This post may contain affiliate links.
These Apple Banana Muffins with hearty oats are the soft, naturally sweet breakfast that finally gives your spotty bananas and that lonely green apple a happy ending. I bake a batch *most Sunday nights* and they vanish into lunchboxes and breakfast hands by Tuesday. If muffin mornings are your love language like our banana cream cheese muffins, this oat studded version is your next bake.
Mashed banana keeps them moist, grated apple adds little pockets of sweetness, and the sugar sprinkled tops bake into a delicate crunch.
Apple Banana Muffins Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 20 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 35 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 12 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 203kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Sweet banana and apple with hearty old fashioned oats
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with our pistachio muffins
Quick Answer
To make apple banana muffins, mix the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in one bowl, then combine the egg, milk, oil, mashed bananas, and grated apple in another. Fold the dry mixture into the wet about a quarter at a time, stirring just until combined. Fill lined muffin cups two thirds full, sprinkle the tops with sugar, and bake at 400 degrees F for 18 to 20 minutes until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Jump to:
- Apple Banana Muffins Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Apple Banana Muffins
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Apple Banana Muffins FAQs
- Other Recommended Easy Breakfast Bake Recipes
- Apple Banana Muffins with Oats
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Two fruits, two jobs. Mashed banana brings moisture and sweetness to the batter itself, while grated apple melts into tiny juicy pockets as the muffins bake.
- Grating the apple is the trick. Diced apple sinks and makes wet spots. Grated apple disperses through every bite and bakes evenly into the crumb.
- Oats add structure without dryness. Old fashioned oats soak up the fruit juices and give the muffins a hearty, bakery style texture instead of a cupcake crumb.
- Minimal mixing means tender muffins. Stirring just until the flour disappears keeps the gluten relaxed, the difference between a soft muffin and a rubbery one.
- A 400 degree oven gives tall tops. The hot start makes the batter spring up fast, doming the muffins before the centers set.
- The sugar sprinkle finish. A pinch of granulated sugar on each top caramelizes into a thin, sparkly crust that makes them taste from a bakery case.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- They use up the ripe bananas AND the lonely apple in the fruit bowl in one 35 minute bake.
- They freeze and thaw like champs, so a double batch becomes weeks of grab and go breakfasts, the same trick we pull with our banana bundt cake slices.
- At about 203 calories each with real fruit and oats, they are a breakfast you can feel good handing the kids.
Key Ingredients
Pantry staples plus two pieces of fruit, here is what makes these apple banana muffins work.
- Mashed Bananas: One cup, about 3 medium very ripe bananas. The browner the peel, the sweeter the muffin, this is where most of the natural sweetness lives.
- Grated Granny Smith Apple: A half cup, peeled and grated. The tart apple balances the sweet banana and keeps every bite moist, the same fruit forward trick as our blueberry cottage cheese muffins.
- Old Fashioned Oats: A full cup for hearty texture and staying power. Quick oats work but make a softer, less rustic crumb.
- Vegetable Oil: A third of a cup keeps the muffins moist for days, oil based muffins outlast butter based ones on the counter.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: The double lift team, powder for rise, soda to balance the fruit acidity and help the tops brown.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
These apple banana muffins are happy to flex with whatever your pantry offers.
- Add cinnamon. A teaspoon in the dry mix turns them into cozy apple cinnamon banana muffins.
- Toss in mix ins. A half cup of chopped walnuts, pecans, raisins, or mini chocolate chips folds in beautifully at the end.
- Make them mini. Bake in a mini muffin tin for 10 to 12 minutes for lunchbox sized bites.
- Swap the apple. Any firm apple works, Honeycrisp skews sweeter, or trade the apple for a half cup of shredded carrot or zucchini.
- Crumb topping. Borrow the buttery streusel from our banana cupcakes playbook and sprinkle it on before baking.
- Dairy free. Any unsweetened plant milk swaps in for the regular milk one for one.
How to Make Apple Banana Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place all of the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.
- In a large separate bowl, add the egg, milk, oil, mashed bananas, and grated apple.
- Mix the wet ingredients until well combined.
- Pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture about a quarter of the bowl at a time, mixing with a spoon until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Line a muffin tin with paper baking cups and fill each two thirds of the way. Sprinkle a pinch of granulated sugar on top of each muffin.
- Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the tin 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Use truly ripe bananas. Heavy brown speckling means maximum sweetness and the deepest banana flavor.
- Squeeze the grated apple gently. A light press removes excess juice so the batter does not thin out, do not wring it bone dry.
- Stop stirring early. A few streaks of flour are fine, they disappear in the oven and your muffins stay tender.
- Fill two thirds, no more. Overfilled cups spill into flat mushroom tops instead of tall domes.
- Rotate the tin once. A 180 degree turn halfway through baking evens out hot spots, the same habit that saves our fresh peach muffins.
- Cool out of the tin. Two minutes in, then onto the rack, muffins left in a hot tin steam themselves soggy.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
These apple banana muffins are breakfast ready as is, warm with a pat of salted butter or a drizzle of honey. Pair one with an easy blueberry smoothie for a five minute morning that still feels homemade.
For a weekend brunch spread, set them next to a stack of breakfast bagel sandwiches and crispy air fryer home fries, sweet plus savory keeps everyone happy.
They also moonlight as dessert, split one warm, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and dust with cinnamon. And when company comes for coffee, serve them alongside a slice of our sour cream coffee cake for a proper coffee break.
Apple Banana Muffins FAQs
The riper the better. Bananas with heavily speckled or mostly brown peels are ideal for apple banana muffins because the starch has converted to sugar, giving you sweeter muffins and a stronger banana flavor. Rock hard yellow bananas make bland muffins. If yours are not ripe, bake them in their peels at 300 degrees F for 15 minutes to soften and sweeten them fast.
Yes, peel the apple before grating it for apple banana muffins. The skin does not break down during the short 18 to 20 minute bake and leaves chewy little ribbons in the crumb. A peeled and grated Granny Smith disappears into the batter completely, leaving just moisture and tart apple flavor in every bite.
Dense muffins almost always mean overmixed batter. Once the dry ingredients hit the wet, stir gently and stop as soon as the flour disappears, the batter should look slightly lumpy. Overworking develops gluten, which makes apple banana muffins chewy and flat instead of soft and domed. Expired baking powder is the other usual suspect.
Yes, swap the all purpose flour for a 1 to 1 gluten free baking blend and make sure your oats are certified gluten free. The bananas and apple carry so much moisture that gluten free versions of these apple banana muffins stay soft instead of crumbly. Let them cool completely before handling, gluten free crumbs are delicate while warm.
Store cooled apple banana muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days with a paper towel under and over them to absorb moisture. In the fridge they keep about a week. The fruit keeps them so moist that counter storage past 3 days can turn sticky, so refrigerate or freeze for longer keeping.
Absolutely, these are fantastic freezer muffins. Cool completely, then freeze in a single layer before transferring to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for about an hour or microwave one for 30 seconds straight from frozen. The oats and fruit keep the thawed muffins tasting fresh baked.
More apples to use up? Our apple cinnamon cream cheese roll ups are the 20 minute answer.
When the craving says bakery, our cherry danish recipe delivers flaky, glazed pastries from two store-bought sheets.
Love easy breakfast bakes? Our Mini Cinnamon Rolls come together in about 25 minutes.
Kids get a kick out of our Dirt Cupcakes, complete with Oreo dirt and a flower on top.
Love an easy bread pudding? Our Honey Bun Bread Pudding is rich, custardy, and simple.
Love these? Our Banana Cake Mix Muffins are an even faster way to use up overripe bananas.
For another fast breakfast bake, try our easy cinnamon rolls.
Love a sweet morning? Our homemade pop tarts have a gooey cinnamon filling.
For a special breakfast bake, try this buttery brioche bread toasted with jam.
For more muffin magic, try our ultra moist Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.
Apple Banana Muffins with Oats
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup milk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup mashed bananas 3 medium sized bananas
- ½ cup grated granny smith apple peeled
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Place all of the dried ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup old fashioned oats, ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt
- In a large separate bowl, add in the remaining ingredients and mix to combine.1 egg, ¾ cup milk, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1 cup mashed bananas 3 medium sized bananas, ½ cup grated granny smith apple peeled
- Pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture about ¼ of the bowl at a time and mix with a spoon until just wet and combined. DO NOT OVER MIX.
- Line a cupcake tin with paper baking cups. Pour mix into baking cups 2/3 of the way. Sprinkle a pinch of granulated sugar on top of each muffin.
- Bake 18-20 minutes, until golden brown on the top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Let cool on a wired rack for 2 minutes in the tin. Take muffins out and place back on wired rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
- These are super family-friendly.
- Easily double this recipe.
- Add some cinnamon or nutmeg for a fun twist.
- Granny Smith apples are recommended to be used for this recipe.
- Make sure you use old-fashioned oats, quick cooking oats will break down too fast and will not work in this recipe.
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
Follow @ThisSillyGirlsKitchen on Instagram and @danadevolk on Pinterest for more!
I made these today for my family and we all loved them! Especially my two year old son. He ate two muffins for breakfast lol. I added a splash of vanilla which tasted great!
Too doughy and pasty. Wouldn’t make them again.
Made these for my husbands breakfast. They are So good. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Made this tonight and will definitely make again sometime. I tweaked the recipe a bit – did a mix of wholewheat and white flour, and subbed out 1/2 cup of flour for 1/2 cup of Quest banana cream protein powder. Trying to reduce my sugar intake so I halved the sugar, and did 3/4 cup mashed banana and 1/4 cup applesauce. Also left peel on the apples, and I must have made these smaller than you did because 15 minutes @350 was perfect. Super moist and on the healthier side, thanks for the recipe 😀 , wish I could give more than 5 stars
Oatmeal is a perfect powder. I have been using it for over 2 years. I love having it for my breakfast. I will try this recipe
This post came at the perfect time Dana! My kids love muffins and I’ve been needing to gather some good recipes to keep my stash of muffins in the freezer full. Thanks for linking up at The Makers! Hope you had a lovely weekend 🙂
Oh I’m so excited! I’ve got all these ingredients already!
Thanks so much for sharing at Show Me Saturday! Hope you see your fabulous self again this weekend!
~ Ashley
These look yummy! I hope you win. 🙂
these apple banana oat muffins look just the thing to get me going in the morning and maybe for an afternoon snack too! nom nom nom!! Good luck on the contest!
These look so yummy! I have a ton of apples that we picked so will definitely be trying these. I like that they don’t have a ton of fat in them as well.