These Healthy Toddler Banana Oat Muffins are a quick, nutritious, customizable, grab n' go breakfast that's toddler tested and approved!
What do your mornings look like? Mine? First alarm goes off at 4:30 am... second at 4:40... third at 4:50... You get the idea. Mornings start early and are hectic around here getting everyone ready for school and work, but even still, one thing that we make an absolute priority: a nutritious breakfast for my toddler. These Healthy Toddler Banana Oat Muffins are our latest time-saving way to make sure M starts her day delicious!
Ingredients Needed
I love make ahead grab n' go breakfasts and snacks. Especially when they're super easy to make, like our Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Bars and our Peanut Butter Chocolate Energy Bars. And also when all the ingredients are pretty much staples in our kitchen.
Once you have your base of the oats, flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, milk, bananas, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla extract, then it's up to you! You can bake them in muffins as they are, or add a variety of goodies! This batch we decided to make Strawberry Almond Chia, Blueberry Apple Flax Seed, and finally a "Carrot Cake" made of carrots, raisins, and nutmeg.
Mixed with the banana oat base and they're ready to go. Baked for 30 minutes and boom. Healthy Toddler Banana Oat Muffins - 3 fun ways!
M tested and approved! Her first, the Strawberry Almond Chia, she loved so much I had to take the wrapper away from her because she was eating part of the wrapper when she was trying to scrape it clean... ha!
Even better, these little muffins of healthy deliciousness freeze great. So for a 3 days this past week, M not only had breakfast done, but each one was different! And once Baby K #2 comes, I'm sure that we'll be sooo happy to have these guys in the freezer to pull out for a quick nutritious breakfast when our mornings become even crazier.
These will also be fun to experiment with flavors with your little one. Let him/her decide what creations to make! I can't wait for the next batch to see what my little M wants to make. Based on her current food favorites, I have a feeling she'll ask for toast, mangos, and rice muffins! 😛
Other Muffin Favorites
Sourdough Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
Healthy Raspberry Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
Enjoy! As always, if you make this recipe or any of my others, I love to hear what you think! Leave a comment below, email me, or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Healthy Toddler Banana Oat Muffins - 3 Ways!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups Old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 bananas mashed
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup 2% milk
- 2 tablespoons salted butter melted
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
Strawberry Almond Chia
- 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, chopped
- 1 tbsp sliced almonds
- 1 tsp chia seeds
Blueberry Apple Flax
- 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
- 1/4 cup fresh apples, chopped any variety
- 1 tbsp ground flax seed
"Carrot Cake"
- 1/4 cup fresh carrots, grated
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tin with liners or generously spray with a non-stick cooking spray. *You can also lightly spray the muffin liners as I've heard some have had trouble with them sticking to the liners.
- In a large bowl mix together oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, smash bananas and add milk, butter, eggs, vanilla, and maple syrup. Add slowly to the dry ingredients and mix well.
- In separate bowls, mix together the Strawberry Almond Chia, Blueberry Apple Flax, and "Carrot Cake" fillings. Add some of each mixture to 4 muffin liners, leaving a little bit of each behind to top the muffins. Gently fill each muffin tin to the top with oats and bananas mixture and top with remaining filling. (If you have extra oat and banana mixture, make some 'plain' muffins or toss in whatever else you have!)
- Bake muffins for 20-30 minutes, until slightly browned. Check after 20. Cool and enjoy!
- Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week or in the freezer for 6 months.
I guess I should have read these comments first before making this recipe. Most reviewers rated this 5 stars without actually making them! The recipe sounded great in theory, but I followed the recipe exactly and added chopped Gala apples since that was what I had on hand. I'm not sure if 2 tsp of baking soda is too much or the 1/3 maple syrup is too little, but the muffins were definitely not sweet enough and have a bit of a bitter aftertaste. I'm not a baker myself, and mostly follow online recipes based on reviews, so I can't pinpoint what is wrong... but the recipe definitely needs some adjustments.
Hi Tabitha,
I'm so sorry you didn't think the muffins were sweet enough. They're definitely not super sweet as they get the sweetness just from the bananas and the maple syrup. Also you're right, the baking soda is supposed to just be 1 1/2 tsp. not 2.
I think the issue is that you used baking soda instead of baking powder. That will definitely leave a bitter taste. Baking powder is a different product, containing baking soda and other ingredients. I have made this mistake before!! 🙂
Do these hold together well using ground flax as an egg substitute?
Hi Ana! I haven't tried this yet, but I think it should!
Just made these and they smell delicious! Can’t wait for my son and I to try them tomorrow morning!! I’m reading over the recipe variations and noticed under the carrot cake variation, nutmeg was not listed as an ingredient but further up in the article you refer to it. Is it possible to know how much you use? Thanks so much!
Enjoy!! I hope he loves them as much as my girls do! Ooos! Thanks for pointing that out- just a pinch!
What a simple and delicious recipe for my godson who is 2! He made the batter with me and enjoyed mixing together all the ingredients. Since we were keeping it extra simple, we only added in raisins. They came out of the oven and he gobbled one up right before his bedtime (he made his mom think I hadn't fed him all day!). Thanks so much for a great recipe!
How fun!! What a lucky little boy to have a godmother to bake with him! So glad he enjoyed it!!
Loved these muffins they came out perfect
I used sugar (xylitol) instead of maple syrup
Trying to stick to a plant base diet and I think these fit the bill?
Nice sub and so glad you enjoyed them! And they definitely do!
Are you able to freeze these? Wanted to do a batch and freeze for rushing mornings!
Absolutely! I always freeze and then either let defrost in fridge over night or pop in the microwave in the am. They're perfect for busy mornings! 🙂
Hi!May seem a weird question but is the temperature setting in centigrade or farenheit please.
Fahrenheit 🙂
🙂 thanks! I made them ... came out 😋
Wonderful!!
Hi Tracy, I am planning to bake these over the weekend, however unsure if I should use baking powder as my twins get an upset stomach when I give them anything with baking powder/ soda. Is it possible to skip it entirely or an alternative maybe?
Hi Jerry! Oh definitely don't want to give your twins an upset stomach! Hmm... you could leave it out entirely but then the muffins will be pretty dense. Standard subs for baking powder would be baking soda and an acid, which is also out, so you could try a little instant yeast instead. I think 2 tsp of yeast would be too much, but try a teaspoon!
I just made the muffins and they taste and look great. However, the mix ins are all on the bottom of the muffin. Should I have mixed each muffin, in the pan, once the batter had been added?
Hi Julie! Great question. You can actually toss the mix-ins with a little bit of flour, then mix it all with the batter and then add to the liners and that should prevent it all from being at the bottom. I don't do that often so that I can make multiple varieties (without having to think about separating the amount of batter) but if you're making just one variety, then it's a great solution!
Just made these and they didn’t turn out. I took them out after 30min and they’re still underdone. The batter was sooooo runny - and all the muffin cups were filled to the brim. I just did the basic recipe - where did I go wrong? 😔
Oh Lindsay I'm so sorry to hear that! Hmm the only thing I could think would be if there was too much milk or maple syrup and not enough oats. Sometimes they need to be cooked a little longer than 30 mins but the batter shouldn't be super runny.
Hi, just tried these and it looks nice but they have a strong egg taste, which I personally dislike. Admittedly I did not use as much maple syrup but don't think it would do the trick. Have you ever tried using only 1 egg?
Also for anyone who enjoys cinnamon I would triple the amount, just an idea 🙂 Thanks.
Will the oats be very crunchy or chewy for a toddler? Should I use oat flour instead? What would you recommend?
They'll be chewy! I haven't tried it with just flour, but if you do, let me know how it turns out!
Tried these over the weekend. Yummy!! I did just one variation - blueberries, almonds and flax seeds. We loved the crunchy almonds and seeds and gooey blueberries. But I did notice that too many blueberries on the bottom meant a bit too gooey for some.
So glad you enjoyed them!! Yea, sometimes when there are too many blueberries that sink down to the bottom they can get gooey but that's my toddler's favorite part! 😉
These look amazing, looking forward to baking all three! I have one question for you, I'm trying to avoid cows milk, is it possible to replace the cows milk for pea or almond milk instead?
Hi Heather! You know, I've never really baked muffins with almond milk before so I'm not sure how it'll change it, but I think it's worth a shot! Please let me know how it turns out!
You list baking powered in ingredients but say baking soda in instructions.
Oh goodness, THANK YOU Joe for pointing this out. It is baking powder!!
I made these one today. I was very excited to make them for my 13 month old. I let them cool and when I tried ti remove the muffin wrap it stuck to it and the cute muffin now doesnt look like one anymore. Did I miss something??? I noticed this recipe doesnt have butter or any kind of oil so maybe thats is why? ugh disappointed!
Hi Sarai - I'm so sad you're disappointed that the liners stuck and they didn't have that nice muffin shape. I just made them again and you're right - you do need a little spray either in the liners or the tray itself if you're not using liners and that should help with the sticking. But most importantly, what did you and your little one think of the taste??
these are great, but 30 minutes is waaaayyyyy too long of a bake time. i wish i would’ve checked them at 20 minutes (like most muffin recipes), because now they’re too brown. the flavor is good though.
Francine, thank you SO much for letting me know! I'm so sorry they browned too much for you - I'm going to try this in different ovens to make sure it's right. I REALLY appreciate your feedback!
Great concept, but these were awful. Should have trusted my instinct that 2 tsp of baking soda was not a good idea.
Has anyone else reviewing this made them?
These look like a great treat for toddlers AND adults! These look delicious and I would love to have these available all of the time.
Yes! They freeze well, too!
I don't have any little ones around any more, but I love the sound of these muffins! Muffins are my easy breakfast of choice and I love all these options!
Not just for kids- my husband and I love them too 🙂
I love the variety of flavors! My toddler loves strawberries, blueberries, and carrots so I know these would be a big hit with him. I can't wait to give these a try!
I hope he enjoys them!
I love how kid tested this recipe is. Will have to try it out on my kiddos.
I hope they enjoy them!
These look great and I am sure my kids would absolutely love them. A great on the go breakfast idea.
I hope they do!
Taste good but the extra baking soda makes them too metallic. I’d do one tsp baking soda and one baking powder instead.
Ohhh hmm thank you for the feedback! I will also try reducing the baking soda!
I used to be so obsessed with making muffins! Especially when my Little’s were toddlers. Maybe it’s the way muffins are the perfect finger food for little hands. These look delicious, I’ll have to try them. Something tells me even though I don’t have toddlers anymore, they’ll still love these!
What a great idea for a healthy breakfast! I love the flavor variations (I think I'll be trying the blueberry ones first because blueberries are just so gorgeous here right now!), and the wonderfully wholesome ingredients that you've used to make these. I sometimes struggle to get a well balanced breakfast in the mornings, and this would be such a quick and convenient option!
Ahh yes, you always know it's good when the kids are eating the wrapper, eh? Haha. It's always nice to have little recipes like this around, both for our kids and for ourselves. You definitely want to be able to grab something when you're on the go without having to settle for something unhealthy or overly processed. My kids will be all over these. Cheers!
Oh my goodness, hats off to you lady, there is no way I could have my kids out the door that early in the morning. I am literally dragging them to get to school by 8.30 🙂 These little muffins sound like the perfect little piece of nutrition to get them started on a busy day. Can't wait to try them out for my kids, they are obsessed with anything in a muffin tin!
Oh good. So I'm not the only grown ass adult that hits the snooze button for almost an hour? I always feel like an irresponsible lazy teenager when I do that, but knowing I'm not alone… I feel a lot better. Haha 😉 I am hella jealous that you make it to your desk by 7am, though. #Goals. I guess having a toddler gives you no choice.
These muffins look fantastic and totally worth getting up for. I really hope my future spawn eats nourishing stuff like this! And giirrrrrrrl, I need to make those cheddar broccoli quinoa bars. Savory is my jam, and they sound unreal!
I love this healthy and nutritious recipe. The fact that is portable and perfect for little hands is a huge plus too. Of course as non toddler I can guarantee I would love to have these for breakfast in the morning!!!
What a fun start to her day! These will be great for my preschooler when we are back in school this fall. I'm going to have to make them when it is our turn to take snack!
Yum! I love this idea. I totally get you about the busy mornings. When my daughter was younger my go-to was overnight oats. Now she is in elementary school she likes to try and snack while waiting for the bus so muffins are much better for that. I love that the base recipe is so easily customizable because she loves variety!
Well if it's good enough for a toddler -- it past the taste test -- then it's good enough for me. Sometimes I just don't want to make a breakfast and these muffins are an ideal way to get in some nutrition without sacrificing taste. Will definitely be trying them out.
I don't have a toddler but I'm more than happy to eat my share of this! This looks amazing and perfect for those busy mornings. I actually have a batch of these in my freezer for when I don't have time to do a weekly prep!
Well, I'm not a toddler....and I would for sure eat these. I will be having the grandkids here 2 days a week all summer long. Making "healthy" options for them to eat is a must. I can't send them home all full of sugar....my daughter would go crazy!!
That is an early alarm!! I am not surprised that you snooze! The muffins sound fabulous (not just for toddlers). I'd eat one right now if it was in front of me.
I don't have a toddler, but I am pretty picky when it comes to breakfast! I love that these muffins look so delicious and healthy. I need to start meal planning a little, because I keep skipping breakfast when I don't have time to make anything! (So.. maybe I'm the toddler in this scenario LOL)