Banana Oat Vegan Muffins | Gluten-free
These Banana Oatmeal Vegan Muffins are wholesomely delicious, gluten-free, and oil-free! They are packed with healthy ingredients like oat flour, bananas, applesauce, almond milk, and spices and can be served for breakfast, snacks, desserts, or any time!
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. The muffins are delicious fresh out of the oven, and you might even want to smear a spoonful of this easy chocolate cashew cream on top to turn them into a decadent dessert.
We have an entire vegan muffin category page that you might want to check out because it includes dairy-free chocolate chip muffins, healthy sweet potato muffins, and a lot more!
Reasons you will love these muffins
- Moist and Delicious: These gluten-free, oil-free vegan banana oat muffins are incredibly moist and packed with natural banana flavor, making them a tasty and satisfying treat any time of day.
- Healthy and Wholesome Ingredients: Made with gluten-free oats, ripe bananas, and no oil, these muffins are a healthy option that’s perfect for breakfast or a nutritious snack.
- Easy to Make: With simple, pantry-friendly ingredients and no special equipment needed, these muffins are easy to whip up in no time, making them a convenient option for busy mornings.
- Perfect for All Diets: These muffins are not only vegan but also gluten-free and oil-free, catering to a variety of dietary needs without sacrificing taste or texture.
Ingredients you will need
- Flour & rising agents- Oat flour (certified gluten-free) provides a nutritious, gluten-free base for healthy vegan muffins, while baking powder and baking soda work together to create a light, fluffy texture. A pinch of salt enhances the flavors, ensuring your muffins are both delicious and wholesome.
- Applesauce- Adding natural sweetness and moisture while reducing the need for added fats or oils. Applesauce helps to keep the muffins tender and moist. If you can’t find it in your local grocery store, try making your own applesauce with our recipe.
- Bananas- They provide moisture and help bind the ingredients together, replacing the role of eggs in traditional muffin recipes. Bananas contribute a soft, tender texture and a delicious flavor, making the muffins both healthier and more flavorful.
- Plant Milk- To keep this recipe dairy-free, we use almond milk, and other options include soy milk, oat milk, and others. We have a great guide on how to make your own cashew milk that is super simple.
- Vinegar- Adding vinegar to vegan muffins helps activate the baking soda, creating a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide bubbles. This reaction helps the muffins rise and results in a light, fluffy texture.
- Sweetener- My preference is brown sugar, but other options could include date sugar, maple sugar, or pure cane sugar.
Tips & Suggestions
- Pan recommendations- 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.
- Mini muffins- If you decide to use a muffin pan for mini muffins, reduce the cooking time to about 15 minutes.
How to make oatmeal banana vegan muffins
The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.
STEP #1: 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.
Simply add old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats to your blender, food processor, or even coffee grinder.
STEP #2: 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.
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.
STEP #3: 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.
STEP #4: 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).
STEP #5: 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.
STEP #6: 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.
STEP #7: 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 breakfast or a snack.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. It can be expensive, and that is why I make my own. Making your own oat flour is as simple as blending oats in your blender, and it will save you money. Make only as much as you need at a time.
Yes, there are several flour options for replacing oat flour in muffins, including almond flour, coconut flour, and all-purpose flour. Each flour has its unique properties, so you may need to adjust the recipe to achieve the desired texture and flavor. For a gluten-free alternative, try using almond flour or a blend of coconut and rice flour for a light, fluffy muffin.
They will last about 3-4 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. To extend their freshness, you can refrigerate them for up to a week. If you want to keep them longer, you can freeze the muffins for up to 3 months; just thaw and reheat them before enjoying.
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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Vegan Banana Oat 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
- Flour options- There are several flour options for replacing oat flour in muffins, including almond flour, coconut flour, and all-purpose flour. Each flour has its unique properties, so you may need to adjust the recipe to achieve the desired texture and flavor. For a gluten-free alternative, try using almond flour or a blend of coconut and rice flour for a light, fluffy muffin. There is a great gluten-free guide from Minimalist Baker.
- Pan recommendations- 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.
- Mini muffins- If you decide to use a muffin pan for mini muffins, reduce the cooking time to about 15 minutes.
- Storage- will last about 3-4 days when stored in an airtight container at room temperature. To extend their freshness, you can refrigerate them for up to a week. If you want to keep them longer, you can freeze the muffins for up to 3 months; just thaw and reheat them before enjoying.
Nutrition
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.
I love these and I think they taste even better on the second day. Finding things that are vegan, oil-free and gluten-free can be really difficult and I was honestly surprised by how much I liked these. Thanks, Terri!
That makes me so happy to hear! Any leftovers freeze well too.
Thank you Terri! Made these today and am happy . My grandkids should love them!
Hi Kim- I’m so glad that you liked the muffins, and I hope your grandkids will eat them up! ♥
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!
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.
Hi Bhargavi- I have made it both ways, and it comes out great with both. More often than not, I use store-bought because that’s what I have on hand.
Do you know how this would work in a loaf pan? Would it just. be a baking time adjustment? We love he muffins!!!
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!
Love love love thank you so much 🥳
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!
Hi Alayna- I LOVED reading your great feedback and am so glad that these were a hit with your family!
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!
Hi Terri- You might try adding just a tiny bit more baking soda to help with rising. I’m so glad that you enjoyed these muffins!
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.
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.
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!
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.
Thanks for your helpful hints, Terri. I look forward to making the muffins and I’ll save the information for future reference as well!
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!
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!
I wanted to print this recipe but the link is not working, can u fix?
Hi Lalla- Sorry for the printing issue. I think we have it fixed now if you want to give it another try. Thanks for letting me know.