Made with no flour or oil, these Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins make for a deliciously healthy breakfast or snack!
I used to be a meticulous planner. Lists. Schedules. Spreadsheets. Flow charts… The whole nine yards. Planning was my security blanket and helped keep the control freak in me from causing too much of a fuss. But no matter how carefully I planned things out, time and time again I realized that life takes one look at your carefully made plans and pretty much laughs in your face. Things have a way of happening whether you want them to or not.
Case in point… I was hoping to visit Jo this past weekend to cheer her on while she ran the Banff marathon — that was the plan. Needless to say, I wasn’t in Banff this past weekend. The how or why isn’t all that important or interesting (*cough*rescheduled.appointments*cough*) — what matters is that it’s good to remember to be flexible and learn to make the most of things even if they don’t go your way… which is why I used the extra time at home to make muffins…
Oh, and while we’re on the topic of broken plans and muffins, I’m totally blaming these guys for the fact that I didn’t manage to get my body image post up yesterday like I planned — they took up all my spare time. Or not.
What really happened is that I sat down to write it on a few occasions, but the words just wouldn’t come. I probably could have forced something out, but it’s a topic that’s near and dear to my heart, so I wanted to make sure I said everything I wanted to say. It’s coming. I want to say tomorrow, but again… I don’t want to make and break plans. Instead, I want to talk about these muffins…
They’re Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins, and if that combo sounds familiar, it’s because I based them off a banana oat Greek yogurt pancake recipe that I posted a while back and that you guys really seemed to enjoy. The combo is definitely a keeper, though… It’s also not almond butter, oats, and honey, making this the second recipe in a row that I made without turning to my favourite combo ever, so I hope you’re proud of me. I also hope you’re hungry [and in the mood for muffins]…
So let’s talk deets. These muffins aren’t your average muffins… mostly because they’re made without flour or oil. Instead, they have oats to give them shape, and yogurt to keep them moist. This results in a muffin that’s a little on the denser side, yet is still incredibly soft and pillowy (see above). Also… there’s chocolate… a healthy amount of it. This is necessary to balance out the fact that the actual muffin itself is incredibly healthy — like “healthy enough to eat for breakfast” healthy. I suppose you could go ahead and replace the chocolate with something like blueberries or walnuts, but this girl needs her cocoa fix or things start to get ugly. Either way, these guys are keepers.
Happy eating!
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Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup (225 g) plain Greek yogurt
- 2 medium ripe bananas (200 g or 1 cup mashed)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups (160 g) rolled oats (old fashioned or quick)
- 1/4 cup (50 g) brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup (85 g) chocolate chips, mini or regular
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F (204C) and prepare a muffin pan by spraying the cavities with cooking spray or lining them with paper liners**. Set aside.
- Add all the ingredients except for the chocolate chips to a blender or food processor and process on high until the oats are broken down and batter is smooth and creamy. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
- Pour batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cavity until it is about 3/4 full. Optional: sprinkle a few chocolate chips over the top of each muffin.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the tops of your muffins are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pan for ~10 minutes before removing. Store in an air-tight container for up to a week.
Notes
** If using paper liners, you’ll want to spray them with cooking spray as well, since the lack of oil in these muffins could make them stick to the liners after baking.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
Looking for more Greek yogurt muffin recipes? Try one of these!
Double Chocolate Greek Yogurt Muffins
Apple Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins
Blueberry Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins
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Do you think I could sub honey for the brown sugar or would that ruin the consistency of the batter?
It wouldn’t ruin it at all, Jessica. Several readers used honey instead with no problem.
5 stars!!
I made these a few nights ago and they were a huge success! Even my picky boyfriend loved them 🙂 I’ve been trying to think of other variations (different fruit, toppings, etc). Anyone have an suggestions?
These muffins look amaaaazing! I want to try them but what can i use instead of greek yoghurt? It’s so hard to find it in my country 🙁
Regular yogurt should work just fine as well, Yagmur.
I found your recipe on Pinterest and I’m so glad I did! I’ve experienced many Pinterest recipe fails, so I wasn’t sure what to expect with this recipe, but the recipe turned out fantastic — the muffins were moist, delicious, and had just the right amount of sweetness to satisfy my sweet tooth. I didn’t have Greek yogurt, so I used homemade plain yogurt, instead, and they still turned out fantastic, though understandably not as fluffy. My batter made 20 muffins and the calories were 74 calories per muffin (in case anyone else is using regular yogurt and is wondering.)
Thank you for this recipe! I look forward to trying many more. I had never actually made any desserts with yogurt but it’s totally my new favorite thing now! You can’t beat delicious and guiltless desserts!
I just tried these. The taste wasn’t bad, but I found the texture off-putting. Too rubbery for my taste. My kids liked them though. I suspect the chocolate chips may have had something to do with that.
This recipe looks so easy and the muffins look delish!
Unfortunately, I’m allergic to bananas so do you have a sub item for them and how much?
Thanks so much!
Applesauce would make a pretty good sub, Courtney! I actually have a recipe for apple oat Greek yogurt muffins if you’re interested in checking that out — http://www.runningwithspoons.com/2015/01/21/apple-oat-greek-yogurt-muffins/
Thank you so much for posting your healthy muffin recipes! My daughter and I love making them together and she just loves eating them for breakfast. She feels like she’s eating cupcakes, but they’re actually healthy! We used blueberries per your suggestion and she really liked them. With blueberries, they’re only 106 calories each and get an A for healthiness on Calorie Count.com! 🙂 You can’t beat that!
You might like the Calorie Count website as a food blogger, actually. Here it is, just in case: http://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
Thanks again!
And thank you for your kind words, Kayla! I love that you bake with your daughter — that was one of my favourite things to do with my mom when I was younger as well 😀
I’ve just had a go at these muffins and absolutely fell in love! Such a great recipe, simple to do and so, so tasty!
I even wrote a blog post about them with a link to your recipe, if you’d like to read it here’s the link:
http://livelovelifekatie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/cooking-with-me-healthy-banana-muffins.html
Amazing! Love your recipes so much 🙂
Katie x
This recipe looks so good—-I love that it can be made gluten free with gf oats…my problem is the eggs–my daughter is allergic, and I have now tried 2 times unsuccessfully to sub out the eggs….once with applesauce–terrible…would not get done on the inside, and my 2nd try was with an egg replacer and it was no better…the insides are gummy…clearly cooked, but no where close to the consistency one would like in a muffin….it’s so frustrating to try something numerous times and have it not work…such a waste, of both time and money—I guess I’ll need to focus on actual allergy friendly recipes. I wish it would have worked:-(
I’m no expert at all, but I’ve seen on quite a few recipes around that if you add Chia Seeds to water and let them soak for a while in the fridge until they form a gel, they can be substitued for eggs! Sorry if this doesn’t help but thought it maybe could work! 🙂
Katie
How long do they stay good for? Do they need to be refrigerated? I’ve made oatmeal bars before with a similar recipie and they went bad after a few days outside.
I’ve had no problem with them lasting for a little over a week, but I do tend to keep my muffins in the fridge after a few days. These also freeze really well if you’re concerned about being able to finish them in time.
Do you have the nutritional stats on these muffins? Can I substitute pumpkin purée in place of the banana? Can I substitute chia seeds (ground) for the eggs?
I don’t have at the exact nutritional info, but you can use a calculator like this one to figure it out — http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator
And subbing in pumpkin should be fine, but you might have to add a little bit of sugar since pumpkin is more bitter than bananas. The chia seeds I’m not 100% sure on, however. If you do end up trying it, I’d love to hear if it worked!
Baked these today and they are quite tasty. Have you baked them using a giant muffin pan? If so, for how much longer?
I’ve never tried them as bigger muffins, Erika, but I imagine the baking time would be similar. I would start at 20 minutes and keep an eye on them from there.
Delicious!! I ommitted the chocolate chips, and sprinkled the tops with a cinnamon sugar mixture. SO GOOD, love greek yogurt in muffins. Will definitely make again.
Wonderful recipe! This recipe also freezes very well.
Hey! Made these muffins for the third time, I’ve pretty well memorized the recipe!
I made a mistake the first time and forgot the brown sugar – but nobody missed it! What I do now is still leave out the brown sugar and add peanut butter protein powder. My college age stepson asks for them on a weekly basis.
I can use the microwave to cook the muffins?
Sorry Pilar, I don’t think so.
Just tried these and they’re awesome texture-wise. Really tender. Chocolate chips are great in these. The only thing I would add next time is definitely some salt and maybe some vanilla. These would be great with cinnamon and blueberries for variatiotion too. Thanks for sharing! They’re really good and almost guiltless!
I’m a creature of habit and incessantly plan but only for meals and exercise because it’s just easier to stick to a healthy lifestyle that way. I want the health benefits of oats every morning without having to eat oatmeal(yuck) or oat cereal. I found your recipe a while back and loved it! But then lost it and have been on a hunt for these muffins again for some time.
I was starting to think that the muffins I remembered making back then couldn’t have been as good as I had built them up in my mind because all of the dozens of muffins I’ve tried have been gluey or super dense. But I kept searching..
Finally, I decided to try and find them just one. last. time.
And eureka! Here they are! Thank you so much for posting this awesome recipe. I’m so relieved I don’t need to think about breakfast any more. This is my grab-n-go breakfast forever 🙂
I added zucchini instead of chocolate chips, used honey and stevia instead of brown sugar, aalso added a pinch of cinnamon and some vanilla extract to make zucchini bread muffins! Shredded carrot with raisins and ginger is also a winner. Definitely going to try these with pumpkin too!
Make sure you store the muffins in the fridge. Even after baking I found that within 2 to 3 days the muffins were getting moldy if they sat out because the recipe uses Greek yogurt. Like most muffins I didn’t think anything about letting them sit out on the counter covered. Be sure to refrigerate or freeze for best results!
Wow! These turned out great! I was a little suspicious of a flourless muffin, but they are delicious. The kids absolutely loved them. I’m glad to have found a much healthier muffin alternative to make for the kiddos for breakfast; one that I don’t have to feel so guilty about giving them.
I’ve made these many times. The first batch came out looking a lot like what is pictured here, and I didn’t care for the texture – too squishy, not enough like a muffin for me. I was really happy with the latest batch I made, though. The main changes I make are to add 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and to be sure to use *small* bananas (so that 2 bananas = about 160g). This way, they are not super squishy and dense, and puff up to be a domed muffin. I also used 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and reduced the chocolate chips a bit out of personal preference. A keeper, I love how easy these are! I’m trying the chocolate version next time, and going to add peanut butter chips.
Just made these! 🙂 they are yummy!
(a little dangerously so…)
thanks for posting!
Not sure how these turned out for everyone else. I followed the recipe exactly and it was far too liquidy, moreso than a pancake batter. Had to add flour to get to a cupcake consistency. Decreased temp to 375F to bake mini muffins. My son and husband like the results.