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This vegan banana muffin recipe is loaded to the dang brim with chocolate chunks and walnuts with a lovely hint of saffron and spices. Over 350 recipe testers loved the absolute heck out of it, and you will be able to nail it in less than half an hour, even if you suck horribly at baking!
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What are your dreams going to do when they find out you've been biting into moist, banana-muffins, oozing with rich, warm chocolate and crunchy walnuts? They will not be able to compete with that. These muffins are easy to whip up and require just a handful of ingredients, most of which I bet you already have on hand.
If you are new to the Cinnamon Snail blog, you might not yet know that I am a certified banana freak, 7-days a week. From Vietnamese ice cream bars with banana and peanuts, to Malaysian cekodok pisang (picture vegan banana bread donuts with a simple palm sugar syrup), Filipino turon, and Indonesian pisang goreng, I might as well change the name of this blog to banana dot com! So, who better trust to guide you towards vegan banana muffin heaven?
Anyway, enough about me. Go ahead, put your cutest apron on, grab your mixing bowl, and let's begin baking!
Delicious! These muffins taste so yummy & the air fills up with the lovely scent of banana & chocolate. I don't know for sure but I think the mailman is intentionally delivering mail to us that isn't ours just so he can see if I'm baking banana muffins.
Crowd pleaser!
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🥰Why you'll adore this vegan banana muffin recipe
✊Vegan AF: Like all my vegan breakfast recipes, this recipe is made without harming a single animal.
⚗️ No Processed Tomfoolery: you don't need anything weird, hard-to-find, or unhealthy to make these dairy-free muffins.
🙅♀️🌾 Easy to make GF: Does the very thought of wheat make you scream?!? Don't stress. This recipe works out great with a gluten-free flour blend instead of all-purpose flour. I have tested it, and it's fantastic!
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Just like all the vegan recipes I share, this one was perfected through multiple tests and enjoyed by recipe testers all around the planet.
I'm on my knees staring weirdly into your eyes, asking you in a soothing voice to be my taste-testing partner in crime. Sign up for the recipe testing crew and get early access to new recipes before they're published.
🍌Ingredients for vegan banana muffins
The Bananas
Use nice ripe bananas for this like you would for making vegan banana pancakes with. If your bananas are on the just-barely-ripe side you should use them for pisang goreng instead.
Coconut Oil
Refined coconut oil is a great dairy-free fat source that solidifies at cooler temperatures and melts when heated, which is why it is a go-to butter replacement in recipes like toor dal tadka, and Filipino karioka.
It lends a nice melty quality, without the coconut flavor to vegan cotija cheese, and vegan parmesan. In this recipe, it keeps the muffins moist and ensures they bake with a great texture. You can use any neutral-flavored oil like canola, sunflower oil, or mild olive oil as a substitute.
Flour
All-purpose flour gives these easy vegan banana muffins structure and texture. This recipe works great with a gluten-free blend in place of the wheat-based flour.
The optional fun stuff
I mean, banana chocolate chip muffins are already a nice combo, but I am all about using chocolate chunks in these. If you want to use chocolate that has natural sweeteners, try using the Hu gems (they are coconut sugar-sweetened vegan chocolate chips). My wife swears by 'em.
Walnuts add a delightful crunch and are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which is why they are ALWAYS in my vegan carrot cake. If preferred, you can replace them with other nuts like pecans or chopped almonds.
Sweetener
This recipe works great with coconut sugar, palm sugar (my sweetener of choice for Southeast Asian desserts like bubur cha cha, turon and karioka), or brown sugar. If you don't have any of those, you can use regular ol' cane, and add a half teaspoon of molasses to the batter.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯Variations
Nutella frosted vegan banana muffins:
Warm some of this insanely good vegan Nutella in a double boiler, and then spread a generous spoonful of it on the muffins. This variation makes the mini chocolate chips that basic banana muffin recipes call for ashamed of themselves.
Cream cheese frosted oatmeal banana muffins:
You can make this luscious vegan cream cheese frosting using my cultured cashew-based vegan cream cheese recipe. After adding a half cup of quick oats to the batter and baking the muffins, spread that glorious frosting on these vegan banana oatmeal muffins and then sprinkle with chopped, lightly roasted walnuts.
Grab my easy-yo-use app that builds your whole week with real, chef-tested vegan dinners in 30 seconds, customized to your budget, time, and taste, with a shopping list sorted by aisle.
📖 How to Make This Dairy-Free Banana Muffin Recipe
Make the best plant-based muffins you have ever eaten by following these step-by-step photos with helpful tips. Or scroll down to the bottom of this page for the easy-to-print recipe card.
Step One
Baking Setup:
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a muffin pan with paper liners.
If you don't have paper liners, you can lightly grease the muffin tins with vegetable oil or any other neutral-tasting oil and bake the batter directly in them.
Step Two
That Juicy Stuff:
Either in a large bowl by hand, or in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the mashed banana, coconut sugar, melted coconut oil, unsweetened non-dairy milk (I usually use almond milk), saffron threads, and vanilla extract until smooth and well combined.
Step Three
Sift Happens:
Sift the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the wet mixture. Stir gently with a rubber spatula until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
Step Four
Fun Stuff Bonanza:
Fold in the vegan chocolate chunks and chopped walnuts, ensuring they are evenly spread throughout the batter.
Step Five
Fill your Heart with Joy:
Spoon the batter into the lined muffin tin, filling each cup about three-quarters full. If you don't mind the few extra calories, sprinkle the tops with coconut sugar for a sweet, crunchy finish.
Step Six
Easy Bake:
Bake the muffins in the preheated oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, and the muffins appear golden brown on top.
Step Seven
Cool Your Jets:
Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for five minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before diving in.
50+ of my own family's fave recipes. Carefully concocted to win over even your most anti-vegan friends.
💡Serving Ideas
These vegan banana muffins are a great recipe for your brunch arsenal. They make for an especially easy breakfast addition because you can make them a day or two before prepping your blue corn pancakes, vegan breakfast sausages, apple cider donuts and whatever else you have for breakfast.
My two favorite teas to serve these fluffy vegan banana muffins with are vegan Thai iced tea and Bandrek, a lightly spiced herbal tea from Indonesia.
👉Top tips
- Use Overripe Bananas: For best results, use super-ripe bananas. Look for bananas with at least a few brown speckles; they are sweeter and will contribute more moisture to the batter.
- Don't Go Crazy with Mixing the Batter: Once you add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stir just until combined. Overmixing can lead to dense, tough muffins that will make a grown man cry instead of light and fluffy ones.
- Measure Flour Like This: Scoop flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife instead of scooping it directly from the bag. This prevents packing the flour too tightly and throwing off the wet to dry ingredients ratio. Being careful about this as it is especially important if you are multiplying the recipe.
- Check Doneness Early: Check your muffins a couple of minutes before the minimum baking time. Ovens can vary, and you don't want to overbake your muffins. A toothpick or reusable metal skewer inserted in the center should come out clean or with just a few crumbs.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week. For longer storage, freeze the muffins for up to three months and thaw at room temperature before serving.
Yes, you can substitute the all-purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour blend to make this banana muffin recipe gluten-free.
What's the best way to mash bananas for this Vegan Banana Muffin recipe?
Honestly, I am a little bit of a dirtbag, and I usually just mash bananas by hand (uh, after washing my hands, of course). But you can mash bananas with a fork, pastry blender (it's one of those tools you would use to break up butter to make the vegan pie crust for my plant-based apple pie), or potato masher until smooth, ensuring no large chunks remain.
Use high-quality paper liners and lightly spray them with non-stick cooking spray before adding the batter. Alternatively, you can just grease the muffin tins and bake right in them without paper liner at all, but clean up is a bit more annoying that way.
The muffins will 100% stick to the papers if you try to take them out when they are still hot. But they will come out nicely once the muffins are cool.
Like I do for making kuboos (it's a whole wheat Arabic pita bread), I suggest using equal parts all-purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour to give these a little more fiber while preventing them from being dry or heavy.
Dense muffins can result from overmixing the batter or using too much flour. Make sure to measure the flour correctly (spooning into the measuring cups, rather than scooping with the measuring cups) and mix just until the ingredients are combined.
✌️Serve this stuff with these vegan banana muffins:
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Vegan Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chunks and Walnuts
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups ripe bananas mashed
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar palm sugar, or brown sugar
- ¼ cup refined coconut oil melted to room temperature
- ⅓ cup unsweetened plant-based milk
- 10 threads saffron (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
The Optional but highly recommended stuff:
- ½ cup vegan chocolate chunks
- ½ cup walnuts chopped
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar palm sugar, or brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the mashed bananas, coconut sugar, melted coconut oil, unsweetened plant-based milk, saffron and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth and well combined.
- Sift in the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
- If adding the fun stuff (for real, why wouldn't you?): fold in the vegan chocolate chunks and chopped walnuts, ensuring they are evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup about three-quarters full. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the coconut sugar.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 22-26 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for five minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
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Gail says
Great flavor, nice and moist, and very simple—the hardest part is waiting for them to cool.
Don’t skip the sugar topping, especially if you don’t add the chocolate chips!
joy says
Awesome! The whole house smells so yummy from their bake. The grandsons are going to love these. I added the optional chocolate chunks and walnuts.
Meg says
Ok I’ll admit. I forgot that they were American cups…use Australian cup measures….and I got them out of the oven and thought….well that’s a fail….didnt look fab….so I was thinking…maybe I can use them in a crumble or something….AND THEN I TASTED.
GREAT! Which just goes to show that this recipe is very forgiving….
Thanks Adam.
Meg says
I made them again….oh my….so good. Thank you Chef Adam.
Krys says
I made these yesterday. Wow! They are amazing. I love the touch of saffron. Genius recipe.
Adam Sobel says
Super-delighted to hear you loved 'em ❤️
hg says
Perfect for breakfast, snack or dessert ! Easy to. make, and even easier to eat! Whole family loved them.
Thea says
Dang, these sound super delish and I have everything needed to make them — except the paper liners! So I have to ask… can the recipe be implemented as a banana bread loaf sorta thing instead of as muffins? I’m not much of a baker so I’m not sure how the baking temp or duration might need to be changed. Oof, I hope it’s possible, I want some of this deliciousness asap!
Adam Sobel says
Yes! You can rock it as a loaf, but the cook time increases to around 45 minutes. The other thing you can do is just lightly grease the muffin tin and bake the batter and bake it right in there with out the papers.
Thea says
Just popping back in here to say we made a batch of this goodness and it came out great! Also thx very much for the recommendation for the longer bake time since we went with a loaf form, it was perrrfeeectioooon. xoxo
Adam Sobel says
yipee! Glad it came out so lovely for ya ❤️
Jessica says
This is a great banana bread recipe. It's less sweet than I usually make mine, but that's good because it means I can have more and even make some maple butter to serve with it. Lovely!
Katie Debus says
Delicious! These muffins taste so yummy & the air fills up with the lovely scent of banana & chocolate. I don't know for sure but I think the mailman is intentionally delivering mail to us that isn't ours just so he can see if I'm baking banana muffins.
Crowd pleaser!
Adam Sobel says
Lol. Super-glad to hear that you and your mail carrier loved 'em, Katie
Kelly McLaughlin says
This is a really easy and delicious muffin recipe. They whipped up quickly and I froze a bunch that are excellent when thawed!
sarah says
Easy to make and really good taste.