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These Banana Wheat Germ Muffins are moist, tender, and just sweet enough, with a warm, nutty, oaty flavor from the wheat germ. They come together in one bowl and are the perfect way to put those spotty, overripe bananas to good use.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple to make with everyday ingredients.
- Wheat germ adds a warm, nutty, oaty flavor and hearty texture.
- Naturally sweetened with ripe bananas and honey instead of tons of sugar. I have tons of recipes using ripe bananas you could try!
- Moist, tender, and perfect for breakfast or a snack.
- Ready in under 30 minutes!
The Ingredients
- All-purpose flour: The base for a fluffy muffin.
- Wheat germ: Adds a nutty flavor and hearty texture.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder: Work together to help the muffins rise.
- Very ripe bananas: Since there’s very little additional sweetener in these muffins, using very ripe, naturally sweet bananas is imperative. The spottier, the better!
- Honey: We use honey (or agave) instead of granulated sugar in this recipe to naturally sweeten the muffins.
- Vegetable oil: Keeps the muffins tender.
- Vanilla extract: Adds a rich depth of flavor.
- Large egg: Binds the ingredients together.
Variations and Substitutions
- Add-Ins: Try adding some dark chocolate chips, dried fruit or chopped nuts for extra flavor and texture.
- Sweetener: Feel free to use maple syrup instead of honey or agave to sweeten the muffins.
- Wheat Germ: If you don’t have wheat germ, feel free to substitute it with oat bran or whole wheat flour.
How to Make Banana Wheat Germ Muffins
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a bowl.
Step 2: In a standing mixer or with a hand mixer, combine the 3 bananas, honey or agave, oil, vanilla and egg. Beat until combined and bananas are mashed.
Step 3: Gently mix in the dry ingredients in 3 stages until just combined. Do not over-mix.
Step 4: Grease or line muffin cups or mini loaf pans and fill 3/4 full with the mixture.
Step 5: Place the slices of banana on top of each filled muffin cup or decoratively over the loaf pan.
Step 6: Bake 15 minutes for mini muffin cups, 20 for regular muffin cups or 25 minutes for mini loaf pans or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Muffins are so great to make each week to have on hand. We always have a batch on the counter or in the freezer. These banana wheat germ muffins are great to make ahead for a quick breakfast or snack. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days or freeze them for longer storage. Just warm them up when you’re ready to enjoy! I’m also loving Flourless Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins, Spinach Cake Muffins, and Carrot Pineapple Muffins right now!
Tips and Tricks
- Use very ripe bananas for maximum sweetness and flavor.
- Don’t over-mix the batter to keep the muffins light and fluffy.
More Muffin Recipes
Next time you have a craving for a delicious banana muffin, try these! They’re easy to make, moist, and so good the whole family will love them. Let me know what you think of this recipe by leaving a comment and rating below!
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Banana Wheat Germ Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup wheat germ
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 medium sized very ripe bananas, mashed, plus 1 banana sliced approx. 3/4 inch thick for topping
- 1/2 cup agave or honey
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Combine flour, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a bowl.
- In a standing mixer or with a hand mixer, combine the 3 bananas, agave, oil, vanilla and egg. Beat until combined and bananas are mashed.
- Gently mix in the dry ingredients in 3 stages until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Grease or line muffin cups or mini loaf pans and fill 3/4 full with the mixture.
- Place the slices of banana on top of each filled muffin cup or decoratively over the loaf pan.
- Bake 15 minutes for mini muffin cups, 20 for regular muffin cups or 25 minutes for mini loaf pans or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool and serve.
Notes
- Use very ripe bananas for maximum sweetness and flavor.
- Don’t over-mix the batter to keep the muffins light and fluffy.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days or freeze for longer storage.
Those are amazing! I ate four of them right out of the oven! I’m not a honey fan so I substituted with maple syrup! Great recipe!
It made 24 mini muffins
How many muffins does this make?
DANG! These are for serious! I’m trying to clean out the pantry before I move and needed a recipe to use up some of my wheat germ! These are truly incredible! Instead of banana slices on top, I generously topped them with frozen blueberies. Truly incredible. This recipe is a keeper.
How much applesauce did you use as the substitution for oil?
A little late, but I made this using applesauce (unsweetened) instead of oil, and half wheat flour and half white flour.
So delicious!! My little man loved it even more than the normal, butter-laden muffins that I usually make! (all the exclamation points are to show just how smitten I am with this recipe). These freeze GREAT. I doubled the recipe and baked it, then froze it so that I could re-heat it for breakfast whenever I needed. He asked for these muffins even more than sugary cereals or pre-packaged goods!
Thanks for the recipe (:
Made this in a bread loaf pan and it was delicious – my 14 month old ate almost half the loaf for breakfast! Thank you for such a healthy recipe to the butter/sugar-filled alternatives!
Just made these and added Butternut squash (I have a TON of it right now) instead of the third banana and 1.5 oz wild blueberries … YUMMY! I did find I needed to set the oven at 325 for 13 minutes, but I think my oven runs hot. The first batch came out a little hard and crusty.
Could I add organic oats, or would it mess up the texture?
Made these the other day and my lil’ munch (who is NOT a banana fan) ate 2! Great recipe because it makes one pan and is perfect for lil ones! (Oh, I used agave(for the first time) and was SUPER impressed with the results! Also used 2/3 c. regular flour and 1/3 cup whole wheat, no affect on texture!
Unfortunately, Jeanne, this drug is making a lot of money for AstraZeneca. You can buy high-quality fish oil, at least as good if not btteer than Lovaza, at the health food store. Lovaza is a joke. I poke fun at it every chance I get!
I get excited about food that will blow my mind:D Making them tonight for my 16 month old and I:)
I used agave and mine were too salty also! I’m going to halve the salt next time.
I made these muffins today and I love to texture, but mine turned out too salty. 🙁 I used 1 tsp like the recipe called for and 1/2 cup honey instead of agave. I wonder if using agave would make a difference? I’ll try again using less salt!
YUMMMM!! We just made these this morning..huge hit and yum! Thanks for all the great ideas!
I agree, they are quite salty! (I used the exact amount called for) I’m going to halve the salt next time, and see how that goes. Delicious regardless! 🙂