Vegan Chocolate Banana Muffins (Gluten-Free)

These luscious, fluffy, Vegan Chocolate Banana Muffins are an easy snack or dessert especially when you've got some ripe bananas just chilling on the counter. Fun for kids to make too and easily customizable, these muffins are free of refined sugar, soy, gluten, nuts (leave out walnuts) so enjoy!

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Hey Internet, so I know I just published a vegan and gluten-free banana bread, but banana bread is having a moment right now! I still had a bunch of super ripe bananas just chilling on my counter so it seemed like a good time to experiment.

This time I added CHOCOLATE, and boy, was that a great decision. This decision may or may not have been influenced by a certain time of the month… but hey, isn't chocolate good any time?

So this recipe is super duper customizable, meaning you can alter it in any way you wish. I personally LOVE walnuts (and they're one of the healthiest nuts out there), but to make this nut-free you could simply leave them out… or add MORE CHOCOLATE in the form of chocolate chips!

See my section later in this article on how to customize these further, along with what substitutions you can make.

Alright, let's do this.

What Do I Need to Make Vegan Chocolate Banana Muffins?

Well, you'll need some type of flour. I've tried these with both regular all purpose flour and gluten-free flour and they work great both ways. Obviously, the gluten flour makes for a more fluffy and bready muffin, but I still really loved the GF ones, so use the best flour for you.

I used a mixture of maple syrup and coconut sugar, both considered unrefined sugars, to get a delicious and sweet flavor that paired perfectly with the chocolate and banana.

Obviously you'll need some super ripe bananas. What do I mean by "super ripe"?

I mean spotty. Spotty bananas are ripe bananas. Solid yellow bananas are actually not completely ripe.

They're still edible of course. But they aren't as sweet.

The nutrients and sugars in bananas are more bio-available when the banana is mostly spotted. Ripe bananas are sweeter so they taste better in this bread, and they're also easier to mash.

Can my bananas be too ripe?

Yes, they can be over ripe. Try not to let your bananas get to the point where there is no yellow left in the skin. If they are moldy, do not use them.

Flax eggs replace the traditional eggs in this recipe. To see other options, please consult the substitutions section below.

You'll obviously also need cocoa or cacao powder. The difference between these two similar words is in the processing.

Cacao powder is ground cacao beans. Cocoa powder is processed in addition to being ground. Totally up to you which you use.

You'll also need a little salt to bring out that chocolate flavor, any nondairy milk, a little vanilla extract, and any nuts or chocolate chips you'd like to include (I used walnuts).

What Substitutions Can I Make?

I understand it can be hard to find certain things right now. Let's talk about what substitutions can be made.

Like I said, you can use regular all purpose flour or 1:1 gluten-free flour. You could also grind oats into a fine powder and use those, or use a mixture of almond and oat flour like I did in my banana bread.

To replace some of the sugar, you could use up to two extra bananas and reduce the coconut sugar and maple syrup by 50 percent. If using regular cane sugar, I'd just use ⅔ cup and omit the maple syrup since cane sugar is sweeter than coconut sugar.

If you don't have flax for the eggs, you could use chia seeds, an additional banana, applesauce, pumpkin, aquafaba, or a powdered egg replacer.

Any nondairy milk can be used in this recipe, but I would avoid sweetened milk if possible. If not possible, reduce the coconut sugar and maple syrup somewhat.

Instead of walnuts, try another nut like peanuts (since peanuts and chocolate go so well together!) or try dairy-free chocolate chips - yum!

How to Make Vegan Chocolate Banana Muffins in One Bowl?

It's actually pretty easy to make most baked goods in one bowl. There's two methods: wet first or dry first.

My preferred method is to add the wet ingredients and mix them together well first. then I add the sifted flour on top and sprinkle on any other dry ingredients like salt, baking soda, etc.

The other method is just as easy, but you mix the dry ingredients in the bowl and then make a well in the center of them and pour in your liquids.

In either case, what you want to do is use your spatula (a spatula works best as opposed to a wooden spoon or a thicker stirring implement) to gently fold and mix the ingredients, scraping the sides and the bottom of the bowl as you mix so you're not over mixing and compromising the batter's ability to rise.

For these muffins, you'll want to mix the wet ingredients, add the dry ingredients, and then spoon the batter into a muffin tin. I used a heaping quarter cup batter for each muffin -- keep in mind that the muffins will rise, so try to leave a half inch from the top for each muffin slot.

I prefer to use this silicone and metal muffin tin hybrid as it's got the structure of a metal muffin tin but the cups are made of food grade silicone, so not oil spray or liners are needed. Just pop the muffins out!

Bake 'em at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius) for 30 - 35 minutes, let them cool in the pan for about 20 minutes (the center will solidify more during this time), and then pop them out and enjoy!

Other Gluten-Free Baking Recipes

I have many other gluten-free baking recipes that you might enjoy!

Carrot Cake with Protein-Packed Cream Cheese Frosting

Easy Banana Bread

Coconut Almond Butter Cookies

Easy GF English Muffins From Scratch

Chocolate Chip Brookie Bites

Chili Cheese Pot Pies

GF Waffles with Raspberry Compote

Cranberry Chutney Crumble

Anything Else?

This article was short and sweet, but I've got something a little more substantial coming to you later this week - stay tuned! Hint: It's cheesy!

As always, I hope you love this recipe--I know I do. These Vegan Chocolate Banana Muffins are:

• CHOCOLATY
• Moist
• Fluffy
• Sweet
• Banana-y (??)
• Nutty
• and the PERFECT texture

Let me know in the comments below if you make it, tag me @Zardyplants on Instagram so I can see your beautiful recreations! If you tag me on IG, I will share your post in my stories :)

Also, one quick request: if you love how this recipe looks or tastes, please leave me a 5-star rating and a nice comment–ratings help more people find my recipes which helps me keep providing them! Thank you!

<3 Liz

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