Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (Healthy + Easy)
Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins are a healthy fan-favorite recipe that’s easy to make with just 8 simple ingredients and bakes up moist, tender, and delicious!
Today is a muffin day, a healthy banana chocolate chip muffin day! So, with a few bananas on hand, ripe as can be, I decided to put them into these kid-friendly vegan muffins.
I wanted to make them banana nut muffins, but since my daughter doesn’t care for nuts, I went ahead and added chocolate chips instead.
Those are much better, in her opinion, and I’m sure many of you will agree. Who doesn’t like a little chocolate in their banana muffins?
Why We Love This Recipe!
- Healthy. This muffin recipe is based on my dairy and egg-free Vegan Banana Bread. I cut the oil a bit, only using 1/4 cup, making them a little healthier. They came out perfectly soft and fluffy, and the gooey chocolate chips are a welcome addition.
- Quick + easy to make. These muffins are super simple and ready in a cinch using overripe bananas and a few pantry ingredients.
- Great for snacking. These vegan muffins are great for breakfast or a healthy snack throughout the day. They get eaten up quickly around our home, and I’m sure you will love them too!
How To Make Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Here is a quick overview of the process with photos for reference:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium/large mixing bowl.
- In another bowl, combine the oil, milk, vanilla, and sugar. Mash the bananas.
- Grab your chocolate chips, they will be warm and gooey soon!
- Add the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips, careful not to over-mix.
- Scoop the batter and place it in lined muffin tins (shown above). Add a few extra chocolate chips on top if you like.
- Bake until golden, about 20 – 25 minutes (shown above), while enjoying how delicious your home is starting to smell!
- Let cool a few minutes and eat them up, YUM!!
Tips For Success!
- Spoon instead of scoop the flour. When measuring the flour, don’t scoop it out of the container with the measuring cup. Instead, spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Instead, stir just until combined and no more for the most tender muffins.
- Oil-Free. To make these muffins oil-free, use unsweetened applesauce instead.
- Add extra flavor. For variation, try adding 1 tsp of cinnamon to the dry ingredients for even more flavor.
- Use the correct oven rack position. Baking the muffins on the center rack will ensure even cooking throughout.
- To test for doneness, insert a wooden toothpick into the center of one of the muffins. The toothpick should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
Recommended Equipment: I love my USA Pan Muffin Tin, and these parchment paper muffin liners (affiliate links) are great too!
How To Store Banana Muffins
- Counter: Once completely cooled, store muffins in an airtight container lined with a paper towel on the counter for up to 3 – 4 days. The paper towel will soak up moisture and keep them from getting too moist.
- Refrigerator: Muffins will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator in a covered container.
- Freezer: These banana muffins freeze well and will stay fresh for 2 months in freezer-safe containers or baggies.
More Healthy Muffin Recipes!
- Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- 1 Bowl Banana Strawberry Muffins
- Apple-Cinnamon Muffins (GF, made with almond flour)
- Pumpkin Oat Muffins + Crumbly Topping
- Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
If you try this healthy banana muffin recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintVegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (Healthy)
Made with lots of love and a sprinkle of chocolate chips, these vegan chocolate chip banana muffins are a perfect way to start the morning or enjoy as a mid-day snack!
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Makes 10 – 12 muffins 1x
- Category: Breakfast, Bread
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Vegan, American
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups spelt flour, or flour of choice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup light-flavored olive oil or warmed coconut oil
- 1/4 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (almond, oat, soy, cashew, etc.)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup organic sugar (pure cane or coconut sugar)
- 4 small or 3 large overripe bananas (about 1 1/2 cups), mashed
- 1/4 cup or so chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life Mini)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Dry ingredients: Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium/large size bowl and set aside.
Wet ingredients: In a small bowl, mix oil, non-dairy milk, sugar and vanilla.
Banana: Mash bananas, you should have approx. 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 cups.
Combine: Add the wet ingredients and bananas to batter and mix until just combined. If the mixture seems too dry, add more non-dairy milk, maybe 1/4 cup at most.
Chocolate: Add in chocolate chips and mix briefly.
Fill muffin tin: Spoon into a well-greased or paper-lined muffin tin, fill each muffin about 2/3 – 3/4 full.
Bake: Place the muffins in the oven on the center rack and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. You can also test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of one muffin; if it comes out clean, they’re ready.
Remove from oven and let cool for 10 min.
Makes about 12 muffins.
Store: Once they’ve cooled completely, store muffins in an airtight container lined with a paper towel on the counter for up to 3 – 4 days. The paper towel will soak up moisture and keep them from getting too moist. You can also store them in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Notes
To make gluten free, use gluten free all purpose flour or gluten free flour of choice.
If using coconut oil, be sure it’s warmed and creamy or in its liquid state.
Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the batch for a different flavor.
I’ve made these using just the 2 teaspoons of baking powder with great results. If you don’t have baking soda on hand, you can omit it.
Spelt flour is my favorite flour and I use it exclusively for my baking projects! If you are mildly gluten intolerant you may be able to use gluten flour without any adverse effects. It is unlike most of the wheat flour of today as it is not hybridized. Here is more info on the nutritional aspect of spelt flour – Spelt flour benefits – if you’re not familiar with it.
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT: I love my USA Pan Muffin Tin, and these parchment paper muffin liners (affiliate links) are great too!
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Wonderful! Hits the spot, yet is light. Newer to the vegan lifestyle and it was tough finding any package muffins without egg and milk. These are easy to make, they don’t take long to bake, and the ingredients are familiar.
Loved this recipe! Easy and delicious! I used 4 large bananas to make sure I had enough cups of mashed banana. I used spelt flour. It was a wet batter, and they baked perfectly. I made sure not to overmix it like the tip said, and the muffins were so soft. So delicious, for vegans and nonvegans!
these were stupidly delicious. i used whole wheat flour (1 and 3/4 cups), used 4 small-medium bananas, and added cinnamon. baked for 20 mins and let cool in the pan… so amazing!! love your recipes.
So fluffy and not dry at all! I ate 6 in 3 days, they are perfect when microwaved for 15 secs!
We’re on Week 3 of the Shelter in Place due to the Corona Virus / COVID-19 and I’ve suddenly started baking! HA! (And, we eat bananas, but I may have overbought bananas when preparing to not go to the store for 3 weeks. And, of course, even the greenest ones I could find didn’t last 3 weeks. So I decided to make some muffins! My son is vegan so I always try to make something vegan or at least make him something along with ours too. (Although the chocolate chips aren’t vegan. But sometimes he’ll eat them. Like now!) And we’ve found that the vegan baked goods we make are usually yummier than the non-vegan ones! So I really try to only find vegan recipes when baking now. And WOW!!! These were SO good!!! I made a quadruple batch! Yes… I had a LOT of very ripe bananas! So I had a few rounds to play with. I made 2 batches without oats. But I never “mixed” the chocolate chips in to the batter. I put 1/2 batter in to the tin, put 5 or 6 chocolate chips in (and the ones with oats I layered with oats too), filled with the rest of the scoop of batter, then topped with 12 chocolate chips (then the ones with oats I sprinkled with oats), then I kind of dabbed the tops of them so that the chocolate chips and oats just barely mixed a bit and had a little batter on them but didn’t push them below the surface. Those were the best ones of the bunch. And still super cute! I did the same thing with a batch of the oat ones before the best ones… I just sprinkling the oats on and chocolate chips on but those were messier because the oats and chocolate chips tended to drop off afterwards. They were really cute though. But who wants to lose their yummies?!?!
I have 5 adults in my home… All with different tastes and allergies and dietary interests… And these muffins were/are a HUGE hit for EVERYONE! The first thing everyone has done this morning is go straight to those muffins!!! YAY!?!?!?!
I’ve been a baker my whole life, but have converted to plant-based and less-refined sugar eating for the past six month and have been modifying all my favorite recipes to vegan. Sometimes, it’s just easier to search for a vegan recipe, and this one proved to be a winner. I can honestly say it is even BETTER than my old banana muffin recipe and it is definitely healthier!! Best of all, my six year old could totally make these with my help. I love not having to worry about raw eggs in my baking anymore! I used coconut sugar and a blend of 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour. We also melted half a stick of plant-based butter instead of the coconut oil, as that was what was on hand. I don’t like wet, gooey muffins, and these were perfect. They rose beautifully, had nice, rounded domes, and no sticky tops or sides. Just perfect. Will be on regular rotation in my home!
I love this recipe! I make it almost bi weekly! Thank you !
I made these for the first time this week. They were wonderful! As a chocolate lover, I added extra chocolate chips and will be making these regularly. Thank so much for this recipe. I would like to add peanut butter to the recipe; would it work to add in place of the oil?
Hi Bonnie, so glad you loved these easy muffins! Double chocolate chips sounds like a winner too.
I’ve never tried it will nut butter, but I would say it could possibly work great. I would suggest to thin the peanut butter a little with water or plant milk. I just wonder if it will be too thick as is, unless it’s a slightly runny butter. Please let me know how it goes if you try. I will have to add that to my to do list to! Cheers :)
OK, I am not the best baker in town but these turned out soooo good! I had no mylk at home so added 2 teaspoons of coconut yogurt. They are super fluffy, moist and delicate. I also added some chunks of chocolate and pecan to make it a bit more decadent :)
Thank you so much for this recipe!
Yay, so glad you loved these! I love your additions, thanks for the inspiration! Hope you enjoy them often!
Amazing recipe and so easy! x