Oatmeal Pumpkin Banana Muffins
These Oatmeal Pumpkin Banana Muffins are hearty, fluffy, and full of cozy pumpkin spice flavor with just the right amount of banana sweetness. Made with ground oats and naturally sweetened with maple syrup or honey, they’re naturally gluten-free and perfect for fall breakfast-ing, snacking, and stocking the freezer. Mini chocolate chips are optional…but very much encouraged around here.
Pumpkin Banana Muffins made With Oats (and easily gluten-free!)
I worked for a LONG time on my Whole Wheat Pumpkin Banana Bread (2 years, in fact!) and absolutely love love love that recipe. And listen, there are times when I want a loaf. But most of the time when I am making something easy for us to grab for a snack or breakfast, I want a muffin recipe. Something that will bake up quickly, that is are pre-portioned so its a grab-and-go situation and that is also easy to store since muffins are my meal prep MVP. And since I’ve been back on my oat-muffin kick lately, I really wanted an oat-based muffin version that beloved fall bread. And I bring you Oat Flour Pumpkin Banana Muffins.
And can i just say, they hit that pumpkin-banana balance jusssssst right. The banana adds natural sweetness without taking over the pumpkin, while pumpkin pie spice brings in all those warm fall flavors I want this time of year. They’re made with ground oats, which gives them that hearty oat-muffin feel while still being surprisingly fluffy, and maple syrup or honey adds just enough extra sweetness. And then I added mini chocolate chips because I LOVE chocolate with pumpkin and, if we’re being truthful, they certainly don’t hurt these muffins’ popularity with my family.
However, the chocolate chips are totally optional, though. Leave them out, toss in some chopped nuts, raisins, or dried cranberries (oooh, so good) and make them your own. That’s one of the reasons I love having muffins like these tucked into the freezer: they’re easy to grab for breakfast, add to a lunchbox, or pull out when someone suddenly needs a snack right now. The loaf will always have its moment, but for regular-life fall baking? Muffins are awfully hard to beat. And if you love a good oat flour muffin like I do, I’m just going to the leave these oat flour cottage cheese muffins right here. A questionable mouthful of a recipe, but equally a beloved house staple here.
Let’s make these muffins together. Just you and me…
Recipe Testing Notes From Taesha For Pumpkin Banana Muffins
- Spotty bananas really do make the difference. I made a batch with just-yellow bananas, and they were…fine. But next to my spotty-banana batch, they were noticeably less sweet, and the banana flavor barely came through. Freckly bananas are what give these that banana-bread-meets-pumpkin-season taste.
- I reach for thick, scoopable pumpkin. Libby’s is my go-to. I’ve noticed some brands are much thinner, almost applesauce-y, because of added water, and that extra liquid ends up in your muffins. If yours looks loose, treat it like grated zucchini: spread it on a few paper towels and gently press out some of the water.
- Brown sugar and coconut sugar both work. I’ve baked these with each one, swapped 1:1 for the maple syrup, and honestly couldn’t tell them apart from the maple batch. My batter didn’t need any extra moisture, but my bananas were very ripe. If yours are on the firmer side, I’d add a tablespoon or two of extra Greek yogurt.
- Egg-free works with one tweak. I’ve made these with flax eggs and loved them. An extra ½ teaspoon of baking powder brings back the lift that egg-free muffins sometimes lose.
Oatmeal Banana Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups (240 g) rolled oats, Use certified gluten-free if GF is needed
- 1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (187 g) canned pumpkin puree, I found a thicker brands, like Libby, worked best.
- 1 cup (215 g) mashed ripe banana, about 2 medium bananas
- ⅓ cup (78.86 ml) maple syrup, or honey
- ¼ cup (59.15 ml) avocado oil, or neutral tasting oil
- ¼ cup (59.15 ml) plain Greek yogurt, low fat or full fat.
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup (60 g) mini chocolate chips, plus extra for topping
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375℉. Line 12 compartments of a standard muffin tin with paper liners or grease with oil spray.
- Add the oats, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt to your blender. Blend until the mixture looks like flour, about 30 seconds. Pour the oat flour into a large bowl.
- Add the pumpkin puree, mashed banana, maple syrup, oil, eggs, vanilla, and Greek yogurt to the bowl with the oat mixture
- Mix together until just combined.
- Add in the chocolate chips and mix in until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup or scoop to divide the batter into the 12 prepared muffin cups and top each one with a few more chocolate chips, if you’d like.
- Bake until the tops are lightly golden brown and the muffins have an internal temperature of 200℉, about 18-20 minutes.
- Allow muffins to cool completely then enjoy or store in an airtight container at room temperature for a day then refrigerate for 4 to 5 days. Muffins can be individually wrapped then frozen for up to 2 months.
I just love your muffin recipes! One question- can I use cottage cheese instead of yogurt? Out of yogurt at the moment. And, I like blending in cottage cheese.
I haven’t tried it with these but I think as long as you blend it it should be find. And since it calls for a small amount of yogurt, I dont think the saltiness of the cottage cheese will be overpowering with the swap
Can I use oat flour instead of oats and how much oat flour would I use?
You can! I used it when I tested it and just used the weighed 240g.
Is it possible to use steel cut oats instead of the rolled oats?
Hi Lauren! I have honestly not tried. Since the oats get ground down into a flour, I suppose it would work as long as you have a powerful enough blender or grinder to process the oats well. If not, the oats would be gritty and these muffins wouldn’t have the right texture. Oh, I’d weigh out the oats over using a measuring cup!
These muffins were a huge hit with the whole family. My kids loved them, and my husband, who doesn’t really care for bananas or oats, loved them as well. I’ll be adding extra bananas to next week’s grocery list so I can make another batch soon.
Yay! I am so glad to hear that, Melissa!
I don’t have any yogurt on hand, what could I substitute?
Sour cream would also work!
Is there anything better than a warm, fall pumpkin, fresh from the oven? 😋 Just shared one with my 3-year-old and we both approve! A perfect way to use up my bananas and pumpkin.
No, there is not! So glad you all loved them, Michelle! Thanks so much for coming back and sharing!
Love that they are refined flour free! Kids have them before school, after school and when I need a healthy snack during the day.
Yay! I am so glad they were such a huge hit, Kim! Thank you for coming back and sharing that win with me!
DELICIOUS! MOIST AND YUMMY! THANK YOU!
To continue on the fruit theme and have these muffins only fruit sweetened, for the maple syrup/honey I subbed 6 Medjool dates. I simply blended them with hot water to make a loose date paste and combined that with the wet ingredients.
I too used the flax eggs (1 tablespoon flax to 3 tablespoons warm water and let it rest to thicken).
Trust the thermometer for the bake time but let them rest a few minutes before eating so they finish setting and aren’t wet inside.
Off to bake another batch!
Yesssss! That thermometer trick is my favorite and has yet to steer me wrong. So glad you loved them too and thanks for coming back and sharing your swaps!