I’m thrilled to share a parent-approved toddler and baby muffin recipe that my daughter loves. These easy and healthy baby apple banana oat muffins combine banana, applesauce, oats, and your choice of add-in like blueberries or small pieces of chopped apple. The batter comes together in a blender and the muffins freeze wonderfully.
We had a difficult time introducing chunkier solids to our oldest. She loved her pureed fruits and vegetables, but it took a long month of trial-and-error with “real” food. Once she began enjoying soft foods like scrambled eggs and small pieces of fruit, I made her homemade muffins. She loved them and I felt so proud! To this day, these muffins are her favorite. She doesn’t eat anything quicker. This recipe is a goldmine.
These Apple Banana Oat Muffins Are:
- Healthy and wholesome
- Naturally sweetened
- Made with real ingredients—no preservatives
- Loaded with fruits and oats
- Made without flour
- Gluten free if using certified GF oats
- Delicious for adults too!
- Adaptable with plenty of substitution suggestions
- Freezer-friendly
And, as a busy parent, you’ll be happy to know that these muffins are SO EASY! You put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor, which breaks down the banana and oats, pour into muffin liners, and bake. That’s it.
How to Make Baby Muffins
As a parent, I appreciate how quick and easy these muffins are to make, and know you will too. If you’re using muffin liners, spray the muffin liners before filling with batter to keep the liners from sticking to the muffins. Simply place all of the ingredients in a blender in the order listed (see full recipe), except for the 3/4 cup of add-ins. Blend until combined, then stir in the add-ins. Divide evenly between muffin liners, top with a few oats—just for looks, and bake. I like to make a batch of these on the weekends to have on hand throughout the week—mixing up what add-ins I use based on what we have around.
I made 2 batches before we left for vacation and keep them in the freezer. Heat up/thaw 1 or 2 whenever you need them!
Possible Ingredient Substitutions
This blender muffin recipe can be easily customized to incorporate ingredients your baby/toddler loves. Here are some ingredient substitutions I’ve tried with great success:
- Applesauce: Instead of applesauce, use plain yogurt or your baby’s favorite fruit or veggie puree.
- Banana: Instead of a banana, use 1/3 cup of pumpkin puree.
- Coconut Sugar: Instead of coconut sugar, use maple syrup or any other desired sweetener.
- Add Ins: Use a combination of your baby’s favorite fruits like finely diced apples or pears, blueberries, or strawberries. I made the pictured muffins with finely diced apple and blueberries. Apples get nice and soft, but the blueberries can be a bit messy with little self-feeding hands.
Let me know if your babe enjoys the muffins too. And steal a taste—they’re good! Or give these healthy apple muffins a try. They’re made with wholesome ingredients like whole wheat flour and apple for a healthier muffin that’s still big on taste. You can’t go wrong with either!
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Baby (Mini) Apple Banana Oat Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 24 mini muffins or 9-10 standard muffins
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Easy, quick, and healthy baby-friendly mini muffins made from banana, applesauce, and oats. Mixed in the blender and poured into muffin liners, this make-ahead recipe couldn’t be easier.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups (106g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats or quick oats, plus extra for topping
- 1 large ripe banana
- 1/3 cup (80g) unsweetened applesauce or fruit/veggie puree (see note)
- 1 large egg
- 2 or 3 Tablespoons coconut sugar, maple syrup, or other desired sugar*
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup add-ins such as peeled diced apple, pear, or berries*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a 24-count mini muffin pan with nonstick spray or use mini muffin liners. If using liners, grease the liners.
- Place all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor, in the order listed, except for the 3/4 cup of add-ins. Blend or process until combined. Stir in the add-ins. Divide evenly between muffin liners. Top with a few oats, if desired.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Remove and cool completely before serving.
- Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: For longer storage, freeze muffins for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw on the counter or defrost in the microwave.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 24-count Mini Muffin Pan | Blender
- Important: Consult with pediatrician about any possible allergies your baby may have before trying. The only substitutions I’ve tried are listed in the ingredients, but feel free to play around with the recipe using your best judgement.
- Sugar: I usually prepare the muffins with 2 and 1/2 Tablespoons of coconut sugar.
- Applesauce or Puree: I usually make these with unsweetened applesauce or a baby/toddler food fruit puree. You can use yogurt instead, but the muffins won’t be as flavorful.
- Add Ins: I made the pictured muffins with finely diced apple and blueberries. Apples get nice and soft, but the blueberries can be a little messy with little self-feeding hands. Our daughter also enjoys them with diced strawberries.
- Muffin Liners: If using muffin liners, grease the liners or spray with nonstick spray. Warm muffins will stick otherwise. With the first batch I made, I didn’t grease the liners and they stuck. However, the muffins peeled out easily after refrigerating.
- Standard Size Muffins: Add 1/3 cup oats to the recipe, adding them to the blender with everything else. Spoon the batter into liners, filling them all the way to the top. Top with a few oats, if desired. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C) then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 16-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time the standard size muffins take in the oven is about 22-23 minutes, give or take.
Reader Comments and Reviews
My 14 month old picky daughter loves these muffins! Thank you for the easy and heathy recipe! Please share more toddler friendly ones if you can!
My son LOVES these! I’ve probabaly made them 3 times already. Next time I’m going to try it with blueberries
I made these for my 11 month old twins and they devoured them! I omitted the sweetener and even threw in a handful of baby spinach and they were great!
I made a batch yesterday and had to make a double batch this evening for the week! My one year old is a picky eater but he loved LOVED these muffins. Thanks for the recipe. I sneaked a couple myself. They were delicious
I just made these with shredded carrot as the mix-in and they came out great!
This is my second time making them, I love that they don’t have any common allergens, and they freeze well!
I doubled the recipe hoping to fill two regular sized muffin tins but it didn’t quite. Next time maybe I’ll do 2.5x or triple.
Also, the second time I forgot the 5 mins at higher temp, and baked them at 350 the whole time, and I think they came out better. ♀️
The recipe looks amazing and super simple. I’m planning to make it for my 10months old daughter. I haven’t introduced her to sugar yet. Can I omit it and if yes then would you suggest I replace it with something else?
Hi Shruti! You can omit the coconut sugar and replace with nothing OR replace with extra oats.
Sally this is a total mom recipe and I LOVE it! I love that it’s all made in the blender for minimal cleanup. I love the mini muffin size. Most importantly I love that my son shovels it in his mouth as fast as his not quite coordinated fingers will go. And it’s healthy. It wins in every category
I finally got around to making these for my one year old today, but she has either an oat allergy or oat intolerance (I have to take her for an allergy test next month and I’m dreading it!!) so I used 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour and they turned out great! Unfortunately she’s being a bit of a fussy eater lately and isn’t eating things like pancakes, muffins, bread. I think she’s being weird about the textures lol but I’m going to keep trying to get her to eat them. I will freeze most of them but also keep a couple around for myself 😉
These are super yummy and crazy quick to make!! Thanks Sally!
My daughter has been eating one every day for the past month and she is turning 1 year old this week. I love that these are portable, freeze and defrost well, and are super healthy for my baby girl… plus she absolutely loves them!
Can I use quick oats?
You can use quick oats since they’re just being blended up anyway! Makes no difference at all.
Hi Sally,
Is this ok to use quick oats instead of old fashioned oats? Does it make any difference?
Also, do you have other healthy recipes for babies? I love the idea of baking healthy snacks for my little one!!
Hi Akiko! You can use quick oats since they’re just being blended up anyway! Makes no difference at all. Here are all of my healthier recipes: https://route-span.live/category/healthy-recipes/%3C/p%3E
My daughter LOVES this baked oatmeal.
Hi Sally,
I made this muffin withquick oats and they’re so delicious! I realized the batter is quick and hard to spoon the batter. Just a bit messy. Do you have any techniques to spoon the batter into muffin tin?
You can always use a piping bag like you would with frosting, or even a plastic ziplock bag and cut the corner off to “pipe” the batter into the tins!
These muffins are so good! My 11 month old son loves them. Thank you for the recipe Sally!
Delicious! I used 3 tbsp maple syrup and they were plenty sweet. Made some without chopped fruit (for my son…texture problems!), and some with frozen diced blueberries. My 3 girls (9, 5 and 1) and I all loves them!
I just made these today, huge success! There are no kids in my household, but they taste great to us adults as well! My better half immediately requested the normal sized version 😉 I only added one tablespoon of maple syrup and would probably use even less next time, I found the banana and apple juice already added a lot of sweetness. Oh, and I added dried cranberries. Thanks for this recipe, so good, so easy and it’s even healthy-ish 🙂
Hi Sally,
Thanks for creating and posting this healthy recipe! I tried this one with maple syrup and it turned out great; I plan on making these regular sized muffins for a daily work snack. Question on getting rid of the “sugar” element (2 or 3 Tablespoons coconut sugar, maple syrup, or other desired sugar). Could I omit sugar all together and use vanilla extract instead? If so, do you have any recommendations on the amount of vanilla extract?
Thanks so much!
Hi Ella! You can remove the sugar completely, but the muffins will taste a bit bland. 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract would be a flavorful addition though!
Just finished making my 3rd batch of these muffins! You’re right…this recipe is a goldmine! My 17 month old and 4 year old devour them! I appreciate that they’re quick and easy to put together. I like having fruit bursting in every bite, so I add just a tad more fruit, sometimes even adding a few pieces on top. I also fill the muffin tins to the tippy top (even a bit overflowing), which yields 14 mini muffins. We will surely be making these over and over again. Thanks, Sally, for the goldmine recipe!
My daughter loves these muffins!! I’ve tried them a few different ways now. I was thinking of adding some powdered peanut butter like PB2. Any tips on how to add that while keeping the integrity of the muffin? Or how much to add? Any tips would be appreciated 🙂 thank you!
Hi Ali! You could add 1 Tbsp of pb2 powder without changing anything in the recipe. If you want more, I would slightly reduce the oats. I haven’t tested anything, so let me know what you try!
My 13 month old son devoured these! Bring on the baby recipes!!
Hi Allison! 1 and 1/4 cups of oat flour should be fine, but you can remove 1-2 Tablespoons. Should be fine either way.