Vegan Banana Muffins — These easy banana muffins are extra fluffy and moist thanks to the combination of coconut oil and ripe bananas in the batter. This is a quick and easy muffin recipe you’re bound to love!
Easy Vegan Banana Muffins
These moist banana muffins embody everything I was trying to achieve. No butter, no eggs, and no mixer needed. These vegan muffins are fluffy, soft, light, and moist. And they remind me of mini donuts, a huge bonus.
I have many vegan banana muffin recipes on my blog from circa 2009, but they’re anything but light and fluffy. They’re made with almond meal to keep them gluten-free and are much heavier.
I have more recent banana recipes, to the tune of, oh about 35+ banana bread recipes. You can never have too many, right? But they’re not vegan. Although some use oil rather than butter, they all use eggs.
Because I loved the Pineapple Coconut Oil Banana Bread I made a while ago, I figured muffins and mini muffins would be fun, and I kept them vegan. I’m not vegan, but many of my readers are, and some readers watch their egg consumption for health reasons. Plus, sometimes it’s nice to be able to bake vegan if you run out of eggs. Whoops.
These easy banana muffins are surprisingly light and fluffy for an egg-free muffin, which are often more like dense, lead balloons. They’re not too light, though. Banana bread is and should be somewhat dense, and these have just the right amount of substance.
They’re so soft and moist, thanks to the coconut oil and bananas. The smell in your house while they bake is heaven-sent. Bread baking with bananas, vanilla, and coconut oil is beyond scrumptious.
I popped them in one after the next. Just one more. And one more. The ones we didn’t immediately scarf actually got softer on the second and third days, and the flavors intensified.
Vegan Banana Muffins Ingredients
For these eggless banana muffins, you’ll need:
- Mashed ripe bananas
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Salt
- Granulated sugar
- Melted coconut oil
- Non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
- Light brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
I used Kelapo Coconut Oil Pre-Measured Baking Sticks. They’re pre-measured into half-cup portions and scored the way butter is, which is so handy for baking. Of course, using coconut oil from a jar is just fine too.
How to Make Vegan Banana Muffins
It’s incredibly easy to make banana muffins with no eggs or dairy products in it. Simply whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined.
Divide the batter between regular-sized muffin cups or mini muffin cups — either works! Then, bake until done. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Tops will be domed, springy to the touch, and will be on the paler side rather than golden.
I dipped the tops in cinnamon-sugar. Everything is better coated in cinnamon-sugar. I didn’t even need to brush on melted coconut oil (or vegan butter) for the coating to adhere. The sugar granules add lovely texture and remind me of eating mini donuts. Except baked and vegan, nice.
Do I Have to Use Coconut Oil?
As I’ve discussed before when baking with coconut oil, it doesn’t impart much flavor. There’s barely a hint of detectable coconut flavor in these muffins, perfect for those who aren’t as fond of coconut. Normally when people object to coconut, it’s usually shredded or flaked coconut, which are very distinct and powerful, far stronger than coconut oil.
If you’re out of coconut oil or still hung up about trying it, I’m sure you could substitute canola oil, although I haven’t tried it with this recipe and highly recommend coconut oil.
The flavor the coconut oil lends to the muffins is of the can’t-put-your-finger-on-it type. Combined with the sweet bananas, vanilla almond milk, and heavy dose of vanilla in the batter, I was in fluffy, fragrant muffin heaven.
How to Store Eggless Banana Muffins
These vegan banana muffins will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days or can be frozen for up to 3 months. They get softer and the flavor intensifies on the second and third day.
Tips for Making Vegan Banana Muffins
I baked 24 mini banana muffins using a rounded tablespoon of batter. Spray your tablespoon with cooking spray, repeating as necessary, so the batter glides right off into the pan because filling up mini muffin pans can be messy. After two pans of minis, I made 7 regular-sized muffins in a standard muffin pan and used a one-quarter cup measure.
A few words of advice: fill both the mini and regular pans to between two-thirds and three-quarters full. You’ll be surprised how much this batter rises, and the ones that were filled more than 3/4-full ended up turning into overgrown mushrooms. I have a knack for that. I want muffin top, not mushroom top.
Note that these vegan banana muffins bake in quite a hot oven to ensure the high heat gives these egg-less wonders as much rise and doming as possible. Watch them closely in the last few minutes of baking so they don’t burn.
Baking times will vary based on what size pans you’re using. I baked the mini banana muffins for about 9 minutes and the full size for 15 minutes. Bake until they’re done. Watch your muffins, not the clock. They’re done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs and they’re domed and springy to the touch (they’ll be more pale than golden).
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Fluffy Vegan Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 to 1 ¼ cups mashed ripe bananas, about 3 small/medium or 2 large
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted (canola or vegetable oil could be substituted but I prefer coconut oil)
- ½ cup milk, slightly warmed (coconut, almond, soy, rice, cow’s; I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- about 1/3 cup granulated sugar, for dipping
- about 1 tablespoon cinnamon, for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Spray non-stick muffin pans with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pans. (I prefer cosmetically to not use liners, and also the muffins could stick) I made 24 mini muffins and 7 regular muffins. I estimate the recipe will make 30 to 36 mini, or 16 to 18 regular-sized muffins. Set pans aside.
- In a small bowl, mash the bananas; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, optional salt, and stir to incorporate; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, melted coconut oil (about 1 minute in the microwave), slightly warmed milk (about 20 seconds in the microwave – this prevents the cold milk from re-solidfying the coconut oil on contact), brown sugar, vanilla, and whisk to combine. Fold in the bananas.
- Pour wet mixture over the dry, stirring until just incorporated. Make sure to get all the dry bits from the bottom of the bowl, but don’t overmix or muffins will be tough. Batter is quite thick and if yours is seemingly too thick, add a splash of milk to thin it.
- Using a cooking sprayed one-tablespoon measure for a mini muffin pan or a sprayed one-quarter cup measure for a regular sized pan (or what is appropriate for your pan size). Fill the cavities between 2/3 and 3/4 full; don’t exceed 3/4 full.
- Bake until done. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Tops will be domed, springy to the touch, and will be on the paler side rather than golden. Done for me was about 9 minutes for mini, 15 minutes for regular sized. Baking times will vary widely based on size of pans used, how many pans you have in the oven at once, how moist your bananas were, and how many times you open the oven door to rotate pans. Watch your muffins, not the clock.
- Allow muffins to cool in pan for about 10 minutes before carefully turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.
- If desired, after they’re cool enough to handle, stir together about 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon, and dip the tops (or entire muffin) into it. I didn’t need to brush with melted coconut oil or (vegan) butter in order for the cinnamon-sugar to adhere.
Notes
- Muffins will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days or can be frozen for up to 3 months. They get softer and the flavor intensifies on the second and third day.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Vegan Muffin Recipes:
Vegan Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins — The muffins are soft, springy, bouncy like little trampolines, and they’re vegan. They’re ridiculously moist, tender, delicate and light, without being airy, and as good as any traditional muffin with eggs and butter.
Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Trail Mix Muffins — They’re hearty, sweet enough without being too sweet, and full of tons of chewy texture in every bite from the raisins and oats.
Skinny Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins — Fast, EASY, one bowl, no mixer muffins that are on the SKINNIER side!! Loaded with CHOCOLATE in every bite! Soft, fluffy, and deliciously decadent tasting!!
Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins — Soft, fluffy, full of PEANUT BUTTER flavor, and LOADED with CHOCOLATE in every bite!
Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins — If you’re looking for a healthier carrot cake recipe that tastes AMAZING, make these muffins immediately!
Vegan Blueberry Muffins — These are the BEST blueberry muffins I’ve ever had, vegan or otherwise. An avocado replaces the butter (and much of the oil) you’d typically add to muffin batter. These are fluffy, moist, and so easy to make!
Vegan Apple Cinnamon Muffins— These apple cinnamon muffins are studded with BIG chunks of apple! They’re so easy to make and are perfect for a quick snack or breakfast to-go.
I made these and took them to share with the ladies at work. What a hit! Two people actually moaned when they ate them (it was rather comical).
Oh I love stories like this! Thanks for making them, sharing, and sharing the (moaning) story :)
this recipe is so good! I made these muffins for breakfast this morning, and everyone loved them. I look forward to having them throughout the week. The only change I made was that I added 1/2 cup of crushed walnuts.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them and have breakfast and snacks for the rest of the week!
Excellent recipe! Easy to follow instructions. This is especially good for someone like me…I usually burn stuff, but somehow these muffins turned out really well. I used orange extract instead of vanilla since that’s what I had and they tasted good. My mom has eaten 3 or 4 already!
Thanks for LMK you love the recipe, it was easy to follow and that your mom has already been hitting the stash :) Thanks for the glowing field report!
Can these be made into a loaf, because I wanted to try them in one loaf…
will try this recipe tho- u never let me down!
yes pretty sure you’ll be fine as a loaf
also see these two -both vegan and both amazing as well as related backlinks at the bottom of each post for other vegan and/or coconut oil recipes.
https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/09/vegan-chunky-apple-cinnamon-muffins.html
https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/09/soft-vegan-pumpkin-bread-with-brown-sugar-streusel-crust.html
https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/09/vegan-chocolate-chip-pumpkin-muffins.html
LMK how the muffins go! Glad I never let you down :)
These are FANTASTIC. I don’t particularly like banana bread but I occasionally make it for my husband when we have too many over ripe bananas – and these are sooooo good I can’t stop eating them. Since my bananas were already extremely ripe I cut the sugar back to 1/2 cup. I also used whole wheat pastry flour and substituted unsweetened applesauce for half of the oil, and they are still so light and fluffy I can’t believe it. I made these yesterday and they taste even better today :) Thank you!!!
Thrilled that you made them and were able to get your substitutions to work for you. Good call on reducing sugar to 1/2 c if your bananas were already super ripe. And WWPFlour worked and that you were able to use applesauce for half the oil -bravo! Normally when people start messing around with recipes they…mess them up :) I love it when someone makes the changes work for them, given their ingredients and needs. Awesome!
Omg Yummmmmmm! Just made a batch of these and they are fantastic!!! I found them to be a little too sweet, so I will reduce the amount of sugar next time, but this recipe is definitely a keeper :)
Thanks for trying them and glad you like them! You could probably cut back to 1 cup of sugar, no problem. Especially if your bananas are nice and ripe, i.e. sweeter. If mine are, I can cut back to 1 cup too. Glad this is a keeper for you!
Also in the last week I’ve posted 2 vegan muffin recipes with coconut oil!
https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/09/vegan-chunky-apple-cinnamon-muffins.html
I make these all the time, and only use about 3/4 cup total of sugar, and they are still WONDERFUL! LOVE THEM :)
Glad you love them even with the reduced sugar & that they’re a big hit!
My sister can’t have dairy, so I’m always looking for vegan recipes. These are the FIRST vegan baked goods I have ever made that taste and look amazing! They turned out perfect, and look absolutely adorable! They were a huge hit, thank you!
I’m so glad to hear they were a big hit and yes, I too loved these.
These muffins are THE BEST blueberry muffins I’ve ever had, also just happen to vegan. Put these on your list as well :)
Ahhh! I made these last night and I found them to be simply AWESOME! I love that the recipe is so simple and it happens to be vegan! It’s light and fluffy and the muffins aren’t dense, dry or cake-like at all. I was disappointed that they didn’t dome up like I thought they would. I made 12 bigger muffins and baked for 10 minutes at 400 degrees and then raised the temp to 425 and baked for 4 more minutes, hoping that would make them dome up but it sadly did not. Otherwise, no complaints :) and the batter was delicious as well haha.
With muffins, I’ve found you should start hot and get cooler, if you’re going to tinker with your oven temp. Reason being is b/c the hotter the oven, the more/stronger the chemical that’ll take place. And I also got a bigger rise, relatively speaking, in the mini muffins than the full-size ones. Mini muffins are a pain to make, but I did get more of a puff out of them than the fullsize. However, really, not that important. Some muffins don’t get crazy ‘puffy’ or domed and these are that kind. For vegan muffins, I am just grateful they’re as light and good as they are!