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: Iron is a critical mineral for growing babies. 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.
Process Steps 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. Â
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.Â
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.Â
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.
Corrin says
Can these be frozen once cooked
Amy says
Yes 🙂
Emeline says
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 says
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 🙂
Carly says
I can’t seem to get them to bake all the way through no matter how long I’m baking them! Any suggestions?
Amy says
Hi Carly. Thank you for your feedback ans sorry for the late reply, your comment got filtered to my junk. There are a few things that may have caused this.
1)Did you use a mini muffin tray? A regular muffin tray will involve a longer cook time
2)Did you weigh the banana? Too much can cause the batter to be overly moist and won't cook through properly. I also find that it is best not to overly mash/puree and to leave some lumps.
3) Could you have overmixed? You want to gently mix until just combined. It is always tempting to mix and mix until you have a lovely smooth consistency but in doing this you develop more gluten which can result in a dense, gummy muffin.
4) Was your baking powder in date?
Wendi Huff says
If I use oat flour, do I still use 1.5 cups?
Amy says
Hi Wendi, if you have scales and use the gram measurement it would be ok to replace the rolled oats with oat flour 1:1. However if you are using cups the amount will be different due to how it fills the cup. I'm unsure how many cups it would be for the same weight, sorry.
Michelle says
It’s a tasty muffin and a good healthy option for my 1 year old who enjoyed them.
Amy says
Thanks Michelle 🙂
Carris Freeman says
My muffins turned out rather dense. Any suggestions on why that may have been?
Amy says
Hi Carris, Did you mix everything in the blender or just the dry ingredients? If you over-mix the mixture it can also result in dense muffins. Was the banana pureed or mashed? I find if the banana is pureed then the muffins can be dense.
heather bri says
How do I add more flavor? They are so bland...
Amy says
Hi Heather, did you make these for a baby? If you want them sweeter, without adding a sweetener/sugar, then make sure to use super ripe bananas. You can also up the cardamom and add some cinnamon. However, these will never taste like super sweet cafe-style muffins because they contain no added sugar.
Karolina says
Love this recipe! This time I swapped half the oats for chickpea flour, blueberries for plums (cause they're in season), lemon zest for clementine zest, put in some extra cinnamon besides cardamom and topped the minimuffins with raspberries. After adjusting the baking time they're out of this world delicious! Have made them with original recipe couple of times already, could not recommend more. Baby and my leftover sweeping dogs enjoy them a lot 🙂
Amy says
Thanks Karolina and I love the sound of the plum and citrus zest. Delicious 🙂
Mallory says
I didn’t have cardamom or lemons on hand and had to use yobaby stoneyfarm blueberry yogurt because that’s all I had but these muffins were fantastic I added two minutes to my cook time because they seemed a bit squishy at 13 minutes . Very happy with this recipe so easy . Thanks!
Amy says
Thaks Mallory
jaz says
These smelled so delicious coming out but I also had the issue that they remained raw in the middle no matter the time left in this temp. I’m guessing it’s the use of regular yogurt instead of Greek? Everything else was followed to a T. Bummer I had to toss them all out
Amy says
Thanks for the feedback Jaz and I’m sorry the recipe didn’t work for you, I’ll have another look at the recipe to see why this could be happening.
Chiara says
I love your website and recipes! Thanks for sharing! Can I replace the banana by something else in this recipe? Would dates work to sweeten?
Amy says
Hi Chiara, without testing I can't say for sure. I'd suggest apple sauce and you could also add a date or two to sweeten. Sorry I can't be of more help but I don't like to recommend substitutes without trying them.