These easy, one-bowl, vegan banana muffins are moist, tender, and perfectly sweet. Each bite is bursting with peanut butter-banana goodness, a kiss of cinnamon, and a topping that is going to knock your socks off. All you need is one ripe banana and 30 minutes!
These are seriously the best vegan banana muffins ever! They’re tender, moist and buttery with the perfect crust and a banana flavor. I like to add chopped walnuts; but if you have a nut allergy, skip them or swap the nuts for chocolate chips.
Vegan Banana Bread is a family favorite, but when I have just one banana (and only 30 minutes), I whip up a small batch of these banana nut muffins! This recipe is quick and easy to follow and is perfect for new bakers. All you need is a spotty banana, a few basic kitchen ingredients, and one bowl. Let's get baking!
Vegan Banana Muffin Ingredients
This healthy banana muffin recipe is special diet/allergy friendly - you won't need any eggs or dairy, and they are easily oil-free, gluten-free, and nut free. Here's what you'll need:
- Bananas. 1 Large ripe (spotty) banana. As bananas ripen, the banana flavor is intensified and gets sweeter which is perfect for adding natural sweetness, flavor, and moisture to vegan baking!
- Peanut butter. A tasty replacement for oil/butter, peanut butter (or any nut butter if allergic to peanuts) adds richness, flavor and tenderness. Choose the natural, runny type of peanut butter or make your own homemade peanut butter!
- Flour. I tested this recipe using all purpose flour; but just like my vegan banana bread recipe, you can sub a 1:1 gluten-free flour mix like Bob's Red Mill or similar with good success.
- Brown Sugar. Adds sweetness - could sub in coconut sugar or a combination of brown and coconut sugars.
- Vegan buttermilk. Unflavored, dairy-free milk (I like soy milk) plus apple cider vinegar, white vinegar or fresh lemon juice.
- Spices. These little banana muffins pack a lot of spice. I doubled the cinnamon factor and added some nutmeg to create super warm, cozy banana muffins. Plus there is ginger in the maple walnut crunch topping - yum!
- Nuts. Walnuts pack the most nutritional benefit of any nut. Plus they are big and meaty and crunchy so a good choice for baking because they hold their texture well. But pecans are a popular choice for banana muffins as well or you can easily skip the nuts!
- Vanilla. Pure vanilla extract brings flavor and helps balance the flavor profile.
How do you make Vegan Banana Muffins?
The hardest thing about this recipe is waiting for the muffins to bake!!
Start by preheating the oven, then gather the ingredients together, and follow these simple steps: Mash the banana, add in the rest of the wet ingredients like peanut butter and vegan buttermilk, fold in the dry ingredients and voila, the yummiest moist and tender banana nut muffins ever.
A few insider tips to help you make perfect vegan muffins every time:
- Mixing the batter - hand mix with a wooden spoon for a rustic style muffin (my preferred method) or use a hand mixer to incorporate more air into the batter creating a lighter, fluffier muffin.
- Don't bother with paper liners - save those for cupcakes. Either spray the muffin tin with cooking spray or my preferred method is to lightly wipe the tin with butter/margarine for added flavor and color.
- Oven temperature - the higher initial oven temperature is going to give the muffins some height (oven spring) and extra color. Then the temperature is lowered so the inside of the banana muffins bake all the way through. This baking method creates a wonderful, tender crumb.
Topping Variations
Here are a few delicious topping ideas to push simple banana muffins over the top into gourmet, bakery style muffin status!
Caramelized Banana Slices - for everyday banana muffins: sprinkle banana slices with brown sugar right before tucking one slice on top of each muffin along with a few chopped nuts. The bananas and sugar caramelize while baking to ooey gooey perfection.
Crunchy Salty-Sweet Topping - for a fancier topping: chop a handful of walnuts on a cutting board, drizzle with a teaspoon or two of maple syrup, a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, and a kiss of ginger spice. Toss to incorporate. Sprinkle over the top of each muffin before baking for a salty, sweet, ginger flavor explosion in every bite!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Lovers - for the chocoholics out there: once cool, drizzle the muffins with melted chocolate and peanut butter stirred together. Or stir a handful of chocolate chips into the batter - kids LOVE chocolate chip banana muffins!
How to Store Banana Nut Muffins
These muffins are extra cozy served warm, but they are also amazing to take for a breakfast or a snack on the go. Wrap and store on the counter for 1 - 2 days or pop them into the fridge for up to a week. Perfect for school lunches or after school snacks!
Do vegan banana muffins freeze well? Yes! Once the muffins are completely cool, place them in a freezer friendly bag or container for up to a couple months. When ready to eat, let the muffin come to room temperature on the counter (~ 30 minutes) or gently warm in a microwave.
More Delicious Vegan Baking
If you have a sweet tooth, you'll love these extraordinary vegan desserts.
- Easy Apple Galette Puff Pastry
- Easy Vegan Cinnamon Rolls (fuss free!)
- Epic Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookie Cups
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Did you try my Vegan Banana Nut Muffin recipe?
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Vegan Banana Nut Muffins (small batch)
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INGREDIENTS
- ⅓ cup plant-based milk
- ¾ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup banana, mashed (1 large)
- ¼ cup runny peanut butter or vegan butter/margarine
- ⅓ cup brown sugar, loose pack
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 1+ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup walnuts, chopped
Maple Walnut Topping (optional)
- 5-8 whole walnuts, rough chop
- 1-2 teaspoons maple syrup
- sprinkle flaky sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
Chocolate Peanut Butter or Nutella (optional)
- ¼ cup chocolate peanut butter or nutella
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 425º F.
- Prepare muffin tins by lightly coating with baking spray or wipe with butter.
- Prepare muffin topping of choice* and set aside.
Banana Nut Muffin Batter
- In a measuring cup, stir together the non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar to create the buttermilk. Set aside.
- Using a fork, mash the banana in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the runny peanut butter and brown sugar to the bowl - stir to incorporate.
- Stir the vanilla and buttermilk into the bowl ingredients.
- Measure the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt into the bowl.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until incorporated.
- Chop the walnuts to desired size and stir into the batter.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared 6 muffin cups.
- Cut 6 slices off a banana (if you have an extra) sprinkle with brown sugar. Poke one slice into each muffin top then add a sprinkle of chopped walnuts.
- Additional topping ideas in recipe notes below.
Time to Bake
- Place muffins in preheated 425º F oven for 5 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 350º F for 16-18 minutes until the tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- Cool for 5 minutes then remove from muffin tin. Let cool on wire rack.
NOTES
- OPTION 1: On a cutting board, rough chop the walnuts. Pour 1-2 teaspoons maple syrup, a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, and ginger powder over walnuts - toss to combine. Sprinkle evenly over each muffin.
- OPTION 2: Once cooled, drizzle melted chocolate, nutella or chocolate-peanut butter sauce over each banana muffin.
- For the chocolate peanut butter sauce mix together ¼ cup runny peanut butter and 1-2 tablespoons vegan chocolate (melted + cooled). Add 1 teaspoon coconut oil (melted) to loosen if needed to loosen the sauce.
This recipe is from simplyceecee.co food blog. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images or republish this recipe without prior permission. Thank you.
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