When I have these healthy banana muffins on hand, I always go back for seconds. They're moist, fluffy, and filled with spiced banana flavor.
For years, these healthy banana muffins have been one of my favorite breakfasts. But in the last few weeks, I think I’ve made them more times than I ever have before. Like many of you, Jack and I have been going to the store less often lately. I grab a big bunch of bananas every time we go, but we never finish them all before they become soft, speckled, and far too ripe to eat on their own.
My solution? Banana muffins, of course! They’re moist, fluffy, and filled with spiced banana flavor. Made with whole wheat flour and maple syrup, they’re wholesome enough to eat for breakfast, but you also can’t go wrong by adding a scoop of chocolate chips and calling them dessert.
Healthy Banana Muffins Ingredients
These banana muffins actually happen to be vegan, but you’d never guess that there’s no butter, milk, or eggs hiding inside them. I swap flaxseed for eggs, use almond milk instead of dairy, and add these key ingredients to make the muffins moist and flavorful, but good for you, too:
- Whole wheat pastry flour – Ground from soft wheat berries, whole wheat pastry flour has more nutrients than all-purpose flour, but it still yields light, fluffy baked goods. If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour, you can use a 50/50 mix of white and regular whole wheat flour.
- Apple cider vinegar – It adds a hint of tangy flavor, and it helps the muffins rise.
- Maple syrup – Instead of using white or brown sugar, I sweeten these muffins naturally with maple syrup. Along with the bananas, it gives them a lovely light sweetness.
- Olive oil – My go-to oil! It works wonderfully in this banana muffin recipe, but if you prefer to bake with a different oil, feel free. Melted coconut oil or a neutral-flavored oil like vegetable oil or canola oil would be delicious too. You could even use melted butter.
- Vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg – They round out the warm, spiced flavor of these healthy banana muffins.
These muffins come together in just about 30 minutes. Devour them straight out of the oven as a snack, save some for breakfast, or serve them as part of a weekend brunch. Find more healthy breakfast ideas here and more of my favorite brunch recipes here!
Healthy Banana Muffins Tips
- The riper the bananas, the better. Super ripe bananas have a sweeter, more intense banana flavor than unripe or semi-ripe ones. For the sweetest, most flavorful muffins, wait to bake until your bananas are soft, fragrant, and speckled with brown.
- Don’t overmix! Like most baked goods, these muffins turn out best when the wet and dry ingredients are just combined. If you overmix the batter, they will be dense.
- Freeze the extras. These healthy banana muffins freeze perfectly, so I like to make a double batch and freeze the extras to have on hand for quick breakfasts and snacks. Let them cool to room temperature, place them in a freezer bag or airtight container, and freeze them for up to several months. To thaw, pop them in the microwave for about a minute or transfer them to the fridge the night before you plan to eat them. See this post for more tips on freezing meals and baked goods.
Banana Muffin Recipe Variations
- Not vegan? No worries. This recipe calls for flaxseed and almond milk, but if these aren’t ingredients you keep on hand, that’s ok! Any type of milk (dairy, oat, soy, etc.) works well here, and 2 large eggs can replace the flaxseed and water.
- Don’t forget the mix-ins! These healthy banana muffins are delicious plain, but they’re great with all sorts of mix-ins too. Try folding 1/2 cup fresh blueberries, chopped walnuts or pecans, or chocolate chips (my favorite!) into the batter.
More Healthy Baking Recipes
If you love this banana muffin recipe, try one of these healthy baked goods next:
- Pumpkin Bread
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Healthy Carrot Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Healthy Blueberry Muffins
- Or any of these 25 Super Fun Baking Recipes!
If you have leftover ripe bananas, make my Healthy Banana Bread or Banana Pancakes next!
Healthy Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons ground flaxseed + 4 tablespoons warm water*
- 1¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour, (or white/wheat mix)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅔ cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup olive oil or any neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana, about 2 bananas
- ½ cup chocolate chips, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease or spray a 12-cup muffin tin.
- In a small bowl, combine the flaxseed and warm water and set aside to thicken for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, combine the almond milk, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla and stir to combine. Stir in the flaxseed mixture.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the mashed banana and chocolate chips, if using. Use a ⅓ cup measuring scoop to divide the batter into the muffin tin.
- Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out almost clean. Let cool 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Notes
These muffins turned out great!! I didn’t have nutmeg but it didn’t matter. I also added some coconut sugar because I still have a crazy sweet tooth, but they were still perfect and not over the top sweet! Thank you for the recipe!
My favorite muffin recipe of all time (and that is including my non-vegan muffin recipes). The chocolate chips take it over the top.
Hi Carol, I’m so happy you’re loving the recipe!! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
I have made this recipe at least 10 times and it comes out perfect every time! I make these and put them in a large zip lock bag for our busy family to be able to grab on the way out the door for breakfast. My teenage daughter and husband love them. I made some for my brother-in-law who LOVES banana bread and he actually ate them for his dinner one night because he “could not wait until breakfast”. Thanks for sharing this quick, inexpensive and delicious recipe.
Hi Mateo – wow, I’m so happy these have been a hit with the whole family!
Hi! How many calories are in each muffin?
I’m not sure, but there are calorie calculators online for free that you could use to figure it out 🙂
could i make this recipe into banana bread? like in a loaf pan?
I think it would work – I’d just bake it longer, probably somewhere in between 40-50 minutes. Hope that helps!
Looks delicious, especially the muffins
Just made these and they’re amazing! Even my non-vegan family loves them! ❤️
Yay, I’m so happy to hear that!
These muffins are my new favorite! The flax makes them so yummy and moist (and fiber-rich- yay!) Thanks so much 🙂
Hi Beth, I’m so so glad you loved them!!
I made these to share at church and they were a big hit! So SOFT and chewy with a wonderful texture. It was my first time baking with flax meal instead of eggs, and I was skeptical, but now I think I might try flax more often! Next time I will probably add some chopped toasted walnuts to get a little more of that banana bread flavor. This recipe is definitely going into my regular dessert/snack rotation – thank you!
Hi Mary, I’m so glad they were a big hit! And yay for flax :). It doesn’t always replace eggs perfectly but I like to post about it when it does!
These are wonderful! I used a combination of flours: 1 cup regular and 3/4 buckwheat and it was delicious.
I’ll have to try that combo – I’m always looking for ways to use buckwheat!
Used King Arthur gluten free baking mix and these came out delicious! Also silicone cupcake cups and no additional greasing was necessary.
Hi Corrie, thanks for the tip about King Arthur’s GF mix!
Well, aren’t these just the cutest muffins EVER!
Made these for the family, everyone loved them!!
Yay, so glad to hear that!!
I love banana chocolate chip muffins! These look so delicious and chocolatey – perfect for brunch or as a sweet snack!
Yum! These sound delicious!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
These look so delicious and I can’t wait to make them. Any suggestions of what I could subsitute for the oil? Would it still taste good if I leave it out? Thanks!
Cindy,
Hi Cyn, I’m not sure, I don’t typically bake without some type of oil.
Applesauce 🙂
Yes, Marina has it right with the applesauce! I do it all the time since I am Whole Food Plant Based in my kitchen. It does tend to sweeten things though, so I wouldn’t use it in savory cooking. Baking though, it’s great!
I’ve been really enjoying using flax eggs in place of regular eggs lately in baking!! 🙂
I’m so glad! I find it so much easier to have flax on hand 🙂
I have tried a lot of vegan banana muffins and these are the best yet! They have a really nice crumb. Just don’t overmix the batter. It’s also nice to find a recipe that doesn’t have a whole cup of sugar in it. They are not overly sweet…they are just right. I used hazelnuts in place of the chocolate chips because that’s what I had in my cupboard, and it was really good!
Could you sub in spelt flour?
yep, you can!
Have you tried this with almond flour by chance?
Hi Allie, I haven’t tried this recipe with only almond flour, but I usually have success with 1/2 almond flour and 1/2 regular flour.
Wow, these look so yummy! I love that the chocolate chunks are still visible and not totally melted!
Ha, well they are pretty melty out of the oven, it was a challenge to shoot this one without shmearing chocolate all over everything 🙂