Clean Eating Banana Muffins Recipe | The Gracious Pantry (2024)

ByTiffany McCauley

August 15, 2010June 1, 2021

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These banana muffins are perfect for school lunches or even work lunches!

It’s back to school season, and the binders and #2 pencils are everywhere.

Going back to school is becoming somewhat of a national holiday in this country. Similar to Christmas in that the kids get new stuff and us parents are left wondering what happened to our paychecks. Back to school ain’t cheap!

Clean Eating Banana Muffins Recipe | The Gracious Pantry (1)

And then there’s the lunch dilemma….

Who knew packing a little lunch could be so stressful??!! But inevitably, it gets to the point where you just don’t know what to pack anymore. The kids are bored with the “same ol’, same ol'” and frankly, so are we. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Sometimes, all it takes is a new perspective or a tiny spark of inspiration to get us going again. Sometimes, all it takes is one recipe to get the excitement back into a lunch box.

And while these aren’t something I’d pack for Mini Chef on a daily basis, they sure do kick lunch box boredom to the curb on occasion.

BANANA MUFFINS RECIPE:

Banana Muffins

These delicious banana muffins can be made with nuts or without. But note that the smaller you chop the nuts, the better the distribution through all the muffins will be. You can also just use them for garnish if you prefer, but the 1 cup measure is for adding them to the actual batter.

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 18 muffins

Calories: 148kcal

Equipment

Standard muffin pan

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (affiliate link)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 large egg whites (or 1 whole egg)
½ cup honey
2 tbsp. oil (I used safflower)
¼ cup milk (any type except coconut milk)
¼ cup apple sauce (unsweetened)
2 medium ripe bananas (smooshed with a fork)
1 cup walnuts (chopped, optional – plus a few for garnish if you wish)

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Note: I used a 12 muffin tin. If you don’t have muffin paper, spray the tin with olive oil so the muffins don’t stick.
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl using an electric mixer. Make sure all ingredients get really well blended together.
Pour the batter into the muffin tin or muffin papers. Fill only half way.
See Also
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Sprinkle nuts of your choice over the top and place in oven (Optional).
Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through.

Notes

Please note that the nutrition data below is a ballpark figure. Exact data is not possible. Data includes walnuts.

Nutrition

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these sound amazing. so grateful for your site!!
Reply
1. Amber – Thanks! 🙂
  Reply
made these this morning, subbed the oil for applesauce and didnt use as much honey because we were almost out. I also added blueberries, they were great!
Reply
1. laceybre – Awesome! 🙂
  Reply
Hi,
Love your site! Just wondering what you would recommend having with a muffin to create a breakfast meal? Am starting a planned week of clean eating to see how I go and am doing lots of research!
Thanks.
Reply
See Also
Banana Blueberry Crumble Recipe - Simply Quinoa
1. Deanne – Depends on what you like, but it’s best to get some protein in there with those carbs. So maybe a hardboiled egg or piece of chicken. Even a protein drink. Just something to give some balance to the meal.
  Reply
What’s the difference between whole wheat pastry flour and whole wheat flour. I’ve been researching clean eating and the recipes differ with these two ingredients. Thanks
Reply
1. Lora – Here’s an explanation: https://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-flour/
  Reply
I made these last night! They are delicious! I didn’t have pastry or white flour so I used half whole wheat flour and half spelt flour and added in 6oz greek yogurt and they turned out wonderfully.They were not too cakey and have a great flavor to them. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Reply
1. Nicole – My pleasure!
  Reply
Can u pls help – I am allergic to apples and agave nectar which alt of clean eating recipes call for – can u suggest any substitutes – clean eating is new to me.
Reply
1. Fiona – Agave isn’t clean. I removed it from all my earlier recipes. Use honey instead. For apple sauce, can you just puree another fruit? Mashed bananas work well in baking or sometimes I see apricot sauce in the stores. You could try something like that providing the ingredients are clean.
  Reply
Would almond flour work? I also have whole grain oat flour.
Reply
1. Carrie – Sadly no because this recipe is dependent on the gluten in the wheat flour. I mean you could certainly try it, but I think you’d probably end up with a big mess.
  Reply
Can I use oat flour instead?
Reply
1. Natalie – No, sorry. This needs gluten.
  Reply
hi! would I be able to use maple syrup instead of honey? have read that maple syrup is sweeter than honey, will it affect the moisture of the batter if I cut down on the syrup? Thanks!
Reply
1. Kathleen – In my experience, it’s actually the other way around. Particularly in baking. Honey is sweeter. You could probably cut down a bit, but I wouldn’t cut down too much. Hope that helps.
  Reply
My boyfriend and I love these! Thank you Tiffany 🙂
Reply
1. Lauren B – My pleasure! 🙂
  Reply
I’m making these right now and I added cholocate chips to them. We will see how they turn out.
Reply
1. Jessica – Let me know how you like them. 🙂
  Reply
Tiffany, I was not able to find safflower oil, is there a substitution I could use? Thank you!!
Reply
1. Julie – Any light flavored oil will work.
  Reply
Thanks Tiffany. I am new to this, I just wanted to make sure so I didn’t mess up! 🙂
Reply
1. Julie – You’ll do fine! 🙂 We all make little mistakes. There is a big learning curve. Just be willing to blow off the mistakes and move on.
  Reply
I was finally able to make these since I found the pastry flour, took forever! 🙂 Loved them, about to make some more. Could I do blueberries instead of banana if I wanted to try that?
Reply
1. Julie – Sure! But you may need to add a little extra apple sauce to make up for the loss of moisture from the bananas. Let me know how they turn out!
  Reply
Hi Tiffany,
Could I use Oat Flour (ground oatmeal) instead of the whole wheat pastry flour? Really want to try these 🙂 Thanks!
Reply
1. Mandy – Sorry, no. This recipe needs the gluten in wheat.
  Reply
Oh no!!! the kiwi muffin recipe won’t come up for me. My husband and I loovvve these… Can you use the banana muffin recipe and just switch out the fruit??
Thanks.
Reply
1. Anna – I’m not sure what happened, but I got it all fixed. Here you go: https://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-kiwi-muffins/
  Reply
can you do these without the apple sauce?
Reply
1. Mada – You’d have to replace it with oil. They need the moisture.
  Reply
Hi, I was wondering if I can’t find unsweetened apple sauce anywhere, is there a substitution/any way to make it myself?
Thank you!
Reply
1. Rita – Sure! You can make it in a slow cooker or on the stove top. https://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-apple-sauce/
  Reply

Clean Eating Banana Muffins Recipe | The Gracious Pantry (2024)

FAQs

Why are my muffins soggy inside? ›

Odds are, you didn't bake them long enough. Even if you follow a recipe, and it says bake at 350F for 20 minutes, every oven is different. You need to use a tester (toothpick, skewer, butterknife) to make sure things are baked through.

Why are bakery muffins so much better? ›

The best bakery-style crumb muffins start with cake flour

Cake flour is more finely ground and has less protein, which leaves the muffins with a fine, light crumb and soft texture. Using cake flour is an easy way to avoid heavy, dense muffins even if you end up stirring just a bit too much. What is this?

Explore More ›

What is the best temperature to bake muffins? ›

That being said, the standard oven temperature for baking desserts like quick breads and muffins is commonly set to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Setting your oven to this temperature will almost always produce a well-cooked muffin recipe.

Get More Info ›

How much sugar is in a banana muffin? ›

Nutrition Facts
Total Carbohydrate 25g	9%
Dietary Fiber 1g	4%
Total Sugars 13g
Includes 12g Added Sugars	24%

14 more rows

See Details ›

How much nutrition is in a Costco banana muffin? ›

Nutrition Facts

Total Fat 32g. 41%
Saturated Fat 4g. 20%
Total Carbs 81g. 29%
Net Carbs 79g.
Dietary Fiber 2g. 7%
Total Sugars 32g.

Read On ›

How many carbs in a 4 inch banana? ›

Here is the carb content of standard banana sizes ( 1 ): Extra small (shorter than 6 inches, 81 grams): 19 grams. Small (6–7 inches, 101 grams): 23 grams. Medium (7–8 inches, 118 grams): 27 grams.

How long to wait before taking muffins out of pan? ›

Allow your muffins to cool for 2 to 5 minutes in the pan before trying to remove them. Any shorter and they will stick, any longer and they will begin to get mushy. Loosen muffins from the side of the cup by running a butter knife carefully around the edges.

View Details ›

Is it better to take muffins out of pan hot or cold? ›

Instead of immediately starting to cool, the hot pan will continue to cook the muffins, which might cause them to dry out. → Follow this tip: After removing the muffins from the oven, give them a couple minutes to cool off a little, and then remove them and transfer to a cooling rack.

Show Me More ›

How long should cupcakes cool before removing from pan? ›

After you take cupcakes out of the oven and have determined they are done, let them cool in the pan for five to 10 minutes. Then remove cupcakes from the pans and place them on a cooling rack to continue cooling. Make sure cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting.

How long should you let muffins rest? ›

Rest the Muffin Batter

The first, most hands-off way to make your muffins pop (literally) is to let the batter rest. Make the batter, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the batter rest at room temperature for about 1 hour. If you're short on time, just 30 minutes can make a difference.