October 25, 2011
(last updated September 22, 2022) 
Banana oat chia muffins are the ultimate healthy vegan muffin! They’re packed with fiber from whole grains and healthful fatty acids from chia seeds. They’re also easy to make, freeze, and enjoy at home or on-the-go for a wholesome snack.
Banana oat chia muffins: could any baking recipe sound more wholesome from the get go?
In spite of all the fiber-rich ingredients, these muffins aren’t dense or bland. They’re light, crumbly, and just the right amount of sweet.
The muffins feature white whole wheat flour, rolled oats, freshly mashed banana and chia seeds. As a result, they’ve got a little protein and a fair amount of fiber. Like most muffins, they’d be pretty light for breakfast, but not if you pair them with some fruit or spread them with almond butter. And certainly not if you have two.
They’re also a perfect snack, which is how I tend to enjoy muffins most often these days: wrapped up, tucked into my backpack, waiting to give me happiness between afternoon classes.
Ingredients for a wholesome muffin
Chia seeds
I’m accustomed to making chia puddings with my chia seeds: matcha chia pudding, turmeric chia pudding, pumpkin chia pudding, strawberry ginger chia pudding, and more. But chia seeds are useful for many more purposes than pudding. They can be blended up and used as a thickener (like flax meal), incorporated into a dressing, mixed with fruit (a wholesome jam), or used in baked goods. These banana oat chia muffins included.
Chia seeds are a good source of healthful, Omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and fiber. They’re worthy of the label “superfood.” You can use white or black chia seeds in the recipe.
Oats
I like to use rolled oats in this recipe, especially for sprinkling on top. But quick oats will work nicely, too—use what you have!
Oats are also rich in fiber. Specifically, soluble fiber, which is a type of fiber that can be soothing for irritable bowl syndrome (IBS) and irregularity. They’re associated with digestive and cardiac health, they’re filling, and the help to give these muffins a toothsome texture.
Banana
Bananas add natural sweetness to the muffins, and they also eliminate the need for an egg replacer. If you have a banana allergy, or you don’t like bananas, you can replace them with a heaping cup of applesauce instead.
Same rule that goes for my classic vegan banana bread and banana chocolate chip muffins applies here: use spotty bananas! The darker and more overripe, the better.
Flour
I tend to find that 100% whole wheat flour leads to baked goods that are a little dense for my liking. But I do like to get the goodness of whole grains into my muffins and quick breads. I like to use white whole wheat flour for baking (King Arthur’s is my favorite). I also like light spelt flour and whole wheat pastry flour.
If you don’t consume gluten, you can substitute your favorite, all-purpose gluten free flour in the recipe. I love King Arthur’s Measure for Measure. You can also use unbleached, all-purpose flour, of course.
Storing banana oat chia muffins
I love making these muffins on a Sunday, so that I can enjoy them as treats/snacks/breakfast options through the week. They make 12 large or 14 smaller muffins, so they’re a great component for plant-based meal prep.
The Vegan Week
Embrace the joy of eating homemade food every day with the hearty and wholesome recipes in The Vegan Week.
Whether you have three, two, or even just one hour of time to spare, The Vegan Week will show you how to batch cook varied, colorful, and comforting dishes over the weekend.
The muffins will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can also freeze them for up to 6 weeks, which is especially helpful if you live solo and have a big batch. I usually make them, save six for the week ahead, and freeze six for later.
Banana Oat Chia Muffins
Author –Yields: 14 muffins
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon (6 g) flax meal
- 2 teaspoons apple cider or white vinegar
- 2/3 cup (158 mL) almond, oat, or soy milk (or another non-dairy milk of choice)
- 2 cups (240 g) white whole wheat flour (substitute all-purpose, light spelt, or whole wheat pastry flour)
- 1 cup (100 g) rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 cup (250 g) mashed banana (3 large, very ripe bananas, mashed)
- 3/4 cup (144 g) light or dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (79 mL) vegetable oil (such as grapeseed, refined avocado, or safflower)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil a 12-muffin baking pan. Whisk the ground flax with 3 tablespoons warm water and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the milk and vinegar.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine together the flour, oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and chia seeds.
- Add the mashed banana, sugar, and oil to the milk & vinegar mixture. Stir in the flax mixture. Add these wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix with a spatula until the batter is evenly combined. Don't overmix: a few small lumps are OK!
- Add 1/3 cup batter to each well in the muffin pan. Sprinkle the tops with extra rolled oats and bake for about 22-25 minutes, or until muffins are browning and a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
These, like my whole grain plum muffins and zucchini date muffins, are sure to become a staple baked good for me, and I hope they might become a regular treat for you, too. See you back here tomorrow!
xo
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Categories: Recipes,
Breakfast,
Muffins & Scones,
Snacks
Method: Oven
Dietary Preferences: Tree Nut Free, Vegan
Method: Oven
Dietary Preferences: Tree Nut Free, Vegan
Leave a Comment
Delicious!! Moist and hearty.
I baked it for 60 mins as a loaf, on the recommendation of a couple of comments.
In addition to the cinnamon, I added equal parts nutmeg, dried ginger, cloves, and allspice. Also tossed in poppy seeds to the batter and chopped walnuts to the top for a lil’ extra crunch.
Very versatile recipe. Thank you!
Love the idea of that crunch, Tori! Glad you like the muffins.
Just delicious.. and healthy, I added chopped almonds to it and added cloves and an extra half of a banana
Cloves sound like a great addition, Melissa! Glad that you enjoyed the muffins.
These are great! I added 3 tablespoons of hemp seeds. I didn’t have milk so I used water instead and substituted butter for oil, they turned out really well!
So glad they turned out well!
These muffins are so satisfying and nutritious, but still hit the spot if you’re craving something sweet. I did a 50/50 mix of white all purpose flour and whole wheat flour and I stirred in a 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips at the very end. Opted to decorate with sparkling sugar instead of oats ๐
do you have an approximate calorie count for these? Also I used melted butter instead of oil, the family loves them!
Leanne, I’m so happy you like them! I don’t have a calorie count for them. You could try inputting the servings and ingredients into an app like MyFitnessPal or LoseIt. I hope you continue to enjoy with your family ๐
Great recipe…but, I cut back to 1/4 cup sugar. Also, I would never recommend using any kind of vegetable oil, sunflower oil or canola oil as they are all very unhealthy. Extra Virgin Olive, coconut oil (MCT even better), grapeseed oil are very healthy oils.
Tried the muffin banana oat and chia seeds – AHmazing ๐
Can I bake it as a cakeo or bread instead of muffins
I’m sure you can, but I haven’t tried it! So I’d need to experiment with the proportions and baking vessel to give you a really good instruction.
Do you have nutritional information for the muffins?
Hi Linda! I don’t, but you could input the ingredients into a program like MyFitnessPal to calculate it.
I’ve made this recipe twice now, and the second time I doubled it as my daughter loved them so much they were gone quickly. I have put blueberries in some, and chocolate chips in others, both worked very well, but plain is great too. I used gluten free flour and instead of the flax mixture I used an ‘egg replacer’ that I keep on hand for baking as I’m allergic to eggs. I might experiment next time with using half sugar and half stevia to make them even healthier (I actually used coconut sugar as it was what I had to hand and is similar to regular brown sugar). Many thanks for this awesome recipe!!!!
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed it!
I used all purpose flour and oat milk. I added chopped dates and walnuts. The muffins are delicious! ๐
So glad you enjoyed, Jennifer! They’re one of my favorite muffins ๐
I just made these and added frozen blackcurrants that we grew last summer as it’s looking like we’ll be getting another bumper crop this year (I’m down south in New Zealand) and I’m trying to find all different ways to use them, especially as I’ve just discovered how nutritionally amazing they are! It worked really well, and would be great with blueberries or any other berry too! Will definitely make these again – thanks Gena
So glad that you enjoyed!!
So, I absolutely LOVED how these turned out. These are the substitutions I made:
-All-purpose flour instead of whole wheat
-whole milk instead of almond milk
-a splash of vanilla extract
They turned out perfectly! So excited to eat these for my breakfast
So glad you enjoyed! Thanks for sharing your modifications, too ๐
Looks yum! Instead of brown sugar, can you substitute with honey?
These were great!! Usually I end up disappointed with healthy muffins but these lived up to my dreams. I used regular whole wheat flour and they were fine, but I’m sure they would’ve risen a little more nicely with the pastry flour as written. Can’t wait to experiment with different add-ins!
So glad you enjoyed them!
Super tasty ! I put way less sugar though ๐ Excellent !
Made these last night. I used all purpose flour (it’s what I had on hand), cut back on the sugar a bit (used 1/2C as my banana were really ripe) and sprinkled the tops with hemp hearts. What a hit these were this morning at breakfast time! The whole family loved them. I’m so glad to have stumbled upon your recipe and more excitedly your blog…I can’t wait to explore it and try more recipes!
Oh and the batter made 12 muffins + 12 mini muffins!
I Have a ?. It says 2 teaspoons AC vinegar to 2/3 cup Soy or almond milk? Iโm assuming this is for a buttermilk sub.? THe usual sub. Is 2 Tablespoonfuls- 1 cup …. The 2 teaspoons would be less than called for.. Is there a reason? Thank you.. Iโm definitely trying this!! Looks yummy good.. I like that it has a flax egg sub too….
Hi Yasha,
I usually find 2 whole tablespoons to be too much, so this is my preference. You can definitely try more!
G
These are great! I make a lot of banana bread & muffins and like to try new recipes every once in awhile. I did a combo of ww pastry/spelt/oats plus extra flax meal and some protein powder (sun warrior) because muffins aren’t just for breakfast:-) I didn’t fill my cups all the way and got 10 regular muffins plus a bunch of mini muffins for my mini guy.
These muffins are AMAZING! I have made these a few times now and they are wonderfully adaptable. I’ve added a hand full of craisens, black berries and doubled the recipe with no problems. These always turn out great!
All of these modifications sound great! I’m so glad you like the recipe.
I just made these, yum yum, delicious and so healthy! I added 4 Tbsp of raisans, a sprinkle or two of nutmeg and 2 Tbsp of milk, because I found the bather to be to thick. I didn’t have dry ginger, so I subbed it for 1 full tpn of fresh ginger and I used coconut oil. They were glorious. My family loved them. Thankyou!
Just made these. It is my first time doing Vegan baking at the first time I am venturing away from the foods that I feel “safe” with. They came out perfect, look and smell incredible, and I cannot wait to enjoy these for breakfast tomorrow. Thanks Gena for the awesome recipe!
FYI, the link to the quinoa buckwheat pancakes is broken–perhaps because you “fixed” the recipe and reposted? I could not resist clicking because the name alone sounds so delicious–luckily I found the reposted recipe using the search box!
These sound amazing, but 15tsp of baking soda? Seems like quite a bit!
Gena – I wanted to let you know how much I’ve been loving this recipe! I’ve made it in a loaf pan (~60 min cook time), and it’s equally wonderful. I just shared my own twist on your recipe on my blog recently actually, where I attempted to make it more summer-y with orange and pineapple. Not surprisingly, it was a huge hit! Thanks for an awesome recipe.
This is my third time making these and they are pretty amazing. I have made them as large, small, and mini-muffins and everytime they have been well received. I have replaced 1 banana with vanilla soy yogurt to good effect, but they don’t need this modification as they are moist and flavorful.
Thanks for something healthy, flavorful, and aesthetic. They really do look as good as they taste. ๐
So glad you like them, Bruce!
Any idea how many grams of fiber these are? I’m trying to find ways to incorporate more fiber into my husband’s diet and it’s really difficult to find 38 grams per day because he’s such a picky guy. One of those….”Ew, that’s healthy so it must be icky” types.
Jeanne, I’m so sorry, I don’t know. I bet you could use an online program to tally it up?
Jeanne – ha! My husband is the same way – though he loves these kinds of muffins.
I used an online calculator – and each of these muffins has 4 grams of fiber if you make 18 muffins (mine always make 18 rather than 12 – I fill them almost full). I used honey instead of syrup (running low on syrup) and with that substitution, they are 122 calories each.
Wow, incredible blog structure! How long have you ever been blogging for? you made blogging glance easy. The whole glance of your site is excellent, as smartly as the content!
Just made them and they taste wonderful! Made a couple of changes to the recipe as I didn’t want to run out to get additional ingredients – used whole wheat pastry flour. Instead of 3 ripe bananas, I used 1 as that was all I had left. Substituted the remaining 2 bananas that were called for with 1/2 cup prunes and 1 kiwifruit. Talk about loads of fibre! Instead of almond milk I used chocolate almond milk as that was what i had in the fridge. I used 1 1/2 cups chocolate almond milk in all instead of the 1 1/4 cup required as I found the batter a tad too thick. Forgot to add the vanilla though. Ground golden flax seeds into flax meal and mixed it with 4 tablespoons hot water. The resulting batter was scooped into a 12 muffin tin (did not use 1/4 cup of batter per muffin – I filled each well completely). Baked them for 35 minutes total. End result – hearty muffins, not too sweet, and with a moist crumb! Thanks Gena!
I just made these and they are awesome!
I made this yesterday and it was absolutely great. I baked it in a loaf pan instead of muffin cups. A friend tried it and said it was the best banana bread he ever had. I agree. It tastes so delicious and feels so healthy to eat it.
I made these the other day and they are delicious! I’ve basically been living off of them. Just a quick question about the chia seeds – I know they’re considered a raw superfood, do they still retain some benefits when used in a baked good like this?
These look awesome! What can I sub for the coconut oil, though? (I don’t have any dietary restrictions.)
Woohoo! I’ll be making these this weekend- thanks! I think my kids will love ’em, too. ๐
you wrote that these can be made gluten-free. how do i do that? great looking recipe !
I would use a gluten free flour mix (your favorite home blend or a store bought one) instead of the WW flour, and substitute quinoa flakes for the oats.
A gf flour blend I would suggest is:
3/4 cup plus 1T millet flour, buckwheat flour, quinoa flour, almond flour, or cornmeal (or a mix of any of these)
3/4 minus 1 T cup sorghum flour or superfine brown rice flour
1/2 cup starch of your choosing: tapioca starch, corn starch, potato starch or white rice flour (do NOT use potato flour)
2/3 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional, do not use if allergic to corn)
A note to Gena: even though oats are debatable as to whether they’re suitable for celiacs and other gluten sensitive folks, many of us can’t tolerate even the ones that are labeled gluten free! Quinoa flakes make an excellent substitute for them & are still healthy, which I love. And you can tie it all together by using quinoa flour in the muffin itself!
Oh! There’s a really unhelpful typo in my reply! Let’s try the blend again:
3/4 cup plus 1T millet flour, buckwheat flour, quinoa flour, almond flour, or cornmeal (or a mix of any of these)
3/4 cup minus 1 T sorghum flour or superfine brown rice flour
1/2 cup starch of your choosing: tapioca starch, corn starch, potato starch or white rice flour (do NOT use potato flour)
2/3 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional, do not use if allergic to corn)
These are amazing! I used GF flour bc I was cursed with celiacs and they still turned out great.
yum!!! i made some monster cakes recently, would love to know what you think ๐
http://laughteriscatching.com/2011/08/27/to-your-posts-let-the-bake-off-begin/
I am definitely part of the health-minded folk! I love that word and may use it more often in describing some of my baked goodies, because when people bite into something that they expect to much cakier but is in fact heartier, they make me feel like a bad baker!
These look AMAZING. I will be running immediately into my kitchen after work today to make them.
Quick question for you about agave – I’ve been seeing a lot of posts lately about how it’s all processed and bad for you, etc… but I really like to use it, so I was wondering if you might have a brand that you suggest? I don’t want to give up on the stuff just yet!
I’m not much of a baker in the sense that I can whip up some ingredients and make a delicious tasting treat…I have a hard time trying to figure out what I can use as replacements…I have almond flour, coconut flour, buckwheat flour, amaranth flour, arrowroot starch/flour and quinoa flour. I’d like to bake with these but don’t know where to start…pretty sad, huh. My question then is, what can I use in place of the wheat flour? Thank you for your help ๐
Andrea,
I’m really not the expert on GF baking. But I’m sure that buckwheat flour would work here.
G ๐
I love a good breakfast muffin, and these sound awesome. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
These little muffins look so delicious! I totally agree with you – I also prefer a denser muffin. Hope organic chemistry is treating you well, Gena!
i love banana oat combos, and chia seeds gives it the perfect kick! those muffins look so cute! they are the perfect snack size!
Ah, I wish I’d seen that typo–sounds like the best one I’d have seen in a long while (“garish” for “garnish” (not on your blog) was pretty choice, too).
I’ve been enjoying the combination of banana, chia and gf oats myself in the little bars I make (which sound somewhat like over-healthified versions of these, note to self!) I seem to have been having some difficulty with bananas lately, though (ironic, after those years I practically lived on them). My ND says they have a protein in them that’s hard for some people to digest–sounds surprising, but accords with my current experience. I’ve been having fun seeing what similar-textured foods can be used instead of bananas!
love
Ela
These sound delicious and I have exactly 3 bananas in the kitchen! I think I’ll be making them tomorrow! ๐
Gena- I just mixed these up and put them in the oven- can’t wait! Just FYI- I filled all 12 muffin cups and it looks like there is still enough batter for another 6 or so muffins. (Maybe I did something weird?) This is a pleasant surprise- more muffins for the same amount of work, yay!- just wanted to point it out ๐
Banana and oat anything is a great combination, not least because I always have both on hand. SO ready to make these.
No more convincing needed here! This is on my list of school snacks to make, and I like my snacks dense as opposed to cake-like and reminiscent of dessert. I definitely haven’t been getting my chia in, so these are certainly called for!
I love it when you have baking and/or dessert recipes. Thanks for sharing these, Gena!
I bet your house smelled amazing while these were baking. And yes, bananas and cinnamon are heavenly tasting and smelling.
Three cheers for denser, chewier, less airy muffins, too. I love anything that’s nice and dense and thick. Like a dense brownie would be ๐ I think it’s the bananas that help with that. Sometimes when I make banana bread or muffins they get that density..and I love it.
This is one of those annoying instances where I have just about everything on that recipe list aside from an actual muffin tray. I’ve been meaning to make some sort of baked good to supplement my library lunches and this looks like just the thing – I adore banana and cinnamon!
I have the day off class tomorrow so will definitely be taking a baking break to make these – thanks for the recipe ๐
I also prefer denser, heartier muffins, and since I’m all out of whole wheat pastry flour, I will happily follow your whole wheat flour suggestion. ๐
I really like the simple, wholesome ingredient list and imagine these taste even more delicious with a little earth balance or jam spread on top.
I *love* dense, chewy, hearty, not-too-sweet muffins. They’re the best kind for splitting and topping with nut butters ๐ Procrastibaking has always been my modus operandi too; well done to you for giving yourself a deserved break!
I never ever comment on spelling and the like on other blogs because god knows I make some amusing typos, but I have to admit that the use of “male syrup” as a sweetener made me smile and giggle out loud. Sorry, I’m, like, 25 going on 12 sometimes .
I fixed it but shouldn’t have. Best typo ever.
Haha I totally wish I witnessed that typo! That’s a good one, Gena.
Looks great, both as a snack for school and as a fun baking break from the mountains of schoolwork piled up around me! Thanks for the inspiration to step away from my desk!