How to make healthy banana blueberry muffins that actually taste good! We add whole grains, ripe bananas and reduce the sugar. Most importantly though, they taste great! Jump to our Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins Recipe or read on to see our tips for making them.
These healthier muffins are a spin off of our Easy Banana Muffins. You absolutely love them — check out the reviews! When we set off to create a better-for-you muffin recipe, we knew that this original recipe was where we should start.
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How to Make Healthier Muffins That Still Taste Great
Muffins and quick bread recipes are among our favorite things to play around with. They are so adaptable. This time, we took our popular banana muffins recipe and added whole grains, reduced sugar and reduced the fat.
Since the banana naturally adds sweetness and moisture, you can hardly tell that these muffins have been made healthier. Banana is a workhorse in healthier baking recipes! We recently shared a new recipe with you for Guilt-Free Banana Bread. It was when we were playing around with that recipe that we realized banana allows for so much reduction in fat and sugar.
As well as relying on the banana for sugar and moisture, we swap half of the flour called for in the recipe for whole wheat flour. You could use 100% whole wheat, but keep in mind that the loaf will taste nuttier (not necessarily a bad thing) and will be a bit more dense. White whole wheat flour is also a great option.
We use a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat flour for our Whole Wheat Pancakes recipe. They are so light and fluffy!
We also reduce sugar and fat. Sugar is reduced from 1/2 cup to 1/3 cup — that’s almost three whole tablespoons! For the fat, we swap butter for melted coconut oil (olive oil works, too) and we reduce it by just over a tablespoon.
The muffins bake up to be moist, tender and delicious. They also smell incredible!
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Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins Recipe
- PREP
These healthier muffins are a spin off from our popular blueberry muffins recipe. We add whole grains, ripe bananas and reduce the sugar. These banana blueberry muffins are lower in calories and sugar, but still taste great! Feel free to swap the blueberries for other fruit. Diced apples, peaches, raspberries, strawberries or blackberries are all excellent.
You Will Need
4 tablespoons melted and cooled coconut oil or olive oil
3/4 cups (95 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 cups (95 grams) whole wheat flour
1/3 cup (65 grams) sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 large ripe bananas, mashed with a fork (about 1 cup)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 3 tablespoons water or milk, as needed
6 ounces blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not thaw), about 1 cup
Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Whisk the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the melted coconut oil, mashed banana, egg, and vanilla until blended. Add the banana mixture to the bowl with dry ingredients then use a fork to combine. (Only mix until combined, try not to beat the batter too much. This will make the baked muffins dense). If the batter seems too thick or dry, stir in a tablespoon or two of water or milk. Fold in the blueberries.
Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick can be inserted and comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Store the muffins at room temperature up to 2 days, in the refrigerator up to 5 days, or in the freezer up to 3 months.
- Gluten-free muffins: Use you favorite store-bought gluten-free flour blend. We are partial to Bob’s Red Mill.
- Vegan / egg-free banana blueberry muffins: Replace the egg with a flax eggs. To make a flax egg, mix 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal (ground raw flaxseed) with 2 1/2 tablespoons water. Set it aside for about 5 minutes to thicken then use to replace the egg in the recipe.
- Use 100% whole wheat flour: Replace the all-purpose flour with an equal amount of whole wheat flour or use white whole wheat flour. If the batter seems too thick, thin it out with a tablespoon or so of water or milk.
- Using less oil: 1/4 cup of oil seemed just right for lowering the fat, while keeping the muffins nice and moist. To reduce the fat even more, you can try replacing some or all of the oil with applesauce. We have not tried this*
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
I made these last week but used applesauce instead of oil and wheat germ instead of whole wheat flour. They were delicious. My husband enjoyed them so much he has requested them again this week!
These tuned out great! I didn’t bother with two types of flour, just used wholemeal. I also used coconut sugar instead of caster. I added a third mashed banana as I had three to use up. made them super moist.
The oil is not listed in the ingredients list.
Hi Nicole, It’s the first ingredient. You can use coconut oil or olive oil.
Great recipe. I followed it to the T and didnt need any extra water/milk. Yum!!
Delicious and super moist! I added one tablespoon water.