There’s something ridiculously good about oatmeal, especially on a chilly, blistery winter morning. Just the other day I made the creamiest, piping hot bowl of oatmeal with vanilla, cinnamon, banana slices, blueberries and a drizzle of pure maple syrup. It tasted just as glorious as it sounds.
What’s your favorite oatmeal combo? Anything you want me to recreate for you?!
Listen, I’m not just a fan of bowls of oatmeal, I also love making: overnight oats, pans of baked oatmeal, and of course, cute little portable baked oatmeal cups like these peanut butter banana baked oatmeal cups. (Btw I also have almond butter apple oatmeal cups & pumpkin baked oatmeal cups!)
They’re perfect for kids, adults, great for snacking, freezer-friendly and oh so simple to make. And I can’t help but love that they’re packed with nearly 6g protein to help fuel you post workout.
What’s in these peanut butter banana baked oatmeal cups?
These are truly the perfect snack or breakfast to make when you have a few too many ripe bananas sitting on your counter. What I love about these banana oatmeal cups is that they also include peanut butter, which provides each muffin with nearly 6g protein. Here’s what you need:
- Ripe bananas: you’ll need about 2 large or 3 medium ripe bananas. Bananas with a few brown spots are perfect!
- Peanut butter: you are more than welcome to use almond, peanut, pecan or cashew butter in this recipe — just make sure it’s all natural with only nuts + salt. I prefer peanut butter because it adds the most amount of flavor.
- Eggs: gotta get in that protein and help the cups stay together. I haven’t tried with a flax egg yet (to make vegan), but let me know if you do!
- Pure maple syrup: to help natural sweeten these. You can also use honey.
- Vanilla extract: always.
- Almond milk: I prefer almond milk but feel free to use whatever milk you have on hand.
- Oats: to keep these oatmeal cups gluten free, I suggest using gluten free rolled oats. If you aren’t gluten free, regular old-fashioned rolled oats work wonderfully! Do not use steel cut oats or quick oats.
- Baking powder: to help these rise a bit.
- Cinnamon: great to help balance blood sugar levels.
- Salt: for a little flavor boost!
- Chocolate chips: these are optional, but I highly recommend. Who else loves a PB banana chocolate chip combo?
How to store peanut butter banana oatmeal cups
You can make these oatmeal cups ahead of time and keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Once ready to eat, just reheat them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
Great news: freezing baked oatmeal cups is easy. Simply allow them to cool completely after baking, then place them in an airtight container or reusable bag such as these and freeze for up to 3 months. Once ready to eat, you can microwave them for 45 seconds-1 minute or until warm.
See how to make the peanut butter banana baked oatmeal cups:
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below and rate the recipe so others can know how you liked it — I appreciate it! xo.
Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal Cups
Delicious peanut butter banana baked oatmeal cups made with protein-packed peanut butter and naturally sweetened with bananas and a touch of maple syrup. These easy banana baked oatmeal cups are easily gluten and dairy free, freezer-friendly and great for kids!
Ingredients
- 1 heaping cup ripe mashed banana
- ½ cup creamy or crunchy natural peanut butter (just peanuts + salt)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (or honey)
- 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats, gluten free if desired
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling on top (dairy free if desired)
- Optional: ⅓ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with muffin liners and spray with nonstick cooking spray to prevent oatmeal cups from sticking.
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In a medium bowl, mix together the mashed banana, peanut butter, eggs, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla until smooth and well combined.
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Next stir in dry ingredients: oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; stir well to combine. Fold in ⅓ cup chocolate chips into batter.
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Evenly distribute oatmeal batter between muffin liners. Sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top and bake for 20-25 minutes. Drizzle with your favorite nut butter before serving, if desired. Serves 12.
Recipe Notes
To make dairy free: be sure to use a dairy free milk and to also use dairy free chocolate chips.
To freeze oatmeal cups: simply allow them to cool completely after baking, then place them in an airtight container or reusable bag such as these and freeze for up to 3 months. Once ready to eat, you can microwave them for 45 seconds-1 minute or until warm
40 comments
I have been on a huge oatmeal kick ever since craving it during pregnancy and now having it almost every morning in postpartum – it’s easy to prep overnight now that time is limited and is great for supporting breastfeeding (plus bf hunger is no joke haha). I love shredded apple or pumpkin oatmeal with lots of peanut butter on top, and I’ve also been using all the Trader Joe’s flavored almond milks for east overnight oats (turmeric ginger and blueberry lavender are my favorites). I also think a gingerbread version would be delicious!
Such a great breakfast and so easy! That blueberry lavender almond milk is SO good. Hope you get a chance to try these ones!
You read my mind! I just made for the second time your apple oatmeal cups and was wishing there was a recipe for a morning glory and banana version. Viola, today the banana version shows up. Now for the morning glory version. I really like them because they are like a bowl of oatmeal to go and the lower sugar doesn’t leave my blood sugar crashing mid-morning.
I made the apple oatmeal cups vegan with a flax egg and it worked great. I am hoping the same will be true with this recipe. I might make these with wild blueberries instead to cut the sugar some more.
Perfect timing! Hope you love these ones too 🙂
My daughter and I made these today. It was such a manageable recipe to do with her (4 and 1/2)! We substituted sunflower seed butter for peanut butter and used a combination of cream of tartar/baking soda in lieu of baking powder. I had to totally restrain myself from having the whole batch! They were delicious and were cooked perfectly when following your recipe. Thank you!
Instagram: kate_06877
I’m glad those swaps worked out well! Such a great breakfast & snack 🙂
Another score, thanks Monique! These are super moist and delicious.
Perfect! Glad you loved them!
Delicious & super easy! Also worked great substituting flax for the eggs.
Perfect! Glad the flax eggs worked out well.
We made these yesterday! My kids & I loved them! I ran out of maple syrup but we just used honey. We had small bananas so it took 3 to get a full cup. Definitely recommend trying them! I make muffins once a week because my girls eat two snacks a day & it’s a filling healthy option my kids are always excited about. Will definitely add these to the rotation! Thanks Monique!
Perfect! I’m so glad the honey swap worked out well. Such a great snack!
Can I use oat flour instead of whole oats and if so how much oat flour?
If you’re looking to use oat flour I’d recommend this muffin recipe instead! https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/healthy-peanut-butter-banana-muffins-dairy-free-gluten-free/
I have made dozens of baked oatmeal recipes and this is by far my favorite! I made the recipe as-is but substituted raisins for the chocolate chips which was delicious. I also made 9 cups instead of 12 (just to make them a bit bigger) and only had to add ~3 minutes to the baking time. The texture is perfect and I get so excited to heat these up in the morning!
Perfect! Such a great breakfast.
These muffins were amazing!! I am a health coach and focus on healthy foods that taste great. Loved that there is no refined sugar or flour but still tons of flavor. Sharing with my followers and tagging you now!!!
Love it! So happy to hear that Amy 🙂 thanks for the share!
These were AMAZING! In the words of my husband “these are the best muffins you’ve ever made”! …and I agree 🙂 The recipe was perfect – I didn’t change 1 thing. So easy and these make a great snack! Thank you!
Love it! So happy to hear that 🙂
I love a good baked oatmeal, and I’m a huge AK muffin fan.. so obviously I had to make these! It did not disappoint! I really like that it’s a little different option for breakfast muffins, and not too sweet. I used crunchy peanut butter, but will use creamy next time for the texture. My BF didn’t love the chocolate chips, so may make 1/2 batch without chocolate for a less sweet option.
Absolutely! These are great for customizing with the mix-ins, too 🙂
I made these adding 60% cocoa chocolate chips. They are a bit crumbly but toast well split in half in a toaster oven. I do not like the texture of oatmeal and was interested in a recipe that had oats in it. Chocolate and oats – you can’t go wrong. I would make them again.
Glad you enjoyed even with the texture!
So easy to make and super delicious. I made these twice in one week and they were gone in a minute both times (I shared I promise). Planning to make them again and freeze for later. Love your recipes!
Amazing! So happy to hear that 🙂 thanks for your note, Jane!
These are the most addictive little gems I’ve ever eaten!!!! I made them in mini size, adding the walnuts and started eating them while still warm and oh my goodness, I ended up eating three! I then thought about them all day and couldn’t wait to get back home to have more. I’ll be making them again!! YUM!!!!!
Glad you loved these! Great idea with the minis – so cute 🙂
Loving this recipe!
Try this bread recipe next!
My son is allergic to bananas (odd I know!); Do you have a suggestion for something too use instead?
Try these baked oatmeal cups instead! https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/almond-butter-apple-cinnamon-baked-oatmeal-cups/
Really interested in trying these out. However, I don’t like peanut butter can you make it without it??
I wouldn’t recommend it! Check out these other oatmeal recipes for some different options 🙂 https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/oatmeal-recipes/
Is there anything that can be substituted for the bananas? Would applesauce work?
Try this recipes instead! https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/almond-butter-apple-cinnamon-baked-oatmeal-cups/
Hi! We’re in quarantine now, and I’ve got everything but my oatmeal is quick oats, steel cut organic, and three minute quick steel cut. Any chance I could use any of these and they’ll come out ok?
Hi! I haven’t tried any of these so I can’t be certain. Quick oats *might* work, but you might need to use more.
I halved the recipe but wish I would have made the full batch! Added some more chocolate chips but was a killer recipe for muffins. Highly recommend!
Such a great breakfast! They’re freezer-friendly, too, in case you make a full batch next time 🙂