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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These are amazing. They cooked faster than I expected and were dark brown at the minimum time mark. I think the banana caramelized quickly. I added walnuts and no sugar Lily’s chocolate chips. Delicious.
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These are delicious, love the recipe but I’m curious where you’re getting the 10 grams of protein in each muffin? I put all the ingredients into my macro counter and followed your exact recipe and they’re coming out with 4-5 grams per muffin but all the rest of my macros match yours … is this just a mistake?
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What protein powder are you using? Should definitely be closer to 8-10!
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These muffins are literally my holy grail! I’ve tweaked the recipe a little bit to make them more moist by adding more banana and some applesauce, but they are genuinely so so so good. I made a batch of these muffins when I did a 24 hour running challenge, and I can say with 100% confidence that these muffins are the only reason why I finished LOL (I may or may not have eaten the whole batch…) SUCH a great recipe!
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Love to hear it! Thanks, Skyler.
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I made one before and they were perfect, this time the dough is really thick. More of a cookie consistency, any recommendations?
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Did you make any changes? Could just be the way the flour was measure- make sure you are spooning to level, same with the protein powder.
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These muffins are fantastic! They are super moist and delicious. The recipe is easy to make, too. Thank you for sharing.
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These muffins are delicious, moist, and feel like a total treat—a healthy one! For the last two months I’ve been making this recipe. I always double the recipe and once cooked, immediately freeze a little over half of them to keep on hand as a healthy and satisfying snack. They freeze beautifully!! From frozen, I pop 2 in the microwave for 10 seconds then put in the toaster oven and the taste fresh baked all over again. Perfect pre-workout or afternoon pick me up snack. My mom, recovering from surgery, also loves these muffins as a tasty and easy source of protein. All around love!!!
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Great base for different mix ins!
I have made this recipe several times with different variations.
1. Chocolate protein powder + walnuts
2. Vanilla protein powder + strawberries
3. Peanut butter chocolate protein powder + almond extract
Each time they’ve been amazing!
I brought some to pickleball and had many friends ask me for the recipe. A friend whose son is gluten free, lactose free and egg intolerant also loved them (she subbed applesauce and cornstarch for the eggs). Twice the protein and half the calories of grocery store muffins, and just as tasty!-
Love these variations! So glad they’ve been a hit, thanks Melanie!
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Make this once a week, very delicious! I was wondering if you can make this with blueberries?
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Yes, definitely! I’d use fresh blueberries.
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I absolutely love this recipe. I actually leave out the honey because I feel the muffins are sweet enough without it, and I use nuts instead of chocolate chips.
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delicious! great snack!
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Absolutely AMAZING & delicious i already can’t wait to Make again thank you for this amazing recipe. It was perfect. & easy i am obsessed !
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Thank you, Danielle!
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These muffins are great! I used King Arthurs Measure for Measure Gluten Free flour, and froze them the second day. Definitely saving this recipe!
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Thank you, Brittany!
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I couldn’t find Oat flour in my local store, so I just used almond flour. I doubled the recipe. I used Whey Vanilla Protein Powder.and sugar free choc. chips. These came out great. I will definitely be making these again. My only question is is there away to increase the protein content either by adding greek yogurt or cottage cheese?
Thank you for such a great recipe.
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You can swap about 1/4 cup of the banana puree for either greek yogurt or cottage cheese, but obviously this will change the flavor a bit!
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Hi, these look delicious! Can I make them with regular wheat flour?
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You would probably only need about 3/4 cup, but I cannot test my recipes with wheat flour so I can’t guarantee the result!
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I’ve made them with 1/2 oat, 1/2 Einhorn whole wheat flour. It makes them denser. They’re still delicious though!! I could probably could cut it down to 1/4 whole wheat flour but I forget EVERY TIME until the second I dump it into the bowl.
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Hi there, I’ve doubled up the recipe but it’s incredibly wet – it’s more pouring than scooping into the muffin tin. Any suggestions? Thanks!
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Did you make any swaps? Have you made it before without doubling?
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Could I use 1.5 cups of protein powder instead of all the flour?
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No, that won’t work here unfortunately!
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