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
- â…” cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- â…“ cup maple syrup
- â…“ 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 â…“ 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
Yum. I made a batch of these last night, as it was one of those recipes that pops up right when you have just those exact ingredients on hand. Well, almost those exact ingredients. No nutmeg, no vanilla, regular cow’s milk, all-purpose flour, canola oil…other than that the same. I made the chocolate chip version, because I happened to have a bag of dark chocolate chips, as well as six ripe bananas. That means I get to make two more batches of these delicious muffins, and use the ingredients that I have in my kitchen in a very smart way. You are just so meant to be as a chef in my life. Thank you for always posting awesome recipes. I loved these muffins. They were very moist, and the cinnamon, chocolate, and banana flavors together put me in a good mood all day and gave me good energy.
Hi Courtney, I’m so glad you loved the muffins!
These were great! Even my young daughter, who claims not to like banana bread, ate three of these muffins 🙂 We used eggs, whole milk and canola oil because we didn’t have the flaxseed or plant milk and were running low on olive oil. The chocolate chips are a must!
Ha, aww, I’m glad you all loved them 🙂
These turned out great! I used a mixture of whole spelt and sifted spelt flour and replaced the oil with apple sauce. Also added chopped walnuts. Delish! Thank you!
Hi Tina, I’m so glad you loved the muffins!
These look delicious and I can’t wait to make them. It looks like rolled oats on the top, but I don’t see any in the recipe. Did you just sprinkle them on the top or are they in the batter. I apologize if I missed them. Thank you.
oops, apologies – they’re just sprinkled on top
Can you use gluten free flour if you’re gluten free?
Hi Sandra, I haven’t made these exact muffins with GF flour (although someone in the comments above had success with King Arthur’s GF flour). This other recipe of mine worked well with Pamela’s GF flour: https://www.loveandlemons.com/gluten-free-blueberry-banana-muffins/
Hope that helps!
I bake GF wondering if I can just sub GF pastry flour? Grazi
Hi Ruthie, I haven’t made these exact muffins with GF flour (although someone in the comments above had success with King Arthur’s GF flour). This other recipe of mine worked well with Pamela’s GF flour: https://www.loveandlemons.com/gluten-free-blueberry-banana-muffins/
Hope that helps!
Hi,
These sound amazing and I’m really keen to try them, but sadly I don’t have any flax at home. Usually I would substitute this for oil but there is already oil in here so not sure if that would work… would you recommend just leaving the flax out or adding more oil?
I don’t have enough bananas to increase that unfortunately either!
Thanks,
C
Hi Charlotte, the flax in this recipe is necessary to for binding (it takes the place of the eggs). So the 2nd option would be to use eggs if you’re not vegan. Chia could work but I haven’t tested it that way, so I’m not exactly sure the amount.
Can’t wait to make these! If I use eggs instead of the flax/water combo, should I also omit the apple cider vinegar?
Hi Courtney, you can leave it in (unless you don’t have any, then you can skip it)
How long to bake using a silicone mini muffin pan?
Probably about the same amount of time – just check with a toothpick before you take them out.
Going to try these today, actually I am a teacher stu k at home and going to put this as a recipe for my students to try and blog about. I have all of these ingredients and thanks for the substitutes (many of them won’t have flax!) however I know most of them will only have white flour at home. Would you use the same amount or cut it back? Thank you
Hi Leah, these work with regular white flour in the same quantity. I hope you enjoy!
Thank you for sharing your recipe.
– Can i omit the 1/3 cup maple syrup or use far less?
If so, does the liquid proportion (not used in the recipe) have to be replaced by something else?
What would it be? (milk, bananas…?)
– Can almond milk be replaced by soy milk or any other kind of milk?
– Can the amount of bananas be increased? If so, by how much given the current ratio of dry/wet ingredients?
Thanks in advance
Hi Zee, you can use any type of milk. I haven’t tried the other modifications so I’m not sure what the result would be.
Thank you
Please send a note if you ever have answers (or come across) for the two other queries regardin maple syrup & bananas
So light and delicious! Not vegan so used regular milk and eggs and it turned out perfectly. New go-to recipe.
These are amazing! I can’t tell the difference between these and non-vegan. I also threw in a handful of oats on a whim and it turned out great
Love these! Super soft and moist but still taste like a muffin!
Hi Michelle, I’m so glad you loved the muffins!
These are by far the best muffins I have ever made! At first I was worried they were not cooked enough, but after they were cooled they were moist and perfect! Absolutely delicious and recommend to all (vegan and not)!
Can I substitute agave syrup for maple syrup? As that’s what I have!
yep, that should work just fine!
Is the qty correct for flax?
yep – it substitutes for 2 eggs.
These are so wonderful! I’ve made them a couple of times now and since they mostly get eaten by the kids I don’t fill the muffin tins entirely and it’s it always yields so many muffins! …24 mini and 6 medium sized to be specific.
Today I used melted coconut oil, oat milk, and regular AP flour because that’s what I had on-hand, and they turned out perfectly.
Hi Alyssa, I’m so glad you and the kiddos have been loving them!
These are great! Do you know the calorie count in each one?
I made mine with blueberries since I can’t eat chocolate. I found these muffins to be moist, easy to make and absolutely delicious!