or lightly covered with foil. If you store in a sealed container, the topping can become very soft. Instead, add a paper towel to the container to absorb excess moisture. Or simply cover the top of the container with foil.
Freeze for up to 3 months. These banana oatmeal muffins freeze well. The topping may not have quite the same texture after freezing, but they’re still delicious. The oat and sugar topping may do better after freezing.
More banana muffins
Looking for more options? We’ve got lots to choose from. Banana muffins are somewhat of a hobby around here! Here are our top muffin recipes starring banana:
For the streusel topping (or use 3 tablespoons roughly chopped oats & 2 tablespoons turbinado or brown sugar)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons rolled oats
3 tablespoons turbinado sugar or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons salted butter (or coconut oil for vegan)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix the streusel topping ingredients, with the butter cut into small pieces, in a small bowl with a fork until crumbly. Or, mix the optional chopped oats and brown sugar. Set aside.
Combine all the batter ingredients in blender and blend until a smooth batter forms (don’t over blend). Pour into 10 muffin cups. Crumble a bit of the streusel topping onto each muffin.
Bake 25 to 28 minutes until a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few clinging crumbs. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins and place them on a cooling rack. Cool 1 hour until room temperature. Store up to 4 days in a sealed container with a paper towel inside (to keep the topping crumbly) or frozen up to 3 months. You can also refrigerate the muffins, but they can become dry and the topping becomes soft.
Category:Muffins
Method:Baked
Cuisine:Muffins
Keywords: Banana oatmeal muffins
More banana recipes
Got bananas on hand? There’s lots more to make! Here are a few more banana recipes to try:
My mum (who’s American) was the blueberry muffin baker in our house. She’d sometimes make that internet-famous ‘Jordan Marsh from scratch’ recipe for weekend breakfasts and – between the 4 of us – the whole dozen would inevitably be gone by Sunday afternoon. She taught me how to make them as well and through my own trials and internet reading, I’ve come up with my best blueberry muffin: soft & fluffy (not tough), not too sweet & packed with blueberries but not soggy!!! I’ve got a few secret ingredients up my sleeve too which make these taste SO blueberry-y (almost like a Starbucks muffin?!). Lastly, they’ve gotta have the crunchy cinnamon-sugar on top (DUH!) – fun fact, that’s the reason my site is called Top with Cinnamon – it’s because I loved the cinnamon topping on blueberry muffins (and coffee) so much. My secret ingredients for these blueberry muffins: This muffin recipe contains all the usual suspects – plain flour, butter, eggs & granulated sugar. I use baking powder & soda to leaven them but you can just use self-raising flour instead if that’s what you’ve got. I make them without vanilla extract as I find it redundant when using […]
My mum (who’s American) was the blueberry muffin baker in our house. She’d sometimes make that internet-famous ‘Jordan Marsh from scratch’ recipe for weekend breakfasts and – between the 4 of us – the whole dozen would inevitably be gone by Sunday afternoon. She taught me how to make them as well and through my own trials and internet reading, I’ve come up with my best blueberry muffin: soft & fluffy (not tough), not too sweet & packed with blueberries but not soggy!!!
I’ve got a few secret ingredients up my sleeve too which make these taste SO blueberry-y (almost like a Starbucks muffin?!). Lastly, they’ve gotta have the crunchy cinnamon-sugar on top (DUH!) – fun fact, that’s the reason my site is called Top with Cinnamon – it’s because I loved the cinnamon topping on blueberry muffins (and coffee) so much.
My secret ingredients for these blueberry muffins:
This muffin recipe contains all the usual suspects – plain flour, butter, eggs & granulated sugar. I use baking powder & soda to leaven them but you can just use self-raising flour instead if that’s what you’ve got. I make them without vanilla extract as I find it redundant when using my secret flavour boosting ingredients (however if you’re not adding the secret ingredients, you can whack 1 tsp of vanilla extract in the batter!).
I use a couple of secret ingredients which really enhance flavour of the muffins (but which can also be easily replaced, although the substitutes just won’t give as much flavour).
My first flavour enhancer is frozen wild blueberries – I know these are common in America but in the UK I’ve only just discovered them. I’ve seen them in Whole Foods (so only available if you’re in London) but have found out that Picard (a French frozen food brand) sells them on Ocado (the supermarket delivery service). Anyway, wild blueberries are smaller, so you can pack more into each muffin, and they have a more concentrated flavour. If you can’t get them, just go for standard frozen blueberries which will also be delicious.
My second special ingredient is blueberry yoghurt – It’s only a small amount of yoghurt in these (100g) so you don’t get TOO much blueberry flavour but I find that this really is the KEY to adding the most blueberry-y flavour in an easy way. It happens because the yoghurt contains a natural blueberry flavour extract so, when stirred into the batter, it really boosts these muffins to the next level. I’ve used Liberté blueberry yoghurt (it’s a 0% fat one, but works perfectly here) in mine. If you can’t get blueberry yoghurt, go for a plain yoghurt, sour cream or even buttermilk.
My last special ingredient is ground coriander seed – I found this trick via Stella Parks on Serious Eats and also from the River Cottage. The flavour of the coriander seed enhances the flavour compound found in blueberries. That’s some cool food science for ya! If you’re not keen, just leave it out!
Fresh or frozen blueberries – which is better?
I always opt for frozen blueberries when baking muffins. You need to mix them into the batter still frozen (so DON’T thaw them!). I like frozen ones for a few different reasons:
Frozen blueberries are a LOT cheaper in the UK than fresh ones. I know this may not be the case in some places so go with what fits your budget better. You can always freeze the fresh blueberries.
Frozen are great quality all year round. They’re usually harvested in season and then frozen and stored for months so you get a great flavour from them.
They mix into the batter a lot more easily. The frozen bluebs hold up to the mixing motion so they don’t all get smushed when you stir up the batter.
Now all that said, you CAN use fresh blueberries in your muffins. You just need to follow the directions in the heading below.
How do you stop the blueberries bleeding when mixing into the batter?
A lot of the time when you’re stirring blueberries into batter, they’ll ‘bleed’ causing the batter to discolour and turn purpley-blue. You can remedy this by tossing the blueberries in a bit of flour before mixing them in and ALSO by stirring gently. Using frozen blueberries helps too as they’re less likely to squish when stirred. However’ I’ve found that even if they do bleed when mixing, the purple batter will usually revert back to a cake-y colour once baked so don’t panic if your batter turns blue!
How do you stop the blueberries sinking?
A common myth is to toss the blueberries in flour to stop them sinking. This doesn’t actually work, it mainly prevents them bleeding into the batter (see above). To prevent them sinking you need to have a thick batter (like this recipe)! And/or layer your blueberries into the batter instead of mixing them in – to do this, half fill the muffin cups with batter, sprinkle on half the blueberries, top with remaining batter and finally remaining blueberries.
Ingredient substitutions
If you want to make these with self raising flour: replace the full weight/volume of plain flour with self raising flour. Do not add the baking powder/baking soda.
If you want to make these without yoghurt you can use milk (cow’s or non-dairy) with 1 tsp of vinegar added so it can curdle before using it in the batter.
If you don’t have frozen blueberries (only fresh): don’t fold the fresh blueberries into the batter – the batter is THICK and if you try this, the fresh blueberries will end up smashed. Instead, half-fill each muffin case with the plain batter. Sprinkle half your blueberries over the batter in the cups. Top with the remaining batter and sprinkle with the remaining blueberries, pressing them down slightly into the muffin batter.
If you want to use vegetable oil or coconut oil: instead of the butter, use 100g (3.5 ounces) of melted virgin coconut oil or vegetable oil. You’ll also need to add an extra tablespoon of water to the muffin batter.
If you want to use oats: oats can add a nice texture to these muffins. To use them here, replace 60g (1/2 cup) of the plain flour with 40g (1/2 cup) rolled oats.
Are these vegan/can they be veganised?
Whilst this muffin recipe isn’t vegan (it contains eggs & dairy) you can easily veganise it. Replace the butter with melted vegan block butter. Replace the yoghurt with a soy-based, dairy-free yoghurt. Replace the eggs with 2 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 6 tbsp hot water, mixed in a small bowl and left until gelatinous, before adding to the batter.
Storing/freezing blueberry muffins:
You can store blueberry muffins at room temperature overnight – they’ll last like this for up to 4 days. Just keep them in an airtight tupperware box and they’ll stay moist & delicious. You can even warm them up in the oven (180C/350F for 5 minutes) or microwave if you prefer.
As for freezing them, just pop them into a resealable sandwich bag and freeze for up to 3 months. You’ll want to let them defrost at room temperature overnight before eating, though.
These blueberry muffins couldn't get any easier! A simple batter to mix up by hand to make moist & fluffy muffins, packed with blueberry flavour (just like Starbucks!).
Ingredients
230g (2 cups minus 1 tbsp) plain white flour (all-purpose flour)
160g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
1/4 tsp ground coriander seed
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/2 tsp fine table salt
115g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
100g (1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp) blueberry yoghurt (or plain yoghurt if you can't get blueberry)
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) fan. Line a standard muffin tin with 9 paper muffin liners.
Place the flour, sugar, coriander seed, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Stir with a whisk to combine.
Pour in the melted butter and stir with the whisk until the mixture becomes too clumpy to stir. Then use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a sandy mixture with a crumbly texture (try to break up any large clumps of mixture).
In a medium bowl whisk the yoghurt, water and eggs together until smooth. Pour this into the crumbly mixture in your large bowl. Stir together well until combined (try to make sure there are no large clumps of the sandy mixture remaining). The batter should be quite thick!
Add the frozen blueberries and fold into the batter. They will most likely bleed and make the batter turn purple but this is absolutely fine! Just try not to smash up the blueberries as you fold.
Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Mix the caster sugar & ground cinnamon together in a small bowl and sprinkle the mixture over the top of each muffin. Bake for 25-30 minutes until cracked on top - a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin should come out without any batter attached to it (but will probably have some blueberry juice on there).
Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before eating.
To store: keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days. To freeze, pop into a resealable sandwich bag and freeze for up to 4 months, letting them defrost overnight at room temp before eating.
Notes
No butter? use 100g vegetable oil or melted coconut oil instead and add an extra tablespoon of water to the batter
No baking powder/soda? Use self-raising flour instead of the plain flour
No yoghurt? Use buttermilk or sour cream instead. If you don't have those either, use an equal amount of milk mixed with 1 tsp vinegar and let it sit until curdled before adding to the batter.
Vegan: use melted vegan butter, use a soy-based yoghurt & use 2 tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 6 tbsp hot water instead of the eggs.
Have you made this recipe? I’d love to see how it went! Tag me on instagram @izyhossack and hashtag it #topwithcinnamon so I can have a look & reshare in my stories!
My favorite muffin recipes tend to be easy ones that can be put together in just a few minutes. This is generally because I like to whip up muffins in the morning and enjoy them when they are still fresh from the oven. These Buttermilk Lime Muffins are particularly easy to make and …
My favorite muffin recipes tend to be easy ones that can be put together in just a few minutes. This is generally because I like to whip up muffins in the morning and enjoy them when they are still fresh from the oven. These Buttermilk Lime Muffins are particularly easy to make and I almost always have the ingredients on hand to put a batch together on short notice. They’re fluffy and tender, with a bright punch of fresh lime and a sugary crunch on top.
The batter is made using both lime zest and lime juice. The lime zest – the colorful outer skin of the citrus fruit – is where all the essential oils from the citrus can be found and it is where most of the flavor comes from. You’ll want to use a microplane to remove as much zest as possible, without removing the bitter white pith underneath. I added some of the lime juice into the muffin batter along with the buttermilk to use up the zested citrus and to add an extra bit of lime to the mix.
Did I mention that I love how easy this recipe is? I almost always have fresh citrus on hand and, while I used limes in this particular batch, you could easily use other citrus fruits for a quick variation. Buttermilk has a warm tang that works well with just about any citrus, so feel free to use lemon, orange, grapefruit or something more exotic – like yuzu.
Don’t skip the sugar topping, however, as the muffins are not overly sweet and the coarse sugar on top finishes them off perfectly. If you want to bring in even more citrus, you can use homemade lemon sugar (or sub in limes, of course!) for plain sugar! The muffins will keep for a day or two after baking, but are at their absolute best when they are fresh.
Buttermilk Lime Muffins
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lime zest
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup lime juice
coarse sugar, for topping
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, melted butter, egg, vanilla extract and lime zest until smooth. Blend in half of the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk and lime juice. Stir in the remaining flour mixture, mixing until no streaks of dry ingredients remain and batter is uniform. Divide evenly into prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle the top of each muffin generously with coarse sugar.
Bake for 19-22 minutes, or until the muffins spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs attached.
Turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
Here’s how to make the best applesauce muffins! The batter is whizzed in a blender and they come out fluffy and perfectly cozy spiced. Gluten free with vegan variation. Wow, are you going to love these. Here are the very best applesauce muffins! They’re light and fluffy, spiced with just the right amount of cinnamon and ginger. They couldn’t be easier to make: just pop all the ingredients in the blender. The best part? The batter has no flour: just rolled oats! It makes them a healthy way to get your muffin fix. You’ll be amazed at how the oats blend into the perfect muffin texture. Readers have been going gaga over our blender muffins, so here’s a new spin for you. We created it to use up some applesauce in our fridge! Here’s what to do. Why to make these applesauce muffins There are lots of applesauce muffins recipes out there. What makes this one special? Here’s what we love about it: It’s easy to throw into the blender. Not sure why, but making blender muffins always seems easier! You’ll simply throw all the ingredients in a blender and blend. The batter uses 100% rolled oats (no flour!), making […]
Here’s how to make the best applesauce muffins! The batter is whizzed in a blender and they come out fluffy and perfectly cozy spiced. Gluten free with vegan variation.
Wow, are you going to love these. Here are the very best applesauce muffins! They’re light and fluffy, spiced with just the right amount of cinnamon and ginger. They couldn’t be easier to make: just pop all the ingredients in the blender. The best part? The batter has no flour: just rolled oats! It makes them a healthy way to get your muffin fix. You’ll be amazed at how the oats blend into the perfect muffin texture. Readers have been going gaga over our blender muffins, so here’s a new spin for you. We created it to use up some applesauce in our fridge! Here’s what to do.
Why to make these applesauce muffins
There are lots of applesauce muffins recipes out there. What makes this one special? Here’s what we love about it:
It’s easy to throw into the blender. Not sure why, but making blender muffins always seems easier! You’ll simply throw all the ingredients in a blender and blend.
The batter uses 100% rolled oats (no flour!), making them a healthy spin. You can feel good about these muffins because they’re basically like eating oatmeal and applesauce! There is sugar, but just enough so that they’re lightly sweet, not so much that they taste like cupcakes.
They’re perfectly spiced and lightly fluffy. Just like you want a muffin to be! It’s light, healthy and perfect for breakfasts and snacks.
Ingredients in applesauce muffins
We created these applesauce muffins especially to use up a jar in our fridge (there from making applesauce cake for a friend). Readers are always asking us for more blender muffins made with rolled oats. Our main recipe uses bananas: but sometimes you don’t have ripe bananas on hand! Applesauce muffins save the day! Here’s what you need for this recipe:
Applesauce: unsweetened is preferable! Decrease the sugar to 1/3 cup if all you have is sweetened applesauce.
Eggs: see vegan substitution below
Rolled oats: also called Old Fashioned oats. Do not substitute steel cut oats: they are not the same!
Neutral oil: use sunflower, vegetable or grapeseed (read more here)
Brown sugar: you can substitute coconut sugar if desired
Vanilla extract
Baking soda & baking powder
Cinnamon & ginger
Variation: vegan muffins
This recipe already makes gluten free muffins, so if you eat that diet or are cooking for someone who is: they’re perfect! We don’t eat exclusively gluten free, we just love the taste and heartiness of these muffins.
Want to make these into vegan applesauce muffins? Just replace the 2 eggs with 2 flax eggs! What’s a flax egg? Simply mix ground flax seed with water to form a binder you can use in vegan baking! This egg substitute works like a charm in this type of muffin.
How to serve ’em!
How to make these applesauce muffins into a filling breakfast or snack? Top them with nut butter! Adding plant-based protein like nuts is our favorite way to make them stick. Here are some of our favorite ways to top them — grab a jar at the store or make at home:
What’s the best way to store these applesauce muffins? Oat muffins are a little different from muffins made with flour. We like to store these babies in the fridge so they last longer. Here’s what we do:
Room temperature (up to 4 days): Place a paper towel in the bottom of a sealed container, then place the muffins in and place a paper towel on top.
Refrigerator (up to 2 weeks): These oat muffins work well in the refrigerator! The keep for about 2 weeks.
Freezer Freeze these muffins in a sealable container and store up to 3 months.
More blender muffins
Love these applesauce muffins? We’ve got a few more flavors of these blender muffins using the same concept. Here are a few to try:
Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend everything on high for a minute or two until a smooth batter forms.
Place 10 muffin cups into a muffin tin and pour the batter divided evenly between the cups. Sprinkle the tops with extra oats and gently press them down (sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon to the tops if you’d like).
Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the muffin tin and allow them to cool a few minutes before serving. Store refrigerated or frozen.
These homemade blueberry muffins are light, fluffy, and PACKED with blueberries! They’re an all-time favorite, perfect for weekend brunches and grab-and-go breakfast. Continue reading “Blueberry Muffins” »
These homemade blueberry muffins are light, fluffy, and PACKED with blueberries! They're an all-time favorite, perfect for weekend brunches and grab-and-go breakfast.
Wow is all we can say about these chocolate banana muffins! They’re dark chocolaty with a light crunch on top and a moist interior. Imagine: a bite that’s perfectly chocolaty, crunchy on the top and moist on the inside. Yes, these chocolate banana muffins are calling you! They’re the perfect texture, not too rich and just sweet enough. This recipe happened by chance when I was searching for a banana bread recipe using two bananas. We turned our Chocolate Banana Bread into muffins and topped it with crunchy turbinado sugar. Now, these muffins have become one of our favorite banana recipes…ever. Made with just 2 bananas! Ever had only 2 solitary bananas with peels blackening on your counter? The other day, I had this exact problem (if you could call it that!). Most banana bread and muffin recipes call for 3 to 4 bananas, like our Healthy Banana Muffins. All you need is 1 cup of mashed bananas to make these muffins: which is usually about what we have leftover. Ingredients for chocolate banana muffins These muffins turns out rich and chocolatey, with just the right texture and flavor. They remind me of a muffin I used to get as […]
Wow is all we can say about these chocolate banana muffins! They’re dark chocolaty with a light crunch on top and a moist interior.
Imagine: a bite that’s perfectly chocolaty, crunchy on the top and moist on the inside. Yes, these chocolate banana muffins are calling you! They’re the perfect texture, not too rich and just sweet enough. This recipe happened by chance when I was searching for a banana bread recipe using two bananas. We turned our Chocolate Banana Bread into muffins and topped it with crunchy turbinado sugar. Now, these muffins have become one of our favorite banana recipes…ever.
Made with just 2 bananas!
Ever had only 2 solitary bananas with peels blackening on your counter? The other day, I had this exact problem (if you could call it that!). Most banana bread and muffin recipes call for 3 to 4 bananas, like our Healthy Banana Muffins. All you need is 1 cup of mashed bananas to make these muffins: which is usually about what we have leftover.
Ingredients for chocolate banana muffins
These muffins turns out rich and chocolatey, with just the right texture and flavor. They remind me of a muffin I used to get as a kid at my favorite salad bar: so they’ve got the nostalgia factor, too. Here’s what you need for these chocolate banana muffins:
1 cup mashed bananas: 2 large or 3 small
Butter
Flour
Brown sugar (& turbinado sugar, for sprinkling)
Egg
Dutch process cocoa powder (or regular)
Baking soda, vanilla & salt
What’s Dutch process cocoa powder?
The cocoa powder in these chocolate banana muffins is special: it’s Dutch process cocoa powder. This type is like a dark chocolate version of cocoa powder. It’s been treated with an alkali to make it pH neutral, which gives it a darker color and milder flavor. Why use it here? It’s the key to making these muffins ultra chocolaty.
Where to buy it? You should be able to find dark chocolate or Dutch process cocoa powder at your local grocery store, next to the regular cocoa powder. You can also find Dutch process cocoa powder online. Here are the two brands we’ve used and liked: Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder or Ghiradelli Dutch Process Cocoa Powder.
The best part about these chocolate banana muffins? The lightly crunchy tops! Turbinado sugar is raw sugar with large, light brown crystals. It’s less processed than refined white sugar and tastes more like brown sugar. It’s great for topping baked goods because the large crystals make a nice crunch and a glittery look.
If you don’t have turbinado sugar on hand, that’s ok too! Simply use a light sprinkle of brown sugar. It won’t have quite the same sparkle but it still tastes good.
Step them up with chocolate chips
Now: we love these chocolate banana muffins as they are. They’re just sweet enough and taste like a moist, dark chocolate cake. But if you’re one of those people who wants muffins that taste like a cupcake…add some chocolate chips to the batter! It would take them into rich, double chocolaty territory. Or, you could sprinkle them on the top.
Keep this in mind if you do add chocolate chips to the batter. When you go to test doneness with a toothpick, if you hit a chocolate chip it will look artificially gooey. Try pricking with the toothpick again to find a spot without a chocolate chip (or use your best judgement on doneness).
How to store muffins
What’s the best way to store these chocolate banana muffins? It depends on how long you think they’ll be around. Here’s what we recommend:
1 day: Leave the muffins on a cooling rack and cover with a clean, dry dish towel. This helps the texture of the topping intact.
Up to 4 days: Place a paper towel in the bottom of a sealed container, then place the muffins in and place a paper towel on top. The paper towels absorb any moisture, which helps to retain the topping texture.
Longer than 4 days: Freeze these muffins in a sealable container and store up to 3 months.
This chocolate banana muffins recipe is…
Vegetarian. For vegan, use coconut oil and a flax egg (see below).
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place muffin liners in a muffin tin.
Mash the bananas in the bottom of a large bowl, enough for 1 cup. Melt the butter, then whisk it into the bananas along with the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, Dutch-process cocoa powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Add to the bowl with the bananas and stir together with a spoon until a sticky dough forms. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar (or lightly with brown sugar).
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin, then move to a cooling rack to cool to room temperature before serving.
Category:Muffins
Method:Baked
Cuisine:American
Keywords: Chocolate banana muffins
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When I first started coming up with my own recipes, I would tend to go through phases of becoming obsessed with one thing at a time. There was a cinnamon roll phase, chocolate chip cookies phase and a lemon cake phase. Specifically, I was enamoured by the lemon poppyseed muffins which Starbucks used to sell (before they started adding the weird lemon goo to the middle of the muffins). That perfect balance of a fluffy muffin (basically a cake) with a good amount of lemon flavour PLUS a nice tanginess from the lemon glaze on top. What a winner! I recently got such a strong craving for lemon poppyseed muffins as I realised I hadn’t made any in YEARS. So I got experimenting and ended up with this vegan version, still full of poppyseeds and topped with a generous amount of that sweet-tart icing. The batter is oil based so they’re fast to whisk up and so delicious for an afternoon tea break snack.
When I first started coming up with my own recipes, I would tend to go through phases of becoming obsessed with one thing at a time. There was a cinnamon roll phase, chocolate chip cookies phase and a lemon cake phase. Specifically, I was enamoured by the lemon poppyseed muffins which Starbucks used to sell (before they started adding the weird lemon goo to the middle of the muffins). That perfect balance of a fluffy muffin (basically a cake) with a good amount of lemon flavour PLUS a nice tanginess from the lemon glaze on top. What a winner!
I recently got such a strong craving for lemon poppyseed muffins as I realised I hadn’t made any in YEARS. So I got experimenting and ended up with this vegan version, still full of poppyseeds and topped with a generous amount of that sweet-tart icing. The batter is oil based so they’re fast to whisk up and so delicious for an afternoon tea break snack.
Lemon Poppyseed Muffins (Vegan)
Yield: 9 muffins
Ingredients
150g (2/3 cup) granulated sugar
zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
250ml (1 cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I prefer soy or oat)
80g (1/3 cup) vegetable oil
220g (1 3/4 cups) plain white (all-purpose) flour
45g (1/2 cup) ground almonds
2 tbsp poppyseeds
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/4 tsp fine table salt
Lemon icing:
150g icing sugar
lemon juice
Instructions
Place the sugar into a large bowl and grate in your lemon zest (I use a microplane to do this). Use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar - this will help pull the oils out of the zest, releasing all that lemony flavour.
Add the ground flaxseed, milk and oil to the bowl. Stir together to combine. Add the flour, ground almonds, poppyseeds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Stir until mostly smooth (I like to use a whisk for this but a mixing spoon will work too).
Chill the batter for at least 1 hour or, preferably, overnight.
When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180C (350F) convection / 200C (400F) non-convection. Line a muffin tin with 9 paper muffin liners.
Divide the batter among the 9 muffin liners, it should come pretty high up in the liner but not right to the top.
Bake for 22-27 minutes, until a skewer poked into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.
Remove from the tin and leave on a wire rack to cool before icing.
For the icing, place the icing sugar in a small bowl. Squeeze in some lemon juice (start with 1 tsp) and stir together. Keep adding lemon juice a little at a time until you have a thick but drizzleable icing.
Spoon the icing over the cooled muffins and leave to set. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Have you made this recipe? I’d love to see how it went! Tag me on instagram @izyhossack and hashtag it #topwithcinnamon so I can have a look & reshare in my stories!
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