Banana Chocolate Coconut Oatmeal Muffins

Oatmeal muffins are my jam and these rank up there as some of my all-time favorites. It’s basically portable oatmeal, baked into a cute little muffin, and this time it’s packed with banana, coconut, and chocolate. It can’t get much better than that. 

In our house, I will usually make a batch of these with the kids every weekend. We start with the base oatmeal muffin recipe (included below) and then grab whatever we have in the house for toppings. Not surprisingly my kids reached for chocolate and coconut, but we also make these with fresh and dried fruit, nuts, and seeds. 

Another thing I love about these muffins is that they are freezer friendly. It's so helpful to have a batch that's ready to go for easy breakfasts, snacks, and lunches. Often I add them right into the lunchbox frozen and by the time lunch rolls around they are fully defrosted. My kids love them as a stand-in for a sandwich and I often pull them out as a treat with my afternoon coffee.

Base Oatmeal Muffin Recipe

Once you start making these muffins, you will inevitably want to test out other combinations using fruit, nuts, dried fruit, peanut butter chips, and anything else you can think of. Here is the base recipe to make 6 standard muffins. 

• 1 very ripe banana, mashed
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar (maple syrup or honey)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4-1/2 cup toppings 
• Directions: Mash the banana and whisk together the banana, egg, almond milk, and vanilla extract. Add the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and toppings. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and bake at 375 degrees for 18-22 minutes until baked through and lightly browned on the top.

Recipe Ideas and Tips for Making Oatmeal Muffins 

• Consider adding chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, or nuts to add fiber, healthy fats, and Omega 3 fatty acids. You can also add a few spoonfuls of nut butter into the batter or spread on top of the muffins.
• If you don't like banana, you can use 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce or canned pumpkin instead. You may need to add some extra sweetener depending on how sweet you like the muffins.
• Get creative with flavor combinations. Some favorites include blueberries and walnuts, raspberries and white chocolate chips, shredded coconut and pineapple, or shredded zucchini and peanut butter chips.
• Try adding spices to the batter as well to add flavor. Consider cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, or apple pie spices.
• If you want to make these with heartier fruits like apples or pears, microwave them for 1-2 minutes first to soften the fruit before adding it to the muffins.

What kind of oats should I use for muffins?

These come out the best texture with old fashioned rolled oats as opposed to instant oats. You can make them with instant oats but they will have a softer, mushier feel. This will not work with steel cut oats since they take significantly longer to cook.

How to store and freeze oatmeal muffins?

Start by letting the muffins fully cool. Place on a baking sheet and stick in the freezer for 3-4 hours until the outside freezes. Then place in a freezer -safe bag or container and just grab as needed. Freezing the outside helps the muffins from sticking together and means you don't have to wrap each one individually. They will last about 3 months in the freezer.

To reheat, you can pop them in the microwave or toaster oven. They take 1-2 minutes in the microwave and 4-5 minutes in the toaster.  If you are using them for lunches, I find that they defrost on their own by the time lunch rolls around, so you can skip the defrosting process completely. 

More Oatmeal Muffin Recipes

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins
• Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
• Zucchini Carrot Muffins