These healthy Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins are delicious and moist, plus they are gluten-free and refined sugar-free. You will love these for an indulgent chocolatey breakfast or a snack on the go!
These muffins are so soft and tender! They're naturally sweetened and are a perfect grab-and-go healthy breakfast that you can feel good about, and they will leave you feeling full and satisfied!
Jump to:
Everything I make is vegan, but I've been experimenting with baking more gluten-free recipes. So, I decided to make my own take on banana muffins. These Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins are packed full of banana flavor, rich chocolate chips, and a moist texture that you will love!
The texture of these vegan muffins is a lot like banana bread with chocolate chips. They are easy to make; I made them in less than an hour. They have a little bit of crunch from the chia seeds I used as an egg replacement. If you don't want that crunch, you can use flaxseed meal instead.
I hope you love these plant-based muffins! They are
- moist
- wholesome
- sweet
- tender
- easy to make
- healthy
- delicious
- refined sugar-free
- gluten-free
Ingredient notes
- ground chia seeds with water - you can substitute with flaxseed - see Subsitutions & Variations below
- Allulose, you can substitute with maple syrup or agave syrup
- virgin coconut oil, melted or you can use refined coconut oil or grapeseed oil
- almond milk; you can substitute with another plant-based milk y ou like
- three ripe bananas, mashed - approximately 1 ½ cups, the spottier the bananas are, the better - a great source of fiber, antioxidants, and potassium.
- gluten-free oat flour; you can also use regular oat flour if you are not gluten-free
- vegan chocolate chips, divided, for the muffin batter and for sprinkling on top
What is Allulose?
Allulose is a calorie-free granulated sweetener that tastes like sugar and has a mild, clean sweetness with no bitterness or aftertaste. It is a rare sugar or monosaccharide that is found in figs, kiwi, and raisins. Allulose is naturally gluten-free and vegan, has no glycemic impact on blood sugar, and is free from fillers and flavors. Plus, it is perfect for low-carb diets since it has 0 g net carbs per serving.
I swapped out the sugar 1:1 with Allulose when making these muffins since I didn't want them to be too sweet. Otherwise, adding a bit more than regular sugar usually works.
If you don't have Allulose handy, you can use another liquid sweetener such as maple syrup or agave syrup.
🥣 Step by step instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with twelve paper liners.
Make the chia "egg" by combining the chia seeds with water in a small bowl, and set them aside to thicken.
Mix wet ingredients and add Allulose. Mix the dry ingredients.
1.Combine the Allulose with the liquid ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, add the Allulose, coconut oil, applesauce, almond milk, chia seed mixture, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Add the mashed banana and combine.
2. Combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine the flours, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Combine wet and dry ingredients, add ¾ cup of chocolate chips, reserving some for sprinkling on top. Place batter in muffin tins ⅔ full. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips on top of the batter.
3. Combine the liquid and dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Stir in ¾ cup of the chocolate chips, reserving the rest for sprinkling on top later.
4. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling up to ⅔ full. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top.
Bake in the center rack of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs or clean. If you see any uncooked batter, bake for another five minutes. Let the muffins cool for twenty minutes before enjoying them.
💭 Top tips
- Pick very ripe and spotty bananas for making these muffins to make sure they're sweet enough and so the muffins have the proper consistency. Do not use green bananas. Place unripe bananas in a paper bag to ripen them faster.
- When measuring the flour, scoop it into the measuring cup with a spoon and level it with the spoon handle or the back of a butter knife.
- Mix the batter until just combined, do not overmix or this will affect the texture. Put the muffins in the oven promptly once the batter is mixed.
- To test for doneness, insert a wooden toothpick in the middle of one of the muffins in the pan. The toothpick should have a few moist crumbs clinging to it or be clean. There should be no uncooked batter. If there, bake for another 5 minutes and check again.
Storage
Make sure the muffins are completely cool before you store them. Store at room temperature for up to two days or refrigerate them for up to seven days in the fridge in an airtight container.
Can I freeze these muffins?
Freeze well-wrapped muffins for up to two to three months; wrap each muffin individually and place in an airtight container or freezer-safe Ziploc bag. Thaw each muffin individually at room temperature for an hour when you're ready to eat.
♻️ Variations and Substitutions
- You can use a flax "egg" instead of chia—mix two tablespoons of flaxseed meal with six tablespoons water. If you do this, omit the plant milk.
- Try walnuts or pecans or blueberries or raspberries instead of chocolate chips.
- Instead of gluten-free oat flour and almond flour, you can substitute 1:1 gluten-free flour or regular oat flour. If you're not gluten-free, you can use whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, or organic all-purpose flour. The muffins will be more light and fluffy with the other flours. I didn't use whole wheat flour because it would result in a much denser muffin.
- You can use organic soy milk or cashew milk instead of almond milk.
- Instead of Allulose, you can use organic cane sugar or organic brown sugar.
- Instead of bananas, try organic applesauce instead.
I hope you take the time to make these tasty and wholesome muffins, you will be glad you did; they are perfect for sharing! I know you will LOVE them!
Related recipes
Looking for more banana recipes? Try this Chocolate Tahini Banana Bread.
If you make these Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, let me know what you think by ★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. You can follow me on Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @resplendentkitchen and hashtag #resplendentkitchen.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons ground chia seed black or white
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 cup Allulose or maple syrup or agave syrup
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted
- ¼ cup applesauce
- ¼ cup almond milk or any other plant-based milk you like
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 ripe and spotty bananas mashed
- 1 ½ cup gluten-free oat flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
- Combine the chia seeds with water in a small bowl and set aside to thicken.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the Allulose, coconut oil, applesauce, almond milk, chia seed mixture, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Add the mashed banana and combine.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flours, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
- Stir in ¾ cup of the chocolate chips.
- Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling up to ⅔ full. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, not uncooked batter.
Brian says
Not just for breakfast, these are a tasty afternoon treat as well.
Emily says
Thanks so much, Brian, I'm glad you enjoyed them!