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healthy banana nut muffins

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Healthy Banana Nut Muffins that are so light, tender, and loaded with flavour, you’d never know they were made without flour, oil, eggs, or refined sugar. Made with wholesome gluten-free and plant-based ingredients, these muffins make a delicious breakfast or snack!

Healthy Banana Nut Muffins that are so light, tender, and loaded with flavour, you’d never know they were made without flour, oil, eggs, or refined sugar!

Whenever I check my analytics, there’s some kind of muffin hanging out at the top as my most visited post.

Maybe it’s because I post a lot of muffins (I do love them). Maybe it’s because these Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins have yet to be dethroned as my most popular post. Or maybe it’s because people just really love muffins.

Whatever it is, I’m adding to the collection today. Everyone say hello to these little healthy banana nut muffins.

Healthy Banana Nut Muffins that are so light, tender, and loaded with flavour, you’d never know they were made without flour, oil, eggs, or refined sugar!

How To Make Healthy Banana Nut Muffins

I don’t want to just re-write the instructions in the recipe card, so I’ll give a few helpful tips instead.

Blender Method
  • This method works best if you have a high-speed blender like a Vitamix since a less powerful blender will most likely bog down under the ingredient load.
  • It really helps to start by processing the oats alone until they’re ground down into the consistency of a fine flour. This ensures a smoother muffin.
  • After you grind the oats, take the blender jar and give it a few shakes to make sure the oat flour isn’t packed too tightly under/around the blades – this helps the rest of the ingredients blend more smoothly and prevents the blender from bogging down.
Mixing Bowl Method
  • Start by mashing the bananas since they won’t be getting mashed up in a blender.
  • You’ll have to replace the oats with a pre-ground or store-bought oat flour. This recipe calls for 2 cups of oats which translates to 1 1/2 cups of oat flour – 160 grams in each case.
  • If you want to make your own oat flour, add 2 cups of oats (160 g) to any blender and process on high until the oats get ground down to a fine flour consistency. You can even do this in something like a NutriBullet… just in smaller batches.
Both Methods
  • I don’t recommend using bananas that are too ripe. Brown spots are good, but if the bananas themselves are completely brown and mushy, you’ll end up with slightly gummier muffins.
  • I used coconut palm sugar for my sweetener, but you can replace that with brown sugar or cane sugar as well. Something like maple syrup will work, but reduce it to 1/4 cup (60 ml).
  • I really recommend either using parchment paper liners or greasing your muffin cavities well. Paper liners are the devil.
  • A dab of vegan butter + a couple minutes in a toaster oven = amazing
Healthy Banana Nut Muffins that are so light, tender, and loaded with flavour, you’d never know they were made without flour, oil, eggs, or refined sugar!

Okay, but what are they like?

Light, tender and perfectly sweet with plenty of banana flavour. Because they’re made with oat flour, the muffins will be a little denser than those made with a traditional wheat flour, but they’re so nice and moist that you hardly even notice. And just like any other banana-based baked goods, I prefer them on the second day when they’ve had a little bit of time to sit and marinate for a while, but they’re delicious straight out of the oven too.

Either way, you’ll have yourself a batch of gluten-free (as long as you use certified gluten-free oats) and vegan banana muffins made with wholesome ingredients like oats, almond butter, coconut sugar, nuts, and bananas. They’re egg-free and dairy-free (obvs), and if you needed to, you could easily make them nut-free by replacing the almond butter with soy nut butter, the almond milk with another non-dairy milk like rice or soy, and the nuts with 1/2 cup (80 g) chocolate chips.

Happy eating!

Healthy Banana Nut Muffins that are so light, tender, and loaded with flavour, you’d never know they were made without flour, oil, eggs, or refined sugar!

I’d love to know if you make this recipe! Leave a comment and rating down below to let me know what you think, and subscribe to our mailing list to receive new recipes in your inbox!

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healthy banana nut muffins

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5 from 6 reviews

  • Author: Amanda @ Running with Spoons
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups (160 g) oats, gluten-free if needed
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup (120 ml) unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/4 cup (64 g) almond butter
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) coconut palm sugar*
  • 2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract
  • 2 medium-sized ripe bananas (1 cup [200 g])
  • 3/4 cup (90 g) nuts of choice, chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (176°C) and prepare a muffin pan by lining the cavities with parchment paper liners or greasing them with oil. Set aside.
  2. Add the oats to a high-speed blender and process on high until they’ve broken down into the consistency of a fine flour, about 10 seconds.**
  3. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the nuts and process on high until the batter becomes smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds. Periodically stop and scrape down the sides/corners of your blender as necessary. Finally, mix in the nuts by hand.
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each one about 3/4 of the way full.
  5. Bake for 25 – 27 minutes, until the tops of the muffins begin to turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. As soon as they’ve cooled, transfer them to an airtight container and store them at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Notes

* You can also use brown sugar or cane sugar.

** Alternatively, you can replace the oats with 1 1/2 cups (160 g) of oat flour and mix everything by hand in a large bowl. Just whisk the dry ingredients together, then add the remaining ingredients (mashing the banana beforehand) and mix until a smooth batter forms.

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 25 mins
Healthy Banana Nut Muffins that are so light, tender, and loaded with flavour, you’d never know they were made without flour, oil, eggs, or refined sugar!

Looking for more healthy muffin recipes? Try one of these!

Easy Vegan Chocolate Muffins
Flourless Vegan Banana Muffins
Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins
Flourless Morning Glory Muffins
Flourless Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

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*Disclosure: Some of the links included in this post may be affiliate links, meaning I’ll earn a small commission if you purchase through them, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use and believe will add value to my readers. Thank you so much for helping support Spoons!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  26. mario games

    That’s such a fabulous idea! Maybe just the inspiration for me to get back into the kitchen to create new recipes as I’ve been slacking on that front for quite a while. Or simply another great resource for delicious meals.

    Reply

  28. Diana Hernandez

    Hi! This is the first I baje with almond flour, which I usted instead of oats flour. My muffins were still wetnin the middle st the end, even though i left them more time on the oven. The top was beginning to become very brown bit the middle never improved. How can I fix this foro Next time?
    But for the rest, they gastes really good (the outside baked well and has a great taste!!)
    Thanks!!

    Reply

    • Amanda @ .running with spoons.

      Hi Diana! So I think the almond flour is the reason the muffins didn’t bake well. Oat flour is a lot more absorbent and the amount of liquid in the recipe is meant for that. If your diet allows for it, try with oat flour and they should work out!

      Reply

  29. Phil

    Great recipe and quality ingredients… BUT disgustingly sweet! 🙁
    I would highly recommend you HALF the amount of sweetener. I tasted the batter and was so dismayed. I guess this first batch will be “dessert” muffins.

    Thank you, Amanda for putting out this great recipe!



    Reply

      • Steph

        Ahhh Ok, yes, that happens to me a lot of the time too… Mostly, it’s the oily / unhealthy muffins that it doesn’t affect … so yes, the devil! ;o) I was worried that I missed something about them being toxic, etc
        Thank you for your fabulous recipes ~ our family loves them! Xo

        Reply

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