Nearly fat free, 131 calorie skinny banana blueberry muffins. You won’t miss all the calories and fat, trust me!
Not too long ago, I shared my Lighter Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins with you. They certainly were a HUGE hit! I love that recipe and have made several muffins from that base recipe since. Including today’s incredibly satisfying, flavor-exploding blueberry banana version!
What’s so fabulous about today’s muffins? Well, lots. First, they are made with whole wheat flour. They also contain no butter or oil, use honey instead of white sugar, have protein rich greek yogurt, and are packed with vitamin-filled blueberries and bananas.
And they are virtually fat free AND only 131 calories each (using nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt & unsweetened almond milk). Pretty sweet, huh?
You’re probably thinking… all that “health” talk probably makes these taste like health food, right?! Wrong. They taste like soft, fluffy bakery-style banana muffins exploding with juicy blueberries. You’re going to love them! What are you waiting for? Let your bananas brown, pick up some blueberries, and get to it!
I doubled the original recipe, took some items out, and added some items in. This recipe will make 15 very generously sized muffins. Tip: Bake the first 12, then bake the last 3 and fill your empty muffin tins halfway with water to assure even baking.
Start with whole wheat flour. I use white whole wheat flour. I suggest using white-whole wheat flour or a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat flour. Not ALL whole wheat flour, which may lend a tough textured muffin (not as soft). Mix the flour with baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Always cinnamon!
For some sweetness, I use a mixture of honey and brown sugar. The original muffins use a combination of white sugar and brown sugar. Use 1/4 cup of honey and 1/2 cup of lightly packed brown sugar. Not bad for a recipe making 15 muffins.
Two ingredients bringing moisture to the muffins are mashed bananas and vanilla greek yogurt. Both ingredients are fabulous healthy substitutes for fat in certain recipes. Fat is moisture-laden and you don’t want to sacrifice that when you cut it out. Low fat products tend to be on the dry side, which is a texture I cannot get on board with. Especially in muffins! 1 cup of mashed bananas and 1/4 cup of vanilla greek yogurt do a fine job of keeping the muffins soft, tender, and moist.
Bananas and yogurt also keep my banana chocolate muffins moist & flavorful. Be sure to use VERY ripe bananas here—heavily brown speckled bananas are what you are looking for. The browner the banana, the better.
Mashed bananas and greek yogurt are my secret weapons.
The egg will act as a binder for the muffins as they bake. Along with the mashed banana and yogurt, eggs are a moistening agent as well. The last wet ingredient is milk. You can use any sort of milk here, choose your favorite: 2% milk, skim milk, almond milk, vanilla almond milk, soy milk, light soy milk, vanilla soy milk, rice milk, etc etc. I use unsweetened almond milk because that is what I usually have on hand and the 131 calorie count reflects that.
The batter will be very thick and you’ll need to break out those fabulous arm muscles of yours to stir it all around. And remember, as with ALL muffin recipes, do not overmix the batter! Only mix the batter until the wet and dry ingredients are *just combined* and no more flour pockets remain. Overmixing your batter will activate the gluten in the flour and overdevelop it, deflating the air bubbles in the process. This results in a tough, hard, dense muffin—not soft and fluffy like you are aiming for.
Let’s not forget those blueberries. Add 1 overflowing cup of fresh or frozen blueberries to the batter.
The recipe uses very familiar, easy ingredients. It’s always such a drag to find healthier recipes I want to make but noticing they require 18 trips to different specialty stores and contain ingredients I’ve never heard of. I like to make things as easy as possible for not only you, but for me as well. Who has time for anything more?
No mixer required, taking less than 30 minutes start to finish, muffins freeze well, taste phenomenal, only 131 calories, minimal fat, use honey instead of white sugar, are moist, soft, tender, skinny perfection. I could really go on and on, but you should really get to baking now!
Print
Skinny Banana Blueberry Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 15
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Nearly fat free, 131 calorie skinny banana blueberry muffins. You won’t miss all the calories and fat, trust me!
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cup (315g) white whole wheat flour (spooned & leveled), or mix of whole wheat and all-purpose flours
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup (85g) honey
- 1/2 cup (100g) loosely packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 cup (230g) mashed bananas (about 3 medium or 2 large ripe bananas)
- 1/4 cup (60g) nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt (or any yogurt)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 3/4 cup (180ml) milk (I use almond milk, but you can use any kind)
- 1 and 1/4 cup (215g) fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray 2 12-count muffin pans with nonstick spray.* Recipe makes about 15 muffins. Set aside.
- Gently whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the honey and brown sugar together—it will be thick and lumpy. Try to get out as many lumps as you can. Whisk in the mashed banana, yogurt, and beaten egg. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently begin to fold it all together. It will be very thick. Add the milk slowly and continue to gently mix the ingredients together. The milk will thin everything out, but the batter will still be quite thick. Gently fold in the blueberries. Do not overmix the batter.
- Divide the batter between 15 muffin cups. Fill all the way to the top. Bake the first 12, then the last three in another batch. (Fill the empty muffin cups halfway with water in the 2nd batch to ensure even baking.) Bake muffins for 17-18 minutes OR until very lightly browned on the edges. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Remove from the oven and place pan on a wire rack. Allow muffins to cool and enjoy!
- Muffins taste wonderful the next day, like most banana bread recipes because their flavor is enhanced. Muffins remain fresh and moist stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Muffins can be frozen up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm to your liking before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-Count Muffin Pan | Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Liners: Do not use cupcake liners, muffins will stick to liners.
- Nutrition: Each muffin is 131 calories each based on using nonfat vanilla greek yogurt and unsweetened almond milk.
- Adapted from Lighter Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins.
Keywords: skinny banana blueberry muffins, healthy banana blueberry muffins
Can you please adjust this recipe so that it makes 12 muffins? As for the previous comment about using Mexican vanilla, almost all vanilla sold in Mexico is imitation. The beans are shipped to the US for processing.If it’s not made with 35% alcohol, it’s not real! Ah Cocoa sells real vanilla.
I don’t have brown sugar right now, is there anything I can sub it for?
Coconut sugar or regular white granulated sugar would be great!
Hi! Can I make these ahead and put them in fridge and bake later? Thanks!
Hi Emma, we don’t recommend refrigerating batter. Once the leaveners are activated by combining the wet and dry ingredients, it’s best to bake the muffins right away. You can store the baked and cooled muffins in the refrigerator for up to a week, or for longer storage, in the freezer for up to three months.
Love your recipes! I only have plain yogurt on hand. Can I use that and add some vanilla? If so, how much vanilla would I add? Thank you!
Hi Kim, absolutely. You can use that yogurt and no need to add any vanilla, although you could add about 1/2 teaspoon if you’d like. Enjoy!
Hi. I love your recipes and tips. So very helpful.
If I bake this bread in mini loaf pans should I fill them all the way and bake at 400 for 5 min as for muffins or treat them as directed for loaves?
Hi Mary! We recommend filling your mini loaf pans about half way. We’re unsure of the exact bake time (it will depend on the exact size of your pans), but you can use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Sally,
Made them yesterday and they came out dense instead of light and fluffy. Flavor good; just a texture problem. Moist, not dry, just too solid and heavy. Could you please help me troubleshoot my mistakes.
I used 1 cup AP flour and 1.5 cups WW, to a total weight of 315 grams. Bananas were very ripe with nice brown skin. All wet ingredients were allowed to come to room temperature. I used 1% buttermilk in place of ordinary milk; it was all I had and I didn’t think it would matter.
Why does the recipe call for only baking soda (no baking powder)? I wondered afterwards if I had made an error with the leavening. Wanted to confirm that only 1 tsp of baking soda was correct.
Also guess I might have over mixed the wet ingredients with each other. Used my stand mixer with paddle attachment. But I was very careful about combing wet and dry, only stirred them a few times by hand before filling the muffin molds.
One other possibility: I used 1 cup blueberries instead of 1 and 1/4 cup so that I would be able to bake the whole batch in only one 12 cup muffin tin.
I’ve used lots of your recipes and am a fan. Thank you for your help and comments. Appreciate the help. Would like to try this recipe again with appropriate corrections.
Hi Jim, Thank you for trying this recipe! These are not super fluffy muffins to begin with, anything made with mashed bananas is going to naturally be more dense. However, your muffins could have been slightly under baked – even an extra minute or two in the oven next time may help! If you do try them again you can certainly try adding 1 tsp baking powder for a lighter texture. Let us know if you try it!
I made the Banana Whole Wheat Muffins with nuts and maple syrup. We love them! Do you think, since I still have lots of strawberries I can use strawberries, chopped well?
Thank you,
Sue
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Hi Sue! Strawberries should work just fine in these muffins. Enjoy!
I am a fan of your page. The recipes are effortless and turn out very nice. I was wondering if the Greek yogurt and egg can be substituted for unsweet apple sauce?
Hi Tina! We haven’t tested that swap, but it may change the texture and taste of these muffins. Let us know if you give it a try!
I read some of the comments so I adjusted my Oven to 375 and 24 minutes later my muffins are perfect. Just to add a little bit more flavor. I added 1/2 tsp. of Mexican vanilla. We love your muffin recipes. I am making your Skinny Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins tomorrow for my grandkids. They are making out like Bandits on my diet♥️
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Hi! Would I be able to make this recipe as a bread in a loaf pan?
Hi Christine! You can definitely try it– I haven’t tested it, but I’m sure the batter would fit nicely in a 9×5 inch loaf pan. I’m unsure of the exact bake time.
I don’t have any yogurt, or sour cream, can I substitute it with anything else?
Hi Veronica, You can try replacing both the 3/4 cup of milk and the 1/4 cup of yogurt with 1 cup of buttermilk.
These were just great. Fit in 12 muffin cups. Little longer to bake- like 22 minutes. Would love the nutritional info so as to add up my WW points
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I just combined this recipe with the Blueberry Almond Power Muffin recipe, due to being low on flour, and wow, they turned out really delicious!
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I made these yesterday using all purpose flour only and not with wheat flour and OMG these are incredibly light, moist, and flavorful. I am going to make these again! Thank you for sharing:)
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Can you sub with almond flour?
Hi Jenny! I don’t recommend it for this recipe. Instead, try these: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/blueberry-almond-power-muffins/
Hi – how long should I bake these in mini muffin tin?
About 11-13 minutes at 350F. Use a toothpick to test for doneness.
I love this website! Your recipes are so detailed and helpful from start to finish. You can tell that you’ve made these recipes before and took notes along the way. It really helps to repeat the recipes. I highly recommend your recipes. Thanks for the tasty insights!!
Hi Sally!
Would this recipie work out with added flavours like lemon or nuts? Do you suggest any changes? Help I feel like lemon + bluberries would be magic but maybe the lemon juice wil make the batter too liquid? What if I used dried bluberries?
Thanks 🙂
PS : I love your blog all the recipies I’ve tried are AMAZING (making your sweet potatoe fries right now 😉 )
How about adding lemon zest and only about a Tablespoon of fresh lemon juice? That would work!
are there any honey substitute options?
Other liquid sweeteners like maple syrup or perhaps agave would be great.
Hi, I’m wondering if it’s possible for me to use sour cream instead of yogurt?
That would be fine.
These are the best muffins I’ve ever made. Ridiculously amazing.
Looks great. Can I use all, all purpose flour? That’s all I have laying around. Thanks!
You sure can. Enjoy!
Texture was a bit stodgy and I do not think I overmixed. But they had a great rise, looked nice. Not too sweet.
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Amazing muffins!! The best healthy muffin I have tried and did not taste “healthy”!! Perfect to have in the freezer for breakfast! Thanks, Sally! Can’t wait to try your other healthy muffin recipes!
These were amazing! Followed the recipe exactly! Yum Yum Yum!!!!!!
Do you think you could use a mini muffin pan? My three year old likes all things “miniature” right now.
You sure can! I am unsure of the baking time though. Watch them closely after 11-12 minutes.
I just made these last night! So delish! They didn’t even taste like a Skinny muffin! My hubby and coworkers loved them! I will be making these again for sure! Thank you for this recipe! 🙂