Moist, tender, and perfectly sweet! These vegan banana muffins are super easy to whip up and perfect for an indulgent breakfast or light dessert.
If there's one thing a person gets out of being an avid vegan baker, it's banana bread recipes, which is at least partly attributable to the fact that bananas work so well as egg substitutes. I keep bananas around all the time, and inevitably, some will sit around longer than intended, start to turn brown, often resulting in a new banana recipe.
I already have a recipe for classic vegan banana bread and it's one of the most popular recipes on this site. A lot of readers ask if the banana bread can be made into muffins, and the answer is yes, but with some small tweaks.
Well here it is: my banana bread recipe transformed into vegan banana muffins.
Choosing Bananas
One of the most important things to keep in mind when making banana bread, banana muffins, or nearly any other kind of banana baked good for that matter is this: your bananas need to be overripe.
What's that mean? Lots of brown spots. If they don't have any brown spots, they're nowhere near ripe enough. My general rule is that at least a third of the peel should be brown.
Using bananas that are overripe will ensure that your banana bread is sweet enough and moist enough.
How big should the bananas be? I usually just grab what I consider medium-sized bananas while I'm at the supermarket. In the interest of accuracy, I weighed my bananas before putting them in my muffins and they were about 5 ounces each.
Note: If you're weighing your bananas, do it right before baking, as the weight might change as they ripen.
How to Make Vegan Banana Muffins
- First, peel those bananas and stick them in a large bowl. Grab a fork or potato masher and mash them up!
- Now add some oil, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir everything up.
- The dry ingredients go in next. Add the flour first, but don't stir. Now sprinkle some baking soda, cinnamon, and salt over the flour. Doing it this way helps ensure that the baking soda gets mixed in evenly, without you having to mix up the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Now just stir the batter until it's mixed — don't overdo it! The batter should be pretty thick.
- Stir-ins go in last. I used walnuts and vegan chocolate chips, but use what you like, or skip them all together.
Spoon the batter into paper-lined muffin cups. I like to sprinkle a bit of brown sugar on top of each one.
Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes. To test for doneness, lightly touch the top of one muffin — if it springs back, it's done.
Let the muffins cool a bit before digging in!
Vegan Banana Muffin FAQ & Tips
- Make sure your bananas are overripe. This is really important! They should have lots of brown spots and feel a bit soft. Bananas that aren't ripe enough can negatively affect both the flavor and texture of your muffins.
- If you have overripe bananas but aren't ready to make muffins, freeze them! I keep a stash in a freezer bag at all times, and they're generally good for at least 3 months. When adding them to the recipe, add the banana as well as any liquid that accumulates as it thaws.
- Can these muffins be made gluten-free? I haven't tried making them gluten-free, so I'm not sure. If you'd like to try it, your best bet would to use a one-to-one gluten-free flour blend, such as those made by Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur Flour.
- My muffins didn't rise. What's the deal? Usually this is due to old baking soda. To test yours, sprinkle a bit in a glass of vinegar. It should fizz. If it doesn't, it's time for a new box.
- Why does the brown sugar need to be organic? Most granulated sugar in the United States is processed using animal bone char, so it's not considered vegan. Organic sugar is processed differently.
- Storage: These muffins will keep at room temperature in a sealed bag or container for about 3 days. You can also freeze them in a sealed container for up to 3 months.
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Vegan Banana Muffins
Moist, tender, and perfectly sweet! These vegan banana muffins are super easy to whip up and perfect for an indulgent breakfast or light dessert.
Ingredients
- 3 overripe bananas (about 5 ounces or 140 grams each), peeled
- ⅓ cup canola oil (or any neutral flavored baking oil)
- ½ cup organic brown sugar, plus an optional tablespoon for topping
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (spelt or all-purpose flour work as well)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
Optional Stir-Ins
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350º and line a 12 cup muffin tin with papers.
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In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas well with a fork or potato masher.
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Stir in the oil, brown sugar, and vanilla.
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Add the flour to the bowl, then sprinkle the baking soda, cinnamon, and salt on top of the flour.
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Stir the dry ingredients into the banana mixture, just until the ingredients are completely blended. Don't overmix the batter. The batter will be very thick.
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Fold the chips and walnuts into the batter, if using.
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Divide the batter into muffin cups.
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Optionally, sprinkle the top of each muffin with a bit of brown sugar.
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Bake the muffins for 20 to 22 minutes. Test for doneness by gently pressing a finger into the top of a muffin. It should spring back when the muffins are done.
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Transfer the muffin tin to a cooling rack. Let the muffins cool until they're just slightly warm before removing them from the tin.
Well.... as I'm about to go to bed, definitely too late for my breakfast today- but hopefully next weekend cause these look SO GOOD!
Ok, they're in the oven now. Can't wait to try them. Maybe I'll leave a couple for the hubs for breakfast.
Oh. My. Goodness. I decided to make 6 large muffins instead of 12 regular ones. I also made half with chocolate and half plain because I'm funny about the taste of chocolate and cinnamon together. I was pleasantly surprised to find both types quite delicious! Not too dry - not to doughy. This is one I will definitely make again! Thanks!
THESE ARE THE BEST THINGS EVER. I put both dark and 'milk' chocolate in plus extra walnuts...These were all I ate when I was in hospital after my c section 6 weeks ago. AMAZING <3
Yay! Glad you enjoyed them! I make these muffins all the time. Thanks Elle!
Made these last night - BEST banana bread muffins I've EVER had. Will be my go-to. Mind if I share the recipe on my page with a link you site of course? :)
Thank you for this vegan recipe! I wanted to ask if yours have ever turned out "dry" mine were, sadly, dry in the middle. Suggestions? Thank you :)
Hi Lori! Mine usually come out very moist, but I could see a few things that might go wrong. The bananas add a lot of moisture, so it's possible that if you use smaller bananas the muffins could end up dry. You could also check your oven temperature, because if it's too high things will overcook a bit and dry out. I've used this test before and found out that my temperature was off. The only other thing I can think of is the brand of flour. I love Bob's Red Mill, and I've found that sometimes if I use another brand my baked goods will sometimes end up gritty. I hope that helps!
My batter came out super dry like dough i added 2 tbsp of almond milk and they came out amazing
The batter should be pretty thick. :) Glad you enjoyed them!!
I don't have muffin tins, can i bake it as a loaf? thanks!
You can! It will need to bake much longer but I'm not sure how long. I'd check it every 5 minutes after the first 30.
Has anyone made these gluten free? If so, is there a particular flour that works best?
I haven't made them gluten-free, but generally in recipes like this I find that one-to-one gluten free blends like those made by Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur Flour work best.
Thank you! I'll give it a try!
Can this be made oil free?:)
I'm haven't tried, so I can't say for sure, but I do have a similar recipe for banana bread (here: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/vegan-banana-bread/) and some readers tell me they've had success subbing applesauce for the oil, so so that might be worth a shot!
I own at least 40-50 cookbooks and couldn't find one simple delicious recipe for banana bread or muffins. This was perfect. Made a double batch to freeze ;)
This is my new go-to banana muffin recipe. I used all-purpose flour, coconut oil, coconut sugar, but didn't change anything else. I love how dense they came out!