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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Fiona says
Hi! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. I love your Oreo cupcake and lemon cake so much, it really sparked my interest in baking! Now, I'm obsessed with trying all your cupcake and muffin recipes, they sound delicious.
I recently made your banana muffins and added chocolate and raisins, which my family absolutely adored. However, I'm still having trouble with the texture. The muffins aren't as fluffy as I'd like and seem a bit dry, even though I followed the 23-minute baking time and substituted 5 bananas for the 3 called for in the recipe.
Do you have any suggestions on what might be causing this? I'd really appreciate your help.
Anthea says
Hi Fiona, I'm so glad that you've enjoyed some of my other recipes and that it's encouraged you to bake more :).
With these muffins, it really helps if your bananas are overripe. Mildly ripe bananas have less sugar and that contributes to dryness (no matter how many you use). And if you added raisins to the muffins, it's best to soak them beforehand (otherwise they'll soak up any extra moisture in the muffins). Finally, if you used measuring cups, there's a chance that too much flour was packed into your cups and this would affect the texture of the muffins. There could be other reasons, but I think those are the key ones. I hope that helps!
Jill says
I would like to make 6 muffins. how much banana should I use?
Anthea says
The original recipe calls for 3 bananas, so use 1 1/2 bananas for a half batch. If you tap on the number next to 'Servings', you can adjust the quantities of all the ingredients.
Adriene says
Delicious recipe, thank you, Anthea! What do you suggest as the best replacement for oil-free?
Anthea says
Hi Adriene, so glad that you enjoyed these! To make them oil-free, you can try applesauce or yogurt though it will change the texture a little. I hope that helps!
Hannah says
Loved these fluffy banana muffins! Such a hit with my littles. Thanks for sharing!
Anthea says
Aw that's lovely to hear, especially with your littles!! Thanks so much for the review, Hannah 🙂
Meg says
I have jumbo 6 cavity and smaller 12 cavity muffin pans. Which is good for this recipe?
Anthea says
Hi Meg, I used a 12 cavity muffin pan for this recipe - you can see the pan I used in the step-by-step pictures in the blog post. It will work with a jumbo 6 cavity pan but you'll need to bake the muffins for a few extra minutes.
Candace D says
These banana muffins are amazing. So easy to make and delicious. I've made them twice already. Both times I had a little extra batter and made a little loaf with it. Froze the loaf and it was delicious. My husband eats 2-3 muffins at a time and my daughter says I could sell them they're so good. Next I'm going to try the carrot muffins. Thank you for giving us vegan recipes that are soooo delicious!
Anthea says
Hi Candace, I'm over the moon that you and your family love these! I hope you enjoy the carrot muffins too. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment here!
Agathe Bourbonnais says
Hi! thank you for the recipe, it seems delicious 😊
Would it be possible to had nuts or chocolate chip ?
Anthea says
Hi Agathe, yes you can add either or both! You might also end up with 1-2 more muffins. Enjoy 🙂
Joss E. says
These muffins rose nice and high. I used 2 muffin pans with 6 filled spaces on 2 oven racks. They have a nice light texture and are not overly sweet. (I used light brown sugar).I might use less flour in the crumb topping next time. Overall an excellent recipe that's easy to make.
Anthea says
Hi Joss, I'm so glad that you enjoyed these and they rose well for you. Thanks for your review 🙂
Chelsea Matute says
Wow just wow!! Can't believe they were vegan and sooooo easy to make!! I really thought the crumbl topping would be intimidating (especially since I'm not much of a baker) but this was SOOOO easy!! Everyone loved it and they looked like they came straight out of a cafe!! Making these again and again and again!!!
Anthea says
Hi Chelsea, awww that's the sweetest feedback! I'm so thrilled that you found these muffins approachable and tasty. And it's so great to hear that everyone loved them too! Thanks a million for your kind and thoughtful feedback!
Maggie Swallow says
It's the first time I have ever made muffins and they were so delicious that they didn't last 5 mins! So, I am now about to make the choc chip muffins. The carrot ones are next! Friends and family couldn't believe they were vegan. I love easy one bowl recipes so thanks very much x
Anthea says
Hi Maggie! I'm so happy that you enjoyed the banana muffins and I hope you enjoy the other ones you get to bake as well. That's so great about your friends/family too. Thanks so much for your kind feedback!
Lucy says
I’ve never made vegan muffins that have risen so well! They’re delicious, thank you! I skipped the topping, some of the cinnamon and added 100g of white chocolate chips. My 6 year old LOVES them
Anthea says
Hi Lucy, aw that's the best news! I'm so glad that you and your 6 year old enjoyed these with a few minor changes. Thanks so much for your kind feedback!
Peach says
Hi Anthea!
Just found you on my IG and decided to try your banana muffins. While the topping was delicious, I found the cake part a bit dry and not sweet. I followed your recipe exactly in grams and used riped bananas so I'm not sure where it went wrong. I baked it for exactly 23 mins (poked it and little crumbs came mostly clean so i thought it's perfect. But after cooling and biting into it, I was a little bit disappointed. The topping was great, it's just the cake part wasn't up to par. Is the recipe really not sweet? I had a neighbor try it as well and she thanked me that it tasted less sweeter than most muffins in the market. Is the recipe supposed to be less sweet?
Anthea says
Hi Peach, it's great that you followed the recipe in grams! These muffins are meant to be sweet - less sweet than banana cake but still sweet and moist. With your muffins, I suspect that your bananas weren't ripe enough. I used overripe bananas, rather than ones that were just ripe. My bananas had lots of spots, smelt very strongly and would need to be thrown out if I left them for an extra day. Just ripe bananas would make these muffins less sweet and the lower amount of natural sugars will make muffins drier and denser. I hope that helps!
Huda says
Made these earlier today and they are WOW! Absolutely beautiful, big bakery-style muffins with the most gorgeous crunchy streusel topping - I added oats to mine, as I always do along with peanut butter instead of oil because it felt like a crime not to add PB to a recipe with banana - total home run! Definitely my new go-to way to use up over ripe bananas from now - thank you!
Anthea says
Aw, I'm so thrilled that you loved these muffins, Huda! It sounds like peanut butter was a great substitute for oil (not to mention, also delicious)! Thanks so much for your review, I appreciate it a lot!
Ella says
Perfect! I used wholemeal flour and they were still fluffy.
I wonder if I could reduce the sugar slightly, or would it affect the texture?
Anthea says
That's wonderful to hear Ella! Yes, you can reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup (50g). It will make the muffins more dense and slightly less moist but still delicious. I hope that helps!
Tal says
I just made these and they turned out excellent. I skipped the topping, added some chocolate chips and walnuts.
Anthea says
That sounds so delicious! I'm so happy you loved these muffins Tal!
Max says
Great recipe! didn't have overly ripe bananas, so I threw them in the oven until completely blackened (about 10 minutes or so at 200 C°) and they were perfect.
While baking, after the 25 minute mark, the muffins were still pretty raw in the middle (i suspect due to a combination of a slightly overmixed batter and an old, uneven oven) and had to leave them in for an additional 12 minutes. Thankfully, they came out amazing! Fluffy, moist and very bananey! made them for my gf and friends and they loved them :^)
Anthea says
I'm so glad that you and everyone loved these muffins. It's great that you know your oven well and knew how to troubleshoot it! Thanks so much for your feedback Max :).
Emese says
Hello
Can I bake this in a loaf form as well?
Anthea says
Hi Emese, I suggest checking out my vegan banana bread recipe which is very similar to this muffin recipe but is designed for a loaf pan. I hope that helps!
Olga says
Hi, can i substitute almond flour in this recipe? Thanks
Anthea says
Hi Olga, almond flour won't work by itself. It often needs to be combined with a starch or gluten-free all-purpose flour for vegan baking and in these muffins.