Almond Flour Banana Muffins

Simple almond flour banana muffins are a great snack, and good way to use up over-ripe bananas! Perfect for little hands and adults alike.

This post first appeared on August 16, 2018 and was last updated August 16, 2020.

These almond flour banana muffins have great texture! They also have buttery flavour despite being made with coconut oil. Sweetened with maple syrup, they’re a healthier snack for everyday.

Despite the lightly sweetened nature of these muffins, they’re surprisingly cake-like (probably from the generous amount of chocolate). Just about everyone likes them, even the pickiest eaters!

If you already have almond and oat flour on hand, they’re a breeze to whip up and might just become your new favourite muffin!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Method
• Almond Flour vs. Almond Meal
• How To Make Almond Flour
• Tips and Notes
• Substitutions
• Recipe

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of the post, or scroll to the bottom of the post, to see the full recipe card with ingredient measurements and instructions.

Ingredients

• Over-ripe bananas
• Coconut oil
• Maple syrup
• Eggs
• Vanilla
• Almond flour
• Oat flour
• Shredded coconut
• Ground flax
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Dark chocolate or chocolate chips

Method

Preheat the oven and prep a muffin tin with paper liners.

Melt the coconut oil and toast the coconut (optional – see tips, below).

In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Add the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla, and whisk until very well combined. The eggs must be beaten thoroughly!

In another bowl, whisk together the flours, coconut, ground flax, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture, then add the chocolate and stir it in. Don’t worry about over mixing – there’s no gluten to overwork here.

Add equal amounts of the batter to the prepared muffin tin, then top each one with shredded coconut, and bake. Cool the muffins for a few minutes in the tin before turning out and cooling fully on a rack.

Almond Flour vs. Almond Meal

Both are made from ground almonds, however, almond flour is typically made from blanched almonds and is ground more fine. Almond meal, on the other hand, typically still contains the skins and is coarser in texture.

Almond meal is usually cheaper as a result. They can’t always be used interchangeably, but in some cases a 1:1 swap is fine. Almond flour and almond meal can both be used in this recipe, though almond flour will offer a slightly lighter texture.

How To Make Almond Flour

Pulse blanched almonds in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment or in a high-speed blender in 1 second increments, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically. Stop when the almonds are finely ground, but before any oils release (you don’t want almond butter). Using blanched almonds makes the lightest possible almond flour.

To make your own oat flour, follow the same instructions – add rolled oats to a food processor or blender and mix until a fine flour forms. If you’re making your own flours for this recipe, we highly recommend using the weight measurements for accuracy.

Tips and Notes

Paper muffin liners are better than greasing the pan alone as the muffins can be a bit delicate when warm.

Want a stronger coconut flavour? Toast the coconut before adding it to the muffins! Add the coconut to a small dry skillet over medium-low heat until golden brown and fragrant, usually just a couple of minutes.

These almond flour banana muffins are gluten-free, so expect the texture to be different from muffins made with regular wheat flour. With almond, oats, and maple syrup, we think the flavour is much more interesting than white flour and sugar.

Having your ingredients are at room temperature before starting will yield better results here (cold ingredients will solidify the coconut oil).

Use very ripe, brown-speckled or fully-brown bananas! The ripeness of the bananas directly affects the sweetness of the muffins.

The muffins will keep for 2 to 3 days at room temperature, depending on how warm it is, however, they’re also very good straight out of the fridge.

Substitutions

Coconut oil solidifies when it cools, which helps these muffins hold together (along with the eggs, bananas, and ground flax). Oils that are liquid at room temperature might not work.

Hazelnut flour can be used in place of almond flour if you can get it – hazelnuts are fantastic with banana and chocolate! We haven’t tested this recipe with other alternative flours.

Runny honey can be substituted for maple syrup, however, the muffins will taste sweeter.

If you like a sweeter muffin, substitute sweetened shredded coconut.

Chocolate chips and chopped chocolate can be used interchangeably. Also, you can use any chocolate or chocolate chips you like.

More Gluten Free Snacks

Mixed Berry Muffins with Toasted Coconut
Gluten Free Pumpkin Biscuits
Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Super Seedy Cereal

If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.