Looking for a soft, fluffy, and slightly sweet muffin that's also better-for-you? These Applesauce Banana Muffins are just the thing! Made with ripe bananas, applesauce (or oil), and warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, they're totally vegan and loaded with melty chocolate chips—yum!
If you’re a muffin lover, don’t miss out on these kid-approved and nutrient-packed bakes: Lemon Coconut Flour Muffins and Healthy Zucchini Muffins.
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What are Applesauce Banana Muffins?
This banana muffin recipe is a lighter take on traditional muffins. By swapping butter for unsweetened applesauce, you get a moist muffin without losing any of the sweetness.
Applesauce has been a trusted baking trick for decades to make low-fat treats, and when paired with ripe bananas, it creates a super-soft texture that kids and adults love.
Baked in standard muffin tins and ready in under an hour, this is a great recipe to keep in your rotation—especially if you always seem to have brown bananas sitting on the counter!
Substitutions
whole wheat flour – sub with oat flour or a gluten-free blend for a free flour version
- brown sugar – coconut sugar or honey for natural sweeteners
- cane sugar – use maple syrup or skip for a low sugar option
- vegetable oil – swap with more unsweetened applesauce, coconut oil, or olive oil
- chocolate chips – swap with raisins or nuts
Variations
- Mini Muffins – Use mini muffin tins and bake for 18-20 minutes
- Nutty – Add chopped walnuts or pecans
- Oatmeal Banana Muffins – Mix in rolled oats for fiber
- With Vanilla – Add 1 tsp vanilla extract for warmth
Storage & Leftovers
- Countertop – Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days
- Refrigerator – Keeps well up to 1 week
- Freezer – Place in freezer-safe bags and freeze for 2 months
- Room temperature tip – Reheat in a toaster oven for that fresh-baked feel
Ingredients
Listed below are all the ingredients you will need:
- whole wheat flour
- all-purpose flour
- brown sugar
- cane sugar
- ground cinnamon
- baking powder
- baking soda
- ground nutmeg
- salt
- very ripe mashed bananas
- vegetable oil or unsweetened applesauce
- coconut milk
- vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners or grease muffin pans.
In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cane sugars, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, salt until well combined:
In another large bowl, mix bananas, oil, coconut milk until well combined:
The mixture will look like this after thoroughly mixing:
Then add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until just combined:
Make sure that you have mixed it thoroughly and there are no lumps from the dry ingredients:
You can now incorporate the chocolate chips into the batter:
Add the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
These Vegan Banana Chocolate Muffins smelled so good in my kitchen!
When I arranged them on this cake tray, I couldn't wait to take a bite 🙂
The muffin is soft with just the right amount of sweetness, and it has such a pleasing texture!
Serve it with cold fruit juice or with a hot cup of coffee!
These Vegan Banana Chocolate Muffins are also perfect for tea parties and potlucks!
Top Tips
- Do not overmix the batter. Just make sure everything is well incorporated and no lumps are formed from the wet ingredients. Overmixing the batter will make the muffin hard.
- You can make this into a banana bread instead of muffins. Just use a nonstick loaf pan and bake it!
- Always use very ripe bananas when making muffin recipes like this. Overripe bananas will make the muffins or bread sweeter, and it's more aromatic.
- Use muffin liners if you do not have nonstick muffin pans.
FAQ
More delicious muffin recipes:
More delicious dessert recipes:
Applesauce Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup cane sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups very ripe mashed bananas
- 1 cup vegetable oil or unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup coconut milk
- ⅓ cup vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners or grease muffin pans.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cane sugars, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, salt until well combined.
- In another large bowl, mix bananas, oil, coconut milk until well combined. Then add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until just combined.
- Add the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Claire M says
This looks so good Lainey! Now, how to make my own applesauce?