Remember my very famous skinny banana chocolate chip muffins from a few years back? I’ve made them time and time again, but finally, I figured it was time for a new healthy banana muffin recipe that’s just as irresistible as my first born (muffin, that is!).
This recipe was actually a happy accident. I told my sister in law I wanted to bake her some banana muffins with my extra ripe bananas, and she requested that they be made without chocolate chips. Since I knew they weren’t going to have the sweetness from chocolate, I decided to naturally sweeten them with honey and they turned out beautifully AND incredibly delicious.
Since I was low on butter at the time, I made these banana muffins with a little bit of heart-healthy olive oil to keep them moist and they ended up having BEST crumb texture. They’re seriously SO fluffy, tender, moist, infused with sweet cinnamon flavor and a nice crunch thanks to walnuts (leave out if you aren’t into nuts). I found myself eating a few here and there throughout the day, some with peanut butter on top or even a little drizzle of honey + sea salt. YASS.
Ingredients in healthy banana muffins
These delicious, healthy banana muffins are not only dairy free, but also seriously moist, flavorful and use honey as a natural sweetener. Here’s what you need:
- Overripe bananas: make sure they’re almost all the way brown so that these muffins have the right amount of sweetness.
- Honey: for a little boost of natural sweetness. I love the flavor that honey gives these banana muffins.
- Egg: you’ll just need one egg in this recipe. You can also try using a flax egg but I have not tested it.
- Vanilla: always baking with vanilla for delicious flavor.
- Olive oil: a bit of olive oil makes these healthy banana muffins super moist. Feel free to sub melted butter or melted and cooled coconut oil.
- Dairy free milk: I like to use unsweetened vanilla almond milk for a little extra flavor, but you can use any milk you’d like!
- Whole wheat pastry flour: I love baking with whole wheat pastry flour because it adds a boost of nutrients while making these muffins perfectly fluffy. If you don’t have this flour feel free to use all purpose flour. You can also use a ratio of ¾ cup whole wheat flour + 1 cup all purpose flour. I have not tried making these gluten free, so I’d suggest my gluten free dairy free banana muffins instead!
- Baking soda: to ensure that these bake up properly.
- Cinnamon: a little cozy spice to make them extra delicious.
- Salt: this will help pull the flavors together.
- Walnuts: I love to add chopped walnuts into the batter of these healthy banana muffins and on top! Feel free to omit or sub pecans if you’d like.
How to make the ultimate healthy banana muffins
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with muffin liners. Either way I recommend using nonstick cooking spray. This guarantees that they muffins will not stick to the liners or the pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together mashed bananas, honey, egg, vanilla, olive oil and milk until well combined. Add in whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and use a wooden spoon to mix together until the batter is just combined. Fold in ½ cup chopped walnuts.
- Divide batter evenly into muffin liners, sprinkle each muffin with chopped walnuts. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs attached.
- Cool muffins for 5 minutes then remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. These healthy banana muffins are best served warm and even better the next day. Makes 12 muffins.
Tips for making the best healthy banana muffins
- Use extra ripe bananas. Yes, I mean EXTRA ripe and almost brown. They’ll give these healthy banana muffins a natural sweetness.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Mix the flour into your wet ingredients until it’s just combined. If you overmix the batter your muffins may turn out dense and almost rubbery, which we don’t want.
Customize your banana muffins
Feel free to add your favorite muffin mix-ins! This healthy banana muffin recipe is a great base for delicious toppings, too. Here are a few suggestions:
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- a drizzle of homemade nut butter on top
Freezer-friendly banana muffins
Yes, these healthy banana muffins are freezer-friendly! Simply wrap muffins individually in freezer-safe bags or store them in a large freezer bag. When you’re ready to enjoy them, reheat for 30-45 seconds in the microwave or simply thaw them at room temperature.
I hope you love these healthy banana muffins! If you make them I’d love for you to leave a comment and rating letting me know how you liked them. Enjoy xo!
The Ultimate Healthy Banana Muffins
The ultimate healthy banana muffins are incredibly moist, dairy free and naturally sweetened with just ripe bananas and honey. This easy, healthy banana muffin recipe comes together in one bowl in just 30 minutes with options to add a delicious crunch from walnuts! The perfect healthy breakfast or snack that's freezer-friendly, too.
Ingredients
- 3 VERY overripe bananas, mashed (make sure they are almost all the way brown)
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or milk of choice)
- Dry ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Mix-ins
- ½ cup chopped walnuts, plus ¼ cup chopped walnuts for sprinkling on top of muffins
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with liners and spray the inside of the liners to prevent sticking.
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In a large bowl, mix together mashed bananas, honey, egg, vanilla, olive oil and milk until well combined. Add in whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and use a wooden spoon to mix together until the batter is just combined. DO NOT overmix. Fold in ½ cup chopped walnuts.
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Divide batter evenly into muffin liners, sprinkle each muffin with chopped walnuts. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs attached.
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Cool muffins for 5 minutes then remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Muffins are best served warm and even better the next day. Makes 12 muffins.
Recipe Notes
*If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour feel free to use all purpose flour. You can also use a ratio of ¾ cup whole wheat flour + 1 cup all purpose flour.
To make gluten free, I suggest making my gluten free dairy free banana muffins.
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
If you like this recipe you might also like:
Best Ever Healthy Banana Bread Recipe
Vegan Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls
Chia Banana Bread Energy Bites
Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal Cups
Healthy Banana Oatmeal Pancakes (made right in the blender!)
22 comments
What great timing! I was just trying to figure out what to do with the ripe bananas on the counter. Problem solved!!
Perfect!! Enjoy 🙂
I would really like it if you could include the picture of your recipe in the Print Recipe tab. I seldom make a recipe if I can’t see the picture and when I print your recipes, the picture is left out. All other food bloggers have the picture included in the print out. Is this something I may be doing wrong?
Hi Julia! Thanks for the feedback – we’re working on this 🙂
Monique these are to die for!
So glad you love them!
These muffins are delish! So soft & flavourful!
I used maple syrup instead of the honey and spelt flour. So good, thank you!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Yum!! Made as written with 1C AP flour and 3/4C whole wheat flour. Delicious and perfect muffins. My kids gobbled them up. Made half with nuts and half for kids without topped with mini choc chips. Soft, perfectly sweet, and easy to whip up. 10/10 will make again.
Perfect! Happy to hear that!
These muffins are amazing! I left out the walnuts and added 1/2 cup chocolate chips and they tasted great. New fave muffin recipe.
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Super easy and yummy! Great tips to make these perfect, like spraying the muffin liners so they don’t stick, genius! Awesome, thank you for this 🙂 I’ll be making these again soon!
Absolutely! So glad you loved them 🙂
WOW, incredible! I probably should have given my bananas another day to get browner but literally couldn’t wait to try these. Our new favorite muffin!!
So happy you loved them!
HI! I am so excited to try these. When you say almost brown bananas- when you peel the bananas, is it ok they are are all spotty and brown too then? Thank you!!
Hi! The outsides should be brown and spotty, but the inside is generally still normal colored (maybe a bit darker) and soft.
Delicious, healthy and easy! Used whole wheat flour (1cup) and all purpose flour (3/4cup). Added lots of chopped walnuts inside and on top. My new favorite banana muffins!
5 stars (star rating was not working…).
Perfect! So happy you enjoyed!
This recipe is delicious! Super easy to follow and fun to make! I added chocolate chips to mine which made them even better!
Great idea! Glad you love them!