The best brunch or breakfast muffins ever! Moist and tender vegan banana nut muffins are loaded with toasted pecans and coconut. More toasted nuts give these muffins a crunchy topping that the whole family will love!
Making traditional banana muffins vegan is pretty darn simple. Dairy and eggs are the only things you need to figure out an adequate substitution for. I used a couple of my tried and true vegan swap-outs without spending a ton more time or money at all.
If you're looking for more yummy muffin recipes, consider mini cinnamon crunch sweet potato muffins, vegan blueberry almond muffins, or pumpkin spice muffins.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Flax egg (flaxmeal and water)
- Toasted, chopped pecans
- Toasted, flaked coconut. Omit and add extra pecans if coconut is not your jam.
- Gluten free all purpose flour. If you're not gluten free, standard all purpose flour will work with the same measurements.
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Cane or coconut sugar
- Very ripe bananas
- Coconut oil.I love the sweetness coconut oil adds, but olive oil works well too.
- Vanilla extract
>> See the recipe card below for the quantities you'll need.
Instructions
STEP 1: Prepare. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with liners.
STEP 2: Make a flax egg. In a small bowl or ramekin, combine the flax meal egg ingredients (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed and 3 tablespoons water) and set aside to let the mixture thicken.
STEP 3: Mix together the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour blend, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
STEP 4: Mix together the wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, mix the mashed bananas, sugar, flax egg, coconut oil, and vanilla. Gently fold banana mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling ¾ full.
STEP 5: Bake and serve: Sprinkle the top of the muffins with the reserved toasted pecans and coconut. Bake for about 22-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean and the top is golden brown.
Storage
The muffins are best stored in a zipper bag or other airtight container in the fridge and warmed before eating.
They also freeze well individually wrapped in foil and then placed in a freezer bag.
To reheat the frozen muffins, preheat the oven to 300˚ F. Place the foil wrapped muffin in the oven for 8-10 minutes until warmed through.
How to Toast Nuts
Toasting nuts increases the flavor and crunch of nuts. The goal is get a very slight golden hue to the nuts. There are two ways to do this:
IN THE OVEN: Preheat the oven 325˚. Arrange the nuts on a baking sheet in a single layer. The more spread out the better, this allows all the edges to get toasted. If you find they're crowded on the pan, use two pans.
Cook the nuts in the preheated oven for 5-8 minutes, stirring halfway through to avoid burning.
ON THE STOVE: Place the nuts in a large enough skillet to ensure the nuts are spread out. Adjust the heat to medium-low and cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring every minute or so.
Do no leave nuts unattended on the stove. They burn quickly and there is no hope of recovery if they're even a little burned.
FAQ
A flax egg is a vegan variation of an egg and serves the purpose of adding moisture and leavening.
I like the King Arthur GF Measure for Measure flour blend. It has xanthum gum which many blends don't have. The xantum gum allows it to rise similarly to standard all purpose flour.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Nutty Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 flax egg* ((1 tablespoon flax meal + 3 tablespoons water))
- 1 cup toasted pecans coarsely chopped
- ⅔ cup toasted flaked coconut
- 1 ½ cups cups gluten free all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup cane or coconut sugar
- 3 bananas very ripe and mashed well (about 1½ cups)
- ½ cup coconut oil (melted and cooled)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- PREPARE: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with liners.
- MAKE FLAX EGG: In a small bowl or ramekin, combine the flax meal egg ingredients (1 tablespoon ground flax seed and 3 tablespoons water) and set aside to let thicken.
- MIX DRY INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda and salt.
- MIX WET INGREDIENTS: In a medium bowl, mix the mashed bananas, sugar, flax egg, coconut oil, and vanilla. Gently fold banana mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling ¾ full.
- BAKE AND SERVE: Sprinkle the top of the muffins with the reserved toasted pecans and coconut. Bake for about 22-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean and the top is golden brown.
Notes
Nutrition
RECIPE EQUIPMENT
**This blog post contains affiliate links to products that I actually use and that align with my values. See my affiliate disclaimer here.
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