Muffins are the single greatest morning treat and this recipe is another to add to your repertoire. Sweet, healthy-ish and moist, these Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Muffins are absolute perfection. They come together in 30 minutes start to finish and can be made using only 1 bowl! Top them with crunchy salted peanuts and prepare for your tastebuds to be transported to another dimension.
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Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Muffins Ingredients
These muffins are incredibly easy to make and don't require any strange or hard to find ingredients. Below you'll find your grocery list and ingredient descriptions.
Wet Ingredients
- Mashed Banana: This recipe requires one cup of mashed banana. This could be anywhere from 2-3 ripe bananas depending on their size.
- Creamy Peanut Butter: When it comes to baking, using an "unnatural" peanut butter is always going to work better than a "natural" one. Brands like Jif and Skippy don't separate which allows you to get more accurate measurements.
- Light Brown Sugar: I love using brown sugar in muffins because it contains molasses which brings with it a nice flavor and extra moisture.
- Agave Nectar: Here, agave nectar is providing additional sweetener. Agave nectar is a light-colored syrup that you can purchase in some grocery stores and online. I usually buy mine at Costco. If you can't find it you can easily replace it with 100% pure maple syrup.
- Canola Oil: Canola oil is great for baking because it adds moisture to any bake without adding any flavor. It's also super cheap.
- Nondairy Milk: Any nondairy milk will work here. Unsweetened and unflavored are best but use what you have on hand.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla will chemically add more flavor to the muffins without covering up the peanut butter and banana. It will enhance instead of hide.
- Nondairy Yogurt: In vegan baking, non-dairy yogurt can act as an egg replacement as it aids in binding and leavening. It also adds moisture. Be sure to purchase unsweetened nondairy yogurts for baking so that you are able to control the sugar level.
Dry Ingredients
- Baking Powder: Baking powder provides the leavening power when baking muffins. Without baking powder our muffins wouldn't achieve a dome shape. Baking powder begins releasing carbon dioxide in the batter and then expands more evenly while baking.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda needs an acidic and liquid ingredient to activate. If a sour flavor is desired in a recipe, baking soda is omitted in favor of a different leavener. Here, we are using baking powder and soda together as we need more leavening than we have acid available in the recipe.
- Cinnamon: Cinnamon is a great accompaniment to both peanut butter and banana. Definitely don't skip it in this recipe.
- Sea Salt: Salt is a known flavor enhancer and baked goods are no exception. In addition to amplifying flavor, salt will work to strengthen the muffin batter and provide texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should be avoided when making muffins?
When it comes to making muffins, there are several bad habits you should avoid.
- Over-mixing the batter. Stop stirring the moment dry ingredients are incorporated.
- Leaving the batter on the counter or in the refrigerator for hours before baking. Bake your muffins as soon as the batter is prepared and your oven is preheated.
- Not lining your cupcake/muffin pan with paper liners.
- Over/under baking the muffins. Follow recipe instructions!
- Continuously opening and closing the oven door while muffins are baking. This leads to major heat fluctuations! Trust the process and let the muffins do their thing.
What kind of sugar should you put on top of muffins?
Muffins are typically sprinkled with sugar prior to baking. This gives them a nice golden color and slight crunch. You can really use any granulated sugar to do this but a coarser-grained sugar such as turbinado works best.
How do you make muffins rise higher?
There are a couple of tricks you can use to get a higher rise on your muffins. The best way is to line every other hole in your muffin pan with liners and leave the rest empty. This allows more heat to get to each individual muffin while they are in the oven. Also, baking your muffins at a higher temperature for the first 5 minutes of baking and then turning the heat down for the rest of the bake time will produce an initial burst of steam to life the batter. See recipe card for further instructions.
Tips for Making Vegan Muffins
- When eggs are not available in baking, the balance of ingredients becomes quite a bit more delicate. We are now in a position where we must depend on chemical reactions between different ingredients to produce a binding effect and leavening. Because of this, it is all the more important to follow recipe instructions carefully.
- Do not let your batter sit out on the counter or in the fridge for an extended amount of time before baking. Once wet ingredients meet dry, chemical reactions start to take place. These reactions should be taking place in the oven. Failing to get your muffins into the oven quickly could negatively impact your results.
- When baking muffins, it's always a good idea to skip every other hole in the cupcake pan. This will allow more heat to get to each individual muffin helping significantly with rise.
- Another way to achieve a nice dome top on your muffins is to bake them at 425 F for the first 5 minutes and then reduce the oven's heat to 375 F for the last 15 minutes. The high heat in the beginning produces an initial burst of steam that lifts the batter. You can then proceed to bake as normal.
How to Serve Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
These fantastic peanut butter banana muffins can be eaten anytime, anywhere. That said, I do have a few preferred methods of consumption.
- First thing in the morning with coffee or tea
- Post workout
- Pulled from a snack bag mid day
- On a hike
- Midnight Snack
Seeing as these muffins travel well, the sky really is the limit. I pack them and carry them with me in my purse in case I get hungry while I'm out. They also make a really great hike/camping treat.
How to Store Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Another great thing about these muffins is that they are pretty low maintenance and keep really well. They can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. I usually will place them in a covered cake stand but a normal Tupperware container will work just fine.
Want your muffins to last a little bit longer? Your baked muffins will keep in the freezer for up to a month. When I am just making these for myself I will leave out half the batch and freeze the rest for the future.
PrintVegan Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Moist, peanut butter banana muffins topped with crunchy, salted peanuts. Free of dairy and eggs!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Bake Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 Muffins 1x
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
1 c mashed banana
½ c creamy peanut butter
¼ c light brown sugar
¼ c agave nectar or maple syrup
¼ c canola oil
¼ c nondairy milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
¾ c nondairy yogurt, unsweetened
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp sea salt
2 c all purpose flour
granulated sugar for sprinkling
½ c salted peanuts, chopped for topping
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (218 C) and line a cupcake pan with paper liners skipping every other hole. This will allow more heat to get to each individual muffin and give you those tall, rounded tops. Set pan aside.
- Make the Batter: In a large bowl combine mashed banana, peanut butter, brown sugar, agave nectar, canola oil, nondairy milk and vanilla extract. Whisk vigorously until well-combined. Gently fold in nondairy yogurt. Add baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and sea salt to the bowl and whisk until these ingredients are evenly distributed throughout. Add all purpose flour to the bowl and mix until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Bake: Fill paper liners in your prepared cupcake pan ¾ of the way full with batter. Sprinkle the top of each cupcake generously with granulated sugar and about 1 tablespoon of chopped peanuts. Place pan on center rack of preheated oven and bake at 425 F (218 C) for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 F (190 C) and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Do not open the oven door at all during this time.
- Cool and Serve: Remove muffins from oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Repeat baking process with remaining batter. You should have 2 batches of 6 totaling 12 muffins.
Equipment
Notes
*Muffins will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or can be frozen for up to 1 month.
If you make this recipe please tag @censoredbaker on Instagram!
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