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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.
can these be frozen? if so, what’s the best way to do that?
Made these tonight with a few adjustments. Used half whole wheat and half AP flour. Used have honey and maple syrup (just because I got tired of squeezing the honey). Added only 2 bananas because that’s all I had and added 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips and walnuts. Absolutely delicious! I think next time I could use less sweetener because the ripe bananas make them plenty sweet. This one is a keeper!
These are awesome! I topped each with a couple mini white chocolate chips. So good!
You could use agave instead of honey! You could use white or brown sugar, but then you’d have to increase the other liquids. So maybe 1/3 cup brown sugar, and 5 tablespoons of oil.
These look great! I’m going to make them this week but am wondering if I can use something in place of the honey, as I plan to give some to my 9 month old. I wouldn’t even mind using a little sugar but then I’m not sure if I need to add some more liquid? Thanks in advance!
Just made these tonight and they are so yummy! I can’t wait to serve them up to my daughter for breakfast in the morning – she’s going to love them. I even caught my husband, who’s not a fan of “health food”, sneaking a few mini muffins for a snack : )
These are delicious and a big hit in our house, especially with the almost 2 year old. I sprinkled a few enjoy life mini chocolate chips on the top of a few of them. I might just fold some into the entire batch next time.
Thanks for the great recipe! We will be making these over and over again.
Either one is fine!
Hi Catherine! I was just wondering if it made a difference if you used toasted wheat germ or raw wheat germ in your banana wheat germ muffin recipe?? Thanks so much!
looks great
These are FANTASTIC!!! Thank you so much. I love your site.
OOPS…i meant ‘turned out perfectly.’ 🙂
i had a bunch of over-ripe bananas and searched weelicious for a recipe. my 2 year old just helped me to make these for our very first time! they turned out perfect! i can’t believe how amazing they came out. i’m such NOT the cook or the baker. in fact, this was the very first time my daughter helped in the kitchen… so i could definitely see the wheels turning in her head… oh, so we count how many spoonfuls of oil, oh the mixer is mixing everything, oh – i turned bananas into muffins, oh – the oven is hot, etc….and finally, OH, I’M EATING MUFFINS I MADE WITH MOMMY! thanks so much for sharing and perfecting this recipe.
These cooked faster than the stated times for me, so watch them! I was about 12min @350 for mini muffins and 20min @350 for mini loaves.
Both Target and my local grocery store carry them, 🙂
where do you get muffin liners for the mini muffin tin?