Last weekend was a busy one. Between hosting dinner for my family (Thanksgiving #2!) and all of the other errands we try to cram into a typical weekend, Aaron and I ended up splitting our to-do list. I tackled the cleaning, while he did the grocery shopping.
Unfortunately, Aaron mistakenly bought vanilla almond milk instead of plain for our vegan gravy recipe, and not wanting to make him go out again, I tried to use it anyway. This resulted in a very disgusting vanilla gravy, which I quickly shoved in the freezer. I hate wasting food, but I have no idea how I’m going to salvage that. The vanilla flavor is STRONG.
There weren’t any mishaps aside from the almond milk, but he did come home with an awful lot of beer, wine, and bananas. The alcohol makes sense, but there must have been 20 bananas. So many, in fact, that several family members pointed them out at dinner and wanted to know why we were hoarding them.
Not surprisingly, we didn’t average four bananas a day this week. The good news, however, is that it gave me a great excuse to make banana nut muffins. Lower-fat, mini banana nut muffins to be exact.
They’re similar to my pumpkin banana bread, but I used applesauce instead of pumpkin to cut down on the oil, and also added in a couple of handfuls of chopped walnuts.
These are so good, no one will ever know they’re a little lighter than the more traditional, oil-heavy banana nut muffin recipes.
I think I’ll help with the grocery shopping this week. Not because I don’t want to end up with a million bananas, but because I’m dying to pick up some of that cookie nut butter spread at TJ’s that the blog world’s been raving about. I could do with 20 of those.
- 2 Large, Very Ripe Bananas
- ¼ C. Granulated Sugar
- ¼ C. Coconut Oil, Melted (canola would also work)
- ¼ C. Applesauce
- 1 C. All Purpose Flour
- 1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 Tsp. Baking Soda
- ½ Tsp. Cinnamon
- ¼ Tsp. Nutmeg
- ½ Tsp. Sea Salt
- ½ C. Chopped Walnuts (optional)
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas until very few lumps remain.
- Add the sugar, oil, and applesauce. Whisk to combine.
- Sift in flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined.
- Fold in chopped walnuts, if using. The batter will be very thick.
- Transfer batter to muffin pan and bake for 8-10 minutes. A knife inserted in the center should come out clean when it’s done.
- Allow to cool slightly and enjoy!
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
How good does that cookie butter look?! I’ve been drooling over those posts. These muffins look great, I bet I could polish off 3 or 4 without thinking twice. We go through bananas like water in our house. At least 2-3 a day so I hardly ever have brown ones on hand unfortunately unlessI hide them from my husband, who I’m convinced is part monkey with the amount he eats.
I saw they also have chocolate almond butter?! I so want to get some, but I’m scared of how quickly I’ll go through it. I can just see myself standing with the fridge door open, eating spoonfuls of nut butter out of the jar.
these look sooo good!
i love that they look more like donut holes than muffins…i JUST made mini donuts in my new mini donut pan. Super fussy little buggers…I think the bigger donut pan is easier.
But the mini muffin pan is something I dont own..but want to. Love that you used a cookie scoop. NICE!
I thought the same thing about them resembling donut holes! I bet a little powdered sugar glaze poured over top would be really, really good…
Mmm…why are mini things always so darn cute?
THESE look amazing! I love anything banana-y! I wonder if I could use honey in place of sugar?
Since it’s only 1/4 C. of sugar, I think it’s worth a try. The batter will be a little more wet, but it’s a very thick batter anyway.
If you give it a try, let me know how it works out!
I just pulled banana nut muffins out of the oven. I added some fresh cranberries to mine and I loved the burst of sour flavor in between sweet banana bites. Your version looks healthy and delicious. I often buy extra bananas just so I can make treats with them
Cranberries sound like a great addition!
i want to scoop that batter directly into my mouth!
haha I totally did. And that’s one of the reasons I love vegan baking. You can eat the batter worry-free!
I was just reading through these comments after baking my mini muffins and saw that someone had asked about using honey instead of sugar. I did just that, 1/4 cup honey instead of sugar, and it worked great!
Awesome! Hope you enjoy the mini muffins!
I have made these soooo many times but modified by subbing in gluten free flour and organic chocolate chips. Amazing. Thanks so much! Keep up the great work (and Amanda too as I’m always getting great ideas off your site as well). Thanks again!
I’m so glad you like them! Adding in chocolate chips sounds awesome!
Ooops, I meant Gina has a great site too! Clearly the smell of these muffins baking has gone straight to my head.
Just did a search for healthy banana mini muffins, and your site popped up. Glad to find something vegan to go with my three small very, very leftover bananas that didn’t have a whole lot of sugar. Great recipe-I’m printing to save for later, taking these to church in the morning, shouldn’t last too long on the snack table! Thanks!
I’m so glad you like the recipe! I hope everyone at church enjoys them!