These whole food plant-based banana muffins are the best of the best! Just see the comments!
The muffins have very little added sugar, no white flour, eggs, dairy, or oil!
The Comments About These Whole Food Plant-Based Banana Muffins
“We devoured them as soon as they were ready! Thanks for this delicious treat that we will stand in a loop forever and ever, yummy!” –Mary S.
“I make these every week, they are fantastic. Thank you for saving my husband from miserable dry healthy muffins!” –Suzanne
“So yummy, moist, and best of all my kids loved them, too!”–Jessie D.
“Love these! My 9 year old son helped me make them and we had a blast. Fed them to the rest of the family and no one knew they were egg and oil free. I used the whole wheat flour and almond flour combo. So soft and moist. Yum! My youngest son gave them 6 stars out of 5 and my oldest 4.5 out of 5 so I would say they were a big hit!”–Carrie L.
My Grandma’s Recipe…..But Made Healthier
This is a recipe I make more often than perhaps any other. They are a wholesome treat that’s super affordable and easy to make.
I’m lucky enough to have a grandma who made banana bread. Her handwritten recipe card has stains and mashed banana textured onto it from years of use. It’s also a recipe that calls for lots of butter and sugar in the bread, and more butter and cinnamon sugar on top. We haven’t used that recipe card as much in the later years since we started eating differently. We would not want to give up on grandma’s banana bread all the way, though, either! That’s where this version comes in.
These simple whole food plant-based banana muffins bake faster than a loaf, and are easy to eat and share. They have all the love and sweetness of my grandma’s recipe, but not a drop of saturated fat, refined sugar or white flour. If you really want to take things up a notch though, you could rub butter or coconut oil over the tops while they are still hot, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. That’s what my grandma would do, I know that!
I’m just a mom trying to keep up with my family’s banana muffin obsession. So, if you’re like me, make a double batch! Or if a freezer-stash of cheap, homemade, healthy snacks/breakfasts/neighbor gifts sounds appealing to you, you double that recipe!
Can I Make These Muffins Gluten-Free?
Yes! I prefer to use oat flour for gluten-free baked goods to maintain the whole grain aspect. So I would blend up 1 1/4 cups rolled oats into a fine flour, and use that instead of whole wheat flour. You could also use a gluten-free all purpose flour if you prefer to not use oats.
More Healthy Muffin Recipes
Oat Bran Muffins (gluten-free)
Chocolate Protein Blender Muffins (with lentils!)
Best Healthy Pumpkin Muffins (gluten-free option)
Chocolate Banana Nut Muffins (gluten-free)
Banana Muffins (Oil-Free, WFPB, Vegan, Gluten-Free option)
Ingredients
- 3 large overripe bananas (1 and 3/4 cup mashed banana)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup, honey, date paste, or sugar (or other sweetener of choice, can double it for sweeter muffin but I don't find it necessary)
- 1/4 cup milk of choice
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour OR oat flour (blend 1 1/4 cups rolled oats until fine)
- 1/2 cup almond flour (or 1/2 cup more additional whole wheat flour for lower fat)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves (optional)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips, optional
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional (toasting the walnuts first is yummy!)
Instructions
- Grease a muffin pan (or use a silicone muffin pan to avoid oil), and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, break up the bananas and mash with a fork until as smooth as possible. You should have at least 1 3/4 cups mashed banana. (You can also blend them up in a blender with the milk if you'd like to avoid banana chunks. This is what I usually do because I don't like mashing with a fork.)
- Stir in maple syrup (or other sweetener), milk and vanilla. Stir until well-combined.
- Add dry ingredients and mix. Do not over-stir. Add chocolate chips and/or walnuts if desired.
- Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Makes 12 large muffins or 24-30 mini muffins.
- Bake for 23-25 minutes, or until firm to the touch. (Bake mini muffins for about 12 minutues)
- Store in an airtight container. They seem to be even more moist and sweet the next day. Refrigerate or freeze if not consumed within 24 hours.
- It would mean so much to me if you return to the recipe and leave a star rating and review!
Notes
Nutrition Facts:
In one standard-sized muffin (made without chocolate chips or walnuts, and using all whole wheat flour), or 1/12 of the recipe:
1 muffin = 112 calories, 0.6 g fat, 26 g carb, 2.8 g fiber, 10 g sugar (including banana sugar which is not added sugar), 2.7 g protein.
Compare to an equivalent serving of this classic banana bread recipe that has 231 calories, 9 grams fat, 35 g carbs, 16 grams sugar. That’s double the calories and 10 times the fat! So, you can eat two for one here!
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