Vegan muffins with chocolate chips and banana

Moist, tender and perfectly sweet! These vegan banana muffins are super easy to make and perfect for an indulgent breakfast or light dessert.

My kitchen is perpetually stocked with bananas! Partly because I love bananas, but also because I do a lot of cooking. Bananas are pretty essential to vegan baking! For one thing, they work great as egg substitutes. But also, banana-based treats are deeeeeeelicious!

I already have a classic vegan banana bread recipe and it’s one of the most popular recipes on this site. Many readers ask if banana bread can be made into muffins, and the answer is yes, but with a few tweaks.

So here it is: my banana bread recipe turned vegan banana muffin recipe!

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Selection of bananas to bake

One of the most important things to keep in mind when making vegan banana muffins, or just about any other kind of baked banana, is this: your bananas must be overripe.

What does this mean? Lots of of brown spots. If they do not have brown spots, they are not ripe enough. My rule of thumb is this at least one third of the peel should be brown.

Using overripe bananas will ensure that your vegan banana muffins are sweet enough, moist enough, and have the perfect texture.

How big should the bananas be? I usually grab what I consider to be medium sized bananas while I’m at the supermarket. In the interest of accuracy, I weighed my bananas before I put them in my muffins and they were about 5 ounces each.

Note: If you are weighing the bananas, do so just before baking, as the weight can change as they ripen.

Ingredients you will need

• bananas Again, make sure they are overripe!
• Canola oil Any neutral cooking oil will work as a substitute. You can use melted coconut oil, corn oil, or vegetable oil if you like.
• Brown sugar. Use organic to keep the recipe vegan.
• Vanilla extract.
• Wholemeal pastry flour. Plain old flour works too. I have not tried the recipe with any other type of flour.
• Bicarbonate of sodium.
• cinnamon
• Sal.
• Vegan chocolate chips. They are optional, but very good! I used Enjoy Life Mega Chunks. Leave them out if you prefer or swap them for fresh fruit such as blueberries, raspberries or diced apples.
• Nuts They are also optional, or can be swapped out for another type of nut, such as pecans, almonds or hazelnuts.

Tip: If you ever have overripe bananas but aren’t quite ready to make them into muffins, freeze them! I keep a stash in a freezer bag at all times and they are usually good for at least 3 months. When adding them to the recipe, add the banana as well as any liquid that accumulates as they thaw.

How are they made?

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll down if you want to jump straight to the recipe!

1. First, peel the bananas and stick them in a large bowl. Grab a fork or a potato masher and mash them up!
2. Now add some oil, brown sugar and vanilla to the mashed banana. Stir it all up.
3. The dry ingredients go in next. Add the flour first, but do not stir. Now sprinkle some baking soda, cinnamon and salt over the flour. Doing it this way helps ensure that the baking soda mixes evenly, without you having to mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Now just stir the batter until it’s mixed, don’t overdo it! The dough should be quite thick.
4. The bends come in last. I used walnuts and vegan chocolate chips, but use whatever you like or omit them all together.

Pour batter into paper lined muffin cups. I like to sprinkle a little brown sugar on top of each one.

Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes. To test for doneness, lightly tap the top of a muffin; if it comes back out, that’s it.

Let your vegan banana muffins cool a bit before digging into them!

Shelf life and storage

Vegan banana muffins will keep in a sealed bag or container at room temperature for about 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.

Frequently asked questions

More banana recipes

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