Vegan & Gluten Free Chunky Monkey Muffins

GFGluten Free

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These Chunky Monkey Muffins are Vegan, Gluten, and Refined Sugar Free and are perfect for a quick breakfast, afternoon snack, or evening treat. 

Chocolate + Nuts + Banana Bread, all in one muffin? That sure sounds like a good time to me.

chunky monkey banana bread muffins vegan gluten free
Personally, I’m all about convenience foods. Not so much the ones you buy pre-packaged from the store that leave you feeling kind of funky inside, but the ones you can make ahead of time yourself (think: meal prep) that will save you time in the long run. Plus, I definitely think homemade food just…tastes better, too. Maybe it’s all the love and positive energy that goes into it 🙂

So when so many of you gave raving reviews about my Fluffy Gluten Free Banana Bread, I wanted to try to put a spin on it that makes it even more convenient. That’s when I thought of muffins!

chunky monkey banana bread muffins vegan gluten free

But let’s be honest – it would be kind of lame to make a post of the exact same recipe, just in muffin form. Therefore I decided to give these babies a flavor upgrade. I tossed in some extra chocolate, walnuts, and banana chunks – and thus, these delicious Chunky Monkey Muffins were created.

chunky monkey banana bread muffins vegan gluten free

While there is a time and place to eat more indulgent foods, I love how good these muffins are for you too. They’re free of gluten, oil, and refined sugar. And that really just means you can eat them whenever you dang please. Grab a couple for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or evening treat! They’re great on their own, but I also love heating them up a bit and slathering them with some nut butter.

chunky monkey banana bread muffins vegan gluten free

A Few Final Thoughts:
  • To keep these muffins refined-sugar free I opted to use cacao nibs, but if you like your chocolate to be sweeter, you can totally use chocolate chips! I would recommend mini ones so they distribute more throughout the muffins. Alternatively, you can use these chips sweetened only with stevia as well.
  • If you don’t think you’re going to eat all of these muffins at once, they freeze well too! Just put them in an airtight container and let them sit on the counter for a few minutes once you are ready to eat them. You can even heat them up in the oven or toaster oven for a special treat 🙂
  • The traditional “Chunky Monkey” flavor is a combination of Walnuts, Fudge, and Banana. I added peanut butter to my muffins because I thought it would add a nice flavor too. However, feel free to use whatever nut or nut butter you have on hand!

Finally, if you recreate this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram @frommybowl + #frommybowl so I can see your mouth-watering work! It makes me so happy to see you all enjoy these recipes just as much as I do 🙂

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Vegan & Gluten Free Chunky Monkey Muffins

These Chunky Monkey Muffins are Vegan, Gluten, and Refined Sugar Free and are perfect for a quick breakfast, afternoon snack, or evening treat. 

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 35 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 12 Muffins 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 Medium Ripe Bananas, divided (make sure they are brown and spotty!)
  • 2 1/2 cup Rolled Oats, divided
  • 1/2 cup Coconut Sugar
  • 1/4 cup Creamy Natural Peanut Butter (should only be peanuts + salt)
  • 1/4 cup Walnuts, chopped into small pieces
  • 1/4 cup Cacao Nibs or Chocolate Chips
  • 2 tbsp Ground Flax OR Ground Chia Seeds + 6 tbsp Water
  • 1 tbsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp Salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350F. 
  2. In a small bowl, combine the Ground Flax OR Ground Chia seeds with 6 tbsp water to form an “egg.” Stir and set aside for 5-10 minutes.
  3. Add 2 cups of the Rolled Oats into a blender or food processor and blend until they form a fine flour, about 45-60 seconds. 
  4. Place the Oat Flour into a medium sized bowl and add the Coconut Sugar, Baking Powder, remaining 1/2 cup of Rolled Oats, and Salt. Mix well and set aside. 
  5. Add 3 of your ripe Bananas to a separate, large bowl, and mash with a fork until they form an even, runny texture. Add the Peanut Butter, Apple Cider Vinegar, Vanilla Extract, and Flax or Chia Egg to the bowl. Mix well. 
  6. Slowly incorporate the dry flour mixture into the wet Banana mixture, stirring well and until all clumps have disappeared.
  7. Chop the remaining banana into bite-sized chunks. Gently fold the banana chunks, cacao nibs, and chopped walnuts into the batter. 
  8. Line or grease a muffin tin and divide the batter evenly into all 12 cups. 
  9. Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until the top of the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out cleanly or with minimal crumbs. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove and enjoy warm, if desired.
  10. Store in a container at room temperature for up to one week. (Let the muffins cool completely before storing them in a container). 

Notes

Coconut Sugar may be substituted with Brown Sugar or Cane Sugar, but keep in mind that this will no longer be refined sugar-free.

If you would like to use pre-made Oat Flour instead of making your own, simply use 2 cups of Oat Flour + 1/2 cup of Rolled Oats (unblended) for this recipe.

Peanut Butter can be substituted with another nut butter, but keep in mind that this will alter the taste. I would recommend either Tahini or Almond Butter.

Walnuts can be substituted with any other nut or seed of choice.

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chunky monkey banana bread muffins vegan gluten free

About the Author

Hey there, I’m Caitlin! I make easy-to-follow, wholesome, and budget-friendly vegan recipes that are mostly gluten-free and refined sugar-free. I’m also an avid yogi, love the great outdoors, am chocolate-obsessed, and enjoy eating almond butter straight off of the spoon.

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Comments

      1. Made these with 1/4 of a teaspoon in Smidge more nutmeg and only one 1/4cup of sugar They were amazing perfect and now we’re my favourites so much keep highly recommend it. I love your recipes and I know my cousin would love this recipe to and some mother’s only problem is she is serious celiac can’t have gluten or wheat. please let me know if you’re going to make a gluten-free and wheat-free muffin recipe gingerbread or chocolate Chai flavour using pure not blend and oat free with buckwheat flour There was a chocolate chai Muffin recipe on Bob’s Red Mill but it was not vegan and way too many ingredients to handle And complicated. Thank you so much vegan sister Namaste and take care Huntra.

      2. Thank you for such detailed feedback on my recipes, Huntra! I’m glad you love them. I’ll be posting more recipes in the future! ♥

  1. Hi Caitlin !
    I tried those muffins for my snacks during the week but everbody love it so much we ended up the whole things the same day 🙂 They were so moist and tasty !!! Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe !

    1. That’s a good sign! You might have to make double the recipe next time so you have some for a snack!