Moist, tender and fluffy, these Almond Flour Banana Muffins with peanut butter and chocolate chips are naturally gluten-free and dairy-free. They're sweetened with bananas and honey, and the chocolate chips are optional, so feel free to leave them out to keep these muffins refined sugar-free. And, since the recipe uses plenty of natural peanut butter, these muffins are also oil-free. You'll definitely want to have a batch of these muffins on hand for easy breakfasts and snacks!
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Table of Contents
Ingredients and substitutions
Below is a brief overview of the ingredients. The recipe card at the end of this post includes the exact quantities used.
- Almond flour - For most of my almond flour recipes, I prefer to use blanched almond flour. It has a fine texture so helps produce a soft and tender crumb in baked goods. (Compared to almond meal, which as a coarser texture). You can normally find the flour in the organic section of most grocery stores, but because I use it so often, I buy the large bags at Costco.
- Bananas - Since we want the banana flavor to be pronounced in these muffins, make sure your bananas are really spotty. The more ripe the banana, the sweeter the muffins will be.
- Eggs - You'll need 2 room temperature eggs for these muffins. They help the muffins rise as well as add moisture and structure.
- Peanut butter - I just love pairing bananas and peanut butter together. In this recipe, the peanut butter acts as an oil replacement but also adds flavor to complement the sweet bananas. Make sure you use natural peanut butter. Shelf stable peanut butter will not produce the same results in these muffins.
- Honey - Adds a rich, sweet flavor to these banana muffins and also helps keep them moist.
- Vanilla - For the best results, use real vanilla extract.
- Baking powder and baking soda - Used together for leavening.
- Salt - Just a little helps enhance the sweet flavors in these muffins.
- Cinnamon - You only need a teaspoon to add subtle flavor. It doesn't overpower these muffins.
- Chocolate chips - This ingredient is completely optional, but I think some mini dairy-free chocolate chips are the perfect addition to these peanut butter banana muffins.
How to make banana muffins with almond flour
*The full set of instructions can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed banana, peanut butter, honey and vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until just combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips (reserving some for the tops).
Divide the batter into a 12-cavity muffin pan (greased or lined with cupcake liners). Each cavity should be almost full.
Top with remaining chocolate chips and bake for 18-20 minutes at 350F.
Let muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Measuring ingredients
For convenience, US cup measurements are included in the recipe card for this recipe. To ensure greater accuracy, however, weight and volume measurements are also provided. So, if you see grams (g), you'll want to use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients, and if you see milliliters (ml), you'll want to use a liquid measuring cup. Smaller quantities of ingredients are provided in teaspoons and tablespoons.
Why are my almond flour muffins crumbly?
There are a few reasons why your almond flour muffins could be crumbly:
- You may have accidentally used almond meal instead of almond flour. Almond meal usually has a coarser texture, which will create a coarser crumb in your muffins.
- If you didn't weigh your almond flour with a kitchen scale or use the spoon and level method when measuring it, you may have used too much almond flour. This could also result in crumbly muffins.
- Lastly, almond flour baked goods set up as they cool. If you bite into an almond flour muffin when it is still warm, it may be a bit soft and crumbly and could fall apart.
Storage tips
Almond flour keeps these muffins super moist, so I only like to keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days (especially in the summer when my kitchen is warm). If you want to keep them longer, just store them in the fridge for 5-7 days.
You can also freeze these banana muffins for up to 3 months. Just store them in a single layer in a freezer safe container. To thaw, let them sit at room temperature for an hour or so.
Recipe FAQs
I haven't tested this recipe as a loaf or cake, but if you're looking for a gluten-free banana cake, this almond flour banana cake is delicious. You only need one banana and it's topped with a dairy-free chocolate peanut butter frosting.
Since I set out to make an almond flour muffin recipe, I didn't test these muffins with another type of flour. As almond flour and all-purpose flour are very different, I don't recommend a 1:1 substitution without making other changes to the recipe. If you need a banana muffin recipe made with other flours, check out these spelt flour peanut butter banana muffins or these whole wheat banana nut oat muffins.
I haven't tried making these muffins with homemade almond flour, but if you're using blanched almonds and you're able to blend or process the almonds into a finely ground texture, it should work just fine.
Key recipe tips
- Bananas. For a sweet and pronounced banana flavor, make sure your bananas are overly ripe (with lots of brown spots).
- Peanut butter. If your natural peanut butter is thick, you may want to microwave it for a few seconds so it is drippy and can whisk together easily with the other wet ingredients. Feel free to substitute a drippy natural almond butter for the peanut butter.
- Chocolate chips. These are optional, so leave them out for a refined sugar-free muffin. To keep this recipe dairy-free, be sure to use dairy-free chocolate chips. You can also substitute with finely chopped pecans or walnuts.
- Thick batter. The batter for these muffins is quite thick, so I like to use the back of a spoon to smooth out the tops before baking.
- Measuring flour. If you don't have a kitchen scale to weigh your almond flour, be sure to measure it using the spoon and level method with a dry measuring cup.
- Muffin pans. Darker colored muffin pans tend to brown muffins more quickly than lighter colored pans. These muffins were baked in a lighter colored pan, so if your pan is dark, your muffins may bake and brown a little quicker.
- Muffin liners. I always use parchment paper liners as they don't stick to the bottom of muffins like other liners tend to do. If you don't have liners, you can use non-stick cooking spray to grease your muffin pan.
More almond flour recipes
- Almond Flour Chocolate Cake
- Almond Flour Blondies
- Vanilla Almond Flour Cupcakes
- Almond Flour Orange Cake
- Almond Flour Zucchini Muffins
If you make this recipe, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments below!
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📖 Recipe
Almond Flour Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (260 g) fine blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 ¼ cup (325 g) mashed banana, (about 3 medium-sized bananas)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¼ cup (70 g) natural smooth peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons (45 g) liquid honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (95 g) dairy-free mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 12-cavity muffin pan with non stick cooking spray or line it with paper cupcake liners.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, eggs, peanut butter, honey and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir with a spatula until just combined. Be careful not to over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips (reserving some for the tops).
- Divide the batter into the prepared muffin pan. The cavities should be almost full.
- The batter is thick, so use the back of a spoon to smooth out the tops before adding the remaining chocolate chips to the tops.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
- Let muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- For a sweet and pronounced banana flavor, make sure your bananas are overly ripe (with lots of brown spots).
- If your natural peanut butter is thick, you may want to microwave it for a few seconds so it is drippy and whisks together with the other wet ingredients easily.
- Chocolate chips are optional, so you can leave them out for a refined sugar-free muffin.
- To keep the muffins dairy-free, be sure to use dairy-free chocolate chips.
- If you don't have a kitchen scale to weigh your almond flour, be sure to measure it by using the spoon and level method with a dry measuring cup.
- Darker colored muffin pans tend to brown muffins more quickly than lighter colored pans. These muffins were baked in a lighter colored pan, so if your pan is dark, your muffins may bake and brown a little quicker.
- I recommend using parchment paper liners as they don't stick to the bottom of muffins like other liners tend to do.
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Nutrition Facts per Serving
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is an estimate only and will vary depending on the substitutions made and the brands used.
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