Why do bananas have to wear sunscreen?
Because they peel LOL
If cheesy jokes make you roll your eyes as much as they did my husband, I sincerely apologize. But maybe they’ll grow on you like they did my husband, as he now appreciates the ingenuity that goes into corny jokes!
But jokes aside, this recipe is for the bananas that look like they spent a little too much time in the sun. You can transform your too brown to eat bananas into light, fluffy banana bread muffins that you’ll devour even quicker than your bananas ripened!
How could you not fly through these though? They’re like mini banana bread cakes, but for breakfast – AKA a foolproof way to start the day off on a happy note. This muffin recipe is a sequel to these Chocolate Banana Bread Muffins, which are inspired by one of my favorite childhood recipes that my mom would make whenever I excitedly asked for them (which was often!).
Made with unrefined ingredients, these moist, healthy muffins are naturally sweetened by the ripe bananas, dairy-free, and gluten-free friendly.
Banana Bread Muffins
Ingredients
- 460 g (~4-5 large) very ripe bananas
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 2 TBSP oil, melted: coconut, walnut almond
- 2 TBSP maple syrup (Lakanto, monk fruit)
- 1 C + 3 ½ TBSP flour: spelt, oat, WW, AP GF*
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. stevia or sweetener*
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- 45 g chocolate chips dairy-free
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- In a bowl or large container, mash the bananas with a fork or pastry blender until the chunks are pea-sized or smaller
- Once mashed, mix the rest of the wet ingredients into the bananas
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet, being careful not to overmix (the baking powder reaction starts once it comes in contact with liquid)
- Fold the chocolate chips in
- Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray or line with baking cups, then fill each muffin tin ~¾ of the way full with batter
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean
Notes
- *Flour: most flours will work, although coconut and almond flour interact with liquids differently than other flours, so those would likely impact the consistency of the final product. I like to mix flours – my favorite combination is ½ C spelt flour and ½ C + 3.5 TBSP oat flour. When measuring flour, be sure to use the scoop and level method.
- *Stevia: if the bananas are extremely ripe, cut the stevia or sweetener in half
- Silicone liners: I’ve noticed that when silicone liners are used, the muffins need to be baked for an additional 3-5 minutes, so take note of that if you use silicone baking cups.
- Storage: since these are so moist, they can go bad rather quickly if not stored properly. Store the muffins in an airtight container for 3-4 days at room temperature or in the fridge for a week or so. They can also be prepped in extra-large batches with the excess stored in the freezer and unthawed as needed!
- To make bite-sized muffins, follow the recipe as normal and reduce the baking time to 8-10 minutes. For mega muffins, add 5-7 minutes to the baking time and do the toothpick test to ensure they’re baked all the way through.
The riper the bananas, the sweeter the muffins. If your bananas aren’t yet ripe enough and you’re craving these taste too good to be healthy muffins, here’s how you can ripen them in an instant.
And to make this a more balanced breakfast, bump up the protein with a (hot or cold) cup of Protein Coffee.
As with all of my recipes, my hope is that through this recipe (or any of my others), your view on how healthy food should taste starts to shift – because eating healthy shouldn’t be bland, boring, dreadful, or monotonous!
If interested, the macronutrients are below. They are kept separate at the very end of each recipe blog so that this can remain a safe, positive space for all as not everyone wishes to see the nutritional information.
Macros per muffin (makes 12): 21.1 C | 5.2 F | 3.2 P
If mini or mega muffins are made, simply take the macros for the entire batch (below) and divide each macro by the # of muffins made to get the macros per muffin!
Whole recipe: 253.05 C | 62.13 F | 38.23 P
If you decide to nix the chocolate chips, here are the macros without them:
- Per muffin, no chocolate chips: 18.8 C | 4 F | 3 P
- Whole recipe, no chocolate chips: 226.05 C | 47.13 F | 35.23 P
While the macros will vary depending on the type and amount of chocolate chips used as well as the kind of maple syrup, the differences are often miniscule. So the macros above will function as a suitable guideline if you are concerned or keep up with your macros!
The macros for recipes are also available on MyFitnessPal. Simply search the name of the recipe followed by “ – SUNutrition” (so for this recipe, search “Banana Bread Muffins – SUNutrition”).
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