Vegan Banana Muffins

I love making a batch of these vegan banana muffins for breakfast or as an afterschool snack.

They are incredibly moist and bursting with banana flavor and are my go-to recipe when I need to use very ripe bananas.

this Recipe

A quick and easy vegan banana muffin recipe that’s ready in just 30 minutes. You only need one bowl for this recipe, making prep and clean up a breeze.

Why I love these

If time permitted, I would wake up every day to freshly baked muffins. The way my kitchen smells after I pull out a batch of these vegan banana muffins is one of my favorite things.

A banana muffin with coffee is such a delicious breakfast, especially served my way– with a little peanut butter and a drizzle of honey on top. The addition of peanut butter and honey adds a little sweet and savory note and I highly recommend trying it once you make a batch of these!

My kids are also big muffin fans, and as I always have bananas on my counter, this muffin recipe is one I turn to week after week.

I appreciate that these take just minutes to put together and can be made in a single bowl. As I feel like I am forever cleaning up a kitchen, I wanted to create a recipe that had minimal prep and mess!

Ingredients

The key to these vegan banana muffins is using very ripe bananas. I wait until my bananas have plenty of brown or black spots on their peel as this means that the starches in the bananas have converted into sugars, making for a sweeter and flavorful muffin.

Applesauce is my secret ingredient for most of my vegan baked goods. In place of traditional eggs, applesauce adds moisture and helps to bind the ingredients together. If you don’t usually eat applesauce, I recommend buying the single-serve cups, as they are a perfect 1/2 cup serving, and you can use the entire one for this recipe.

This recipe was tested with oat milk. I prefer oat milk because its higher carbohydrate content, similar to cow’s milk, allows it to brown better when used in baking.  

Substitutions

I want these vegan banana muffins to be somewhat healthy as my kids like to eat them for breakfast as much as they do for a snack. I tested them with half whole-wheat pastry flour for some of the regular flour (like I do in my whole wheat waffles) but found that the overall muffin was a bit too dense for what I wanted.

If you do want to add in more whole grains, then I recommend using 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour and 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour. Whole-wheat pastry flour has less gluten than traditional whole wheat flour, resulting in a lighter, fluffier muffin that still packs in the benefits of whole grains.

Chopped nuts (try walnuts or pecans) are optional, but I like to add nuts to my baked goods recipes for extra texture and healthy fats. If you choose to add nuts, I recommend 1/2 cup chopped.

How to Make These Vegan Banana Muffins

These are almost foolproof! Stir together the wet ingredients, then the dry, fill, and bake.

Step 1: Beat the Wet Ingredients

In a large bowl, beat the sugars, ripe bananas, oil, and vanilla until smooth. I often use my stand mixer for ease, but you can do this in a blender or with a wire whisk.

The bananas should be mostly broken down but with some texture, like in the photo below.

Step 2: Add the dry

Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until just combined, taking care not to overmix. This is important when making muffins as overmixing activates the gluten in the flour, causing it to develop strong, elastic strands, which creates tough, chewy, and dense muffins.

If you are using nuts or chocolate chips, fold them in here.

Step 3: Fill and Bake

Divide the batter into lightly greased muffin tins and bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. I use two muffin tins and bake them side by side but you can do this in batches if you only have one muffin tin.

Chef Tips for Success

Take care not to overmix the muffins when adding the dry to the wet. Overmixing creates overdeveloped gluten in the flour, which results in tough, dense muffins. Overworked batter will not rise as evenly as batter that isn’t mixed. It’s OK if your batter has a few lumps!

Make sure your bananas are very ripe. This recipe won’t work the same with underripe bananas or bananas that aren’t quite ripe enough. In addition to being sweet enough, overripe bananas add essential moisture, which creates a more tender muffin crumb.

Variations

These vegan banana muffins also work as chocolate chip banana muffins. Fold in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate into the batter right after mixing the wet and dry together. Mini chocolate chips also work, use 1/3 cup.

I often add chopped pecans or walnuts to these muffins. As with the chocolate, fold in 1/2 cup of chopped nuts to the batter before adding to the muffin tin.

More Muffin Recipes

• Lemon Olive Oil Muffins
• Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
• Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins
• Lemon Raspberry Muffins

If you try these vegan banana muffins, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag your Instagram photos with #delishknowledge . I absolutely love seeing your creations. Happy cooking!