Banana Oat Vegan Muffins | Gluten-free

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These Banana Oatmeal Vegan Muffins are wholesomely delicious and gluten-free! They are packed with healthy ingredients like oat flour, bananas, applesauce, almond milk, and spices and can be served for breakfast, snack, dessert, or any time!

vegan muffins on cooling rack with oats sprinkled over the top on white background

There are no fancy ingredients in this healthy muffin recipe, just basic ingredients that you likely already have in your kitchen like oats, baking powder, baking soda, applesauce, vanilla, and bananas.

You’ll love these healthy vegan muffins because they’re…

  • Gluten-free
  • Moist
  • Hearty
  • Perfectly sweet
  • Great for breakfast, brunch, or afternoon snack
  • Full of flavor
  • Wholesome
  • Kid-friendly
  • Absolutely delicious!
vegan banana muffins stacked on plate with almond milk in background

Making oatmeal banana muffins

These homemade healthy vegan muffins are so easy to make, anyone can bake them. It might even be a great time to get the kids in the kitchen!

First, preheat your oven to 350°F, and then get the ingredients and measuring cups ready to go.

Begin by preparing the oat flour that makes these healthy muffins completely gluten-free.

The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.

How to make oat flour

Simply add old fashion or quick-cooking oats to your blender, food processor, or even coffee grinder.

Next, blend or pulse oats until they are ground into powdery flour, approximately 1-minute or less. Time will depend on the power of your appliance.

I make my oat flour in my Vitamix, and it creates a super soft and fluffy finished product to be used in any oat flour recipe.

oats in blender

If needed, stop and stir oats then pulse again to make sure they are completely blended.

One cup of oats makes just under 1-cup of flour. There is about 1 tablespoon difference, with the finished flour product being the lesser measurement.

In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients for these muffins–oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and less-refined dry sugar (if using).

If you plan to make these with date paste or maple syrup, save those for the wet ingredients in the next step.

flour and dry ingredients for muffins in large blue bowl with whisk

Peel and mash one large banana with a fork or potato masher in a medium-sized bowl.

In the bowl with the mashed banana, whisk together apple sauce, plant milk, vanilla, vinegar, and date paste or maple syrup (if using a wet sweetener).

muffin wet ingredients in stainless bowl on white background

Pour the well-blended wet ingredients into the large bowl with the dry ingredients and stir well. If using crushed walnuts, add them to the bowl and fold in.

vegan muffin batter in blue bowl on white background

Spoon or scoop batter into a silicone muffin baking non-stick pan or paper muffin cups. I recommend the silicone pan because these seem to stick to paper cups after baking.

For scooping the batter into a muffin pan, I have found that a trigger-lever ice cream scoop is perfect. It allows you to do this effortlessly without needing to use a spoon or your finger to scrape the spoon with each dollop.

vegan muffin batter in red silicone muffin pan on white background

Place muffin pan in the oven to bake at 350°F for approximately 25 minutes. Test for doneness by pushing a toothpick into the center of one of the muffins. When it comes out clean, the muffins are ready.

Remove from oven, allow to cool, and serve for breakfasts or a snack.

Tips for making these breakfast vegan muffins

  • Don’t skimp on the large bowl size. I love having enough room to combine the dry and wet ingredients with plenty of stirring room.
  • I highly recommend the non-stick silicone muffin pans. Using paper muffin cups is not advised because the paper tends to stick to the muffins after baked since they are not oily like traditional muffins. Remember to place on a baking sheet to support.
  • Test the doneness of the muffins after 20-25 minutes with a toothpick inserted into the middle of one. When the toothpick comes out clean, they are ready.
  • If you decide to use a muffin pan for mini muffins, reduce the cooking time to about 15 minutes.
  • Leftover muffins can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
  • These muffins also freeze well.
vegan banana oatmeal muffins in cast iron pan

More great vegan muffin recipes

For those of you new to the whole food plant-based lifestyle, we’ve created a FREE 7-Day Plant-Based Menu Planner to help you get started!

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If you try this recipe, please let us know how you like it by rating it and leaving a comment. We love to hear from you!

vegan muffins on cooling rack with oats sprinkled over the top on white background
4.43 from 57 votes

Vegan Banana Oat Muffins | Gluten-Free

These banana oatmeal vegan muffins are wholesomely delicious! They are packed with healthy ingredients like oat flour, bananas, applesauce, almond milk, and spices and can be served for breakfast, snack, dessert, or any time!
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Total: 45 minutes
Servings: 15 muffins

Ingredients 

  • 2 cups oat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar or date sugar or maple syrup
  • 1 large banana
  • 1 cup apple sauce
  • 1/2 cup plant milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup crushed walnuts optional

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Make oat flour by placing whole oats in a blender and processing for approximately 1 minute.
  • In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients: oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sweetener of choice (if using dry sweetener), cinnamon.
  • Peel and mash one large banana with a fork or potato masher in a medium-sized bowl.
  • In the bowl with the mashed banana, whisk together apple sauce, plant milk, vanilla, vinegar, and sugar.
  • Pour the well-blended wet mixture into the large bowl with dry ingredients.
  • If using crushed walnuts, add them to bowl and mix well.
  • Spoon or scoop batter into a silicone muffin baking non-stick muffin pan. I don't recommend paper muffin cups because they stick too much.
  • Place in preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes.
  • Remove from oven, allow to cool, and serve for breakfasts or a snack.

Video

Notes

Detailed instructions, in-process photos, and my personal helpful tips can be found in the article above.
Tips for making these breakfast vegan muffins
  • Don’t skimp on the large bowl size. I love having enough room to combine the dry and wet ingredients with plenty of stirring room.
  • I highly recommend the non-stick silicone muffin pans. Using paper muffin cups is not advised because the paper tends to stick to the muffins after baked since they are not oily like traditional muffins. Remember to place on a baking sheet to support it.
  • Test the doneness of the muffins after 20-25 minutes with a toothpick inserted into the middle of one. When the toothpick comes out clean, they are ready.
  • If you decide to use a muffin pan for mini muffins, reduce the cooking time to about 15 minutes.
  • Leftover muffins can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
  • These muffins also freeze well.

Nutrition

Calories: 149kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 18g

Disclaimer

To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.

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About Terri Edwards

Hi guys! I am the content creator behind EatPlant-Based and a licensed Food for Life instructor with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. I am passionate about sharing healthy recipes and tips to empower others to get healthy.  I’m so glad you’re here! Read More…

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21 Comments

  1. Just made the featured muffins yesterday and they are delish! They hit the spot when you crave something chewy and a bit sweet. Thank you for another new favorite!

    1. Hi Judy- YAY! Thank you so much for letting me know that they are a new favorite for you. I’ve been working on a new chocolate chip muffin recipe this week, so stay tuned for another awesome recipe coming soon!

  2. Hi Terri, I’m wondering about the different sweetener options. Since maple syrup is a liquid, brown sugar is dry, and date paste is a semi liquid, the texture of the muffins would differ. Which type of sweetener do you think works best? Thanks!

    1. Hi Miriam- I personally like to use a less refined dry sweetener called sucanat when baking, and that’s what I used with these muffins. Using date paste or maple syrup will be very similar but might need a tablespoon or two less plant milk. If using syrup or date paste, I would suggest starting out with only 1/4 cup plant milk, and if the batter seems to thick add a tablespoon at a time until the desired thickness is achieved. You’ll want the batter to be scoopable with a spoon or ice cream scoop before baking.

      1. Thanks for your helpful hints, Terri. I look forward to making the muffins and I’ll save the information for future reference as well!

  3. Do you put any oil/spray in your silicone muffin pan? I’ve been reading that it’s recommended by the manufacturer. I want to make sure you really don’t need to use oil on it before I buy one for myself. Thanks.

    1. Hi Carla- I don’t use any oil in my silicone pans. So far, I haven’t read that recommendation anywhere, and it seems like it would really defeat the purpose. Mine have lasted quite well to date.

  4. So Yummy! I baked mine in the “If You Care” large baking cups and they didn’t stick at all. I also substituted with organic brown coconut sugar and pureed my own applesauce with just apples and a little water. I was looking for a good plant-based/gluten-free oatmeal banana muffin recipe and this is it. Next time though, I will try grinding up the oats myself like you suggested in the Vitamix to see if it helps with rising. Maybe my store-bought oat flour was too dense? Thank you so much for this recipe!

  5. My kids and husband LOVE these muffins! Of course I do too, but getting the rest of the family to eat “healthy” food has been a chores and these are a crowd pleaser. Absolutely fantastic!

  6. Do you know how this would work in a loaf pan? Would it just. be a baking time adjustment? We love he muffins!!!

    1. Hi Angela- Yes, this recipe will do just fine in a loaf pan. I would check it after 25 minutes and, if needed, add an additional 5-10 minutes to the cooking time. Enjoy!

  7. Hi Terri, I was planning to make these and wondered if you used the store-bought Apple sauce or if you made it. I believe it is sugar-free.

  8. This recipe was sooo good!! I made mine into a loaf (had to add 10 more minutes because I like mine crispy). It sure hit the spot!

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