Vegan Chocolate Walnut Banana Bread Muffins

Vegan Chocolate Walnut Banana Muffins {ilovevegan.com} - These pillow-y soft, lightly spiced muffins are the perfect muffin to help us transition into Fall! #vegan #snack #soyfree #muffins

These lightly spicy, pillow-y soft banana bread muffins are the perfect snack to satisfy a sweet craving. They're made with whole wheat flour and loaded with brain-healthy walnuts and antioxidant rich dark chocolate.

They also happen to be the ideal pre-Fall muffin, just a little bit of spice and nuttiness to help us transition into all the fragrant, pumpkin-y goods we'll be enjoying come Autumn.

We've been loving these muffins lately because they're:

• simple, quick and easy (less than 1 hour of active cooking!)
• super thrifty (and even more so when using 50% off overripe bananas)
• customizable range of added sugar (we opt for the higher amount for a dessert muffin, and do the lower amount for a healthier breakfast/snack muffin)
• great for multi-day snacks (these freeze really well, just pop one in the microwave for 30 sec. or let thaw at room temp. for an hour)
• perfect individually portioned snacks that are great for sharing. Or not sharing 😉

 

Adjust the amount of sugar to suit your preferences. I prefer them a little less sweet for a slightly healthier muffin, but William really liked them with more sugar for a more dessert-like muffin.

If you don't have brown sugar you can use cane sugar to make up the difference, just add an extra 1-2 teaspoon of molasses to the recipe.

Feel free to switch up chocolate chip/walnut combo, we also liked them with raisins and pecans.

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup warm almond or soy milk
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• ¾ cup mashed ripe bananas (approx. 2 medium)
• 1 ½ tablespoon chia seeds
• 3-6 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3-6 tablespoon organic cane sugar
• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour, sifted
• ⅓ cup chopped walnuts
• ⅓ cup mini dairy-free chocolate chips

Supplies: 3 mixing bowls, measuring spoons, measuring cups, muffin tin, muffin liners, spatula/wooden spoon, hand mixer.

Dietary Info: Soy free (use almond milk instead of soy), Nut free optional (omit walnuts)
 

Organic cane sugar, brown sugar, chia seeds, walnuts, vanilla extract, active dry yeast, over-ripe bananas, mini chocolate chips, soy milk, cinnamon, whole wheat pastry flour, melted coconut oil.

Directions

Gather and measure all of your ingredients. I always make sure to do this before I start on a recipe, it's definitely one of the best ways to prevent kitchen mishaps!

In a small-medium sized bowl, combine the mashed banana, chia seeds, brown sugar, organic cane sugar, coconut oil, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly using a hand blender.

In a separate (larger) bowl, combine the sifted whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

In a second small bowl combine the warm almond milk (or your preferred non-dairy milk) with 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast. Let sit for about 10 minutes (no longer) to allow the yeast to activate. It should start to look a little bit foamy.

Once the yeast has activated, combine the wet ingredients with the yeast mixture.
 

Combining the activated yeast/almond milk mixture with the wet ingredients.

With your hand mixer running, gradually add the combined wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and mix on low speed until only just combined.
 

Combining all of the ingredients with a hand mixer.

Line a muffin tin with large muffin liners. Fill each cup ¾ of the way full with batter. One batch will make 12 regular-sized muffins.
 

Muffin liners filled ¾ full with batter, now they're ready for toppings (optional) or proceed to the rising stage.

Cover them with a slightly damp dish towel - this will ensure that they don't dry out and it'll keep any debris from falling into the batter. Now set a timer for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Let them rise for the duration of the timer and then preheat your oven to 325F.

Toppings (optional): Feel free to add some toppings before baking. My favourite combo is chopped walnuts + brown sugar, but I also like chocolate chips, cinnamon sugar, and flaked coconut. This part is totally up to you!

Once preheated, bake the muffins for 13-16 minutes, until the tops are a caramelized brown colour (like below.)
 

Perfectly cooked golden-brown banana muffins with assorted toppings (chocolate chips, walnuts & brown sugar, and cinnamon sugar.)

Tips & Suggestions

• If you're like me and you like to keep a stash of ripe bananas in your freezer, this is a great place to use them up! Previously frozen bananas are way easier to mash, just thaw 2 of them at room temp for for an hour before beginning the recipe. (For faster thawing, place them in an airtight bag in a warm water bath.)
• We also experimented with cooking the batter in loaves but we had much better results with muffins. If you decide to make loaves, consider making two small loaves instead of one large loaf.
• These are amazing served with a light pat of vegan butter like Earth Balance.

These muffins pair perfectly with an ice-cold glass almond milk (or any non-dairy milk!)

Vegan Chocolate Walnut Banana Bread Muffins

★★★★★ 4.5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Brittany | i love vegan
• Prep Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
• Yield: 12 1x
• Category: Baking, Muffins, Snacks
• Cuisine: Vegan

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Description

These Chocolate Walnut Banana Bread Muffins are super soft , light, and full of banana-y goodness. They also happen to be the ideal pre-Autumn muffin, nutty with just a hint of spice. And at just $4 per batch (that's 33¢ per muffin) making this recipe is a bargain too! While the total time required to prepare this recipe is about 2 hours 45 minutes, you only have to spend 30-40 minutes actively working in the kitchen.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• ⅓ cup warm almond or soy milk
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• ¾ cup mashed ripe bananas (approx. 2 medium)
• 1 ½ tbsp chia seeds
• 3-6 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3-6 tablespoon organic cane sugar
• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour, sifted
• ⅓ cup chopped walnuts
• ⅓ cup mini dairy-free chocolate chips

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Instructions

1. Gather and measure all of your ingredients. I always make sure to do this before I start on a recipe, it’s definitely one of the best ways to prevent kitchen mishaps!
2. In a small-medium sized bowl, combine the mashed banana, chia seeds, brown sugar, organic cane sugar, coconut oil, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly using a hand blender.
3. In a separate (larger) bowl, combine the sifted whole wheat pastry flour, salt, and cinnamon.
4. In a second small bowl combine the warm almond milk (or your preferred non-dairy milk) with 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast. Let sit for about 10 minutes (no longer) to allow the yeast to activate. It should start to look a little bit foamy.
5. Once the yeast has activated, combine the wet ingredients with the yeast mixture.
6. With your hand mixer running, gradually add the combined wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and mix on low speed until only just combined.
7. Line a muffin tin with large muffin liners. Fill each cup ¾ of the way full with batter. One batch will make 12 regular-sized muffins.
8. Cover them with a slightly damp dish towel – this will ensure that they don’t dry out and it’ll keep any debris from falling into the batter. Now set a timer for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Let them rise for the duration of the timer and then preheat your oven to 325F.
9. Toppings (optional): Feel free to add some toppings before baking. My favourite combo is chopped walnuts + brown sugar, but I also like chocolate chips, cinnamon sugar, and flaked coconut. This part is totally up to you!
10. Once preheated, bake the muffins for 13-16 minutes, until the tops are a caramelized brown colour.

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Notes

If you're like me and you like to keep a stash of ripe bananas in your freezer, this is a great place to use them up! Previously frozen bananas are way easier to mash, just thaw 2 of them at room temp for for an hour before beginning the recipe. (For faster thawing, place them in an airtight bag in a warm water bath.)We also experimented with cooking the batter in loaves but we had much better results with muffins.Adjust the amount of sugar to suit your preferences. We opt for the higher amount for a dessert muffin, and do the lower amount for a healthier breakfast/snack muffinIf you don’t have brown sugar you can use cane sugar to make up the difference, just add an extra 1-2 teaspoon of molasses to the recipe.These are amazing served with a light pat of vegan butter like Earth Balance.