A few years ago I remember teasing this incredible recipe on Instagram and based on everyone’s response I knew I had to get these posted ASAP. These are seriously the most delicious, fluffy vegan banana muffins I’ve ever made (or eaten!) I made these beauties with oatmeal for a hearty, nutritious boost that takes them to the next level.
If you’ve been loving my vegan banana bread you’re going to absolutely adore these perfectly moist vegan banana oatmeal muffins. They’re freezer-friendly and make the perfect, easy breakfast or snack for the kiddos.
As always, feel free to get a lil’ wild and add some chocolate chips or your fav chopped nuts! You do you. Enjoy!
What makes these banana oatmeal muffins vegan?
We’re skipping the dairy and eggs in these fluffy vegan banana muffins and are instead using:
- Flaxseed meal instead of eggs
- Coconut oil instead of butter
- Dairy free milk instead of regular milk
- And dairy free chocolate chips instead of regular ones (if you’d like!)
Everything you need to make vegan banana muffins
This healthy vegan banana muffin recipe is made with plenty of pantry staples for ease and they’re seriously some of the fluffiest muffins I’ve ever made. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Bananas: you’ll need about 3 bananas to naturally sweeten the muffin and give them that delicious banana flavor.
- Coconut sugar: we’re naturally sweetening these vegan banana muffins with coconut sugar.
- Flaxseed meal: instead of eggs, these banana muffins have flaxseed meal to keep them vegan and help them hold together well.
- Milk: feel free to use any non-dairy milk you’d like. I typically use almond milk because that’s what we have on hand.
- Coconut oil: you’ll also need some melted coconut oil to add moisture to the muffins. Vegan butter works just as well!
- Flour: these vegan banana muffins are made with all purpose flour to keep them super fluffy. See below for my substitute recommendations!
- Oats: who doesn’t love a good oatmeal muffin? You’ll need rolled oats for the perfect texture.
- Baking staples: you’ll also need baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, cinnamon & salt.
- Optional add-ins: I love mixing in dark chocolate chips and chopped walnuts or pecans, but the choice is yours! Be sure to use dairy free chocolate chips to keep them vegan.
Optional ingredient swaps
I’d recommend sticking to the recipe as best you can so that the banana oatmeal muffins turn out perfectly fluffy and delicious, but if you do need to make some substitutions here’s what I can recommend:
- Choose your sugar. I like to keep these refined sugar free by using coconut sugar, but brown sugar will work just as well.
- Swap your flour. Using all purpose flour gives them the perfect, fluffy texture, but you can also use a whole wheat flour (I recommend whole wheat pastry flour). If you do use whole wheat flour you’ll likely need 2-4 more tablespoons of milk as whole wheat flour tends to be more dense.
- Make them gluten-free. I suggest trying chickpea flour or an all purpose gluten free flour, but I do not recommend swapping for almond flour or coconut flour.
Can I use steel cut oats?
I would not recommend using steel cut oats in this recipe as they are much grittier and denser. Rolled oats make these vegan banana muffins super fluffy.
How to use frozen bananas in muffins
Yes, these vegan banana oatmeal muffins will work using frozen bananas! Just be sure to thaw your bananas completely and drain off the excess liquid so that the muffins don’t end up too moist.
Easy vegan banana muffins in 4 steps
- Prep your pan. Line a muffin tray with only 10 muffin liners and spray the insides with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Mash the bananas, and stir together with the rest of the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Make the batter. Whisk together all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then slowly pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until just combined. Add chocolate chips and/or walnuts if you’d like!
- Divide, bake & devour. Divide the batter into the 10 liners in your muffin pan, bake them up until a toothpick comes out clean, then cool and enjoy!
Tips for making the best vegan banana muffins
- Use extra ripe bananas. I mean EXTRA ripe and almost brown. They’ll give these vegan banana oatmeal muffins a natural sweetness.
- Use fresh baking soda & powder. This will ensure that the muffins rise properly. If your baking soda or baking powder is more than 3 months old I’d suggest swapping it out.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Mix the flour into your wet ingredients until it’s just combined. If you overmix the batter your muffins may turn out dense and almost rubbery, which we don’t want. It’s okay if there are some lumps of banana in the batter!
Freezer-friendly banana oatmeal muffins
I love freezing these vegan banana muffins for easy breakfasts and snacks. Simply wrap muffins individually and place them in an airtight container or freezer-safe bags. When you’re ready to enjoy them, reheat them for 30-45 seconds in the microwave or simply thaw them at room temperature.
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I hope you love these fluffy vegan banana oatmeal muffins! If you make them I’d love for you to leave a comment and rating letting me know how you liked them. Enjoy xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Oh So Fluffy Vegan Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
- For the wet ingredients:
- 3 medium to large extra ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 ⅓ cup mashed banana)
- ⅓ cup (51g) coconut sugar (or sub brown sugar)
- 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
- ½ cup (120g) dairy free milk of choice
- ⅓ cup (75g) melted and cooled coconut oil (or sub vegan butter)
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- For the dry ingredients:
- 1 cup (120g) all purpose flour
- ¾ cup (71g) rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Optional add-ins:
- ½ cup (90g) chocolate chips
- ½ cup (60g) chopped walnuts (or pecans)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with 10 muffin liners (we’re only making 10 muffins!) and grease the inside of the liners with nonstick cooking spray to prevent sticking.
- In a large bowl mix together the mashed banana, coconut sugar, flaxseed meal, dairy free milk, coconut oil and vanilla extract until well combined.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix; it’s totally fine if there are some lumps of banana, etc. Feel free to fold in ½ cup chopped walnuts or ½ cup chocolate chips (or both!) if you’d like.
- Evenly divide batter between 10 muffin liners. Sprinkle tops with a few extra oats to make them pretty. Bake for 18-25 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on May 17th, 2021, republished on January 22nd, 2024, and republished on January 22nd, 2025.
Made these with chickpea flour and EVOO instead of coconut oil (kid’s preference!). Tasted great! Baked for 24 minutes total. Only issue was the middle sinking down a little bit.
I’m glad they tasted great! Did you weigh your ingredients? Sinking in the middle can come from the batter being a bit too moist.
Fast, easy and 1 bowl. Used brown sugar and added nuts. No chocolate chips (although that would be good).
oh. I was thinking to add some PB powder. Has anyone tried that?
Glad you enjoyed! I haven’t tried adding PB powder, but if you test it out, you may want to reduce the flour a bit to make up for the added dry ingredient.
How do you store these after you bake and cool them? Fridge or countertop? Thanks!
Great recipe! I swapped coconut oil for natural almond butter and it came out perfectly. Also added a tablespoon of chia seeds plus walnuts. Definitely a keeper recipe!
Amazing! Glad you enjoyed!
OK..I used one egg instead of flax but these were delicious.
Such a great snack!
I omitted the sugar and half the fat and added a small grated apple and they were still delicious. Also soaked walnuts in warm salt water to get rid of the tannins first.
Perfect! Such a great snack!
Good idea
hey y’all! happy baking day,
baking sis prisma here. mahalo nui to baking sis monique for this delicious vegan masterpiece :3
it was truly a pleasure being able to try it and enjoy it with friends!
mahalomahalo again & take good care <3
love and aloha always,
baking sis prisma
So happy you enjoyed!
Came out perfectly! I made these into mini muffins for my toddler and reduced the sugar, using brown sugar, to 2 tbsps.
Love that! Such a great snack 🙂
I love this recipe. Thank you for it. I’ve made it 3 times and find it to come out the most consistently well of all vegan muffin recipes I’ve tried. For those who are gluten – free, I wanted to share that I tried these muffins today using buckwheat flour instead of my usual whole wheat and they turned out amazing. I added one extra tablespoon of ground flax, and 2 teaspoons of chia seeds, and around 1/4 cup extra water that I blended with all the “wet ingredients”. I also used an extra 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon and 2 teaspoons of ground ginger. My teenage daughter is nuts for them . Thanks again!!
Amazing! Great tips, too!!
I love this recipe. Thank you for it. I’ve made it 3 times and find it to come out the most consistently well of all vegan muffin recipes I’ve tried. For those who are gluten – free, I wanted to share that I tried these muffins today using buckwheat flour instead of my usual whole wheat and they turned out amazing. I added one extra tablespoon of ground flax, and 2 teaspoons of chia seeds, and around 1/4 cup extra water that I blended with all the “wet ingredients”. I also used an extra 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon and 2 teaspoons of ground ginger. My teenage daughter is nuts for them . Thanks again
Hi! I just made my second batch from this recipe! The first time, I omitted the sugar completely, but this time I added about 1/3 cup of maple syrup instead of sugar. They were really good without any sugar, just saying this in case anybody is trying to avoid it!We share them with our dog, so we try to stay away from sugar. But anyway, I’ve been making a banana bread a week for a few months, and this has been my wife’s favorite so far! We added the recommended heaping half a cup of walnuts….Thank you so much!
I’m glad that worked out well! Such a great snack or breakfast 🙂
These are delicious and my toddler loves these! Made these with my toddler and tried to follow the recipe as closely as possible without add-ins though we accidentally dumped a bit of extra vanilla extract into the mix. Froze most of the batch and they reheat perfectly in the microwave at 30 seconds. I am definitely making again when we get a little time and a few overripe bananas. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
No problem with a little extra vanilla! So glad they’re a hit 🙂
Can I sub the sugar for maple syrup?
I haven’t tested it, so I’m not 100% sure how if it will change the texture!
I’ve made these 3 times for my kids and they are wonderful! We are not vegan but this was posted on an egg-free recipe roundup and that sparked my interest. I use whole milk but otherwise follow the recipe, using 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips as an add in. They don’t rise as much as typical muffins but they are plenty fluffy and delicious.
Such a great breakfast or snack for kiddos!
These muffins are excellent! I followed the recipe exactly and they came out perfectly. They are by far. The best banana muffins I have ever made. Thank you for a great recipe, Monique!
Amazing! Happy to hear that you loved them 🙂
Absolutely love these! My 2.5 year old son requests that we make them multiple times a week now 😅
Love that!!
Made these twice. First time with blueberries and second time with dark chocolate roughly chopped into small pieces. Both were delicious. It’s a great recipe,
Love that! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
I’ll be honest: I used this recipe as more of a template. I do this often, and completely understand it’s my own fault if/when the end result isn’t perfect. These muffins turned out amazing, even with my modifications. We’re dairy-free due to my son’s allergy, but he’s an active teenage athlete who needs extra fat, protein, etc.
I used five extra ripe medium size bananas, and added two eggs. To compensate for the extra moisture I doubled the flax and increased oats to 1 cup. I used buckwheat flour (was looking for ways to use it up), and increased the cinnamon and baking powder to 1-1/2 t. each. I added the optional walnuts and dairy free chocolate chips, and sprinkled a few extra of each on top of the muffins before baking. I ended up with 17 muffins. I already ate two, and I’m certain my son will devour the rest. Thank you for the inspiration!
I’m glad those swaps worked out well and that this was good inspo! Perfect breakfast or snack 🙂
I made these several times and the only things I changed was using Bob’s Redmill egg replacement instead of flax, vegan butter, and skipping the chocolate chips. The recipe adjusted fine. I tried similar muffin recipes and kept coming back to this one.
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
These muffins were so easy to make & really delicious! I’m always a bit nervous trying new muffin recipes but these were a hit. I added in some raisins but think I’ll try chocolate chips next time. Would definitely recommend!!
So glad you loved them!
I followed this recipe to a T, no substitutions, and my muffins were still raw inside even after baking for 40 mins 🙁
So strange! It sounds like there was too much liquid somehow. Did you measure out the bananas after mashing them? And do you ever have oven temperature issues that you’ve noticed?
Hi there! We LOVE these in our house! Any chance you have sodium information for these? My husband is newly on a low-sodium diet and I’m getting my feet under me with it 🙂
Hi! So glad these are a favorite! I don’t have the sodium info on hand for these but a quick google input should help! Otherwise, I’d recommend leaving out the salt wherever it’s listed, and using low-sodium ingredients where possible.
these are amazing! they’re not too sweet but still so tasty. i had to sub puréed apple for banana and they came out perfect. i also added walnuts, i think they really helped give the muffins some nice texture. gonna save and come back to this recipe for sure
Amazing! I’m glad the apple worked out well 🙂
I can always count on Monique & the AK crew to come through with a killer muffin recipe and this is another winner!! I used King Arthur Baking’s GF Measure for Measure Flour in place of all purpose but kept everything else the same. Simply DIVINE.
Love it! Glad they were a hit!!
I used an egg instead of flax meal, and butter instead of coconut oil, and added obligatory chocolate chips, and these were the best banana muffins I’ve ever made. Absolutely love!!!
Perfect! Glad you loved them!
A winner as usual!!! Had to use up the bananas and you are always my go to for new recipes and inspiration. Added regular mini chocolate chips (since we’re not vegan), but followed the recipe to a tee. Husband says these are great, whose recipe? Me: one guess. Him: oh we love Monique. ❤️
So happy to hear that!!
We make these weekly for the kids lunches! So fluffy and great with chocolate chips. My kids eat them up!
Amazing! Such a great nourishing snack 🙂
This turned out AMAZING! The banana flavor is so lovely and it is so moist. I used light brown sugar since I did not have coconut sugar. I also did not have baking soda, so I just added some extra baking powder instead – still seemed great to me but I will be curious to see the difference when I do it right. I did the walnut mix-in which was such a nice texture. I was feeling lazy, so I actually made this into a bread instead of muffins! I popped it in a lined loaf pan at 375F for about 40 mins and it came out moist and fluffy! I will definitely be making this again!!!
I’m glad those swaps worked out well! Perfect snack 🙂
Delicious and perfectly spiced! I made these on a whim last night for snacks/breakfast and I definitely do not regret it. Followed the recipe exactly, they were easy to make a got fluffy in the oven. Definitely a winner!
So happy to hear that!
Hi, can I skip the sugar or sub with agave nectar?
Hi! I wouldn’t recommend it – sorry! They will not taste right without sugar, and agave nectar will add too much liquid to the batter.
The best vegan muffins ever! I’ve probably made this recipe 15+ times and they’re always perfect. So fluffy and doesn’t taste vegan at all! I love adding dark chocolate chips. Also they freeze super well – I usually defrost for 30 seconds then regular microwave for another 30.
So happy to hear that! Love freezing these for later, too 🙂
So delicious! I made them with gluten free all purpose flour.
I’m glad the GF flour worked out well! Perfect snack 🙂