These Healthy Banana Muffins are sweetened with only banana and are made in just one bowl! They’re great for an easy meal prep breakfast or afternoon snack that won’t make your kids crazy!
You guys, I’ve made about a million batches of this Healthy Banana Muffin Recipe lately and I never get sick of it! I played around with the recipe a little bit, adding coconut sugar and maple syrup but in the end I decided that it was sweet enough for me with just the sweetness of the bananas, no added sugar.
My toddler has somewhat of a sugar addiction so I’m always trying to come up with muffin recipes that he will enjoy but aren’t loaded with sugar. Needless to say, he gobbled these Healthy Banana Muffins right up 🙂 They are very kid friendly muffins and perfect for little toddlers!
How To Make These One Bowl Healthy Banana Muffins
I’m the queen of dirtying every single dish in the kitchen when cooking a simple recipe, so I decided to make this easy banana muffin recipe into a one bowl baking recipe and it worked great!
- Start by pre-heating the oven and preparing your muffin tin. You can use paper or silicone liners, or just make sure to grease your muffin tin well.
- Add your bananas to a large bowl and mash with a fork. You want the bananas to be really well mashed so you have a banana flavored muffin rather than a muffin with banana chunks in it. This is another reason it is important to use bananas that are very ripe and easy to mash.
- Next, add in the vegan egg substitute, coconut oil, almond milk and vanilla and almond extracts. Mix everything together well.
- Then, add in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well. If you are adding any additions, like chocolate chips or nuts, add in them now and gently fold them into the muffin batter.
- I like to use a 1/4 cup scoop to scoop my muffin batter into the muffin tin because it ensures all the muffins are the same size and it’s less messy than spooning the batter in. Put the muffins in the oven and bake until firm to the touch and cooked through.
- I like to let my muffins sit until completely cooled so they’re easy for the kids to eat and they firm up a bit more when you let them cool fully.
What Makes These Healthy Banana Muffins?
Healthy is such a relative term and I always feel a bit nervous using it to describe a recipe because what’s healthy to me might not be considered healthy to someone else. But, here are a few reasons I’m calling these Healthy Banana Muffins:
- They’re made with a mixture of white and whole wheat flour. You could also just use all whole wheat if you like to make them even healthier.
- There is absolutely no added sugar besides the bananas! I used 3 extra large bananas, or 4 regular sized bananas, and I truly feel like it gave these muffins all the sweetness they needed. If you like yours a bit sweeter you could always add 1/4 cup honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar.
- I don’t believe that eggs are unhealthy but I did make these muffins vegan by adding a flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax mixed with water). The flax adds good omega 3 fats and fiber as well as helping to lower cholesterol and blood pressure (so I have read).
- I used coconut oil instead of vegetable based oil. You can read more about why coconut oil is healthier than vegetable oil here.
I usually just make these plain but there are so many ways to jazz them up if you get bored of jus the banana flavor!
OPTIONAL FLAVOR ADD INS FOR YOUR BANANA MUFFINS:
- Chocolate chips
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Peanut butter/almond butter
- Grated zucchini
- Chopped nuts
RECIPE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- Can I use a real egg? Yes, you can use an egg instead of the flax “egg”
- Can I add some sweetener if I want? If you like your muffins a little sweeter feel free to add 1/4 cup honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar.
- How ripe do the bananas need to be? The riper your bananas are, the sweeter the muffins will be.
- What kind of coconut oil should I use? If you don’t want any coconut taste in your muffins you need to use refined coconut oil. I personally like to use un-refined coconut oil for this recipe because I love how the flavor goes with the bananas!
- Can I substitute anything for the oil? Applesauce can be substituted for the coconut oil if you like.
- What kind of flour should I use? I used half all purpose and half whole wheat flour for this recipe but you can use entirely all purpose or whole wheat if you like.
- Can I use gluten free flour? I have not tested this recipe using an alternative gluten free flour but I’m guessing that a gluten free all purpose flour (with xantham gum) would work great.
Have a question that I didn’t answer? Ask me in the comment section below and I will get back to you ASAP!
CHECK OUT EXACTLY HOW I MAKE THESE HEALTHY BANANA MUFFINS BELOW!
LOOKING FOR MORE HEALTHY TREAT RECIPES?
Print
Healthy Banana Muffins (One Bowl)
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These Healthy Banana Muffins are sweetened with only banana and are made in just one bowl! Perfect for kids!
Ingredients
- 3 extra large bananas or 4 regular sized, mashed
- 1 regular egg or 1 flax egg (1 heaping tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons water, let sit for 2 minutes)
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, optional but so good!
- 1 cup almond milk, or non-dairy milk of choice
- 2 cups flour, I used 1 cup all purpose and 1 cup whole wheat
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Add the bananas to a large bowl and mash with a fork. Next, add the flax egg, coconut oil, almond milk, vanilla extract and almond extract. Whisk until combined.
- Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until everything is mixed together and batter is formed.
- Use a 1/4 cup scoop to scoop the batter into a greased 12 cup muffin tin and bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or muffins feel firm to the touch, 25-30 minutes. Leave the muffins in the muffin tin for about 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Muffins can be frozen in a freezer friendly airtight container for up to 6 months.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Breakfast, Snack
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
I’m so glad I didn’t let the other reviews keep me away from making these – they came out perfect and are sooooo yummy! I used 4 very ripe, essentially black bananas. I also used a real egg. I’m so excited to have such a great recipe that is completely sugar free, no alternative sweeteners, JUST the ripe bananas (and other tasty ingredients). Thank you kindly! <3
Thank you so much for the kind review, Melinda!! I’m glad you enjoyed them! Super ripe bananas are definitely key in making them extra delicious 🙂
I subbed half of the oil for applesauce. All good! We enjoyed them. Thank you!
That’s so nice to hear, and I’m glad the apple sauce worked great!
Wonderful recipe for kids! I added blueberries for more sweetness and some colour.
Great addition!!
These turned out super bland with no flavor, bummer 🙁
I understand that, but they literally don’t have any added sweetener so there’s only so much flavor they can have. I would suggest using really ripe bananas to maximize the sweetness.
This recipe without sugar is what I was looking for! I’m a newly diagnosed diabetic and am striving to eat healthier. That said, we all want a treat occasionally! My question is this: Is it okay to mix the batter the night before and bake in the morning? I will make them either way but hope to prepare ahead. Thanks for the recipe!!
Hi Carol! Yes, that should be ok, I would just recommend letting the batter come to room temperature before baking.
I love these muffins! My taste buds are adjusting to less sugar and salt after eating with my 10 month old and the texture is light and fluffy. I used dairy milk and baked these for 30 min at 350 so I could use them for the first step of the milk ladder for a potential dairy allergy. No dairy allergy it turns out! But I will continue making these.
That is so nice to hear!!
I’m with you, I’m always making healthy snacks with my toddler & looking for new ones to try! We are huge muffin fans around here, and these look great 🙂
Can you use water instead of milk or non dairy alternative?
I haven’t tried them with water yet, but I always use a non-dairy milk and they turn out great!
These came out so great! I only had two bananas so I halved the recipe (still just decided to use one full egg). I didn’t include a little honey or sweetener, but I think it would be nice with it. They’re still really good without. I also opted to make these into mini muffins, and it came out perfect. I think they baked for about 15 minutes (maybe a little bit more? I kind of just follow my nose lol)
Awesome!! And I love the idea of mini muffins!
My five year old and I made these muffins today. We’ve got a 10month old, so I was looking for a healthy banana muffins recipe that was sugar free. I’m coeliac, so we used 1 cup of gluten free plain flour, 3/4 cup of oat flour and 1/4 cup of buckwheat flour. I also added 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum, which gives gluten free cakes a bit more structure.
We added a few chocolate chips to the tops of the ones, except those for my 10 month old.
They worked so well!! We ate them about five minutes out the oven. We should’ve waited a little bit longer, as they stuck to the paper cases that I cooked them in (my muffin tin always sticks so I always use cases).
Thanks for a brilliant recipe. Can’t wait to eat another one tomorrow. We’ll definitely be making them again soon!
That’s so nice to hear!! And yah for cooking with kids! <3
I had 3 large bananas going brown, found this recipe- so easy to make, baked exactly 25 min., so moist & delicious! My husband likes sweet, so I added
1/4 c. monk fruit & erythritol. Now my favorite muffin recipe!
So glad you both enjoyed them!
Can you make this as a loaf in a bread pan?
I haven’t done it myself but I think that would work! You will just need to adjust the cooking time.
My 11 month baby loved these. I have recommended to my friends and will be making this again. So quick as well. Just made them during his nap and had time to spare afterwards as well!
That’s so great to hear!
This looks too good to be true so in going to give it a whirl. Can you possibly give Imperial measurements or let me know which country you are in for cup sizes. Thank you for sharing your recipes
Hello, I am in the United States 🙂 I hope that helps!
This recipe calls for way too much coconut oil. I thought 1/2c looked like a lot, since most muffin recipes I’ve tried call for 1/4-1/3c, but since this was the first time trying this recipe, I followed the measurements as written. The coconut oil seeped out of the muffin batter and leaked all over the inside of my oven, creating really noxious smelling smoke. I had to turn the oven off and pull the muffins out half baked, wasting all the batter. Should have trusted my instincts here. My only guess for how the original recipe might work for the author is if one uses a heavy hand scooping the flour to balance the high fat content. I was looking for a low/no sugar version but I’ll stick with other tried and true banana muffin recipes, just cutting back on the sugar, and suggest you do too.
Hello, I have made this recipe many, many times and never had that issue, nor have I had anyone else say they had that issue. Did you measure the coconut oil solid or after it had been melted? Did you change anything else in the recipe?
I thought it was a lot too, and they turned out way too oily. I used gluten free flour and added blue berries. Pools of oil were left in the muffin tray.
I make these all the time. I just replaced the flour with 2 1/2 cups Oats blended and bake it until it’s done fully. It’s really good! Would totally recommend bec it’s no sugar added
That’s so nice to hear!!
I followed the recipe. I used all purpose flour. I added blueberries and hemp hearts and a dash of maple syrup. The batter seemed a bit runny for muffins before putting in the muffin tins. They looked nice and fluffy until I took them out of the oven and they completely deflated. I also cooked them for 40 minutes and the inside was still uncooked, but the outside was golden. I don’t know what I did wrong? 🙁
Hello, was there anything else you changed about the recipe?
I had the exact same problem although I followed the recipe except for 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup almond flour. Did you spoon the flour into the measuring cup of just scoop it in? Also adding a measurement for the bananas (IE. one cup) would be super helpful since the size of bananas is subjective! They tasted good but the texture was way off which is disappointing bc I was really excited for these
Hi Bri, almond flour can not be used as a cup for cup ratio with regular flour so I’m guessing that was your problem
Is it possible to substitute the bananas with other fruits such as strawberries?
Unfortunately, I don’t think strawberries would hold the muffins together as well. You could use pumpkin or sweet potato though