Packed with bananas and oats, these addictive vegan and gluten-free muffins are easy to make and even easier to eat. The bananas and applesauce keep them perfectly moist and they don’t crumble like other gluten-free baked goods. Enjoy these banana chocolate chip muffins for breakfast with your morning coffee or with a smoothie for a healthy post-workout snack.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they will help us keep this site up and running! Please read our disclaimer for more details. Thank you for your support!
A Satisfying Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin for Gluten and Dairy Free Families
Several years ago, I had an office in a trendy downtown district brimming with funky coffee shops. I was new to vegan and gluten-free eating at the time and was relieved to work in an area whose businesses catered to all kinds of special diets.
One cafe in particular got me completely addicted to their gluten-free muffins. They had several varieties, but my two favorites were the very berry and the zucchini chocolate chip. I could go through one of these giant delights every day, and, as my waistline eventually revealed, probably even more than that!
I left work in 2012 to become a full-time homeschooling mom in my small suburban city, which, unfortunately, doesn’t have nearly as many awesome eateries. So, I was thrilled when my old stomping ground opened a location in my neighborhood. I was not thrilled, however, to find out that they no longer had gluten-free, vegan muffins.
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins to the Rescue
So, after a few years of wandering around muffinless, we were superexcited in 2019 to come across a delicious muffin that met our dietary needs. We were in the middle of completing an elimination diet and were starting to reintroduce foods to test for sensitivities.
One of the reintroduction recipes was a simple and satisfying banana muffin made with rice flour. After weeks of deprivation, we devoured those muffins like they were the last food on earth and they kept us going through the rest of the elimination diet.
When we were done reintroducing things, though, we wanted to find a gluten-free and vegan muffin that was slightly more indulgent while still remaining gentle on our digestive systems.
This is what we came up with. Many thanks to Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, founders of The Elimination Diet, for the inspiration that led to this delicious banana chocolate chip muffin recipe.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 2 1/2 cups (600g) bananas (about 4 large)
- 1/4 cups (60g) coconut oil, plus 1 tbsp melted for greasing muffin tins
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tbsp (10g) apple cider vinegar
- 2 1/4 cups (230 g) oat flour (or finely ground rolled oats)
- 1/2 tsp (3g) fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup (42g) coconut sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp (9g) baking soda
- 1/3 cup (54g) vegan semi-sweet chocolate chunks (such as Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mega Chunks)
- 1/3 cup (36g) roughly chopped walnuts
Notes
- For this recipe, you can either use frozen or fresh bananas. We usually have a huge container of chopped bananas in our freezer waiting to go into smoothies or muffins. Frozen bananas work great in this recipe, but I recommend letting them thaw for about 30 minutes for putting them in the food processor, unless your food processor (or high-speed blender) is super powerful. Mine isn’t and I get some lumps if I try to process this many bananas when they’re frozen solid.
- For the oat flour, we just blend rolled oats to avoid having to buy another product. I weigh out the rolled oats and then blend in a baby bullet. You could also use a coffee grinder (but not the one you use for coffee) or a high-speed blender.
- You can also substitute the chocolate chunks for chocolate chips if that’s what you have on hand. We like the chunks because they give bigger bursts of chocolatey goodness, but I’ve been known to use chips too! All chocolate is good chocolate, right?
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.
Combine oat flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Whisk thoroughly.
In a food processor, blend bananas, coconut oil, and apple cider vinegar on high until smooth (about 1 minute).
Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients and combine with a spatula until just mixed.
Fold in walnuts and chocolate chunks.
Using 1/4 cup or an ice cream scoop, fill muffin tins with batter.
Bake for 22-25 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.
Let cool in the muffin tin or on a wire rack for at least five minutes.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.
Click on the image below to save this recipe for later or scroll down to print it out. Enjoy!
[tcb-script type=”text/javascript” src=”//video.mediavine.com/videos/rp9g1jijfiytbqdocjxf.js” async=”” data-noptimize=””][/tcb-script]
Vegan Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Packed with bananas and oats, these addictive vegan muffins are easy to make and even easier to eat. The bananas and applesauce keep them perfectly moist and they don't crumble like other gluten-free baked goods. Enjoy them for breakfast with your morning coffee or with a smoothie for a healthy post-workout snack.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (600g) bananas (about 4 large)
- 1/4 cups (60g) coconut oil, plus 1 tbsp melted for greasing muffin tins
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tbsp (10g) apple cider vinegar
- 2 1/4 cups (230 g) oat flour (or finely ground rolled oats)
- 1/2 tsp (3g) fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup (42g) coconut sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp (9g) baking soda
- 1/3 cup (54g) vegan semi-sweet chocolate chunks (such as Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mega Chunks)
- 1/3 cup (36g) roughly chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Combine oat flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Whisk thoroughly.
- In a food processor, blend bananas, coconut oil, and apple cider vinegar on high until smooth (about 1 minute).
- Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients and combine with a spatula until just mixed.
- Fold in walnuts and chocolate chunks.
- Using 1/4 cup or an ice cream scoop, fill muffin tins with batter.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.
- Let cool in the muffin tin or on a wire rack for at least five minutes.
Notes
You can buy oat flour or simply grind rolled oats in a baby bullet, dedicated coffee grinder (i.e. not one you use for coffee), or high-speed blender. Make sure you are using gluten-free oats if you need your muffins to be gluten free.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
-
Bragg USDA Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar, With The Mother 16 Ounces Natural Cleanser, Promotes Weight Loss - Pack of 2 w/ Measuring Spoon -
Viva Naturals Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, 16 Ounce -
Anthonys Organic Coconut Sugar 5lbs, Non-GMO and Gluten Free -
Enjoy Life Foods Semi Sweet Mega-Chunks Chocolate, 10 oz
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 230Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 109mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 4gSugar: 15gProtein: 5g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
Sophie Agbonkhese is a writer, homeschooling mother of four, and a recovering overachiever (who occasionally relapses). She is the founder of My Cup Runs Over, a site dedicated to helping busy women simplify and enrich their lives. When she’s not writing or debugging websites, Sophie spends her time reading, dancing, bullet journaling, reading, gardening, listening to audiobooks, and striving fruitlessly to have a clean house for at least five minutes.