Mini food is so poppable. One after the other, down they go.
That darn mini food. But it’s so small that the calories don’t even count. Exactly.
I’m so happy with how these little puffballs turned out. They’re soft, springy, bouncy like little trampolines, and they’re vegan.
Sometimes vegan baked goods, especially muffins or cakes, are terribly dense. Lead balloons come to mind. When removing eggs, it’s easy to also remove lightness and fluffiness. However, no eggs here, and they’re as soft and fluffy as any traditional muffin.
Making them is literally a 5 minute job and because they’re mini, they bake very fast. You’re looking at 15 minutes from start to finish. Gotta love speedy muffins and recipes that don’t dirty every dish in your kitchen.
They freeze beautifully so you might want to make a double batch and freeze half for snacks and grab-and-go breakfasts.
The whisk-together batter comes together so quickly and easily in one bowl. No mixer, no hassle. It’s a great vegan ‘master batter’ and you can adapt it by switching up the chocolate chips for diced dried fruit or nuts. Glaze them or brush them with (vegan) melted butter and dip them in cinnamon-sugar like these.
To make the batter, simply mash one banana, then add sugar, coconut oil, almond milk, vanilla, and cinnamon before stirring in the dry ingredients and the mini chocolate chips.
The banana behaves like an egg to both fluff the batter and bind the ingredients, while keeping the muffins light and fluffy.
The muffins don’t taste like banana. I couldn’t taste it at all, and I was looking for it. I used a fairly non-ripe banana. Pale yellow, and no black freckles. The riper bananas get, the sweeter they become, and also the more distinctively banana-ey they are, and it’s harder to mask. Many people only bake with very ripe bananas, but in recipes that I don’t want to taste overly banana-ey, I’ll use under to averagely-ripe bananas.
I used coconut oil as the fat source and I’m no stranger to using it in muffins, cakes, bread, cookies and more. I love baking with it, and replace it 1:1 with butter or other oil. While I usually say that you can’t taste it, you definitely can taste it here. There’s no strong spices, pumpkin puree, or anything else to make the flavor, and it’s noticeable.
For anyone who likes coconut oil, you’ll love these. It gently perfumes the muffins and adds a faintly sweet under-current of tropical flavor. It’s not overwhelming and I love it, but in full disclosure, you can taste it. If you absolutely don’t want to use coconut oil, I’m sure that you could sub with vegetable or canola oil.
I used Nutiva Coconut Oil from iHerb.com. Code AVE630 at checkout saves you $10 off your order. I love iHerb for everything like probiotics, bulk cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, liquid vanilla stevia drops, bulk white stevia powder, medicinal fancy-grade honey, chia seeds, face cleanser, and nutritional yeast.
I used mini chocolate chips because full-size chocolate chips could overwhelm these little one-bite wonders. If all you have is regular chips, run a knife over them and give them a coarse chop so the big chips don’t sink to the bottom of the mini pans.
I used two Non-Stick Mini Muffin Pans. I filled the cavities to 3/4 full. It’s a little tricky filling mini muffin pans because small amounts of batter can dramatically alter results. Underfilling and the already small muffins become a skimpy joke, while overfilling can cause mushroom top where the tops bake together on top of the pan and your muffins look like conjoined mushrooms. Admit it, you’ve done it. Just do your best here.
If you’re baking in a full size pan, you’ll need to extend the baking time by a few minutes and bake until they’re done, whatever that means in your oven and your chosen pan.
Before baking I sprinkled all the tops with chocolate chips because I wanted the visual pop of chocolate. We eat first with our eyes and my eyes liked seeing all those glistening mini chips on top of the fluffy muffins.
They’re ridiculously moist, springy, tender, delicate and light, without being airy, and as good as any traditional muffin with eggs and butter. They’re sweet, satisfying, and with the undercurrent of coconut oil flavor, I couldn’t resist them.
24 mini muffins did not even last 24 hours.
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Vegan Mini-Chocolate Chip Mini-Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup mashed ripe banana, about 1 large
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, other milks may be substituted including coconut, soy, rice, cow, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- ½ cup mini-chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling tops
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Spray two 12-count Non-Stick Mini Muffin Pans very well with floured cooking spray or grease and flour the pans; set aside. (I don’t prefer the cosmetic look of muffin liners and I am not sure if the paper will stick to the muffins). Alternatively, the recipe can be made as regular-sized muffins; use a Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan
- In a large bowl, mash the banana with a fork.
- Add the sugar, milk (room temp milk will prevent coconut oil from re-solidifying; if it does anyway, some small clumps are okay), oil, vanilla, cinnamon, and whisk until combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, optional salt, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix.
- Fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
- Divide batter equally among the cavities of the prepared pans using approximately one rounded or heaping tablespoon of batter for each muffin. Each cavity will be about 3/4 full. Spraying a medium cookie scoop, with cooking spray so the batter slides right off is handy here.
- Optionally, add a pinch of chocolate chips to each muffin top.
- Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until tops are domed, puffed, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs dangling but no batter. I baked for 11 minutes, but because pan sizes, climates, and ovens vary, bake until done; watch your muffins and not the clock. If you’re baking as regular-sized muffins, my guess is about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Allow muffins to cool in pan for about 10 to 15 minutes before removing and placing on a rack to cool completely. Muffins will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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What’s your favorite muffin recipe?
These look great! Thanks for sharing so many great vegan recipes.
Haha I love how you start this post! “Popable” is the perfect word! Mini treats are my favorite even though I end up eating as many or more than one normal sized treat!
It happens to everyone!
Too cute! And calories TOTALLY don’t count with mini food :)
Springy and bouncy – love it. They look perfect. And I love iherb too. I actually discovered it thanks to you ;-)
It’s saved me thousands$$ over the years! I am glad you’re a fan too! :)
These look anything but dense. Mini means more…and I like the sound of more. These look awesome.
Mini means more…and I like the sound of more = AGREED!
What is it about mini food that is so darn cute?? I want to just pop, pop, pop about four of these little babies into my mouth right now. I adore coconut oil, so the taste of these sounds like heaven to me!
If you already like coc oil, you would adore these, Erin!
I absolutely love your recipes and I love muffins, but I haven’t had the chance yet to try any of your vegan muffins!!! Maybe this weekend for a post thanksgiving breakfast treat :)
I guess we were both feeling the simple recipes today! These look so good and I could probably eat all of them in one day! Pinning of course!
Well simple now that I did it, but getting a vegan muffin to stay light and fluffy, rise without eggs, not turn into mushrooms, not turn into lead balloons, not have the chips sink to the bottom, or use a bunch of rare substitute ingredients that unfortunately no one will buy but many vegan baking books call for – yeah it’s simple now :) But it took me a solid 7+ years of vegan baking to get here :)
I just pinned these and had to run to your site to tell you how awesome you are. Happy holidays!
Thanks for the pin, my friend! I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family and I hope it’s filled with lots of love and laughter! xoxo
I love your collection of vegan muffin recipes–so easy to make partial batches when eggs aren’t involved and I always have coconut oil and bananas! I remember the chunky apple cinnamon muffins and these look every bit as good (and easy)! The little cream cheese puffs were really good as well. Mini food is so fun– I love baking in little loaf, muffin or tart pans.
Paula these are some of my favorite vegan muffins. So soft, fluffy, and the flavor…oh wow, I was in love with them.
And yes to being able to halve or make partial batches of recipes when no eggs are involved – love that too!
These are cute lil muffins & I’m sure I could take down a dozen at a time!
I took down about 4 in 4 seconds after the photo shoot was over :)
Mini muffins are my weakness! I always can eat 6 in one go and they always make for get snacks for parties.
So cute and love the fact they are vegan , so everyone can eat them when people drop by. I finding I need to make more vegan desserts for the holidays; so everyone can share in the joy.
Around the holidays it’s so smart to have options b/c you never know what party you’re going to or who’s stopping by – and having something for everyone is a fabulous plan indeed!
What a great taste combination: banana and coconut. Two of my favorite things in the world. These muffins have to be really delicious. Cannot wait to make them!
LMK if you do!
Mini muffins are the best! I could probably eat 5-6 in a single sitting. And these would be so perfect for Jason. He’s getting up at 4:30 every morning –
I’m sure he would appreciate taking this on the go for his commute!
430a is my usual bedtime :) I need my late night hours for productivity! You’re a night owl too so I know you get it. And yeah 6 in a sitting is seriously no problem with these!
They look delicious! The fact that they’re so quick and easy is just an added bonus :)
Thanks! :)
Oh bite sized foods are practically negative-calorie, since you have to make so many trips back to the kitchen to get more, dontcha know;)
practically negative-calorie, since you have to make so many trips back to the kitchen to get more <---- OMG SO TRUE!!! :)