Start your morning off with these delicious Vegan Banana Flax Muffins that taste like banana bread, they’re gluten free and nut free too!
What’s better than fresh-baked banana bread on a chilly winter morning? Warm banana muffins that take less time to cook! These yummy muffins taste just like banana bread, and are super moist.
You can add some raisins or chocolate chips in the batter if you want to have some fun! These muffins are substantial and make an easy-carry snack. My children love these!
I followed the recipe from The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook by Cybele Pascal almost exactly with this batch. I have made several versions of this recipe many times, but each time I made these I missed an ingredient or changed something and was never quite satisfied with the texture.
This morning, I finally hit on the right texture quite by accident! I added water to the recipe (which was not called for originally), and the batter was much thinner than the other times I had made these, but they still baked up beautifully and better than my previous versions!
These are so moist, you could experiment by cutting out the oil altogether if you want less fat in your muffins. The flax meal works effectively as a binder, so there is no need for xanthan or guar gums.
Adapted from the Banana Flax Muffins recipe from the Allergen-Free Bakers Handbook by Cybele Pascal
Vegan Banana Flax Muffins (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups brown rice flour
- ¾ cup golden flaxseed meal
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 medium bananas, mashed (about 1-1/2 cups)
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ¾ to 1 cup water or non-dairy milk of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Line 2 muffin pans with 16 muffin papers.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, flaxseed meal, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, mash bananas very well. Stir in oil, maple syrup, vanilla, lemon juice, and water or milk until well mixed.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Fold in raisins, if using.
- Fill the muffin tins to the rim with batter. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-23 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Cool completely before serving (these stick to the muffin papers if you don’t let them cool enough). Enjoy!
Nutrition
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and allergy friendly food blogger of 12 years based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist
I don’t know what I did wrong but mine turned out Aweful! The taste is good but they are just a glob when you take a bite. The substitutions I made were Bob’s Redmill 1 to 1 flour and I used agave instead of maple syrup.
Hi Valerie! I think the problem is using the Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 flour instead of just brown rice flour, those often can’t be equally interchanged with the same results. The 1 to 1 flour is going to have added starches (like tapioca starch) and xanthan gum that act as binders, which isn’t usually a problem when replacing all purpose flour, but since our recipe has so much flaxseed in it that already that acts as a binder, this would probably end up being gummy, sticky, and dense rather than a fluffier muffin. I don’t have adjustments for making this recipe with gluten free all purpose or 1 to 1 flour, I would use the brown rice flour written in the recipe for the best texture results. Or whole grain sorghum flour will also work 1:1 in place of the brown rice flour as well.
Yummy! I added 1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts, substituted 1/4 cup honey and 3/4 cup sugar for the maple syrup (which is expensive), unsweetened almond milk for the water, and partial brown rice flour and spelt flour mixture (I am not gluten sensitive). Yielded 21 muffins. Great, healthy treat!
Yay, so glad those turned out great for you! Adding walnuts sounds so yummy 🙂
These were fantastic! I cut the agave to half a cup, used coconut oil, and almond milk instead of water- so delicious!
So good to hear! I like the idea of cutting the agave in half 😉
I just made these. I made a couple substitutions because we are on a low oxalate diet, so we don’t do agave nectar or brown rice flour. I substituted coconut flour for the rice flour, and 1/3 cup of honey for the agave nectar. I also had to add a ton of water since coconut flour absorbs a lot of water. Not sure how much I added in total, I just kept adding it until the batter was a mushy consistancy that I was able to spoon into the muffin cups. Anyway, they turned out great. My 2 1/2 year old son who, in addition to having several diet restrictions, is a VERY picky eater, loves them! I probably would add a bit more honey next time, because they could be a bit sweeter, but are still very good. Although mine probably turned out quite a bit different from yours because of my changes, your recipe was still a great starting point. I had been looking for a gluten free, banana muffin recipe that used ground flax. Thanks!!
That’s great that these turned out with coconut flour! I should try to make a coconut flour version of these to post sometime. You have some great substitution ideas in here 🙂
can i use all flax seed meal in this recipe or almond flour in place of the brown rice flour? Thanks!!!
Hi Kate! You can try using almond flour in this recipe (although I would not use all flaxmeal). I have not tried this recipe with almond flour before, so I cannot guarantee the results. You may have to experiment a bit with this recipe. If you make this with almond flour, let me know how they turn out!
I made these last night and they came out gorgeous! They puffed up like bakery style muffins and impressed my family. They were incredibly moist. I don’t do rice so I used sorghum flour and a scant cup of honey instead on agave. Delicious.
I am so glad you loved these muffins! Thanks : )
good idea! do you think almond flour could work in place of the rice flour or all flax seed meal? thanks!!!:)
These look great! We don’t use agave (lots of negative press about it) but I’m going to try honey!
Let me know how they turn out : )
These are great muffins, but I’m thinking I’m not crazy about the taste of the agave nectar. Have you tried these just using sugar or splenda?
This recipe should work fine with a granulated sweetener, although I haven’t made it with sugar. You may have to experiment a bit to find the right amount of liquid when replacing a liquid sweetener with a granulated sweetener (such as adding a few Tablespoons more liquid to get the same consistency batter). I will have to make this recipe again and try using sugar or Truvia. Let me know if you try it with sugar!
how long do they keep for – can you freeze them. They look fantastic!
Thanks! These muffins keep for a couple days at room temperature. You really have to watch these: the flax meal and the banana in the muffin mean they can spoil quickly. These do freeze well, so you can make a big batch if you want and freeze for later. Just thaw one by microwaving for @ 20-30 seconds or so.
Goodness, a gluten and egg free muffin that looks delicious, let alone the kids love?? They MUST be good 🙂 Muffins are the trickest things for me–I’m not sure why but I always have a hard time with them. Looks like I have a new recipe to try out and boost up my confidence with 🙂
These are great! It took me several attempts and recipe changes to get them the way I wanted : )
i would love to know what your changes were? I was going to use almond flour in place of the brown rice flour. thanks!!!
those look delicious. and I love banana bread, so they sound even better to me!