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These Chocolate Banana Muffins are fluffy, tender, and made with only 10 plant-based ingredients! Vegan, Gluten-Free, & Refined-Sugar Free.
Let’s talk MUFFINS! Chocolate Banana Muffins, to be exact. While I love a good Banana Bread, these fluffy, tender, and chocolate-y muffins might just be my new favorite way to use my brown bananas.
Oh yeah, and they’re vegan, gluten-free, and made from only 10 plant-based ingredients.
INGREDIENTS FOR CHOCOLATE BANANA MUFFINS
Not only are these muffins made from only 10 ingredients, but they’re pantry-friendly, too! I’m willing to bet you have everything you need to make them, right now. Here’s the lineup:
- Ripe Bananas: the classic ingredient in banana bread & muffins. As always, make sure your bananas are as brown and spotty as possible – or even black! The darker the banana, the sweeter it is.
- Oat Flour and Cacao Powder serve as our two main dry ingredients here. Oat flour is cheap, easy to make, and makes really fluffy baked goods when used correctly. Cacao powder also helps to add extra fluff, and of course, chocolate.
- Coconut Sugar is my refined sugar-free sweetener of choice. Because we’re using ripe bananas here we don’t need much, but it does help with the final texture of these muffins! If you don’t have some on hand, brown sugar will work too.
- Nut Butter helps to add some creaminess and moisture here, without the need for any added oil.
While there are no chocolate chips in the batter, I also decided to top my muffins with chocolate chips for a little extra pizzazz. You can skip that if you’d like, or replace it with some nuts, seeds, or extra banana slices!
HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE BANANA MUFFINS
- Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately in two bowls, then combine
- Scoop the muffin batter into a greased or lined muffin tin (but not too high!)
- Pop those babies in the oven, watch them rise beautifully, and then let cool on a baking rack.
The letting them cool part is definitely recommended as it helps with crumb structure. Buuuuuut if you want to snag one warm and fluffy muffin out of the tray, I certainly don’t blame you.
These Chocolate Banana Muffins are the perfect on-the-go breakfast or afternoon pick-me-up, and can even be enjoyed for dessert! They’re moist and satisfying as-is, though I also love to heat them up in my toaster and then add a dollop of nut butter.
A FEW FINAL TIPS:
- Like I said before, make sure your bananas are as brown and spotty as possible.
- Make sure your baking soda and baking powder are fresh, otherwise you won’t get a good rise. It’s also important to get these muffins in the oven as quickly as possible after you mix the wet and dry ingredients.
- Remember to only fill each muffin tin about 3/4 of the way up – the muffins will rise in the oven, so don’t worry about that! If you overfill the tins though, the tops may run, stick together, or fall flat. If you have extra batter you can cook it in a ramekin or another small oven-safe dish!
If you’re looking for more vegan muffin recipes, you’ll also love these Apple Cinnamon Muffins, these Carrot Cake Muffins, and these One Bowl Pumpkin Muffins!
Finally, if you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I love seeing your delicious recreations 🙂
Chocolate Banana Muffins
These Chocolate Banana Muffins are fluffy, tender, and made with only 10 plant-based ingredients! Vegan, Gluten-Free, & Refined-Sugar Free.
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 22 Minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 2 cups (200g) quick-cooking or rolled oats, blended into flour*
- 1/2 cup (45 g) cacao powder (or cocoa)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 over-ripe bananas
- 1/4 cup (65 g) nut or seed butter (almond, peanut, sunflower, or tahini)
- 1/2 cup (65 g) coconut sugar (or brown)
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) dairy-free milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
- Optional: dairy-free chocolate chips, to sprinkle on top of the muffins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease or line a 12-muffin baking tin.
- Add the oat flour, cacao powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl. Whisk well, until fully incorporated and no clumps of cacao powder remain.
- Mash the bananas in a medium-sized bowl, then add in the nut butter, sugar, milk, vanilla, and vinegar. Mix well, until a uniform mixture forms, then pour into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir everything together – the batter should be relatively thick.
- Use a scant 1/2 cup to fill each muffin tin 3/4 of the way up. Sprinkle with chocolate chips if desired, then place the muffins in the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until the tops have risen and are slightly firm to the touch.
- Remove the muffins from the oven and let sit in the tin for 5 minutes, then carefully use a butter knife to transfer them to a baking rack and let them cool completely. Serve as desired; store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or store in the freezer for up to two months.
Notes
- Oat Flour: add the oats to a bullet or high-speed blender and process on high for 20 to 30 seconds, until a fine powder forms
Keywords: gluten free banana muffins, chocolate banana muffins, chocolate breakfast muffins, vegan chocolate muffins, vegan muffins, vegan banana muffins
Woo! Just made this in a wider baking dish and it’s rich and delish – today’s the first day I’m using the oven, and this recipe is the first sweet snack I’ve made in it, so thank you for the inspo! Best from a long-time viewer <3
★★★★★
Yay! Glad you were breaking in the new oven with the muffins! Thanks for being a long-time viewer!
These are very easy to make and so delicious. Thanks for all of your super yummy vegan gluten free recipes.
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Thanks so much!
Made these and my husband and I loved them! Thanks!!
Happy to hear it – thank you!
Oh heck yes, you nailed it. They’re so light even though they are made with oats. I will be making these again!
★★★★★
Ah – yay! Thank you!
I’ve probably made these 5 times now. My son loves them too. For his 1st birthday I left out the cocoa and made this a cake with whipped coconut cream on the outside. He loved it! My favourite recipe of yours for sure.
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That’s so adorable! I’m so glad he liked them and a happy first birthday to him! Thanks so much!
These were fantastic. Kids and Husband enjoyed them. They had no clue they were vegan. I did miss a bit of a crunch, next time I will add in some chopped walnuts.
★★★★★
Baked vegan goods are always awesome – 9 times out of 10 most people can’t tell the difference!
How does this taste with tahini? I’d love to use it but don’t want it to over power my muffins ahaha
If you use tahini with other things and it’s a familiar flavor it will work just fine! It’s not a dominant flavor in this recipe.
These were so delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
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Thanks for making it!
These were absolutely delicious! My entire family loved them, even the non-vegans. I added in about half a cup of choc chips and 1/4 cup of walnuts, and they came out amazing. Will definitely make again, and definitely recommend!
★★★★★
Classic combination of add-ins! Thanks so much, glad everyone liked them!
Hi! Would it still work if I substituted cane sugar for the brown/coconut sugar? I’m not much of a baker so I’m not sure if those are interchangeable. These muffins looks delicious!!
Plain cane sugar can be substituted out, same amount. It might change the overall flavor a bit but if you’re in a pinch it’ll work just fine.
hello! i only have two ripe bananas and they are quite large, so would that be okay or do i need the third?
If they’re larger you might be ok. If you get into making it and mixing everything and it seems a bit dryer than it should you can use a little bit of applesauce to help push it along. Stuff like applesauce is thick and has some of the same characteristics as mashed banana.
These were AMAZINGGGG!!!
– Madi xo
★★★★★
Thank you!
Hi there! I don’t have any muffin tins. Wondering if this recipe would work in a loaf pan. If so, any adjustments to the recipe I’d need to make?
A loaf pan should work! You may just need to keep it in the oven for about 40 minutes or so. Do the toothpick test until the toothpick comes out clean.
I made these with 1 3/4 cups whole grain flour and 1/4 cup protein powder (unflavored) instead of the oat flour and they turned out absolutely amazing!! Especially the leftover batter- you nailed this recipe!
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Thanks so much! Happy to hear you were able to customize it a little bit!
How would you recommend baking this as a loaf instead of muffins?
You would likely need to bake it for a bit longer; closer to the 35-40 minute range. Just use the toothpick test to check it out as you go!
Could i substitute the oat flour for almond flour?
We haven’t tested it that way so can’t vouch for it, but they may be similar enough to work!
I used fine almond flour, it held together quite nice and tasted delicious!
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Delicious, thank you! I had to bake them at 325F instead of 350F. Also I found I preferred then with the add-ins of chocolate chips or blueberries. Do you think you could do a recipe for white chocolate chip muffins as well please?
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Whatever works for you! We’ll look into it!
love it!
Thank you!
Thank you for recipe
Thanks for stopping by!
So delish!!! I’ve been trying to find things to bake recently so this idea is def on my list!
Awesome! Let us know how you like it!
How many grams does a banana in your recipe weigh?
You’re looking at about 350 grams roughly.
do you have the nutritional information or a estimate. Thank you
Hey there! We don’t do any calculations on our recipes but you can use something like this Cronometer.
I made these today and they are heavenly! I actually used a combo of AP wheat flour and teff flour and the batter was TOO dry so I added a few more splashes of plant milk and it was perfect (still relatively dry like the instructions say.) I also added 1 cup of chocolate chips directly to the batter instead of on top. Such a great recipe! I will definitely be keeping this one in my muffin rotation!
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Glad you’ve got a new recipe to add to your rotation! Thanks for making!
Do you have a recipe with maple syrup instead of coconut sugar?
(I don’t have any coconut sugar)
Subbing out solids vs liquids is the big issue, it will mess with your consistency. If you have brown sugar that would be a doable substitution.
I loved this recipe the first time i made it. I am a huge chai and chocolate fan. I knew my cuz would love these but she is a big-time celalic and cant have oats at all. so I was wondering if u could create a gluten-free and oat and wheat-free bread or muffin recipe using buckwheat flour that i can make oil sugar free sweetened with pure dates or fruit maybe. chai chocolate and gingerbread flavor. i found one chai chocolate muffin respie on bobs red mill but it is too complex, has too many ingredients to handle, and non vegan. thanks, Chika take care namaste. loyal satisfied fan. xxoo ps have u ever thought of adapting yr notes for yr Chunky Monkey Muffins adding some cinnamon or nutmeg for some extra balanced kick for an option love to know what think. thanks for the help vegan sister h.
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