Almond Butter Banana Muffins

These almond butter banana muffins are a delicious variation of our sweet and wholesome peanut butter muffins. They turn out with a perfectly textured crumb and a light and fluffy bite. Nut butter muffins are a great way to enjoy a sweet treat without too much guilt. They're full of essential minerals and nutrients like protein, healthy fats and potassium.

They are refined sugar free and can easily be made dairy-free and vegan too. Once you take a bite of them, you won't be able to resist more! They make a lovely treat after dinner and can be made ahead of time and frozen for later on.

Almond butter banana muffins pair perfectly with a warm cup of cider or hot chocolate. Make them for parties or houseguests, along with a dessert spread of almond milk chocolate pudding or vanilla pudding and pumpkin cookies.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Almond butter: smooth and creamy organic almond butter is my favorite. Before adding the nut butter to your muffin mix, stir it until it becomes as smooth as possible, mixing in the oils that collect on top.
• Chopped almonds: I sprinkle my muffins with chopped almonds to give them some crunch and extra flavor, but this is optional. The almonds do not go into the muffin batter.
• Coconut sugar: unrefined organic coconut sugar is best.
• Mashed bananas: the bananas should be very ripe for the best flavor.
• Greek yogurt: use plain, not flavored.
• Unsweetened vanilla almond milk: you can use any type of milk instead, including dairy milk, cashew milk, soy milk, oat milk, etc. Using unflavored almond milk is totally fine also!
• Maple syrup: pure organic maple syrup will give you the best flavor and nutrients.
• Olive oil: I use extra virgin olive oil instead of butter in all of my muffins to keep them on the healthier side.
• Eggs: for eggless nut butter muffins, use flax eggs.
• Bread flour: use all-purpose flour as a 1:1 substitution. You can use whole wheat flour too, but less of it as whole wheat flour needs more moisture (liquid). For every 1 cup of bread flour, use ¾ cup of whole wheat flour.
• The baking usuals: baking powder, salt, baking soda and vanilla extract. You can even make your own vanilla extract if you'd like!

Step-By-Step Instructions

This recipe yields 12 standard size muffins.

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine bread flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a small mixing bowl, mash the very ripe bananas. Add room temperature eggs,  almond butter, plain Greek yogurt, unsweetened almond milk, maple syrup, olive oil and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly til mostly smooth.
3. Pour the bowl of wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Use a fork to mix until wet and dry ingredients are just combined (be careful not to overmix or the muffins will become dense).
4. Pour batter into a 12 cup muffin pan lined with non-stick muffin liners. You can spray them with nonstick cooking spray for extra assurance that the muffins won't stick. Bake in an oven preheated to 400℉ for 5 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 350℉, sprinkle the tops of the muffins with chopped almonds if desired, and continue baking for 14-16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Remove the muffin pan from the oven and let muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling to continue cooling. Serve warmed or at room temperature.

How To Store Muffins

Almond butter banana muffins keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days. They can be stored in the fridge for up to 7 days and in the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, at room temperature for a few hours, or defrost in the microwave.

Variations

• Vegan: use flax eggs instead of regular eggs and coconut milk or almond milk yogurt instead of Greek yogurt.
• Gluten-free: use gluten-free bread flour.
• Dairy-free: replace the Greek yogurt with coconut milk or almond milk yogurt.
• Eggless: replace the eggs with flax eggs.
• Add chocolate chips or white chocolate chips to make chocolate banana almond butter muffins.