Developed with babies and toddlers in mind, but sure to be loved by the whole family, these healthy blueberry muffins are naturally sweetened with fruit and mini in size. Perfect for little hands, they are a tasty snack and also make a great addition to lunch boxes.
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Why These Muffins are Great for Babies / Toddlers
- Fruit-sweetened: It is recommended that children under two should not consume any added sugar. Many muffin recipes, even those targeted to babies, are packed with sugar, maple syrup or honey. These are sweetened with only banana and blueberries.
- Texture: Soft and moist with burst of fresh blueberries allowing your little one to explore different textures.
- Size: Mini in size for mini hands and tummies.
- Freezable: Make a batch and freeze for a quick and easy snack option.
- Iron Source: Oats are a non-heam (vegetarian) iron source and blueberries provide Vitamin C to aid absorption
Ingredient Information (With Alternative Suggestions)
The full list of ingredients and amounts can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post. This section gives information on each ingredient and suggests alternatives if required.
- Rolled Oats: Quick oats can be used as a replacement since they are blended to a flour-like consistency. Note that steel-cut oats are not suitable for this recipe. Opt for gluten-free oats to create gluten-free muffins.
- Yogurt: This recipe has been tested successfully with both natural Greek yogurt and coconut yogurt (a dairy-free yogurt option).
- Eggs: While I haven't tested any egg replacements for this recipe, a flax egg could be a potential substitution, although results cannot be guaranteed.
- Mashed Bananas: Provides most of the sweetness, use ripe bananas for best results.
- Cardamom: While not essential, adding different spices to baby food allows your little one to experience different flavour profiles. Feel free to skip or replace with cinnamon
- Lemon zest: Added for flavour enhancement and complements the blueberries wonderfully.
- Vanilla Extract: For flavour and sweetness.
- Blueberries: Fresh or frozen blueberries can be used. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them beforehand.
- Baking Powder: Ensure the baking powder is fresh. If it has been sitting in your pantry for an extended period, its efficacy might be compromised.
Step by Step Instructions and Cooking Tips
This section features step-by-step photos for visual reference. The complete recipe can be found by scrolling to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Blend Oats & Combine Dry Ingredients:
- Blend the oats to a flour-like consistency using a high-speed blender or food processor.
- Add the cardamom and baking powder to the blended oats, then stir to combine.
- Mash Banana:
- Mash the banana to your desired consistency. Leaving small chunks adds texture to the muffins, but you can also puree it smooth if preferred.
- Combine Wet Ingredients:
- In a large mixing bowl, add the mashed banana, egg, yogurt, vanilla, and lemon zest. Stir well to combine.
- Stir Through Dry Ingredients:
- Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. It's okay to have a few lumps; avoid overmixing.
- Stir Through Blueberries:
- Carefully fold the blueberries into the muffin batter. If using frozen blueberries, add them directly to the batter without thawing.
- Fill Mini Muffin Tin:
- Prepare a mini muffin pan by greasing the muffin cups with cooking spray or lightly coating in oil. Fill each muffin cup to the top with the batter. Place an additional blueberry on top of the muffins for aesthetic appeal.
- Bake:
- Preheat the oven and bake the muffins for approximately 13 minutes or until they are cooked through.
Storage Instructions
- Cool on a wire rack. Allow the mini blueberry muffins to cool, at room temperature, for around 5 minutes in the muffin tray and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Ensure they are completely cooled before packing them away to store. If they are still warm then it can cause condensation and result in soggy muffins.
- Refrigerate - These muffins can be refrigerated but it does affect the texture. Refrigerate in an air-tight container for 2 days.
- Freezing - Once cooled, wrap each muffin individually in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. Then, place them in a large freezer bag or airtight container. To thaw, leave at room temperature for a few hours or defrost in the microwave.
Frequently Asked Questions
This will really depend on you and your baby. Once your baby has progressed onto finger foods then they should be able to manage these muffins.
Try to focus on offering your baby lots of cooked vegetables before moving on to muffins.
Yes, whole blueberries are considered a potential choking hazard for babies. However, in this recipe the blueberries go very soft and squishy when baked, reducing the choking risk.
I was happy serving these muffins to my kids when they were babies but you can always chop the blueberries into smaller pieces if you prefer, taking into consideration your baby's developmental stage and eating abilities.
Yes. I'd recommend using very ripe bananas but if you would still like them sweeter you could add a little sugar, maple syrup or honey. I'd start with a tablespoon but you can always adjust to find the perfect amount of sweetness for your kids.
You can bake them in regular muffin trays, you will need to increase the baking time but can keep the oven temperature the same.
More Baby-Led Weaning and Toddler Friendly Muffins
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Baby Blueberry Muffins
Equipment
- Mini Muffin Tray
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups (175g) Rolled Oats
- 1 Cup (250 g) Banana (ripe), mashed (Approx 2-3 bananas)
- ¾ cups(210g) Natural Greek Yogurt Sub with coconut yogurt for dairy free muffins (tested)
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp Lemon Zest
- 1½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cardamom
- 1 cup (140g) Blueberries Fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 175C / 350F and grease a mini muffin tray
- Add the oats to a blender and blend until flour consistency. Add the cardamom and baking powder and stir to mix.
- Add the mashed banana, yogurt, eggs, vanilla and lemon zest to a large mixing bowl. Stir until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients (oat flour, baking powder and cardamom) and gently stir until just combined.
- Add the majority of blueberries, reserving some for the top, and gently stir again.
- Fill each muffin cup and top with a blueberry.
- Bake for 13 mins, remove and allow to sit for 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool fully.
Pete Adams
Hi Amy:
I made the mini blender muffins and found a fair bit of wastage because I couldn't scrape the blender jar clean. It was also time-consuming to scrape out as much as I could and, as you noted, it only fills 12 mini muffin pans when a sheet is typically 24. The muffins themselves were a big (well, mini) success. I see the blueberry muffin recipe also calls for rolled oats to be processed down to a fine consistency, Is there any reason NOT to just use oat flour in either recipe?
Amy Whiteford
Hi Pete, yes, you can use oat flour in the blender muffin recipe and skip blending the other ingredients if you prefer.
This blueberry muffin recipe is made by mixing the oat flour with the remaining ingredients in a bowl. I find this method produces a lighter texture compared to the blender muffins,(prob because it is mixed less) but some little ones prefer the texture of the blended ones.
When I first developed the blender muffin recipe, I only had a small blender, but with a larger one, you can easily double the batch. Also, I find a rubber spatula works best for scraping out the blender.
Thanks, Amy
Bianca
I tried twice. I follow the recipe very strictly. Not baked! At all! So upset. I don’t know where I’m doing wrong
Amy
Hi Bianca, Sorry you haven't had success with the recipe, I'm trying to think where it could have gone wrong for you. Are you using a mini muffin tray? If you're using a standard muffin tray instead of a mini one, the muffins will need longer to cook. Sometimes the banana consistency can affect the texture of the muffin. If it is pureed or overly mashed it can change the muffin texture and it may appear undercooked. I prefer to lightly mash the banana, leaving small lumps. Overmixing the batter can lead to dense muffins, which may also appear undercooked. Mix just until the ingredients are combined.
Keila Lopez
Im excited about trying this. I did read storage instructions, but how long would the muffins stay fresh if stored in container on kitchen counter(not refrigerated)?
Amy
Hi Keila, I would only keep them out for 24 hours but this may vary depending on temp and humidity in your kitchen. I would cover the muffins with a paper towel to absorb any moisture.
Lauren
Made these for my 18-month old and would make again. I love that they’re gluten free and sweetener-free. My son loved them and so did we. Easy and great texture. Thank you for this recipe.
Holly
Mine are just in the oven now! Does anyone know if you can freeze them?
Amy
Hi Holly, yes you can freeze them. Instructions are under the heading "storage instructions" (just above the full recipe card).
Christina Agostino
As another user commented, these did not bake at all. followed instructions for regular size muffins, added 6 min extra baking time, increased temp to 400 and they were still completely raw in the middle. such a waste and disappointment. I bake muffins regularly and knew something was off with the batter but tried them anyways.
Amy
Thanks for the feedback. I will make this recipe again this weekend and see where the issues could be arising so I can add more detail to the recipe instructions.
Lei
Unfortunately, this did not turn out good, and it looked nothing like the picture above.
Amy
Hi Lei, I’m sorry you didn’t have success with the recipe. I’d love to get to the bottom of what went wrong as I receive a lot of positive feedback on these muffins. Did your mixture look like mine in the process shots / video?
Katherine
Looking forward to making these! If I already have oat flour, is 1 3/4 cups still the correct amount? I'd imagine it would be less?
Amy
Hi Katherine, yes it would be less. Do you have a scale to measure it out in grams? That would still be the same weight.
Katherine
Yes! Perfect - will do. Thank you so much!
Kat
These were delicious, absolutely amazing! My 11m.o loved them and he normally doesn't like blueberries. And I couldn't get enough of them either. They're going on the birthday party menu. So easy to make too
Amy
Amazing! Thanks Kat 🙂
Jennifer
Thank you for the recipe, can the muffins be frozen and thawed for later?
Amy
Hi Jennifer, yes they can 🙂
Alenza
Hi Amy, does Wholegrain Oats works for this recipe?
Amy
Hi Alenza, When you say wholegrain oats do you mean rolled oats / old-fashioned oats? (See ingredients photo, if they look like them then they will work). Just don't use steel cut oats as they don't work. 🙂
Angie
Followed recipe to a tee weighing all ingredients and even baked them to 25 mins. Still a little doughy in the middle. Used coconut yogurt as my 10 month old can't have dairy.
Amy
Sorry you didn't have success with the recipe. I seem to either get very positive feedback on this recipe or negative. I'd love to figure out what is going wrong for some. Did you weigh out ingredients using cups or grams?
Katie C
I love all your recipes, everything I’ve tried works perfectly and my 19 month old daughter loves them too.
I used quick oats for this recipe and got a bit worried I’d made a mistake as they are still coarse in comparison to a flour consistency, and they didn’t look like your photos. Anyway they’ve turned out perfectly and they are delicious. Thank you, will make again.
Amy
Thanks Katie! I'm delighted that you are enjoying the site. Good to know they work with quick oats too 🙂
Jo
Could you make these as one big cake? Looking for healthy alternatives for my daughters 1st birthday cake, she already loves these muffins!
Amy
Hi Jo, I can't say off-hand, I'd have to experiment to get the amounts and timings. I do have a healthy 1st birthday cake recipe that you may like. It is banana and raspberry but you could sub for blueberries.
Kat
Did you try making this into a cake? I'm hoping to, also. Please let us know how it turned out, of you did. Thanks!
crabapple
9mo baby loved it. I ran out of eggs so used one egg and one flax egg and it turned out okay. Also used coconut yoghurt plus a little oat milk as I had just a little less than the required yoghurt amount. Used cinnamon rather than cardamom. Cooked for a lot longer than 12 minutes - maybe 30 minutes until well-cooked and browned? Although that could be a reflection of my oven or substitutions.
Amy
I'm glad your substitutions worked well and that your little one loved them. Did you bake in a mini muffin tray?
Kaye
Flavorwise these are great but can't work out why the mixture sticks to the muffin case and you end up losing half the muffin. Maybe the mixtures too wet although it looked fine to me. In between my muffin tin and the muffin case it was wet??
Amy
Hi Kaye, I don't actually use muffin cases for these, I think because the muffin is lower in fat they stick to the paper more. I just grease the muffin tray well and pop the mixture straight in without the case. Hope that helps.
Corrin
Can these be frozen once cooked
Amy
Yes 🙂
Emeline
I like the funny plates you use to serve the food for kids. I bet it helps. Would you share where you get them please? Thanks. Just discovered your website and love it. Croquettes are getting ready right now.
Amy
Thanks you. The plate featured in this post is from bamboo bamboo. I also have similar ones from beau baby. I hope you enjoyed the croquettes 🙂