I got the inspiration for these low calorie Banana Cranberry Muffins from a similar recipe for Cranberry Banana Bread featured in a recent Weight Watchers weekly.
With a bag of cranberries in the fridge and 3 overripe bananas on the counter, it seemed like the perfect time to do a little baking.
Banana Cranberry Muffins
But I decided I wanted banana cranberry muffins instead of bread.
Recipe Notes
Muffins are better portion-controlled, making them easier to freeze and/or share.
But before just going ahead and making the WW Cranberry Banana bread recipe and then baking it in muffin tins, I turned to an old Betty Crocker Cookbook (affiliate link) for inspiration and discovered a recipe for banana muffins that called for less sugar (⅓ cup instead of ¾) and decided to go with it instead.
I made a few more adjustments, including substituting white wheat flour for half the all-purpose flour and decreasing the oil from ½ to ¼ cup.
I also sprinkled a little bit of large crystal raw sugar on top.
Banana Cranberry Muffins
I enjoyed one of these banana cranberry muffins while still warm-from-the-oven and thought it was moist and delicious. I loved the contrast of the tart cranberries and sweet bananas. And the little bit of raw sugar sprinkled on top added a nice sweet crunch.
Once they were cool, I placed 6 of the remaining muffins in little baggies to share with friends and family, leaving us with five to enjoy this week for breakfast.
I think homemade muffins are always best the day they're made. But a quick re-warming in the toaster oven or microwave (affiliate link) can revive them for a couple days more.
Half Banana Cranberry Muffin
The other option is to individually wrap them and place them in the freezer for an occasional treat.
How Many Calories and WW Points in these Muffins?
According to my calculations, each muffin has 169 calories and:
5 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
5 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
5 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
5 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
Muffins are best warm from the oven the day they are baked.
What to do with Leftover Muffins?
To reheat a muffin, place it in the microwave (affiliate link) for 10-15 seconds.
You can individually wrap extra muffins and then place them in a zipper freezer bag in the freezer. Remove and defrost on the counter, or heat in the microwave (affiliate link) for 20 to 25 seconds.
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Banana Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed bananas (2 - 3 medium)
- 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, roughly chopped
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup milk
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 cup white wheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons large-crystal sugar to sprinkle on top, optional (I used washed raw cane sugar)
Instructions
- Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400F degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin (affiliate link) with paper liners. (I then sprayed the bottom of the paper liners with a bit of nonstick cooking spray.)
- In a large bowl stir together the mashed bananas, chopped cranberries, egg, milk, brown sugar, and canola oil until well blended.
- In another bowl, whisk together the white wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and stir just until the flour is moistened. (The batter will be lumpy.)
- Divide the batter evenly amongst the prepared muffin cups, filling the cups about ¾ full.
- Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and immediately remove the muffins from the pan and set them on a wire rack to cool. Enjoy warm.
- Cool completely before storing any leftovers.
Recipe Notes
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
If you like these low calorie cranberry banana muffins, you might also like:
- Healthy Low Fat Banana Nut Bread
- Easy Healthy Banana Coconut Date Muffins
- Healthy Banana Cookies with Oats and Chocolate Chips
- Bran Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
- Low Fat Cranberry Pumpkin Scones
- Fannie Farmer Old Fashioned Mini Cranberry Breads
- Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Bread
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
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Alyce Morgan
Beautiful muffins! I have some cranberries in my freezer I'll have to use for them.
Take a look at a soup I made for lunch (still eating it!) yesterday and tell me for sure if you think it's ZERO points. It has parsnips and carrots; is that legal?
I'd love to know! Happy Friday!
Martha
Thanks, Alyce. I've checked out your soup and bookmarked it to try! I would consider a serving 0 PointPlus if I were tracking it!
fran
Can you substitute almond milk for the milk that is needed for the recipe?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Fran, Though I haven't tried it, I think it should work fine.
Emma
Thanks so much for this recipe! I substituted unsweetened almond milk instead of regular milk and these turned out wonderfully. I also added a handful of chopped walnuts for some added crunch and a few large dashes of cinnamon for flavor. I didn't have the right kind of flour on hand so I used a combination of almond flour, white organic flour, and whole wheat flour. This recipe is just so versatile and easy to substitute with different ingredients. Plus, I really love how these came out--moist with just a hint of sweetness!
Martha McKinnon
Hi Emma, Love your substitutions and changes. Glad you liked the muffins!
Stephanie
Added a little more regular sugar, but I didn't do the big crystals on top. These turned out gorgeous and delicious! Will make again. Thank you!
Martha McKinnon
Hi Stephanie, Glad you liked them!
Regina
Love This muffin recipe!
I did do some swaps Replacing the oil with applesauce, and using Sukrin Gold For the brown sugar . I also used White whole-wheat flour to replace the all purpose flour. I got 15 muffins for 2sp each, so delicious. I think I may try using Greek yogurt instead of the applesauce OR use only 1/8 of a cup of oil and then substitute the balance.
Diane Crompton
I love this recipe! Easy to make, healthy and also great to freeze ad re-heat. I made a batch for my 92 year old Mom and she is a big fan and waiting for her next batch!
Jane
Can you use bagged cranberries?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Jane, you want fresh/frozen cranberries, in a bag is fine. You just don't want DRIED cranberries. Hope this helps. ~Martha
C K
Made these this morning. Thought the batter was really thick. Realized after my family had eaten them that I never added the egg. Oops! Still turned out decent and everyone gobbled them up.