Almond Flour Banana Muffins

These Almond Flour Banana Muffins have lots of banana flavor and are incredibly moist, soft and fluffy inside. They're also topped with an almond flour crumb topping making them perfect for a healthy breakfast or snack. And this recipe is as easy to make as my Banana-Walnut Muffins!

Jump to:

• What is almond flour
• Ingredients you'll need
• How to make the muffins
• Baking tips
• How to store, make ahead & reheat
• Add-in options
• Troubleshooting
• FAQs
• Further almond flour notes
• More almond flour recipes
• 🎥 Recipe video
• 📖 Recipe

These delicious almond flour banana muffins have just the right amount of sweetness. They are sweetened with bananas and dash of honey. The honey is even optional since bananas and almond flour are naturally sweet. I only add a tablespoon of honey if my bananas haven't turned brown.

Crowned with a delightful crumb topping that is also made with almond flour and lightly spiced with cinnamon, these banana muffins are addictive and a fabulous healthy, gluten-free, grain-free and Paleo alternative to include in your weekly meal planning.

Making banana muffins is an excellent way to use up your overripe bananas, especially because they're fast and easy to make. This recipe only takes 15 minutes to whip up, doesn't require any special equipment – just a couple of bowls.

What is almond flour

Just like wheat flour is made by grinding wheat grains, almond flour is made by grinding almonds into fine flour.

It is the most commonly used flour in gluten-free, grain-free and Paleo baking for making cakes, cookies and breads because the texture and flavor it gives baked goods closely resembles recipes made with all-purpose flour.

Where do I buy almond flour? The best places to buy it is on Amazon or at Costco. My favorite brands are Honeyville, Wellbee's or Costco's Kirkland brand.

Can I make my own almond flour to use in this recipe? Yes! I have a video showing you how to make almond flour so be sure to check that post for more information.

Be sure to read the further notes I included below about almond flour.

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Ingredients you'll need

Here are the healthy ingredients you'll need to make this muffin recipe with almond flour.

Adding a few key ingredients to these Almond Flour Banana Muffins gives them their signature flavor and texture and here’s how:

Almond flour: One of the best and easiest gluten free and grain free flours to use for baking. It's the key ingredient that gives these healthy banana muffins a soft, fluffy texture and a taste closest to traditional banana muffins made with wheat-based flours such as all-purpose flour. Plus it makes the streusel topping nice and crumbly.

Bananas: Bananas help bind the ingredient, add sweetness and moisture to these almond flour muffins.

Pecans: Adding nuts like pecans to your banana muffins is optional. However, I recommend it because it gives a lovely crunch that lends to their addictive nature.

Butter: Butter makes the muffins and crumble on top tender, moist and super flavorful. See substitute for dairy free.

Eggs: Eggs create a lighter and fluffier texture.

How to make the muffins

Though you can find the full printable recipe below, let me walk you through the steps with photos to show you how to make the best banana muffins with almond flour. Also be sure to watch the recipe video!

1. Mix the dry ingredients: Using a spatula, mix together in a medium bowl the flour, baking soda and salt until there aren't any lumps left. Or sift the ingredients into the bowl using a fine mesh sieve.

2. Mash the bananas: In separate large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher.

3. Mix the wet ingredients: Using a whisk, mix together the mashed banana, egg, butter and sweetener.

4. Stir wet and dry ingredients together: Using a rubber spatula, gently mix the wet and dry ingredients to form your batter. Mix until just combined - the batter is supposed to be thick.

5. Add nuts: If you're adding pecans or other flavorings such as the ones mentioned above, fold them into the batter now.

6. Fill muffin pan: Use a spoon or ice cream scoop to fill each cup in your muffin tin to the top.

Note: Using paper liners is an option, but you can also grease the pan with butter or coconut oil.

7. Make the crumb topping: This is super simple! Add to a bowl the flour, cinnamon and butter, and use your fingers to mix everything together. Next sprinkle the crumbs on top of each muffin.

8. Bake: Bake in a preheated oven to 350°F for about 18 to 20 minutes or until a stick inserted into the center comes out clean. Then set the pan over a wire rack to allow the muffins to cool.

Note: Every oven is different so if you need to bake your muffins longer but the tops look done, place a piece of aluminum foil on top and that will prevent the crumbs from burning while your muffins bake all the way through.

Servings: This recipe makes 6 to 8 standard size muffins depending how full you fill each muffin cavity. It's not a problem to overfill each one. You can also bake them in a mini muffin pan.

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Baking tips

1. Flour: Use finely ground blanched almond flour so that your muffins don’t sink in the middle or crumble apart. Also don't overmix your batter because the flour releases it's oils and overmixing can make your muffins wet and oily.
2. Banana: Since banana adds sweetness to these muffins, the type of banana you use can make a difference. I recommend and use Apple Bananas. Or use overripe bananas - the more ripe the sweeter they are. If your bananas aren’t ripe enough yet you can speed up ripening yourself! Just bake them (in the peel) at 350°F for about 10 minutes or until they blacken.
3. Crumb topping: Add a tablespoon of maple or coconut sugar to the crumbs mixture to give your muffin tops more texture and sweetness. Also, reduce the amount of flour to 2 to 3 tablespoons to make it less crumbly and more buttery.
4. Measure ingredients by weight: I recommend measuring your banana by weight using a scale so that your muffins have just the right amount of moisture. If you don't have a scale use measuring cups. Chop the bananas into little pieces and fill the measuring cup to the top. You’ll need 1 ½ cups (about 2 regular bananas or 4 Apple bananas).
5. Wait a day: Yea... this is a hard one! These are delicious warm right out of the oven, but if you let them sit overnight all of the flavors intensify and you get the moistest, most buttery muffins with tons of banana flavor.

How to store, make ahead & reheat

• Storing: Store your muffins in an airtight container in the fridge for a few weeks. Or at room temperature for up to 5 days.
• Freezing: Place in airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Then allow them to come to room temperature and enjoy them again.
• Reheating: If you like your muffins warm, reheat them in the microwave or oven at 350°F for a few minutes.
• Making ahead: You can prepare the batter a couple of days in advance and leave it covered in the refrigerator. When ready to bake, allow it to come to room temperature before filling your muffin tin, then bake as directed.

Add-in options

Add-ins are completely optional, but I suggest adding nuts and/or seeds and shredded coconut for a little texture. Other options to include are raisins, dried cranberries or blueberries, oatmeal, or a blend of these.

To enhance all of the flavors you could also throw in some lemon or lime zest as well as vanilla extract and other spices besides cinnamon such as all spice, cardamon and nutmeg.

Add some chocolate! Add mini dark chocolate chips or chunks and serve it for dessert with a scoop of ice cream! SO good!

Troubleshooting

Why did my banana muffins not rise? This is normal when you bake with a gluten-free flour that is nut based. However considering this, these muffins do rise quite well and a tip I can give you to get more lift is to fill each muffin cup to the top. 

Why did my muffins sink in the middle? Most likely this is because your almond flour was not ground fine enough or you used a flour that was not blanched and still had the skin on. Or this could happen if you miss-measured the ingredients and added too much moisture.

FAQs

Further almond flour notes

Almond flour vs. almond meal - what's the difference?

Depending on the brand, the terms almond flour and almond meal are used interchangeably. The majority of brands don’t differentiate between the two terms, and there are currently no reliable standards for naming the product flour or meal.

They are the same thing, simply almonds ground up into fine flour. The biggest difference is that some brands refer to almond flour if it’s made from blanched almonds and is finely ground, and some refer to almond meal when the almonds are coarsely ground and made from almonds with the skin on.

What is the best almond flour for baking?

When it comes to baking with almond flour, the most important thing is that in order to give baked goods the right texture, you must use blanched almond flour that has been milled into very fine flour.

Blanched almond flour is made from whole almonds that are blanched (have the skins removed) and are then ground into very fine powder. The finer the grind, the better your baked goods will turn out because there’s a larger surface area for all ingredients to bind and react with each other. This will assure that whatever you’re baking cooks evenly and doesn’t sink in the middle, turn out oily and dense, or crumble apart.

If you make these almond flour muffins I would love to hear your opinion! Please leave a comment and rating below.

More almond flour recipes

In addition to making these gluten free Paleo banana muffins here are a few more healthy recipe ideas for you to make with almond flour and bananas.

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🎥 Recipe video

📖 Recipe

This recipe was originally published on Mar 22, 2013 and this post has been updated with new information, photos and recipe video. The only adjustment made to the recipe was to the crumb topping: changed adding ⅛ to ½ teaspoon cinnamon; and changed adding 2 tablespoons almond flour to 3 to 4 tablespoons.