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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If I could I would give this a 10/10. Normally I bake exactly by a recipe before I make substitutes. There is no doubt this recipe is delicious without any changes, but rather than purchase additional items I used what I keep in my pantry: Muscle Milk vanilla whey protein, Pecans & Maple Pecan ChocZero syrup instead of honey to cut some carbs. Rather than use muffin tins, I often use a Pyrex dish. Doubled the recipe, baked in 9X13″ greased dish at 350 for 25 minutes. All my measurements were exactly what the recipe stated. Someone asked how many bananas & it took 4 large very ripe bananas to equal 2 cups. Thank you for a delicious & easy to follow recipe!
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So glad you were able to make it work for you! Thanks, Sue!
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I stumbled onto this recipe in my search for high protein snacks and quest to use up some bananas. I blended up oats to make flour and threw some in whole for texture. I also did half chopped walnuts and half mini chocolate chips for add ins. So delish!
Will be making these often! Thx -
Just made these! One of the best “healthy” dessert recipes i’ve ever made! 10/10 Thank you Claire
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Delicious! This recipe will be a new go to for us!
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Thank you, Rachel!
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Messed mine up not sure why? I think the conversions are incorrect when you go to metric? They don’t seem to add up?
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Can you explain how you messed it up? The metric conversions are automatic, so they aren’t 100% accurate unforuntately. Most of my audience uses cups to measure, so that is what I stick with.
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Me too, I had to add a load more wet ingredients to make it work. It’s the flour and protein measurements, they’re about double what they should be!
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I have never had that issue with this recipe – please be sure to measure the dry ingredients properly! The type of protein powder you use can also make a big difference.
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Is it okay to substitute regular flour if I don’t have oat or almond at home?
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I don’t recommend that here! Almond and oat flours absorb wet ingredients very differently.
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I substituted for all purpose flour because I didn’t have almond or oat and they turned out great in my opinion! Definitely a little bit dense but I kinda like them that way, makes them a very filling snack! Great recipe, I’ve been making them almost weekly!
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Great! Good to know that worked well!
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If you’re allergic to nuts, can you substitute the almond flour for all oat flour?
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Yes, that should be fine!
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Five stars. Didn’t have almond flour in the house.
I used vanilla Orgain protein powder. I substituted white whole wheat flour for the almond flour. I used toasted walnuts instead of choc chips. They eat like a lighter/healthier version of a traditional banana muffin; good food (not like a decadent cheat muffin), which is terrific, because I need this. This will be a new ‘regular’ in our lunch rotation.
Thanks for the good recipe!
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Delicious! Thanks, Christine!
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Muffins are delicious! I doubled the recipe and substituted 1/4 of the flour with flaxseed meal to get some extra omegas in there and they turned out perfect! Love all of the comments from others on how they adjusted the recipe to suit them. Very versatile recipe!! Thank you for sharing!
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Thank you, Amy! So glad that sub worked!
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Can I add a mix of flax,chia, and hemp seeds?
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I don’t recommend that as that would change how much of the wet ingredients you need!
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We make these every week!! Instead of the honey, we just use extra bananas. Such a lovely, healthy sweet treat!
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Love that swap! Thanks, Jenna!
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I have made these 4 times now, some with blueberries and some with chocolate chips and they are SO GOOD!!! Everyone asks me for the recipe, too. Well done!
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Thank you Meghan!
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I use chocolate protein with a bit of pb powder. So good!
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Love the recipe. Except my muffins turned out too dense. So I reduced the amount of baking powder to just 1 teaspoon and they were better
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Banana muffins tend to be more on the dense side, but I’m glad that change worked for you!
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I only had whey chocolate protein and no cinnamon , but they still came out super delicious! thank you! next time will be trying with vanilla protein 🙂
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So glad you made them work for you!
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Update*** my daughter who runs at the sight of bananas absolutely LOVED them. I used all ingredients including the vanilla protein and omg these will forever be a staple in our home. Thank you!
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So glad to hear that! Thanks, Susan!
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Mmmm best muffins ever!! I’ve made them twice now with two different (vegan) protein powders and they’ve turned out perfect each time!
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