Fall is the season of cozy sweaters, crisp air, and the scent of freshly baked treats wafting through your home. With the natural sweetness of ripe bananas and cozy pumpkin spice, these one-bowl vegan pumpkin banana muffins perfectly embody everything we love about fall. In fact, they are so delicious, no one will guess they're vegan, gluten-free, and made in just one bowl!
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You Will Love This Recipe
- The best flavors: The sweet caramel notes of ripe bananas pair perfectly with warm fall spices. Each bite is like a warm hug for your taste buds.
- Quick and easy: Who doesn't appreciate an easy recipe that results in delicious treats? These muffins are a breeze to make. You'll only need one bowl to mix everything, meaning less cleanup and more time to savor your homemade treats.
- Dietary restriction friendly: These muffins taste like the real deal despite being completely vegan and gluten-free. This makes them the perfect treat for a group as the number of Americans adhering to dietary restrictions grows.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Flax meal and water: Flax eggs are a common vegan egg substitute made by mixing flax meal with water. You can also use chia seeds for "chia eggs" or one real egg for a non-vegan version.
- Ripe Bananas: Ripe bananas are the caramel-y secret behind the best vegan pumpkin muffins. You'll need about 2 ripe bananas or 1 cup when mashed.
- Pumpkin Purée: Canned or homemade pumpkin purée provide classic fall pumpkin flavor.
- All-purpose flour: I love King Arthur brand gluten-free all-purpose flour for baking, but use your tried and true gluten-free or regular all-purpose flour for this recipe.
- Almond flour: Ground almonds add a hearty, nutty flavor and some moisture to these muffins. I have not tested it, but coconut or oat flour will likely work as well.
- Brown sugar: I love the toasty flavor brown sugar adds to these muffins, but other sugar, such as coconut sugar, will also work.
- Avocado oil: Your preferred neutral oil for baking, such as vegetable or canola oil, will also work here.
- Baking Powder: Adds lift to the batter.
- Oats: Oats add the best texture to these muffins. Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats if you need oats free from gluten contamination.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds a pleasant aroma and flavor to the muffins.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: This essential fall spice blend typically includes cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
- Turbinado sugar: This adds a crispy (though optional) bakery-style topping. Sanding sugar, or even regular granulated sugar in a pinch, will also work here.
Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flax meal with the water. Set this aside while you gather the rest of the ingredients.
Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a muffin tin with liners or lightly grease it. Then, in the large bowl with flax, mash the ripe bananas until smooth and add the rest of the wet ingredients. Mix them until well combined.
From here, sprinkle all of the dry ingredients over top. Mix the dry and wet ingredients until a thick muffin batter forms.
Scoop a half cup of batter into each of the muffin cups. Then, top the muffins with the turbinado sugar and oats.
For best results, bake these muffins at 425°F (220°C) for 7 minutes, then decrease the temperature to 350°F (175°C) for 25-27 minutes. When the muffins have finished baking, remove them from the oven and cool for at least 20 minutes before gently freeing them from the muffin pan.
Tips
- Make sure your bananas are very ripe or overripe for this recipe. If they are not ripe enough, place the bananas on a lined baking sheet in the oven for about 10-15 minutes while the oven preheats to 425°F (220°C). You'll know they are ready when they are uniformly dark brown or black.
- Be patient! Let the muffins cool completely before enjoying them. This allows the flavors to meld for the best taste and texture, making them easier to lift from the pan.
- Eco tip: Use silicone baking liners as forever muffin liners or use no liner! Waste less paper, and never worry if you don't have paper liners on hand again!
Variations
Feel free to get creative! Try adding:
- chopped nuts, such as pecans or walnuts
- dried fruit
- chocolate chips
- pumpkin seeds
- A swirl of vegan cream cheese
You can also convert this recipe to a pumpkin banana bread recipe by placing the batter into a greased or lined loaf pan and baking at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.
Of course, you can always go for a more classic flavor, like these best ever vegan banana muffins!
Storage
Store: For short-term storage, store them in a bread bag for the first day or two to keep the sugar oat topping crispy. You can keep your muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. They will also keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheat: To enjoy these muffins warm, microwave them for 10-15 seconds or reheat in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for a few minutes.
FAQ
You definitely can! If you'd prefer a non-vegan recipe, replace the flax and water with one egg.
Pumpkin pie filling is pumpkin purée with added sugar and spices. For sweet recipes, you can likely use pie filling in place of purée, but I'd recommend decreasing the amount of sugar and warm spices in the recipe.
This recipe uses a combination of all-purpose and almond flour for tender and flavorful muffins, but feel free to experiment with other flours. I have also made oat-flour pumpkin muffins with great results!
Recipe
One-Bowl Vegan Pumpkin Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons flax meal
- ¼ cup water
Wet Ingredients
- 2 ripe/overripe bananas (about 1 cup mashed bananas)
- ¾ cup pumpkin purée
- ⅓ cup avocado oil (or preferred baking oil)
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk (or preferred plant-based milk)
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 ½ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (or all-purpose flour)
- 1½ cups old fashioned rolled oats (certified gluten-free oats if needed)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ¾ teaspoons salt
Topping
- ¼ cup turbinado sugar (or sanding sugar)
- 1 Tablespoon old fashioned rolled oats
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flax meal with the water. Set this aside while you gather the rest of the ingredients.
- Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C) and line or lightly grease a muffin tin.
- In the large bowl with flax, mash the ripe bananas until smooth and add the rest of the wet ingredients. Mix them until well combined.
- Sprinkle all of the dry ingredients over top. Mix the dry and wet ingredients until a thick muffin batter forms.
- Scoop a half cup of batter into each of the muffin cups (the batter should dome slightly out of the cups of the tin).
- Sprinkle each muffin with about a teaspoon of turbinado sugar and a few oats.
- Bake the muffins at 425°F (220°C) for 7 minutes, then decrease the temperature to 350°F (175°C) for 25-27 minutes.
- When the muffins have finished baking, remove them from the oven and cool for at least 20 minutes before gently freeing them from the muffin pan.
- Store leftover muffins in a bread bag for the first day or two to keep the sugar oat topping crispy. You can keep your muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days. They will also keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Nutrition facts may vary based on substitutions and brands.
Nutrition
This recipe was adapted from Minimalist Baker's 1-Bowl Vegan Gluten-Free Banana Bread with tips for baking from Muffin Queen, The First Year.
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