Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Muffins are my favorite, easy, grab-and-go breakfast at the weekend. I love to whip up a batch on Friday evening, to make sure I get a head start on Saturday morning mayhem, which usually reigns supreme in our house.

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Morning Muffins

When we wake up on Saturdays, we've usually hit that snooze button a few times too often, and immediately have to start running here, there and everywhere around the house looking for football boots, water bottles, basketballs, shin guards, tin whistles, and all the other paraphernalia four kids need for matches and activities. With blueberry muffins ready to go, at least I know breakfast is covered.

"What's for breakfast, mom?" echoes through the house every Saturday.

"Grab a muffin," I shout back.

And grab a few muffins we surely do. I pack some in a plastic lunchbox, and as I sit on the sideline of some sports field, I treat myself to a muffin. Well, maybe a muffin or two.

I sometimes make applesauce muffins from this recipe contributed by a reader of Irish American Mom. Trust me! They're delicious.

Another great recipe is one where I crumble Weetabix breakfast biscuits into the batter of these delicious and hearty banana nut whole wheat muffins.

But, when it comes to muffins, this is my go-to recipe for kid-pleasing, grab-and-go breakfasts.

And so, here's my recipe for Saturday morning muffins.

Ingredients for Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins

I know muffins are not typically Irish, but I add some good Irish oatmeal to these blueberry-banana muffins, which definitely gives them an Irish twist. 

Here's a quick list of ingredients. Check the printable recipe for exact amounts. You can toggle between US equivalents and Metric measurements there.

• all-purpose flour
• baking soda
• baking powder
• brown sugar
• oatmeal
• fresh blueberries
• ripe bananas
• eggs
• buttermilk
• melted butter
• brown sugar (for topping)
• oatmeal (for topping)

Directions for Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Before you get started mixing the muffins, let's do a little preparation.

Turn the oven on to 350° Fahrenheit to make sure you have a nice hot oven for the muffins once they're mixed.

Since these muffins rise based on the chemical reaction between buttermilk and baking soda, it's important to get them into the oven quickly once they're mixed.

So be sure to line a muffin tray at the very beginning.

Next sift the flour, baking power and baking soda together.

Add a pinch of salt if you wish, but I don't bother. I use melted, salted butter for this recipe, so I think they're fine without any extra salt. If you substitute oil for the butter, then add a pinch of salt.

If you don't want to bother sifting, then mix the flour with a whisk to eliminate lumps. I just can't bring myself to eliminate the sifting step. I still hear my high school home economics teacher lecturing on the importance of incorporating air into the flour by sifting.

Next add the brown sugar and oatmeal to the mixing bowl and combine them with the flour.

In a separate bowl or pitcher add the buttermilk and eggs and whisk them together. Melt the butter and add it to the eggs and buttermilk.

Next come the bananas. Mash them with a fork on a plate. Give them a good old mashing. I don't like banana lumps in these muffins.

Another trick of mine is to add the mashed banana to the wet ingredients and whisk them together.

Others may add the bananas after combining the wet and dry ingredients, but I like to add them to the eggs first.

Next step involves pouring the wet ingredients into the dry. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and pour in the buttermilk mixture. Combine the batter gently.

It may seem a little lumpy but don't worry about this once there aren't any pockets of dry flour.

Toss in the blueberries and mix them gently through the batter with a spoon.

And this is how the batter looks when it's ready to fill those muffin cups.

I mix the topping next, which is simply a combo of brown sugar and Irish oatmeal.

Divide the batter between the twelve muffin cups.

The baking cases will be pretty full, but I like a muffin with a nice big muffin top, so I just load them on up. Nothing wrong with an extra big muffin top - take it from me.

Sprinkle the top of the muffins with the sugar and oatmeal topping.

Next pop them in the pre-heated oven, and bake them for 18 to 20 minutes.

When ready they'll be beautifully golden brown.

Remove them from the oven. Allow them to sit in the tray for about 5 minutes to cool slightly. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Then, if like me you make them the evening before you really and truly need them to feed four hungry kids, try not to dig in straight away. It's very hard to resist.

But if you have to, just crack one open while they're still a little warm and enjoy those juicy blueberries surrounded by moist and fluffy muffin. Yummy!

A blueberry muffin and a cuppa tea is the perfect Friday evening supper when all the kids are tucked up in bed. But I have to be careful not to scoff the lot before Saturday morning mayhem starts in earnest.

Perhaps I should skip that Friday muffin supper, and just go pack everyone's kit bags for the morning. Kit bags or a warm, fluffy muffin. Which would you pick?

The muffin wins every time for me, because let's face it, Saturday would not be the same without a little chaos as you munch on a muffin.

Printable Recipe for Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Just below the ingredient list you'll find two tabs which allow you to switch between US and Metric measurements.

Wishing you all happy muffin baking and munching.

Here are some other recipes you might enjoy...

Irish Champ

Chocolate Biscuit Cake

Carrot and Parsnip Mash