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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This is the best protein recipe I have tried in a long time!
I used legion whey protein and sugar free maple syrup, turned out perfect. Did not get chewy/dry like other recipes when subbing with whey.
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Thank you, Ella! So glad you enjoyed it.
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Our whole house loves these! I find I have to add a splash of water to the batter but otherwise I follow the recipe exactly and it’s so delicious! We’ve used chocolate protein powder and it’s equally delicious. Thank you for sharing this! For mini muffins – cook 16-18 minutes, I think.
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My family loves this recipe, thank you so much! This is my 3rd time making it. Yummmm
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Love it! Thanks, Jennifer!
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Excellent! This is one of the best protein banana muffins I’ve tried.
The only thing I substituted was agave syrup for the honey. Otherwise followed exactly.
I used Gold Standard Pro Pow
Baked for 22 min in convection oven
Used 1/2 choc chips 1/2 walnuts
YUMMY-
YUM! Thanks, Dianne!
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Been making these muffins for a year now. It’s what started my baking hobby!! Love them!!
I notice sometimes when I use 3 bananas the fork comes out clean but just gooey. The top and bottom of the muffin are fully cooked and baked for 24 minutes. Any other recs so they’re not gooey but moist instead?
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Are you pureeing or mashing the banana? What protein powder did you use? You can try baking for just a bit longer. Banana muffins tend to be a bit softer than other kind of muffins, but you can also try baking for just a few extra minutes.
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This is a solid recipe. I used 1/8 cup oat brown and minused 1/8 cup from almond flour. This is for added fiber. I only had Hershey chocolate bars from Halloween to I chopped up some of those and sprinkles on top. I wish I had the Walnuts. I’ll def be making these more.
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Sounds great! Thank you, Amanda!
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Like many women, I need to add more protein to my diet so I decided to try these as a breakfast treat. They are AMAZING! I used unflavored/unsweetened pea protein from Whole Foods and doubled the sweetener (I used 1/2 cup of Agave). I also did half walnut and mini chocolate chips. I only cooked them for 18 minutes so they were a little underdone but they were super moist and delicious. Thank you!
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Love it! So glad you found something you enjoy!
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Teenager approved! I made these 3 times already…for my teenage son for breakfast f0r the week but then his friends ate all of them so I made a 2nd batch. Then decided to make a pumpkin version for my daughter who doesn’t like bananas(used canned pumpkin in place of the banana puree)& those were also good. Thank you!
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Love to hear that!! Thanks, Joy!
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Can you substitute the almond flour for another kind of flour without throwing the protein content way off?
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You can try oat flour!
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Great recipe! Made it with regular flour, a tad bit extra honey, half teaspoon of banana extract, a table spoon of vanilla and about a teaspoon of coconut oil. Also my protein powder wasn’t very sweet so I added a pinch of brown sugar on top of each muffin. Will definitely make again! Thanks
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Sounds perfect, thank you!
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These are so freaking good. Satisfies my sweet tooth, while still reaching my health goals. Thank you for sharing this. I used 3 bananas, truvani vanilla protein powder and enjoy life mini semi sweet chocolate chips.
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Love it! Thank you, Pam!
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Such a great recipe! Did not have Oat or almond flour (slowly eliminating gluten). Instead of chocolate chips, I added a tsp of special dark chocolate powder with chocolate protein powder & doubled the vanilla extract. I also used maple syrup instead of honey. Definitely recommend spraying the paper liners. Found my new sweet-tooth snack! Thank you!
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Love it! Thanks, Kristine!
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Delicious! How many calories/ protein is this? Thank you!
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Nutrition info is at the bottom of the recipe card!
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Delicious! Very moist. I used all almond flour and it worked great. I’ll definitely make again.
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So glad you loved them!
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Did you sub the almond flour 1:1?
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These were very good. I didn’t add any sweetener as the protein powder I use is already sweetened. I found them to be a bit dry though. How much oil, ghee, or butter do you think I should add to make them more moist?
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If you’re cutting out the honey, I’d definitely add something to replace that moisture. You can try just 2-3 tablespoons of melted butter or oil. All protein powders are different, so some will absorb wet ingredients more than others and can cause a more dry texture.
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I use coconut oil for all my baking. You don’t need much usually about a teaspoon will do. I use it in banana nut bread, brownies cake you name it. I haven’t made this recipe yet, but I’m fixing to give it a try. Will leave a review.
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roughly how many bananas are needed for the banana puree? excited to try this out!
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About 3 medium bananas!
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These are some of the best muffins I’ve ever made, and they’re super easy to make. However, they stick to the muffin wrappers really well, making them a bit more challenging to eat.
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Thank you, Adaira! So happy you love them. I’d recommend spraying the liners with a bit of oil to prevent sticking!
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