Healthy Banana Protein Muffins
These chocolate chip banana protein muffins are the ultimate meal prep snack. They’re healthy, sweetened with just honey, made with almond flour and ready in under 30 minutes.
I’ve been on a bit of a protein powder kick lately. I love adding it to smoothies of course, but lately I’ve been loving it in pancakes and now these banana protein muffins.
These muffins are the perfect recipe to have on hand for quick snacks, whether after school, post-workout or when the late night chocolate cravings hit.
Protein powder is great for baking because it can help turn a very non-nutritious recipe into a very nutritious one! As far as which one is best, I like pea protein, but if you are not dairy free, whey is great too!
They’re naturally gluten free, dairy free, oil free and ready to eat in about 30 minutes. Try my protein cookie dough, healthy chocolate chip cookies or protein overnight oats next!
How to make banana protein muffins
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tin with 10 liners and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients.
Whisk in the dry ingredients, aside from the chocolate or nuts if using. Fold in the nuts or chocolate chips.
Scoop into the prepared tray, filling each liner about 3/4 of the way up. Bake for 18-24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before serving.
Key Ingredients & substitutions
Banana puree. This is one of the key ingredients that add moisture to these banana protein muffins and help naturally sweeten them. Be sure to use very ripe and spotty bananas and puree them instead of mash them. This is key for the texture- same with my mini banana muffins!
Almond & oat flour. We’re using half almond flour and half oat flour, but you are welcome to use all of one or the other if you prefer. The texture is best with half of each, but it will work with all of one. Same with my gluten free chocolate muffins!
Honey. Honey will help add some sweetness to the muffins without tons of added sugar. I have not tested these with maple syrup, but I imagine that would work as well.
Protein powder. I use a vanilla pea protein for this recipe, which I recommend. You can use other kinds of protein such as whey, but I recommend sticking with vanilla for the best flavor. You want to make sure it has stevia or some kind of sweetener for the best flavor. We’ll be using 1/2 cup of protein powder, which adds just the right amount of protein, but not so much that the texture is negatively impacted.
Eggs. The eggs help bind all of the ingredients together, add moisture and add some extra protein!
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Can you bake with protein powder?
Yes! I love adding protein powder into pancakes, baked protien oats, muffins, protein donuts, cookies and even chocolate cake. I don’t recommend adding it into a traditional recipe, it’s important to follow a recipe that already calls for protein powder for best results.
Protein powder sort of acts like flour in baked goods, it will absorb excess moisture and add structure. When used in the right amount, it will keep the recipe nice and fluffy and flavorful.
How to store and freeze
To store: Once prepared, these banana protein muffins will keep at room temperature for 3-5 days. I like to store them in a container or a ziplock bag to keep them moist.
To freeze: I have not tried freezing them, but I do think that would work well! Be sure to let them cool completely, then transfer to a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 1 month.
To reheat: If frozen, let the muffins defrost in the fridge, then reheat until warm through the center at 300. If they were simply in the fridge or at room temp, just pop in the microwave for a few seconds to warm them up!
Can I make them vegan?
I have not tested these without the eggs, and to be honest, I don’t think the texture would turn out very well. If you do choose to make them vegan, my suggestion would be to use two flax eggs or add in an additional 1/2 cup of banana puree.
They won’t rise as much as they do with eggs or be quite as fluffy, but the flavor will still be delicious.
Try these next!
- Matcha Muffins
- Almond Flour Blueberry Muffins
- Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins
- Sweet Potato Muffins
- Gluten Free Banana Bread Cookies
- Carrot Cake Muffins
- Protein Brownies
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins
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Banana Protein Muffins
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet
- 1 cup banana puree
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry
- ½ cup blanched almond flour
- ½ cup oat flour
- ½ cup vanilla protein powder see notes
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips or chopped walnuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line a muffin tin with 10 liners and set aside. It helps to *also* spray the liners with oil as the protein powder can cause the batter to stick after baking.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients.
- Whisk in the dry ingredients, aside from the chocolate or nuts if using.
- Fold in the nuts or chocolate chips.
- Scoop into the prepared tray, filling each liner about 3/4 of the way up.
- Bake for 18-24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely before serving.
Notes
Comments
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I’ve been looking for ways to add extra protein into my diet and this recipe is definitely a keeper.
I had all the ingredients but no muffin tin, so I made it into a slice instead. So good! 👍
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Can I freeze these muffins for later? We’re going camping and I’d love to make some ahead of time.
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Yes! Just let them cool completely and freeze in an air tight container.
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I made these today for my 13yr old son who’s been looking to increase protein in his diet. I used all oat flour because I have a nut allergy in the house. They were great!! Nice consistency and my son loved them! Thanks for an easy delicious recipe!
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Just tried these and they are so flavorful and delicious! I didn’t have oat flour so I doubled the almond flour and it worked out fine. They are slightly bit sweet to me, however, I think next time I will just not add as much honey. Other than that, amazing recipe! Thank you!
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Amazing! You can definitely reduce the honey if you prefer them less sweet. So glad you enjoyed these!
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So good! I have a nut allergy and a sensitivity to stevia so I actually did oat flour / bread flour.
I used unflavored protein powder so I added 2TBS of coconut sugar.
Added dye free sprinkles for the kiddos!
They turned out great!-
So glad you made it work for you!
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Made these and the entire family loves them! My texture was more of a bread pudding than a muffin so not sure if I did something wrong. Still very good!
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Hi, this recipe looks amazing! I have not tried it yet though because I was wondering, would it ruin the recipe if I left out the protein powder? Thank you!
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This recipe was designed to be made with protein powder so I wouldn’t leave it out!
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This is by far the best protein muffin recipe I’ve ever used, they actually taste good and aren’t grainy. Great for a quick breakfast/ snack and they’re also perfect if you have a sweet tooth but don’t want to totally go off the rails. I did half walnuts and half chocolate chips, best of both worlds and tasted great. I suggest cooking on the lowest time first and adding a few minutes at the end if need be so they don’t dry out.
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Thank you so much, Torie! So glad you enjoyed these 🙂
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Omg I love this recipe so much I’ve made it a handful of times now. This last time the batter for some reason was a bit dry and decided to improvise and make them into cookies as an experiment. Let me tell you they came out sooooooo good. It’s unbelievable.
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Love that idea!! I’ll have to try that!
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These banana muffins taste delicious. Great flavor and love the addition of protein to make it a great snack. Thank you!
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Thank you, Liz! So glad you enjoyed these.
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I just made these but swapped the banana for pumpkin, the honey for maple syrup, and added some pumpkin pie spice, and they were delicious! This will definitely be my go-to protein muffin recipe!
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Yum! Love the pumpkin version!
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Absolutely amazing recipe. Normally protein recipes kinda suck, this is a 10/10 ❤️
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Thank you, Kalie!
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Love these. Today is my second time making them in 2 weeks. I make a double batch and get 18 muffins. I also swapped walnuts for the pecans, and used 1/2 the chocolate chips (mini dark.) I used paper liners with spray. Perfect!
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Yum, sounds perfect!
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Can I use 1 cup of regular organic flour instead of half almond and half oat?
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I haven’t tried that since all of my recipes are GF, I suggest sticking with the recipe as written!
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Delicious!! (Even my traditional-baked goods-loving-teen likes these!!) And I love that there is no additional artificial sweetener other than what is in the protein powder.
Should i store these in the fridge?
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Fridge will work for up to 5 days, or room temp for about 3 days!
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