Everyone needs a good banana muffin recipe in their repertoire, and these Vegan Banana Oat Muffins offer everything you want – soft, just-sweet-enough goodness in a portable format – with nothing that you don’t want (no butter, oil, milk, eggs or yogurt here!). Bananas are the headliner here, but the supporting cast of plant milk, peanut butter, oats, maple syrup, vanilla and other flavors really bring this ensemble together for muffins that will leave you begging for an encore.

Whole Food Plant-Based, Vegan, Oil Free, Refined Sugar Free, Gluten Free.

If there’s one baked good I’ve made a lot of in my day, especially before going plant-based, it’s muffins. It’s easy to see why they’re so popular: they’re usually pretty easy to make, they tend to have basic ingredients, and they don’t have to be overly sweet, which means even people who don’t have much of a sweet tooth (like yours truly) will happily gobble one down.

They’re like a quicker version of banana bread with the bonus of being more portable, too. And they can be eaten for breakfast, as a snack, or even as dessert. Seriously, what’s not to love?

Of course, when you follow a vegan or plant-based diet, your old banana muffin recipe probably won’t work. There’s a good chance it has eggs, oil or butter, and possibly even yogurt or milk. But you know what? Just because they’re traditional ingredients doesn’t mean you need them to make a good muffin. This recipe is proof.

I do want to mention one thing. You can often get away with eyeballing ratios when you’re cooking, but it’s always best to take the time to measure ingredients out when baking, and these muffins are no exception.

Trust me – I’ve tried three variations of these muffins in recipe testing and even small tweaks can result in an unpleasant density or a super dry muffin. In fact, one of my recipe tasters said that my first version of this recipe had the texture of a kitchen sponge! LOL. I’m grateful that I have recipe tasters who tell it like it is, but let that be a cautionary tale to those who don’t feel like getting out the measuring cups or scale.

Although these muffins are definitely tasty enough on their own, I like to add some nut butter to them to take it over the top. And if I’m trying to make a more complete dessert or snack, I’ll add some fresh fruit as well. Blueberries and strawberries pair nicely with these muffins, but whatever is in season at the time should work just fine.

Before you balk at the long list of ingredients, take a closer look at what’s actually on the list. Even the most bare-bones kitchen will have most of these ingredients in the pantry, so it’s not nearly as daunting as it looks. And don’t forget – the browner your bananas, the sweeter the end result will be!

Ingredients:

Makes 9 muffins

-1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (60 ml) coconut almond milk (or plant-based milk of your choice)

-1/2 large lemon, juiced (8 ml / 2 tablespoons)

-1/4 cup (60 g) peanut butter

-4 tablespoons (48 ml) maple syrup

-2 small ripe bananas, peeled and chopped (200 g, peeled weight)

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-2 cups (160 g) oats (gluten-free, if necessary), processed into flour

-2 teaspoons baking powder

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1 teaspoon ground flaxseed

-1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

-pinch of black pepper

Optional: oats for sprinkling

Method:

Line a muffin tin with 9 paper muffin cups and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C.
In a food processor, start adding the ingredients in the order listed above, with the wet ingredients first. Once you’ve added the vanilla extract to the bowl, blend the ingredients together for about 30 seconds, until smooth.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the rest of the ingredients (starting from the oat flour). Blend everything together for another 45 to 60 seconds, or until it forms a smooth batter.
Divide the batter into 9 paper muffin cups and sprinkle some oats on top.
Bake for 22 minutes or until the muffins are cooked all the way through. To check, insert a toothpick into the middle of one muffin; if it comes out clean, the muffins are cooked. You may need to rotate the muffin tin after 10 minutes of baking to make sure all the muffins cook evenly.
Allow the muffins to cool for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
You can eat the muffins as they are, or halve them horizontally and spread some of your favorite nut butter on top before sandwiching them back together. My Oil-Free Hazelnut Butter is great on these muffins!

Nutritional Facts per muffin:

Calories: 143

Carbs: 19.8 g

Protein: 3.9 g

Fats: 5 g

Fiber: 2.8 g