A vegan flourless banana bread muffin that’s gluten-free, egg-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, oil-free and whipped up in the blender in under 5 minutes flat. Tastes just like a soft and tender slice of banana bread!
I post a pretty wide variety of recipes here on Spoons.
Some are vegan, some are not.
Some are gluten-free, some are not.
Some are healthier, some less so.
The fact that I don’t seem to have my feet firmly planted in any particular dietary camp (except the peanut-free one for life & death reasons) is actually something that used to drive me crazy, but the more time I spent thinking about it, the more I realized that my lack of a camp was actually a camp in itself… and one that aligned perfectly with the belief that’s at the root of all my views on diet and nutrition in general.
Which belief is that? That we’re all unique and that different things work for different people. I can’t say that a vegan diet is better than a Paleo diet from a health perspective because I’ve seen people do well on both ends of the spectrum, just as I’ve seen people do poorly on both.
I can’t say that going vegetarian or gluten-free will change your life or heal your ailments, because while it does happen for some, it also doesn’t happen for others (unless you’re celiac, in which case it most definitely -will- change your life).
There are as many perfect diets out there as there are people in the world — it’s all about figuring out what works for you and what doesn’t, regardless of what works for others or what’s trending at the moment.
That’s why I’m a big proponent of keeping an open, objective mind and experimenting with your diet. Over the years I’ve been raw, vegan, vegetarian, high-carb, low-carb, high-protein, low-protein, high-fat, low-fat, etc. and I feel like I’ve reached a point where I have a pretty good grasp of what works for me and what doesn’t. Most of the time, anyways.
Even now there are still times where I have to tinker with my diet depending on the season, my activity level, how much stress I’m dealing with, how much sleep I’m getting, etc. The same exact thing can make me feel great one day and crappy the next, which is a little frustrating, but at least it keeps me on my toes #glasshalffull.
And if you’re wondering what the heck my longwinded speech has to to with the muffin pictures that I’ve been littering throughout this post, it was basically my roundabout way of saying that I love experimenting with food — both with what I eat and how I make it. That might be part of the reason that I post so many gluten-free, vegan, and/or flourless recipes… it’s always fun to see what I can come up with.
These flourless vegan banana bread muffins are actually adapted from my original flourless banana bread muffins. They’re a reader favourite and a recipe that a lot of people have asked about making egg-less as well… because being gluten-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and oil-free isn’t enough, apparently…
I kid, I kid. You guys know I’m more than happy to experiment, and even happier to say that the vegan version of these muffins is just as good as the original. In fact, they even look pretty much identical…
And they taste and feel the same, too. Maybe a tad less fluffy, but I whipped up a batch of the originals to compare and I honestly had a hard time telling the difference. Both batches were incredibly soft, tender, and tasted exactly like a slice of banana bread. And in traditional banana bread fashion, they taste even better the next day.
The only thing I’ll caution you against is taste-testing the batter. Don’t do it. Not because you have to worry about the possibility of getting salmonella from raw eggs (hooray!), but because it tastes so good that you’ll be tempted to eat it without baking it first, and you definitely don’t want to miss out on the finished product.
I’d love to know if you make this (or any!) recipe! Tag @runwithspoons on Instagram and Twitter, and be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive more healthy and delicious recipes straight to your inbox!
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Vegan Flourless Banana Bread Muffins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 9 muffins 1x
Ingredients
- 1 flax “egg”*
- ¼ cup almond butter**
- 2 ripe medium/large bananas
- 2 Tbsp. agave nectar***
- 3/4 cup rolled oats****
- 2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Prepare your flax egg by combining 1 Tbsp. of ground flaxseed with 3 Tbsp. of water. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375F and prepare a muffin pan by spraying 9 cavities with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Add all ingredients to a blender and blend on high until oats are broken down and batter is smooth and creamy. If you do not have a high speed blender, you can mix all the ingredients by hand. Simply grind the oats into a flour and mash the bananas before combining all the ingredients in a bowl and mixing well.
- Pour batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cavity until it is about 2/3 full.
- Bake for 15 minutes, until the tops of your muffins are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pan for ~10 minutes before removing. Store in an air-tight container for up to a week.
Notes
* to make a flax egg, combine 1 Tbsp. of ground flaxseed with 3 Tbsp. of water and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
** can sub with nut butter of your choice.
*** can sub with maple syrup or brown rice syrup. Or honey if not strictly vegan.
**** make sure to use certified gluten-free oats if you need these to be gluten-free.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
Looking for more flourless muffin recipes? Try one of these!
Flourless Chocolate Chip Almond Butter Muffins
Flourless Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Flourless Pumpkin Pie Muffins
BEST RECIPE EVER!!!!! Thank you!! A favorite for the whole family.
Thank you so much Amanda! Love that they are full of goodness and taste amazing. This is the 3rd time I’ve made them. May make a double batch next time. I’m not vegan so used an egg. Simply delish!
It was so easy to make and I had all the ingredients in my pantry already which is good because most recipes always use ingredients I don’t have. It also tasted delicious and it was like eating a mini banana loaf.
I’m so glad you liked them, Luna! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know.
Mmm LOVED these!!! I used a regular egg and made oat flour in my food processor, then mixed everything by hand. Also added some chopped pecans, When they were done I dipped the tops into melted butter and a mixture of coconut sugar and cinnamon. They were excellent. I really like the fact you used oatmeal, almond butter and a little sweetener. Thank you for posting this recipe.
I made these today and loved the texture and taste but they weren’t sweet at all. I used honey instead of agave, chia instead of flax and peanut butter instead of almond. I am going to try them again and add more cinnamon and maybe try adding some maple syrup too. Thanks for the recipe, it is a good base to start with until I get the flavor I’m looking for!
I don’t have muffin liners…can I bake this into a loaf?
I made two mini loaves with this recipe (while I study for finals) and they are cooling as I type this! My apartment smells DIVINE and I had to lick the mixing spoon clean for a taste test. So yummy!
Hi, just made these with a couple of substitutions. Used a normal egg and also some hemp protein instead of the ground flaxseed. They were delicious especially eaten warm. Good thing I only made 5 as I could have finished many more!
I’m with Patty here, as I have baked them twice, each time resulting in a gummy texture. If you REALLy like batter, the end result is not much different from the batter. I wanted to like these with all of the wonderful comments, but with most of those from folks who had NOT yet tried it, I should’ve known.
HI, I tried these today,they are awesome.wehad them for our breakfast.these are delicious without any oil ,sugar and eggs, flour also.extremely healthy yummy muffins .Thankyou ….
I’m so glad you liked them, Sirisha! Thanks so much for letting me know 😀
I have made these twice and they are delicious! I would love to see a pumpkin version 🙂 I appreciate that this recipe doesn’t have eggs. It is hard to find recipes that are both vegan and flourless!
What adjustments should I make if they are sweet enough to me without the maple syrup?
I would replace the sweetener with a non-dairy milk, Lydia. Start with just the 2 tablespoons, and then go up to 1/4 cup if the batter seems too dry.
Ok, I will do that! I really appreciate your giving advice on adjustments. Even changing one thing can be disastrous for a novice like me 😉
I just made these and added in some blueberries! The batter is amazing and had to stop myself from eating it all before I made the muffins!
I’m so glad you liked them, Jen! And blueberries sound like an awesome addition. That’s the danger of vegan baking, eh? The batter is just so tempting!
Hi Amanda,
I just made these and they did not turn out like your photo. I want to try them again but can you help me figure out what I did wrong?
My batter was not liquidy like your photo and was rather thick so I couldn’t even get the tops to be evenly flat, but instead they peaked everywhere.
I did use two bananas that were the ripest the store had- yellow but with no spots…I also used ground flaxseed meal- is that the same as ground flaxseeds?
And my last potential error was that I mixed everything in my vitamix and it took a while to get it all blended because the blades just kept spinning without catching the batter because it was so thick.
Please help!
Thank you!
Patty
how is this gluten free with oats in it?///
These turned out lovely for me! I made them gingerbread-spiced by using gingerbread peanut butter and adding 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. each of ginger and nutmeg, and some chopped candied ginger. (I also swapped the sweetener for a few dates, since it was going in the blender anyway). The rest of my family (who normally eat a lot of sugar) weren’t crazy about them because the banana flavor was so strong, but I loved them! And they had a great, moist texture. I’ll definitely be making them again and trying the original banana flavor (:
What a great idea to use dates!
I just made these and subbed 1 tbsp water + 3 tbsp natural cane sugar for the agave nectar, plus peanut butter for the almond butter. I made 8 muffins rather than 12, from this recipe with all ingredients increased proportionally x 1.5 and they cooked for longer due to that but they turned out wonderfully!!!! Moist and delicious, chewy and sweet, despite only having a few tablespoons of added sugar. I was so excited to make my non-vegan family members try them and they agreed that they’re delicious, even in comparison to the traditional banana bread muffins I made for them yesterday (I felt left out so I made these ones for me!) and those had 2/3 cup of sugar and a half stick of butter. I am so excited that something so tasty and sweet is actually so healthy for you, with 5 grams of protein per muffin (after my increase in the yield of the recipe) and only 200 calories each. I blended the oatmeal on its own in my food processor to make a fine flour then mixed everything by hand and the texture of the muffin is heavenly. This recipe will be staying around for a long, long time and I would unapologetically offer it to any banana bread lover, vegan or otherwise. I can’t even express my enthusiasm properly.
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review, Mickey! I’m glad that you and your family liked them — it’s always a great feeling to show non-vegans how awesome vegan baking can be.
Followed the recipe exactly, only subbed sun nut butter for almond because of a nut allergy. My gluten free sister liked these, but I think the middle never cooked quite right and it lacked a lot of potential flavor. I’m in high school and have mastered vegan, vegetarian, and nut-free, baked goods but gluten free has been a disaster so far. These have been better than most, on that scale, but I’m still looking for recipes that would fool a “normal eater”.My brothers and sisters ate the whole batch under 10 minutes, but then again anything I bake they declare delicious- including a disastrous vegan mac and cheese with no cheese…. On the bright side, these were incredibly easy to make on a busy morning with the family running around, and used next to no dishes!
Thanks!
Hi Amanda,
I was googling healthy muffins yesterday and landed here. Just finished making your muffins and had to revisit to thank you. I don’t have a blog or anything, just a middle aged claims analyst who has to eat healthy, for my health. I’m so grateful you came up with this recipe. It is the first vegan muffin I’ve ever had that didn’t taste like cardboard. They really are like a slice of regular, very moist, banana bread.
Thanks!
Would the recipe still work if you are baking it as a bread and not muffins?
I’ve never tried it myself so I can’t be 100% sure, Portia, but I imagine it would still work. You would just need to adjust the baking time and bake it for longer.
You never cease to amaze me girl scout! These look fab…no shocker there! mouth watering!
Imagine if we all ate the same thing….we’d be so boring.
Variety is good, so long as it’s for the right reason. Jumping on the next fad diet in an effort to lose weight AND by eliminating foods you regularly enjoy because the diet deems it a no-no is what I can’t agree with. Restriction generally backfires in the end regardless of the diet. Also, I can understand a lower-carb diet, but the no-carb ones make me batty. Not that that takes much. 🙂
You rock on with your muffin self. I like variety.
*Edited to add: I like YOUR variety.