Oh my… these banana blueberry muffins are delicious. I don’t know about you but I just love the little pop of the blueberries when you bite into them! Mashed bananas (make sure they are very ripe so they mash well) are a great substitute for oil and fat in baked goods. So I often use them for this purpose. Plus they add a nice natural sweetness as well which is nice.
I use stone ground whole wheat flour in this recipe, but you can use any whole grain flour that you like. If you want a lighter muffin you can look for whole wheat pastry flour, it’s not as dense as regular whole wheat flour. For gluten free versions you can use gluten free oat flour or an all purpose gluten free flour. I still like to use whole grain flour as most gluten free flours are highly processed and more like white flour.
These muffins also freeze well so you can portion them out and save them for later. I love adding blueberries to baked goods and smoothies, but feel free to use any other berries you like instead.
For truly oil free muffins you can use silicone non stick muffin trays, or paper muffin cups. But I like to use the silicone trays so there is no paper waste (and they also get stuck and tear off the muffins.)
Free Vegan Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Muffins
12 muffins
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups overripe (fully brown) mashed bananas (about 3 large, 4 medium)
1/3 cup almond milk (original unsweetened)
1/2 cup maple syrup (or 1/4-1/3 cup honey or agave as they are sweeter)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour (or ww pastry flour or GF flour)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ceylon cinnamon (or reg cinnamon)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup frozen blueberries
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F/ 204 C.
2. Combine wet ingredients in a large size bowl and mix together.
3. Combine dry ingredients (except for blueberries) into a medium size bowl and whisk together.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.
5. Spoon batter into non-stick silicone muffin trays or a lightly oil spritzed muffin tin.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a knife or toothpick in the middle comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cookie rack to completely.
8. Serve.
Additional Tips:
For a truly sugar free version you can try using more banana and omit the maple syrup/sweetener. For a whole food sweetener you can blend pitted dates with some water to make your own date syrup.
What’s your favorite way to use blueberries?
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Veronica, thank you for this recipe! The kids (and adults) devoured them this afternoon. Looking forward to trying your other recipes. So appreciative of your low fat vegan status. I’ve been able to find a lot of delicious high fat recipes, but they don’t conform to Dr Esselstyn’s exacting standards (why did he have to say no to coconut?!).
may i ask how many calories are about in a muffin thanx
You can use free calorie counting services like http://www.cronometer.com or http://www.sparkpeople.com It depends what people use for flour and how many bananas and blueberries, so it’s best to calculate it based on what you actually used.
Excellent recipe. I’ve been trying to eat gluten free (might help an auto-immune condition I have) and this time made these with a combination of teff, amaranth, buckwheat and coconut flours. A little heavy but not bad! Any other suggestions?
I just made these for my boyfriend’s birthday, I think I overcooked them a little, and used too much golden syrup but they turned out great!
Thank you!
every recipe amazing why do you have your own resturant chain yet
Lol because restaurants are insanely expensive to open and hard to make a living with. I live in Canada so it’s a little more difficult to have a successful vegan restaurant here. There aren’t many.
Hi Veronica,
I want to thank you for your great books they have giving me other options, I have Your comfort soup book and I love it I am a vegetarian for health reasons, and I am having a lot of trouble with breakfast. Now I am interested in your salad dressing book, and also other book that will give me other breakfast options. What kind of deal could I get since I already have the comfort soup book, I can’t take advantage of the started kit deal.
Thanks
Pilar
Yes you can get an upgrade. I emailed you.
This is such a great recipe. My toddler LOVES them along with my SAD eating husband. I blend the banana’s with a couple dates for bit of extra sweetnes. Works like a charm. Thank you!
Hi. Will this work in a small loaf pan instead of making muffins? Veronica, your recipes are amazing! Thanks for all the inspiration!!
Hi Sheri
If you want to make a loaf, why don’t you just use my banana bread recipe and then add in blueberries if you want them in there. That way for sure it will work out. Muffin to bread recipes aren’t always exact, you can try it but it may need to be baked for a much longer time.
Thanks, that is a great idea!
Do the Blueberries need to be Frozen ?
Teresa
When you mix frozen berries into batter it keeps them intact better so they don’t get crushed with mixing. Also if they get crushed it turns the batter blue and some people don’t like that.
My dear V eronica ! Again a Fantastic Recipe ! I love Muffins !
.
All Ingredients speak to my Taste . And my Bluberries … Unforgetable .
.
Its simpler than I thought to prepare them . And I didnt know Ripe Bananas could replace Oils or other Fatty Ingredients .
Thank You !
Teresa
Do you ever add all bran to your muffins ? Do you think I could substitute some for the flour ?
Hi Bobbi I don’t use all bran. I eat a lot of fiber as it is and don’t need to add more in that form. This still has whole wheat flour, banana and blueberries all which have fibre.
If anyone has IBS or bowel disorders I would not recommend using all bran as it can exacerbate their problem.
Thank you so much for sending recipes every week.
I have so many food allergy’s & crohn’s.
The smoothie recipes have really helped.
I juice 4 day’s then try boiled mashed foods for 4 day’s.
I really LOVE the sweet potatoe & butternut squash soup.
And the hummus recipe .
I find your recipes are not hard on the gut.
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH VERONICA .
Hey Veronica,
HUGE fan here and a few months into my new plant-based world. I was curious if you have off hand the specifics on making your own date syrup as you mentioned in this post.. [ie- measurements to make the syrup and then how much for to use for this muffin recipe].
I also want to thank you for offering all kinds of options for various ingredients whether “strict ethical vegan,” those avoiding gluten, or those just trying to become more healthy. The more options you have, the easier it is to enter this [often intimidating] lifestyle regardless of personal stance… after all, the more people adopt plant-based nutrition, the healthier the world and the same ethical goals are ultimately achieved.
Keep ‘em coming!!
Best-
Wendy
OH and i LOVE honey, but it and real maple syrup is SO darn expensive! Do you find that making date syrup is more economical?
Thanks!
It depends where you are. I buy maple syrup at Costco and it’s very cheap there. I think it’s 1 litre for about $12 so that’s a good deal. Don’t buy maple syrup in small quantities, bigger is the best discount, and don’t buy it at the health food store where it can be overpriced.
Date syrup would probably be cheaper to make, but you should buy the large containers of medjool dates for the best value.
Hi Wendy
I have not made date syrup as I usually use dates in blended recipes or raw food recipes that incorporate them into the recipe.
I would just suggest pitting and soaking dates (if they are really dry) and then blending them with water as necessary depending what type of blender you have. This would be an experiment of course. I do the taste test for anything blended and just keep adding more until it’s just right.
Some people may want a more or less sweet recipe. Since sugar preference is something people can be very particular about I leave it up to them with how much they want to use and from what source.
Thanks for your feedback. I have such a wide variety of readers so that’s why I offer so many options to help accommodate whatever path they are on.
Dear Veronica,
I am following your recipies I think more than 1 year. And I would like you know that I like very much your webpage because of: 1) the recipies presented are realistic; 2) explanations are excellent and picturesque
; 3) and last but not least – meals are healthy and tasty. Thanks a lot for inspiration!
Hi Sarmite. Oh I’m so glad! Thank you for visiting every week.
Do this muffins get a crunchy top?
I really love the growing effect of the baking soda, but my cakes get too fluffy and I miss that little crunchiness top on cakes.
I thought it was because of the lack of margarine, but that is not healthy…
Thanks for these recipes.
(and I’m with Katie Batty, honey is not vegan, but of course there are many other vegan options for that)
Hi Ana
When you don’t use oil you don’t get crispy or crunchy baked goods. It’s the oils heated at high temperatures that do that. These are soft.
I always list vegan ingredients for recipes, but when it comes to liquid sugars a lot of choices are very unhealthy such as corn syrup and agave syrup. And some people eschew maple syrup even though it’s vegan because honey is nutritionally superior. So I listed options.
Most of my readers are not even close to vegan they just try to eat more vegan.
thank you very much for the information
Is it too difficult to make oil-free cookies?
I havent had any turn out like cookies. Remove the oil and theyre just like muffins but flattened. Cookies rely on oil to spread out and become crispy and dry
Can you explain the use of honey given this is a vegan website? Honey comes from bees, animals, who are exploited for the profit of humans.
Hi Katie
Because some people that use my website are not vegan and just trying to eat more veggie, OR they are plant based and not vegan and they either cannot get maple syrup or they don’t want to use agave syrup. I personally don’t like agave and don’t think it’s healthy at all, but natural honey is nutritionally superior if someone is going to use liquid sugar.
I use maple syrup because it’s easy to get in Canada where I live and it’s “vegan friendly” for recipes. I make plant based recipes and am not personally a strict vegan as I have used bee products before.
I love getting your recipes every week. Thank you so much for doing this. You make the recipes so clear on how to do them. And they are good.
Thank you again