You know when you have a snack situation that you want to fill with something YUM that you know will satisfy those cravings but you really don’t want to eat some junk full of refined sugar? I recently went through one of these days and here we have these vegan banana walnut muffins as a result.
With these muffins, I was really looking for something that was on the healthier side without any compromise on the flavour. You see I bake a fair bit and that is a lot of white sugar and flour with no real nutritional benefit. But healthy shouldn’t mean bland, and these muffins bring that classic combination of banana and cinnamon to the front and satisfied both my need to snack healthier and eat something that tasted great. I love it when that happens!
I also felt strongly about making these refined sugar free as I do like to cut down on sugar wherever I can. Probably so that I can justify eating a few of these later, let’s be honest. Usually I would grab the honey in place of regular sugar, however on this occasion I was out so I opted for the maple syrup instead.
Being that I was now using maple syrup for sweetener instead (an unintentional vegan swap), I decided to make these muffins completely vegan by removing the need for an egg. While I am not vegan myself, I understand what it is like to have your dietary needs impact what you eat and so I try to make recipes on occasion that can be enjoyed by everyone.
If you or someone you know are vegan, dairy-free, or egg-free than this is the perfect recipe to make. Also, it is super handy even if you don’t have the dietary restrictions, for when you want muffins but have run out of eggs/milk and don’t want to go to the shops. I generally have all of the ingredients for these muffins in my pantry ready to go, and you will notice that I use these in many of my recipes on the blog.
The walnuts are optional and could be replaced by any nuts really. Or choc chips. Someone should try them with choc chips!
Let’s talk about removing the need for an egg. In this recipe I use what is called a flax-egg which is a mixture of flaxseed meal and water. When let sit for a few minutes, the mixture forms a gel-like consistency and acts like a binder in the batter. Flaxseed also has the added benefit of being super healthy containing those essential fatty omega 3s as well as being a good source of fibre among other things. It has a few other uses, but I keep it in my fridge (I read that it should be refrigerated a long time ago, cannot remember why…) and add a tablespoon to smoothies when I want a bit more fibre and nutrients. It’s also good sprinkled over yogurt with a handful of berries, or even on cereal.
You could totally add it to these overnight oats instead of the chia seeds.
I have not made this recipe using a real egg instead. I would expect it to work fine as I use a real egg in my banana bread which this recipe was based off, but as I have not tested it I cannot say for sure. Let me know if you try it!
I like to keep these muffins in my freezer and just grab one in the morning to take with me to work. It defrosts on my desk through the morning, and then after 10-15 seconds in the microwave you would swear they were freshly baked! The smell of the cinnamon is amazing as the steam escapes from the muffin.
Super easy, super satisfying and pretty much a health food – yes please and thank you!
Vegan Banana Walnut Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
- 2 ½ tablespoons water
- 2 large overripe bananas , or 3 small
- ⅓ cup coconut oil , melted
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda
- 1 cup quick cooking oats
- ½ cup walnuts
- 1 ¼ cups wholemeal plain flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees and a 12 cup muffin pan with patty cases.
- Make your flax egg: mix together flaxseed meal and 2 ½ tablespoons of water together and set aside for 5-10 minutes until it has thinkend into a gel-like consistency.
- In a large bowl, mash bananas. Add in maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, apple cider vinegar, and cinnamon and mix together using a wire whisk. Add in flax ‘egg’ mix, sugar, baking powder and baking soda and continue to mix.
- Sift flour directly into the bowl to ensure there are no lumps and fold into mixture until just combined. Add in oats and chopped walnuts and fold through.
- Fill muffin cups with mixture about ¾ full and top with a sprinkle of oats. Bake in fan forced oven for 20-25 minutes until golden on top and muffins spring back when gently touched.
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