These wholesome muffins are full of plump blackberries and hearty rolled oats. They're perfect for an on-the-go breakfast or healthy afternoon/afterschool snack that helps sneak in some excellent and delicious nutrition.
If you've got bananas with brown spots (they ripen so quickly!), and a cup of berries, you can make these muffins. I like to stash them in the freezer, so they're ready to thaw when needed.

Table of contents
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Ingredients
- Rolled oats
- Milk
- Plain Greek Yogurt
- Whole wheat pastry flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Cinnamon
- Bananas
- Egg
- Canola oil
- Vanilla
- Date sugar
Rolled oats: Large flake rolled rather than instant oats are the best choice for these muffins. Choose a package that says gluten-free if you have celiac disease or are sensitive to glutens. Steel cut oats will not work in this recipe.
🥛Milk: I like to use ultrafiltered dairy milk because it's lactose-free and has extra calcium and protein, but most plant milks should work just fine. Almond milk is a good choice.
Plain Greek yogurt: Whole-milk varieties will give the muffins a tender, tasty crumb. But you can use regular plain yogurt, lower-fat Greek yogurt, and plant yogurts with success. It's also okay to leave it out and substitute more milk in the recipe.
🌾Whole wheat pastry flour is a whole-grain favorite of mine for baking. It's softer and has a less pronounced flavor than whole wheat flour. You could substitute white whole wheat flour or use half all-purpose and half whole-wheat.
You could also choose a standard gluten-free flour. Just don't try to substitute almond flour for more than a quarter-cup of what's called for in the recipe or the structure of the muffins will suffer.
Baking powder and baking soda: These will help your muffins rise.
Cinnamon: A little of this spice deepens the flavor. It's really optional, but if you have time, it will give the muffins a subtle boost.
🍌Bananas bump up the moisture and sweetness in the muffins. Use ripe bananas that are easy to mash. I love the size and cleanability of this small potato masher!
The recipe calls for two small to medium so that you'll end up with less than a cup of mashed banana. If you have large bananas, use one and a half.
🥚Egg: If you avoid eggs, use a vegan flax egg as a substitute. Mix a tablespoon of flaxseed meal with 3 tablespoons of water. Let it sit for about five minutes before you add it to the wet ingredients.
Canola oil: This heart-healthy oil helps the muffins stay moist and has a neutral taste. You can use melted butter or even, olive oil, if you prefer.
Vanilla amps the smell and taste of your muffins! For best taste, look for Madagascar vanilla in a non-alcoholic base.
Date sugar is a sweetener with a lower glycemic index, a bit of fiber, minerals, and antioxidants. You could substitute maple syrup, which has a lovely taste and is rich in minerals and anti-inflammatory antioxidants but has a high sugar (sucrose) content.
Refined white or cane sugar will also produce a yummy muffin. I have not tested this recipe with honey.
Note: Quantities and complete instructions are below in recipe card.
How to Make
Begin by washing your hands thoroughly.
Step 1: Combine the rolled oats with the milk and yogurt, stirring thoroughly to coat the oats. Set the mixture aside and let the oats puff up and absorb the liquid.
Step 2: Set the oven to preheat, and ready a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or silicone liners or coat it with non-stick baking spray.
Step 3: In a large bowl, combine the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk them together.
Step 4: Mash the bananas in a small to medium bowl. Then, in a quart-size measuring cup or medium bowl combine them with the egg, canola oil, vanilla, and date sugar. Blend well.
Step 5: Add the soaked oats to the wet ingredients and beat with a spatula.
Step 6: Pour the oat-wet ingredient mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir lightly with a spatula until the dry spots are mostly gone.
Step 7: Pour the blackberries into the batter, and stir in with a few quick strokes.
Note: It's a good idea to cut large blackberries in half before adding so they are spread evenly throughout the muffins.
Step 8: Scoop the muffin batter into the cups of a prepared muffin tin. Some bakers like to use non-stick silicone muffin pans or reusable muffin and cupcake liners, or simply spray it with non-stick baking spray.
Step 9: Bake for 5 minutes in a hot oven (425 F), then lower the heat to 350 F and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the tallest muffin comes out clean. That will take maybe 13 to 15 minutes longer.
Step 10: After removing the tin from the oven, cool muffins briefly, then transfer to wire racks to finish cooling so they don't steam in the tin and become soggy.
Enjoy the muffins for breakfast, brunch, or afternoon snack. They're also a nice addition to lunch boxes!
👩🏽🍳Cooking tips
- Beware of overmixing: This can happen when mixing the wet and dry ingredients together.
A gentle folding motion that brings the dry floury bits on the bottom of the bowl up and over the top of the batter helps ensure the dry ingredients don't get stuck underneath.
With berry muffins, know that you're going to stir everything again when you add the fruit just before baking. So, don't beat the batter before this final step. Overmixed muffins have high peaked middles, a tougher crumb, and large holes inside!
- 🫐Frozen fruit: If your blackberries are frozen, do not thaw them before adding to the batter. Thawed berries may add too much moisture, which will cause a texture problem with your muffins.
- Cooling: Once the muffins are baked and taken from the oven, remove them from the tin after about 5 minutes so they don't steam and become soggy. (You don't want this to happen to your delicious home-baked muffins!)
- Removing the wrappers: Many paper liners will not slip away from the muffin easily. Do not attempt to remove the wrapper until the muffin has cooled. Parchment liners are the best if you can find them.
Other options for stick-free removal are to use silicone pans or cups (mentioned above) or non-stick baking spray instead of paper liners.
What makes these fruity oatmeal muffins healthy?
- Whole grains: The oatmeal, of course, helps add whole grains and soluble, beta-glucan fiber. Oatmeal is renowned for lowering cholesterol when good portions are eaten regularly.
When you bake these muffins with whole-wheat flour, you add fiber, vitamins, and minerals. So that the muffins have a lighter crumb and flavor, whole-wheat pastry flour is a good choice, but white whole wheat flour tastes nice, too.
- 🦴Bone benefits: Eating two muffins for breakfast will start your day with about 120 mg of calcium, which is more than 10% of the amount needed each day by an adult woman.
- Fiber: Thanks to the whole grains, date sugar, and the blackberries, each muffin has about 4 grams of fiber. Good for your gut!
- 💪🏽Protein: You'll get a hearty 5 grams of protein in each muffin, mostly because of the Greek yogurt in the recipe. Starting the day with protein helps to keep you full and satisfied for a longer time before lunch.
Protein is also good for weight loss and keeping you focused during those productive morning hours!
- 💟Healthy fats: About a third of the calories in these muffins is from mostly monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats, which are heart-healthy.
- Unrefined sugars: The date sugar in the recipe is not really "sugar." It is ground up dried dates and contains antioxidants and many minerals, like potassium, copper, and zinc. Many grocery stores offer date sugar where they sell white and brown sugars.
All told, these muffins contribute to a healthy diet with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. They have a good amount of protein and not too many fats or carbohydrates.
For a diabetic diet, a muffin counts as about two servings of carbohydrate since each has about 25 grams.
FAQs
Absolutely! Raspberries are a very close substitute and blueberries are fine, too. In fact, this recipe was inspired by Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins at Sally's Baking Addiction website.
No, it is made purely from ground dates and unlike refined sugar, it has good-for-you minerals and antioxidants. Its glycemic index is lower than traditional refined sugar, but it does contain calories, carbs, and sugars.
No, but the recipe needs a single change to make it vegan: Substitute a flax egg. Mix a tablespoon of flaxseed meal with 3 tablespoons of water and let it sit for 5 minutes. Use in place of the egg in the recipe.
Certainly! Just substitute a standard gluten-free flour for the whole wheat flour, and be sure and check that your package of oats says gluten-free.
Caution: Almond flour cannot be substituted for more than a quarter cup of the wheat flour.
👉🏽Storage and reheating
Room temperature: They will keep in a plastic bag or airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days. They tend to soften more quickly than many other muffins because of their banana content.
❄️Refrigerator: It's best to refrigerate them after a day or two. They will keep for 4 to 5 days in the cold environment.
🧊Freezer: Usually, if I have muffins on hand for more than a day, I wrap them and place inside a zip bag for freezing. They will keep at least three months frozen.
♨️Reheating: Thaw a frozen muffin in the microwave for about 40 seconds at 30% power. Then, heat on high for about 20 seconds. Or place thawed muffins in the oven at 325 F for about 10 minutes. Watch carefully to see that the tops don't become too dark.
The muffins retain the best texture with the oven method.
Other banana, oat, and blackberry recipes you might enjoy...
If you need more recipes for overripe bananas and love oatmeal and chocolate, you might enjoy this Banana Bread with Oat Flour. It's gluten-free and the taste will remind you of an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.
Granola with Chia Seeds is a super-easy breakfast bake that features the dynamically healthy duo of oats and chia seeds (plus, delicious dried cherries.)
If blackberries are your favorite, give these fast and tasty Blackberry Scones a try. They're perfect at teatime, breakfast, or brunch, and a great use for any berries that are about to go soft!
Last but not least, Triple Chocolate Muffins are a decadently delicious and healthyish bake for muffin-lovers.
Banana Blackberry Oatmeal Muffins
Equipment
- 12-cup muffin tin
- quart-size liquid measuring cup optional
- large mixing bowl
- 2 small to medium mixing bowls or 1 bowl and a 2-cup liquid measuring cup
- 1 medium mixing bowl
- potato masher optional, can also use a fork
- wooden spoons and/or spatulas
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats. Do not use instant or steel cut
- ½ cup milk. Use any kind, but see below for my favorite
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt, whole milk, preferably
- 1¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour. Can sub in all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, or gluten-free. Do not use almond flour.
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon, optional
- ¼ teaspoon salt, table salt or fine baking salt
- 2 bananas, mashed. Use small to medium ripe bananas, not green.
- 1 large egg, or use a flax egg
- ¼ cup canola oil
- ¼ cup date sugar, or maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup blackberries, cut in half, if large
Instructions
- Set oven to preheat at 425 F. Wash hands for 20 seconds before making the muffins.
- In a 2-cup measure or small bowl, combine oats with milk and yogurt and stir to coat every oat with liquid. Soak for 10 to 30 minutes.Do not soak overnight. (Gather up other ingredients and mash bananas while they soak.)
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- In a small to medium bowl or quart-size measuring cup, combine mashed bananas (should be ¾-1 cup), egg, canola oil, vanilla, and date sugar.
- Pour soaked oat mixture into the wet ingredients and thoroughly beat with a wooden spoon or spatula.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and mix with light strokes until there are almost no dry spots remaining.
- Fold the blackberries into the batter.
- Portion the batter out into a 12-cup muffin tin that is lined with muffin/cupcake papers or silicone liners or sprayed with non-stick baking spray.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425 F, then lower heat to 350 F and bake for 13 to 15 more minutes, until the tops are slightly brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the tallest muffin comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan 5 minutes, then transfer muffins to wire racks to cool for at least 10 more minutes.
Notes
👉🏽The oats need to be soaked with the milk and yogurt as described above so they can soften and puff up a little before being used in this recipe. As long as they are a little soft, they will work fine. Do not add them without soaking first! 🥛Any type of milk should be fine. Almond milk is especially good in place of dairy milk. Also, if you don't have plain yogurt, substitute milk. The yogurt in this recipe adds protein, calcium, and tenderness to the muffins! --If your blackberries are large (and most are), cut them in half. An exception to this is frozen berries, which need to be added to the batter while still frozen so they don't make it too watery. Cutting frozen berries tends to make them thaw.
Nutrition
Copyright © 2024 Jani H. Leuschel
Jani H. Leuschel
Sounds good. Just remember not to let them thaw before adding to the batter at the end. Take them straight from the freezer! 😊
Ruth Hall
Looks delicious! Just to say—the quality of fresh blackberries lately is not the best—I’ll opt for frozen!