Whole wheat peanut butter banana muffins are soft, tender and perfectly sweet. These muffins are naturally sweetened, can be made dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan and are perfect for a healthy breakfast, snack or school lunch!
This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
We are back from a lovely long weekend at the beach, a last-minute get-away before the kiddos start school.
Which happens tomorrow.
We've got a "meet the teacher" visit this morning, which I'm thankful for because they are both going to a new school this year and are maybe feeling a little nervous.
It also happens to be the school that I went to growing up, and J, my youngest, is starting kindergarten with the same teacher I had in kindergarten.
So I know they will love it, know they will be well cared for and know it's such a good move for us. But it's still the first day of school at a new school.
And it's also my baby boy going to kindergarten. Cue the tears and all the emotions!
Anyway, having that beach time together, all the play and fun, was a great way to distract ourselves and cap off the summer.
Fingers crossed for this transition and that we have some happy kids tomorrow afternoon at pick-up.
But let's move on to the FOOD, also a good distraction.
I recently shared peanut butter banana baked oatmeal, a breakfast favorite around here (whether served warm or cold) and today I’m taking those same favorite flavors and putting them in muffin form.
(Because you know we are all about some healthy muffin recipes in this house!)
These whole wheat peanut butter banana muffins smell amazing, first of all, and taste so delicious too!
They are soft and tender and just perfectly sweet.
They are also loaded with peanut butter flavor, naturally sweetened with the banana and honey and 100% whole wheat.
(Read on if you’re interested in making these vegan and/or gluten-free. Both very easy to do. )
They make a great healthy breakfast for kids and adults, and also work great as a lunchbox addition for school lunch. I usually add some yogurt and fruit to round out their lunch.
I love, too, that they are so portable. I can grab one if it’s an on-the-go kinda day or if I just need a little snack to take with me as I’m running around.
They’d be great as a post-workout snack too!
I’m also thrilled to be patterning with Bob’s Red Mill again for this recipe.
I love supporting a company I believe in that’s employee-owned and dedicated to using high-quality ingredients to make healthful products for families. ❤️
And I love SO many of their products!
I am featuring these as whole wheat and I used their 100% stone ground whole wheat flour in this recipe.
But I’ve also made this with their white wheat flour and tested them with their 1:1 gluten-free baking flour. They all come out great!
(You could also use half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour if you’d like.)
Oh, and in case you didn’t know, cause they are fairly new, Bob’s Red Mill has some really delicious oat bars.
The peanut butter, chocolate and oats is my personal favorite but we really love all of them. They’ll definitely be a regular addition to snack time, lunch boxes and portable treats for our family.
You should get you some too!
Now, I’ve got some notes and substitutions coming up for this recipe. Just tryin’ to be helpful.
If you want to jump on down to the recipe, simply scroll right on through the rest of the text. The recipe card is near the bottom of the page, above the comments section.
Notes on whole wheat peanut butter banana muffins:
- I use whole wheat flour but as I mentioned, you can also use white wheat flour, a gluten-free baking flour or regular all-purpose flour. (Or mix all-purpose and whole wheat flour if you’d like.)
- You’ll need about 2 medium ripe bananas for this recipe. The more ripe, the better.
- I recommend using muffin liners AND spraying them with nonstick cooking spray. This ensure all of your muffin goodness stays together and doesn’t get stuck on the paper.
- Keep reading for notes on how to make these muffins dairy free, gluten free and/or vegan.
My kiddos especially love these topped with an extra smear of peanut butter. Optional of course, but it’s delicious.
(You could also add a smear of butter or Nutella; whatever you like!)
This can easily be made dairy-free by using soy milk or almond milk.
Want to make vegan peanut butter banana muffins? Totally do-able.
- Use your non-dairy milk of choice for this recipe.
- Substitute a flax egg for the egg.
- Choose maple syrup instead of honey for the sweetener.
The recipe doesn’t call for it, and it’s certainly sweet enough on it’s own, but feel free to add some chocolate chips to make these muffins even more fun!
I’d recommend about a ½ cup of semisweet chocolate chips. Or you could try it with mini chocolate chips too.
Finally, peanut butter is in the title of this recipe, so yes, ahem, it does contain peanuts.
If you have an allergy or want to send one of these to a peanut-free school, you could certainly try making the muffins with almond butter instead.
Storage tips for healthy peanut butter banana muffins:
- These peanut butter banana muffins will keep covered, on the counter, for up to 2 days.
- After that, as with all baked recipes that have banana in them, I recommend you move them to the refrigerator. They will keep there for another 2-3 days.
- You can also freeze the extras. Let the muffins cool completely. Place them in a freezer-safe ziptop bag (that’s labeled!) and freeze for up to 6 months.
- I like to wrap them individually in aluminum foil before putting them into the bag. It adds an extra layer of protection from freezer burn.
- To thaw, just place one or more muffins in the refrigerator overnight. Serve cold from the fridge or warm in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds.
- You can also warm a muffin in the microwave straight from the freezer in a pinch. Start with 45 seconds and add time (and possibly turn it upside down) as needed.
I hope you give these a try, whether you want to enjoy them at breakfast, for an afternoon or post-workout snack or to send as part of a school lunch.
I think you’re going to love them as much as we do!
Enjoy!
XO,
Kathryn
P.S. You may also want to check out these other whole wheat muffin recipes:
- Healthy chocolate chip muffins (Family Food on the Table)
- Healthy peanut butter & jelly muffins (Family Food on the Table)
- Whole wheat apple spice muffins (Cookin’ Canuck)
- Whole wheat healthy peach muffins (Happy Food Healthy Life)
- Healthy strawberry banana muffins (Family Food on the Table)
- Whole wheat pancake mini muffins (Family Food on the Table)
Whole wheat peanut butter banana muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed banana (2 medium)
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup milk of choice
- ½ cup honey
- ⅓ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mash the bananas. Add egg, milk, honey, peanut butter and vanilla and stir until well combined.
- In a separate medium or large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir well.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Divide the muffin batter among the 12 muffin tin cups.
- Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for a couple of minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
OMAR AHMED
Look delicious!! Thank you.
Doug Alder
I'll have to give these a go - will use an Oat "milk" product instead of cow's milk.
Kathryn Doherty
I hope you enjoy them Doug! The oat milk should be just fine here. I've definitely used soy milk for these before and that worked great.
Nadine
Will this recipe work with cows milk, low fat or full fat? Can I substituted the honey for raw sugar?
Kathryn Doherty
Hi Nadine! Yes, you can use cow's milk - I've made it with skim and 2% and those were both fine. Whole milk would probably be OK too. Substituting sugar for the honey isn't as simple, however, because honey is much sweeter and also a liquid. So you'd have to play with the amounts and also probably add some extra milk if you use sugar. I haven't made it that way, so I don't know what those quantities should be. Hope that helps and hope you enjoy these muffins!
Victoria
What changes should I make if I want to avoid adding milk? Should I add one more banana for instance?
Victoria
Sorry, I meant if I want to avoid honey!
Kathryn Doherty
Hi! You can use maple syrup or agave syrup in place of the honey. You could try it with another banana, but these won't be nearly as sweet and the texture may be different, too. Hope that helps!
Jean
Hi. Can I use brown sugar instead of honey? And how much should I use? Thanks.
Kathryn Doherty
Hi Jean, I haven't tested it that way. The rule of thumb when replacing honey with sugar though is to increase the brown sugar - so maybe use 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons - and also add some extra liquid, so maybe an extra 2 tablespoons of milk in this recipe. I hope that helps and would love to hear if you try it!