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These quick, easy, moist banana applesauce muffins are oil-free, egg-free, and lower in sugar – A delicious, meal-prep-friendly, lighter breakfast or snack! Plus, it’s ready in just 30 minutes!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Any time I spot a bunch of freckly bananas on the counter, you can bet my kitchen’s about to smell amazing of this easy vegan banana bread or easy vegan banana cake. However, on days when I want something lighter, these oil-free banana applesauce muffins are my go-to. They’re soft, moist, just sweet enough, loaded with banana flavor, and come together with only a few simple, low-budget ingredients.
Instead of oil, I make these banana muffins with applesauce for moisture and sweetness. That means they’re lower in fat and I get to add less sugar, but they’re still super tasty. They also contain no eggs or dairy, freeze well (perfect for meal prep!), are child-approved, and you can even jazz them up with vegan chocolate, dried fruit, or nuts. A cozy, feel-good snack or breakfast.
Have even more spotty bananas to use? Try some vegan banana pancakes, easy banana peach bread, or even a vegan chocolate banana milkshake.
Ingredient Notes
Please refer to the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and substitutes.
Recipe Add-ins and Variations
- Flavorings: Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and/or a pinch of nutmeg.
- Mix–ins: Like ¾ cup nuts (raw or toasted walnuts, pecans, pistachios, almonds, etc.) or dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, etc.), ½ cup vegan chocolate chips, a few tbsp shredded coconut, or 1 cup berries (blueberries, raspberries, etc.).
- Toppings: Like a sprinkle of rolled oats, coarse sugar, or simple glaze (like this easy strawberry glaze, 3-ingredient lemon glaze, or pumpkin spice glaze)
How to Make Banana Applesauce Muffins
Keep scrolling to the recipe card for the complete list of ingredients and recipe instructions!
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F/175 °C and lightly grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin. Also, whisk the flaxseed and water and leave it to thicken for 5-10 minutes.
Step 2: Then, mash the bananas with a fork in a medium bowl until smooth. Stir in the flax eggs, applesauce, sugar, and plant milk. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and (if using) cinnamon.
Step 3: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until just combined into a thick batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Step 4: Divide the batter into the muffin pan. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (moist crumbs are fine). Remove the vegan banana applesauce muffins from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the pan to cool on a cooling rack. Enjoy!
FAQs
Yes, but thaw it fully, drain any excess liquid, then mash.
Sure – first, mix the wet ingredients in the bowl, sift the dry ingredients over the top, and mix until only just combined. You can also use a stand mixer.
Sure! Sugar doesn’t just add sweetness, though. I’ve reduced it to ½ cup successfully, though. Want to reduce it further? I recommend using a liquid sweetener, like maple syrup, agave, or brown rice syrup, to avoid dry muffins.
Use mini muffin trays and bake for 12-15 minutes, testing with a toothpick.
Pro Recipe Tips
- Use extra ripe bananas: The more brown spots, the sweeter and softer – perfect for these low-sugar, oil-free banana muffins.
- Mash the bananas well: A few small lumps are fine (and add texture), but smooth puree distributes evenly into the batter.
- Adjust sweetness: You can reduce sugar by ¼ cup or sub it with another sugar/sweetener.
- Don’t use too much flour: Avoid scooping it from the flour bag (which leads to dense, dry muffins). Instead, fluff it in the bag, spoon it in the cup, then level with the back of a knife.
- Don’t over-mix: To avoid dense, rubbery muffins. Mix the batter only until incorporated (a few small lumps are fine).
- Don’t overbake the muffins: Otherwise, they can become dry/crumbly.
Storage Instructions
Store: In a paper towel-lined airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
Freezer: Flash freeze the applesauce banana muffins, wrap them in plastic wrap, transfer them to a Ziplock/Stasher, and store for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, at room temperature, or for 30-50 seconds using defrost mode in a microwave.
Reheat: Gently warm for 20-30 seconds in a microwave.
More Vegan Banana Recipes
Vegan Breakfasts
Easy Banana Spinach Pancakes
Vegan Desserts
Banana Ice Cream (3 Ways!)
Vegan Desserts
Vegan Banana Cream Pie
Vegan Desserts
Banana Parfait
If you tried this banana applesauce muffins recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks!
Banana Applesauce Muffins (Oil-Free!)
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
- 5 tablespoons warm water
- 2 very ripe bananas peeled
- ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup plant-based milk
- 1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a small bowl, whisk together the flaxseeds and warm water. Let sit for 10 minutes to thicken.
- In a medium bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until smooth. Add the flax mixture, applesauce, sugar, and plant-based milk. Stir until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon (if using).
- Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, stirring just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. The batter will be somewhat thick.
- Divide the batter evenly into a lined or greased 12-cup muffin pan.
- Bake for 17–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Let cool slightly before serving. Enjoy warm or at room temperature!
Notes
- Use extra ripe bananas: The more brown spots, the sweeter and softer – perfect for these low-sugar, oil-free banana muffins.
- Mash the bananas well: A few small lumps are fine (and add texture), but smooth puree distributes evenly into the batter.
- Adjust sweetness: You can reduce sugar by ¼ cup or sub it with another sugar/sweetener.
- Don’t use too much flour: Avoid scooping it from the flour bag (which leads to dense, dry muffins). Instead, fluff it in the bag, spoon it in the cup, then level with the back of a knife.
Good recipe… though I added oil and extra baking powder and skipped the water and just used the plant milk. But thank you I have been wanting a good basic recipe to make a darn muffin with.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
These are absolutely delicious! Easy to make! Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed them! Thank you for letting me know. 🙂
Sounds great. Can you use oat flour instead?
We at PBOAB haven’t tried out that sub yet so can’t guarantee the results. Please let us know how it turns out if you end up trying it 🙂
They were still gooey when i took them out of the oven i cooked them for 20 minutes
I recommend cooking them for longer and checking on them every few minutes. Enjoy!
these look amazing…is there a way I could lower the amount of sugar? or use something else in place of cane sugar
thanks
you can substitute using your preferred sugar, enjoy!
Hi;
great recipe – a healthier alternative to chocolate chips is cacao nibs – available in health food stores or bulk stores. They are very bitter to eat as is, but when in a muffin or cookie, give a nice burst of chocolate flavour.
Love the vegan chocolate chip addition! We do that from time to time to have an extra splash of chocolate!
These were amazing, thank you! I used 3 bananas because they were all in need of use, oat flour and a little bit of coconut flour (because I’ve been out of regular AP flour for like a week now and keep forgetting to grab it at the store!), and a little over 1/3 cup unpacked dark brown sugar instead of the granulated called for. I’m a diabetic, so I have to watch my sugar intake, and I like the caramel-y flavor that brown sugar uses. I also doubled the baking powder because I just have not been able to get my baked goods to rise since going fat free!
My batter was fairly thin, I assume because of the oats and because I accidentally put a half cup of milk instead of a quarter cup, so that’s why I added a couple tablespoons of coconut flour. I still ended up with a cake batter type consistency vs a thick scoopable muffin batter. Another recipe I had been considering suggested blasting the muffins at 425 for the first 5 minutes and then lowering the temp down to 350 for the rest of the time, so that’s what I did with the first batch. The second batch (which was just one muffin – I got a solid baker’s dozen out of the recipe!) was just at 350 for 20 minutes and I find I actually like the way they rise with just the straight low and slow heat.
Either way they’re all delicious and this is now my official go-to recipe for banana nut muffins! (Nuts on top, bakery style!)
Such great feedback! So glad you enjoyed them 🙂