Fluffy vegan banana muffins with a crumb topping and impressive cafe-style high tops. The muffins use only 8 key ingredients and come together in one bowl!
Why you'll love this recipe
TEXTURE: Delightfully soft muffins with a crunchy crumb topping. They're fluffier than vegan banana bread but denser than banana cake.
TASTE: Packed with banana, brown sugar and cinnamon!
DIFFICULTY: Really easy to make and great for beginners! The muffins come together in just one bowl which means you'll have fewer dirty dishes :).
APPEARANCE: I carefully developed this recipe so you can get gorgeous high muffin tops using a regular USA muffin pan!
Ingredients to make vegan banana muffins
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
Very ripe or overripe bananas. The riper your bananas, the sweeter and more flavorful your muffins will be!
All-purpose flour for the fluffiest muffins. For healthy banana muffins, you can use whole wheat or spelt flour.
Brown sugar for texture and depth of flavor. You can use coconut sugar, granulated sugar or a granulated sugar replacer in the same amount. I've also included an option to make these muffins with maple syrup.
Non-dairy milk. You can use any milk for example, soy milk or almond milk.
Baking powder and soda. Double baking agents help make sure these muffins are FLUFFY!
You don't need to prepare any egg replacers such as flax eggs. I've added extra bananas to help bind the ingredients and extra raising agents to give the muffins more lift.
How to make vegan banana muffins
First, add all your bananas to a large bowl and mash them well. You can use a fork, potato masher or even an electric whisk!
Add all your wet ingredients (including the sugar) to your mashed bananas and stir. We're adding sugar with the wet ingredients to help it dissolve more quickly.
Then add all your dry ingredients (flour, baking agents and cinnamon) and fold the batter until combined.
Making the crumb topping (optional)
If you want one less bowl to wash, divide the muffin batter into your muffin tin and use the same bowl to make the crumb topping!
The topping is super easy - just mix everything in a bowl until crumbly. I like to leave some big and small crumbs for texture.
If you'd like to add other ingredients to your crumble, such as oats, check out the crumble topping I used for my carrot cake muffins.
The easiest way to divide the batter
I recommend dividing the muffin batter using an ice cream scoop! It's easier, less messy and allows you to divide your muffin batter evenly.
I filled each muffin cup close to the top with a USA muffin pan. This encourages the muffins to develop really large tops! All muffin pans are different so your muffins may look slightly different.
Tip: Next-level muffin tops
The EASIEST and best way to get high muffin tops is to fill only every second muffin cup (not pictured below). This allows more of the hot oven air to circulate each muffin and encourages them to rise quicker.
If you have one 12-cavity muffin tray, you'll bake only 6 muffins at a time and in 2 lots.
I tested a few other 'tricks' for getting high muffin tops for example resting the batter overnight and adding less liquid. However, spacing the muffins apart is the quickest and tastiest method.
Optional add-ins
These vegan banana muffins are amazing by themselves. However, you can take them to the next level by adding:
- Chopped pecans, walnuts or nuts of choice.
- Dark chocolate chips (or see my vegan choc chip muffins)
- Blueberries, fresh or frozen (if you add a lot of blueberries, you may end up with 13 muffins rather than 12)
- Skip the crumb topping and add flaked almonds on top, just like my lemon poppy seed muffins
For any add-ins, I recommend folding your batter until just before it's combined so there are still some pockets of flour. Throw in your add-ins and fold until just combined. If you'd like a visual guide of when/how to do this, check out the pictures in my vegan blueberry banana bread recipe.
Expert tips and customizations
I recommend using coconut sugar as it works similarly to brown sugar and doesn't weigh down baked goods.
These muffins also work well with ¾ cup (250g) maple syrup and reduced dairy-free milk. Maple syrup contains a lot of water, so we need to use more than brown sugar, for the best results. You can use just ½ cup (170g) maple syrup (and the regular amount of milk), but the muffins will be denser and chewier.
I haven't tested these using gluten-free flour. However, you may be able to use a high-quality 1:1 gluten-free flour such as Bob Red Mills.
These muffins freeze well, just like my pumpkin muffins! Store them in a freezer bag or an air-tight container for up to 1 month. You can reheat them in the microwave or in the oven for a crispy top.
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Vegan Banana Muffins
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- 3 x (~360g total) very ripe medium bananas, (about 1 ⅔ cups of mashed banana, note 1)
- 1 cup (190g) packed brown sugar, coconut sugar, regular sugar, or granulated sweetener of choice e.g. erythritol (note 2 for maple syrup option)
- ½ cup (125g) dairy-free milk, room temperature
- ½ cup (125g) neutral flavored oil
- 1 tablespoon white or apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose plain flour, spooned and leveled (note 3)
- ½ cup (60g) chopped walnuts, or pecans, optional
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt
Crumb topping (optional)
- ½ cup (65g) all-purpose plain flour
- 3 tablespoons (35g) packed brown sugar, coconut sugar, regular sugar, or granulated sweetener of choice
- 2 tablespoons (30g) vegan butter, or coconut oil, melted and cooled
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
To make the vegan banana muffins:
- Add the bananas to a large mixing bowl and mash until it forms a thick lumpy paste. Add the sugar and rest of the wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Add all of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Some lumps are fine, as long as there aren't lumps of flour.
- Use an ice cream scoop or a spoon to divide the batter in your muffin pan. The muffin batter should be close to the top of each cup (check the reference images above, note 4).
To make the crumb topping (optional):
- Using the same bowl, add all ingredients for your crumb topping. Mix with a spoon or your fingertips until combined and the mixture is flaky and crumbly.
- Generously sprinkle the crumb topping onto your muffins.
Baking and storing the muffins:
- Bake the muffins for 23-27 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick in a muffin and it comes out mostly clean. The muffins have a lot of banana so a few crumbs on your toothpick are okay.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin pan for 15 minutes (or until they aren't too hot to handle). Then place them on a cooling rack.
- Enjoy the vegan banana muffins warm or at room temperature. They're perfect by themselves or with some vegan butter.
- Store any leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. If the crumb topping softens over time, you can reheat them in the oven for 10 minutes at 160°C (320°F) or until heated through.
Video
Notes
- For the best results, I recommend weighing your bananas. The weight measurement was taken after I peeled the bananas.
- To spoon and level your flour, fluff up the flour in its container, use a spoon to add flour to a measuring cup, then level it off with a knife. Using a measuring cup to scoop flour out of a container will pack in too much flour and result in dry and dense muffins. Alternatively, use the grams measurements. You can also use whole wheat flour or spelt flour, but add an extra dash of milk, as those flours are more absorbent.
- These banana muffins work well with ¾ cup (250g) maple syrup instead of brown sugar. If using maple syrup, reduce the milk to 2 tablespoons (30g).
- For the highest muffin tops, I recommend baking 6 muffins at a time in a 12-cup muffin tray. Spacing apart the muffins allows the hot oven air to bake them faster, resulting in higher tops. This means you'll need to bake the muffins in 2 lots.
Nutrition
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I LOVED THE RECIPE, very tasty and even more with the crumble on the top uff. My family and I enjoyed it a lottt. Thank you for the recipe!! I'll try to make more of your recipes.
I had three super ripe bananas that weighed 300gr after peeling so that is what I used. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly, using the optional apple cider vinegar, vanilla, and walnuts. I filled all chambers of my 12 capacity muffin tin pretty much to the top and elected not to add the crumble. As promised, these came out tall, fluffy, and tender. They are tasty and filling. I will definitely make these again. Thanks for the recipe.
Easy to follow with minimal mess and smelt and tasted delicious. X
Hi Thanks for recipe. If you only bake 6 at a time what do you do with remaining batter? Will it stay fine in the bowl till your first lot is baked? I have never done that before.
Hi Maraika, the remaining batter is fine in the bowl. If it's a warm day, you can cover the bowl and place it in the fridge until the first lot is done. Hope that helps!
Thank you. Will try that next time. Cheers.
p.s they came out nice and decently risen even if not spaced as you suggested and nice and fluffy on the inside.
Hi! I made these banana crumble muffins yesterday and I am truly amazed how perfect they turned out! They look exactly like on the picture!! I took the advice and baked only 6 at once! They all came up and my whole family said these are the best tasting muffins I’ve ever baked! Also, I think the crumble top is just making this even more amazing giving them a cafe-muffin style😊 I 100% recommend this recipe, and I am going to make them in the future as well. Thank you!
Thanks for this delicious recipe please can l use oat flour
Hi Mona! From experience, oat flour isn't a great 1:1 substitute for regular flour. It needs to be combined with starches in order for it to work.
These muffins really are delicious. I did mine without the crumb topping and just sprinkled some golden cane sugar on the top. Cute, glittery, and had a crunchy and cracked bakery style top. I used extra large muffins liners and baked for 29 minutes at 355 (my oven's a little under temperature). Worked perfectly. Thanks for making a great recipe and not skimping on the oil - it creates a great texture :).
Hi Anthea.. I made these last nite and i am blown away. the muffins were soft and moist and they rose beautifully. the only change i have made was to reduced the amount of sugar. my hubs is ultra sensitive to sugar .. sigh... change it to 1/2 cup instead. less sweet but still extra good. thank you for sharing..
Again! How delicious these muffins are! Just incredibly fluffy with the perfect moisture. Never eaten a good muffin like this one before. My daughter sais it too. This is going to be the banana recipe I will bake for now on. With lemon cake and mango cake that I baked and were success, thank you very much Anthea for sharing all your good recipes with us.
this recipe is amazing!!! it's everything I've been searching for. My new go to muffin recipe. I'm eating one as I type. thank you!!
incredibly delicious muffins so far is the best recipe yum.
Crunchy top
So fluffy inside
So happy you enjoyed these banana muffins!
I'm so glad I stumbled across this on my feed! I made then with my 2 year old boy helping and it was quick and quite easy. I also love that I only needed one bowl. They turned out so moist and delicious. I'll definitely make them again
That's great news Haylee! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment, I really appreciate it 🙂
These muffins were absolutely delicious, and got rave reviews from the non-vegans in my household. I was very impressed with how high they rose with just using one tray.
For some reason the crumble was far too wet and resembled a roux - we had to add a good chunk more flour to make it crumbly, and then more brown sugar for taste. The nuttelex was melted in the microwave so perhaps due to the heat? Still turned out great once we figured out the ratios 🙂 will make again!
Aw I'm so glad you and everyone enjoyed the muffins and that they rose well!
That's interesting about your crumble. Yes I agree - I found that when the butter is still hot, it makes the crumble more of a paste but once it cools down, it can be broken down into a crumble. Also Nuttelex contains slightly more water so could make a crumble more pasty. But it sounds like you troubleshooted it perfectly! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
This was so easy to make and I already had all the ingredients at home which made it even better! The muffin came out full and fluffy!
That's amazing! It's SO good when you don't have to go to the shops to buy more ingredients too!
Made these muffins today. They were so good!
Have to admit I did make a small adjustment and used gluten free ap flour instead of regular ap flour.
Will definitely be making these again! 😋
I'm so glad you enjoyed these muffins! And that's great that they worked with gluten free ap flour for you (I hadn't tested them out yet)! Can I ask what brand you used? Thanks so much!
A muffin I will make for forever! Delicious, sweet and simple ingredients! I love so many of her recipes!
Aw so kind, thanks so much Heather xx
This was an easy and simply scrumptious recipe! I forgot to weigh the bananas but they still came out perfect. The note about spacing them for high muffin tips was definitely worth it! I baked several batches- including some mini-muffins, and tried them close & spaced as the notes said and my fave by far were the once I spaced.
The crumble sent them over the top in taste!!! Will absolutely make again.
That's amazing Lex! Glad that you liked the spacing trick :). And I agree about the crumble! Thanks so much for your feedback x
Looking forward to try these! Would it be possible to substitute the oil for applesauce?
Hi Mimi, yes I think that would work - I haven't tested it myself so can't vouch for results but let me know how you go!