These vegan banana muffins are soft and moist, and made with chopped chocolate and cubed banana chunks. The texture is divine! They're moist, bake up well, and don't require a lot of effort. Instructions provided for a small-batch recipe (6 muffins), and also for a full tray of 12 muffins, too!

Hi hi! Just popping in here to share this vegan banana muffin recipe with you! They are super easy to make and are a great egg free if you are looking for something to use as a base, or are just looking for recipes with ripe bananas.
These vegan muffins are super adaptable - you can scale the recipe as you like. I usually go for a banana bread when I need to use up ripe bananas, but these easy muffins are so quick and easy they are becoming my new fave!
I love making Muffins from scratch - they are quick, and come together in less than fifteen minutes - the time that the oven takes to preheat. In this guide to easy vegan muffins, we talk about:
Vegan Banana Muffin Recipe
This recipe for vegan banana chocolate chip muffins comes from my friend Chelsea. I texted her asking her if she had a good banana chocolate chip muffin recipe and she sent this one through.
It just so happens to also be a vegan muffin recipe, so I test drove it, realised I wasn't going to be able to develop anything better myself, and asked if I could put it on my website. She said yes because she's the best - get yourself some friends like mine.
I scaled the recipe back to 6 muffins because there are only two of us in the house. Because it is an egg free banana muffin recipe this was super easy. Grams for the win. Double this recipe if you like, but to me, six muffins is the perfect amount of muffins. Here's how to make vegan banana muffins:
- Combine all your wet ingredients in a bowl.
- Chop your banana up - there are notes on this further down in the blog post as to why this banana muffin recipe uses chopped and not mashed bananas!
- Combine wet ingredients and add to the bowl.
- Fold through Banana and chopped chocolate.
- Divide between muffin pans and add additional chocolate and a sprinkle of sugar on the tops.
- Bake until done! That's it! Super easy vegan banana muffins!
Tips for great muffins
I make this recipe in a few bowls - one for the wet and one for the dry. Then I chop up the banana into the bowl that had the wet ingredients in it. However you could absolutely do this in one large mixing bowl if you wanted to.
To do this, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, then add the wet in and give it all a good stir. Chop the banana directly into the bowl (with the bowl on the scale) then pop in the chopped chocolate.
It is important not to over mix muffin mixture. This recipe is a little more forgiving but it is still something that is good to keep in mind. I like to add the banana and the dark chocolate once the batter is just mixed, so it finishes mixing as you fold the banana and chocolate in.
Adding mix-ins to muffins
I haven't tried adding anything else to these vegan muffins, but I think it would work fine as they are a versatile base. You could add in some chopped nuts such as pecans along with the banana, or add in some cinnamon.
You could also replace the chocolate for some blueberries. If you use frozen berries, do not thaw. Toss them in a tiny bit of flour before adding in so they don't sink.
Parchment Paper Muffin Liners
I made my own muffin liners for these muffins to make them more 'bakery' style - meaning that they rose a little higher in the muffin tray as the paper which sticks out also supports them as they bake.
To do this I just cut some parchment paper into squares - 5.5" (14cm) seemed to work well for me but feel free to go larger if you want. I then sprayed each cavity with spray, and pressed the paper down into the muffin tins using the end of a rolling pin. A narrow glass would work great too.
Making your own muffin liners does make them a little trickier to fill as the paper likes to jump out a little, but once you have the first quantity of muffin batter in there you are fine.
If you want to use pre-made muffin cups or just regular cupcake liners, go for it! If your muffin pan is super non stick you could probably also just do a good spray of baking spray or rub them with butter and do away with the paper completely.
Best Bananas for Banana Muffins
These Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins work best with bananas that aren't totally black. You want them to still have a tiny bit of firmness to them as unlike other banana muffin recipes, they are chopped rather than mashed before going into the banana muffins.
If yours are totally black that's just fine too - it will work just fine with both. Just don't mash them up as you want them to stay slightly chunky within the banana muffin.
I haven't tested these with frozen banana but I am sure that it will work. Defrost them as normal then just drain off any excess liquid and use the weight of the banana called for in the recipe.
I haven't tried adding anything else to these muffins, but I think it would work fine as they are a versatile base. You could add in some chopped nuts along with the banana, and add in some cinnamon.
You could also replace the chocolate for some blueberries. If you use frozen berries, do not thaw. Toss them in a tiny bit of flour before adding in so they don't sink.
Chopped Chocolate vs Chocolate Chips for Muffins
I tested these with both chocolate chips and chopped chocolate, and once again, chopped wins over chocolate chips. Using chopped chocolate means you get delicious melty pockets of chocolate within the muffin. You also get little shards of chocolate throughout the muffin batter.
If you have chocolate chips they work great too. Use what you have on hand, but if you do have a bar of chocolate handy, I highly recommend! Chopped chocolate also works great to add to the tops of the muffin for a nice chocolate topping.
I also added some raw sugar to the tops for a nice crunchy finish. Both of these are optional - do what you like here if you prefer naked muffins!
Frequently Asked Questions
How to make vegan muffins fluffy
It is important to not over mix your muffins - particularly when it comes to vegan muffins. Make sure you only just incorporate the wet ingredients. You can add the chopped banana and chocolate when the mix is just coming together to help avoid over mixing.
What tools and equipment do you use?
You can see a full list of all the tools I use here
Can I use Dairy milk in this recipe?
Yes! I used Oat milk for these to keep them vegan but if you want to use regular milk, go ahead! Any plant based milk will work - soy milk or almond milk would be good too.
What is the best pan to use?
I used a six cup muffin pan, but if you make this in a regular 12 cup, put the muffins in every second hole so they have some space between them.
Why didn't my muffins rise?
This recipe doesn't rise loads! They don't have a nice tall muffin top but I promise they are still very very good!
What can I use instead of apple cider vinegar?
I haven't tried anything else sorry! However Lemon juice or another light or fruity vinegar should work if you wanted to give it a go. Stay away from malt vinegar or anything super strong like balsamic.
What is a neutral oil?
Neutral oil is anything that is neutral tasting - extra light olive oil, grapeseed oil, canola oil, vegetable oil etc.
For more easy muffin recipes:
❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️
I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!
Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
The Best Homemade Vegan Banana Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 muffins 1x
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These vegan banana muffins are soft and moist, and made with chopped chocolate and cubed banana chunks. The texture is divine! They're moist, bake up well, and don't require a lot of effort. Instructions provided for a small-batch recipe (6 muffins), and also for a full tray of 12 muffins, too!
Ingredients
- 120g Plant based milk (I used Oat)
- 75g granulated sugar
- 55g neutral oil
- 7g (1 ½ tsp) apple cider vinegar
- 7g (1 ½ tsp) vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 145g all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 3g (½ tsp) salt
- 140g very ripe banana, diced (not mashed)
- 60g dark chocolate, roughly chopped, plus extra for the tops if desired
- Turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°f / 180°c. Grease and line a muffin pan with 6 liners or make your own from parchment paper squares and press into each cavity.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, sugar, oil, apple cider vinegar and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the chopped banana and mix to incorporate, then fold in the chopped chocolate.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 6 muffin cups - they don’t rise loads so don’t worry if they look full. Sprinkle the tops with extra chocolate and turbinado sugar.
- Bake the muffins for 20 to 22 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Keywords: Vegan, Vegan Muffins, Easy Muffin Recipe, Banana Muffins
Comments
These muffins were super easy to make and turned out delicious! Will definitely be making these again 😻
★★★★★
Ahhh so happy you love them! Thank you so much for the lovely review! x
Such an easy and delicious recipe 😍 highly recommend it and you won't even know it's vegan 😉
★★★★★
I'm going to give these a try, LOVE that these are vegan!
I've never seen diced banana in a recipe before, why diced instead of mashed?
Excited to see how these turn out 😊
Hi! There's a wee bit of info in the post about this - it's just so they don't go soggy!
Made your muffins for some guests who were staying in my Airbnb and oh my goodness, they were INCREDIBLE! 🤤🤤 Thanks for putting in all the time and effort into your recipes and providing it to the public for free! Appreciate you! x
I made these! They come together really quickly are are delicious 🙂
★★★★★
Made these with frozen bananas and can confirm: 10/10 would recommend to a friend. Do yourself a favour & triple the recipe!
★★★★★
Why is the recipe so far down? Haven't made these yet but took me forever to get to the actual recipe... Also if you're putting heat in both C & F would be good to have measurements in cups & mL for those without a kitten scale
★★★
Hi. There is a jump to recipe button at the top of the page which takes you directly to it, along with anchor links in the table of contents to navigate the recipe. There is also a disclaimer about why my recipes are not posted in cups.
Ive made this version and did a blueberry version. Both worked perfectly. Its a delicious muffin with very little effort. Thank you for this!
★★★★★
How much blueberries did you use and did you replace the blueberries with the bananas or chocolate? Thanks for your help. I would love to try a blueberry version.
It's just 140g blueberries and no chocolate or banana! Toss the berries in 20g flour 🙂
Thank you for the awesome small batch/fast recipe! I used sub par chocolate chips because they were all we had (and I was trying to cram making these in between dinner prep) - but they still tasted great and I will definitely make them again with some chopped Whittakers and try the blueberry variation, I think they will be a go to for me!
★★★★★
Hi! Ahhhh I am so so happy you loved them! Thanks so much for the lovely review
My husband can't do dairy but I struggle to find dairy free recipes that taste any good - give me all the butter!! Im a bit of a muffin snob too haha but I thought I'd give these a try and they are so ridiculously yum!! Absolutely will make over and over, thanks Erin for your amazing recipes and all the work you put in!
★★★★★
Super quick to make, and honestly maybe the best banana chocolate chip muffins ever? Can’t wait to try this base with blueberries! Thanks for such a great recipe!
★★★★★
By far the best banana muffin ive had! Came together so quick which is a bonus! So so yum! Will definitely be making them again, thank you for yet another awesome recipe!
★★★★★
I'm not vegan and would like to add an egg and buttermilk to this recipe. I think decreasing milk by 1/4 cup and omitting the vinegar would work. Thoughts?
I would find a different banana muffin recipe if you want one with eggs. This one doesn’t need an egg so there’s no point adding one in for no reason. I’ve only made it as written sorry and don’t think it needs egg or buttermilk 🙂
These are so yummy!!! I just made them tonight and next time I will double the recipe. I love the idea of a banana muffin where the banana is diced and not mashed. Plus best part about vegan baking is that I can eat the batter guilt free!!
★★★★★
Ahh yay! Isn't it so good with the pieces of banana?!
Omg Erin. These are amazing.
Yayyyy!
Hi Erin.
Thank you for sharing your passion with us.
These VEGAN banana and chocolate GOODNESSS were a freaking hit in our household lockdown bubble. And ingredients we had at home as well.
My husband and teenage son ate them all within an hour. They tasted the first ones before they had cooled down.
So delish. Love that the recipe can be tailored to small or bigger batches and all super easy to follow.
Love that it's in GRAMS (too soon?).
Welcome home as well.
★★★★★
Hi! Ah yayyyy so happy you love!!
Loved the recipe. Added some sanding sugar on top just for fun. Thank you.
★★★★★
You are so welcome!
Absolutely love this recipe! So quick and easy to make the most fluffy, flavourful banana muffins ever! I use cows milk because that's all I have on hand and it worked great. Can't beat chopped up banana vs mashed either 🤤
★★★★★
Yay so happy you loved them! Chopped banana is a game changer right?!
Made these late at night into mini muffins and have eaten two already. Need to make sure to save some for my kids in the morning! So quick and easy! Thank you!
★★★★★
So happy you loved!
I’m on holiday with no muffin tins 🥲, what do you think would happen if I try these free form on a baking sheet?
You are my go to for so many baked recipes, thanks so much!
Hi! Hmmmm no I don't think it will work sorry! Might have to wait for a muffin pan for these!
Amazing! Made them with blueberries instead of the chocolate and they were a hit with my 4 year old.
★★★★★
These are fantastic! Super easy recipe to follow - and I completely agree with using a kitchen scale to measure ingredients! I doubled the recipe using your new functionality (this is awesome). Didn't have enough chocolate and replaced a 1/3 with peanut butter chips. Thank you for an amazing vegan banana muffin recipe!
★★★★★
These are delicious, easy to make, and picky eater approved! I made as is and they were fantastic and I made some changes to the add ins to a few other batches and they always turn out. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
★★★★★
Yayyy so happy you love!
So easy to make with my 5 and 3 yr old - we subbed in cow milk - great to have a small batch recipe too and perfect for school lunches
★★★★★
These are honestly the best banana muffins ever! So soft and moist! They are so quick and easy to make as well. Went through a batch of them in one day between myself and my boyfriend, so had to make another batch straight away! Will definitely be my go-to recipe for banana muffins now.
I've never made a recipe so soon after seeing it! AMAZING! So many things to love about this. Simple ingredients, easy technique, small batch, accurate measurements, and quick! This is going to be a staple recipe in my kitchen. I can't wait to eat these muffins for the rest of eternity. Vegan or not, a must try!
★★★★★
I can confirm this recipe is perfection, even if you completely forget to put in the old bananas you really needed to use 🙃 Light, fluffy and moist with a crisp top. 10/10 and would bake again!
★★★★★
Yum! I was slightly hesitant with the chopped banana but was a huge hit. Just used chocolate chips as was for kids lunches, however will make again with Whittaker's for a work shared morning tea.
I doubled to make a perfect 12, and no much rise which was lucky as they were very full.
★★★★★
Just baked these, they turned out amazing!
Thank you for sharing! 🙂
★★★★★
The perfect lockdown recipe, so easy and you most likely already have everything you need! I used frozen bananas which still worked perfectly, just made a more delicate texture. Love the banana chunks. So delicious!!
★★★★★
I was skeptical about the diced bananas, but WOW! It changes everything without losing any banana flavor or moisture and the pieces aren't mushy at all. This muffin is so delicious, the texture is perfect, and you cannot tell its vegan! It holds up so well; perfect for snacks, lunchboxes, breakfasts, brunches, and dessert - certainly a crowd pleaser.!
★★★★★
This muffins are so delicious and easy! I love that the ingredients are pantry items so I always have stuff on hand to make them. And I can’t wait to try some variations of flavors. I’m thinking coconut oil instead of a neutral oil might be delicious, topped with toasted coconut - chef’s kiss.
★★★★★
These muffins were amazing! So light and moist!
★★★★★
These were so good and came together quickly! I subbed peanut butter chips for the chocolate chips. Can’t wait to make them again!
★★★★★
Yay so happy you loved!
These are just the best, whether your vegan or not it should become your go to. I make them way to often!
Hey!
I'm looking forward to try this recipe out. However, I have one question - what is role of apple cider vinegar?
😊
Hi! It's there to replicate buttermilk / react with the baking soda
These are insanely good! Making these for the third day in a row now.... ! ☺️
★★★★★
Yay I am so happy you loved!
These are so good and I can confirm that lemon works great in place of ACV. Made them twice. Definitely grease them well or use a liner they’re crumbly getting out when warm if you only have one tin and did a double batch. Ha!
★★★★★
So happy you loved!
Very good recipe. My family LOVED them. Def a keeper. I added chopped walnuts, skipped the sugar on top, used 1 1/4 cups oat flour plus 1/2 cup rolled oats, added cinnamon, and replaced the sugar with maple syrup.
This is our favorite banana muffin recipe. Do you think it would work in a mini muffin pan (each well about 1.1oz)?
I haven't tried sorry! it should work though!
Spectacular recipe! I didn't have any plant milk so I substituted cow's milk. The recipe came together so quickly. These will definitely be a staple in our house!
★★★★★
These were super quick and easy to throw together and I really liked having the diced bananas vs having them mashed. Will be making again!
★★★★★
Amazing recipe - so easy and straightforward to follow and absolutely love that the measurements are in grams and the “x2 button” feature! Made a double batch and the quantities were absolutely perfect. Received rave reviews and no one could tell that they were vegan 😉
★★★★★
Just made these using lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar and confirm it works perfectly 😊
★★★★★
Ah yay so happy you loved!
Made a quadruple batch of these this evening and they turned out a treat! I filled the muffin tins pretty high and they rose perfectly to give a little muffin top. Flavour was delicious - hardly noticed it was vegan! Made them mainly for my friend who can’t eat egg and would 100% make again 🙂 Love these recipes!
★★★★★
Aw yay they are such a fave in our house too
This recipe came together so easily and was absolutely delicious! This will now be my go to every time for using up bananas. I used cows milk and red wine vinegar as that's what I had. Thanks Erin!! X
★★★★★
Banana choc chip muffins are my absolute favourite and these are literally the most delicious ones I've ever tried. I especially love that this recipe is measured by weight because it makes it so perfectly accurate - ideal! 🌟
★★★★★
An amazing recipe, thank you Erin & Chelsea! I made these with my enthusiastic 4 year old niece and despite her disregard of the scales for some ingredients (I feel like 4 yrs olds can get away with vanilla extract danger pours), and her vigorous mixing of ingredients, they came out scrumptious and were a hit with the fam for afternoon tea. Ive always struggled with other muffin recipes tasting like cardboard once they’ve cooled down, but these just keep getting better!
★★★★★
This is such a great staple recipe! The oven takes longer to preheat than it is to throw all the ingredients together. I’ve done both variations with blueberries and bananas and it’s a hit every time. 10 stars for a recipes that also has the wet ingredients in GRAMS. 😉
★★★★★
So happy you loved! Grams for the win
Can't remember if I've commented before, but am doing it again anyway cos this recipe and the muffins are amazing! I've baked them with almond milk, oat milk and cows milk- all equally delicious and turn out well! It's my go to muffin recipe. Freezes well (I'm always double batching for the small people in my house) and the banana chunks are a game changer! Thanks Erin!
★★★★★
THEE most perfect muffin recipe that ever was! Just baked my second batch in as many days. You have single handedly converted me to baking in GRAMS. I really love all the recipe chit chat beforehand, so many useful tips and tricks. You don’t go into the game without reading the playbook first! Thank you Erin. Legend!
★★★★★
I love these muffins. This is now a go to recipe for me. It’s so easy yet so delicious. And, no one would ever know these are vegan. I like the fact this recipe is for a small batch. But, I usually double the recipe and make 6 jumbo muffins. So, so good!
★★★★★
I just made these moist, airy and mouth-melting beauties. My family are still raving about them the day after and could not believe they were vegan! My son said they’re the best I’ve ever made (rare high praise from a teen)! I really loved and preferred the chopped bananas and chocolate morsels (instead of mashed & chocolate chips), as they add so much more texture and pleasant bites of sweetness. A gem of a recipe!😍😍
★★★★★
I whipped these up last night and I'm loving these muffins! I'm dairy-free and this is by far the most successful recipe I've tried! I used 3 bananas and ended up with 8 muffins, and I love that all your recipes are by weight, it's so much easier!
★★★★★
Such an easy recipe! I’m not vegan and generally think vegan recipes don’t taste as good but this is awesome. Definitely making them again!
★★★★★
I’ve made this recipe quite a few times now and it’s a new fave. It’s very forgiving - we have an oven that cooks super uneven and often have failures, but this has been successful each time 🙂 I have also tried some modifications of adding oats and peanut butter and that worked well too! Thanks for such a great vegan recipe 🌱🌱
★★★★★
So happy you loved them! 🙂