Vegan Banana Muffins : Easy 3 Step method
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These easy 3-step vegan banana muffins put over-ripe bananas to good use, with spelt flour standing in for regular flour to keep them gluten-friendly.
Vegan banana muffins for a light snack or afternoon tea are what those over-ripe bananas usually turn into here. This recipe is a favorite, since it’s so easy to bake. Since a daughter is gluten intolerant, it’s been tweaked with a flour lower in gluten — spelt, instead of the usual all-purpose.
Table of Contents
A Healthier Tea-Time Snack
These muffins are made as healthy as reasonably possible — whole brown Moscovado sugar stands in for refined white sugar, and with dairy left out entirely, they’re not particularly high in fat either. That said, low fat isn’t the goal here for its own sake, since good fats matter for health too. What matters more is that the ingredients are easy to find in the pantry, and despite being lower in fat, the muffins still turn out well — and they’re a genuinely good way to use up bananas that have gone past their best.
A Gift for a Special Guest
This post contains an affiliate link, for which a small commission is earned at no extra cost to you.
Since these muffins don’t really fill you up, they were made specially as a snack for a guest — a daughter’s primary school teacher, visiting for the year-end parent-teacher conference held at home. This recipe comes from Baking Without Eggs.
How to Make 3 Step Vegan Banana Muffins?
Ingredients List
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
- 2 cups flour (spelt works well)
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup unrefined sugar
- Baking powder & baking soda
- ½ cup apple juice, 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Cooking Instructions
Preheat:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and lightly butter a muffin tray or 12 muffin cups.
Combine:
Combine the mashed bananas, flour, oil, sugar, baking soda, apple juice, vanilla and nuts in a large mixing bowl. Stir vigorously until well combined with no lumps.
Fill and Bake:
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tray using a well-oiled ice cream scoop, filling each cup about ¾ full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve plain, or add any icing of your choice.
A Tip for Scooping the Batter
A well-oiled ice cream scoop makes portioning easy. Try it:
For even baking: a consistent scoop size means every muffin bakes at the same rate.
For less mess: an oiled scoop keeps the batter from sticking and dropping cleanly.
Plain or iced: serve them plain, or add any icing you like.
Tips for Vegan Banana Muffins
Add nuts last: since nuts tend to sink, stir them in right before scooping into the tin, rather than earlier in the mixing.
Test for doneness: after 15 minutes, check with a cake tester — if it doesn’t come out clean, give it another 5 minutes.
Oil the scoop: a well-oiled ice cream scoop keeps the batter from sticking, and makes portioning even and mess-free.
Why Not Wholemeal Flour?
Wholemeal flour isn’t recommended here, since banana combined with unrefined sugar already tends to make the batter quite dense — using wholemeal flour on top of that makes it difficult to get a light, fluffy muffin.
Using Applesauce Instead of Apple Juice
Yes, applesauce works well in place of apple juice — it’s been used successfully here when apple juice wasn’t on hand, using homemade applesauce instead. Since applesauce isn’t as liquid, a little water helps bring it to a pourable consistency.
More on Homemade Applesauce
The homemade applesauce mentioned above is worth trying on its own too — the full recipe is shared separately, made using a KitchenAid food strainer.
Recipe Card
3 Step Vegan Banana Muffins
- Total Time: 35
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
An easy 3-step vegan muffin that puts over-ripe bananas to good use — light, low-fat, and made with unrefined sugar and low-gluten spelt flour.
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2)
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (spelt flour works well)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (sunflower is ideal)
- 1 cup brown Moscovado sugar (or any unrefined sugar)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ cup apple juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
-
Preheat:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and lightly butter a muffin tray or 12 muffin cups.
-
Combine:
Combine the mashed bananas, flour, oil, sugar, baking soda, apple juice, vanilla and nuts in a large mixing bowl. Stir vigorously until well combined with no lumps.
-
Fill and Bake:
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tray using a well-oiled ice cream scoop, filling each cup about ¾ full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve plain, or add any icing of your choice.
Notes
Spelt flour is used here in place of all-purpose flour — it’s low in gluten, yet this muffin is still pretty much foolproof and tastes delicious with unrefined sugar. The original recipe calls for plain caster sugar.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: Cakes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 12
- Calories: 100
- Fat: 2.5
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