These fudgy paleo chocolate banana muffins are super rich and decadent! They’re also naturally sweetened with honey and are grain-free, gluten-free and dairy-free.
When I make muffins, I’m usually able to eat at least three or four before I feel even the slightest bit full (I have to admit that I’m kind of a piggie). But these chocolate banana muffins are so rich and filling I could hardly do one and a half.
I suppose that’s not too surprising considering all the almond flour and chocolate in there!
These gluten-free muffins have a really nice texture! They’re not quite fudgy, but definitely headed that way, which is probably another reason why I couldn’t handle eating several of these at once.
So they’re dense, but a nice dense, and have a really nice crumb. And they definitely don’t have that typical paleo muffin texture! I don’t know about you, but I’ve had way too many bad grain-free muffins.
They’re often weirdly spongy and just don’t taste very good. My taste testers thought that these were made with all-purpose flour. To be honest now, my taste testers don’t know a thing about baking, let alone grain-free baking, but I was happy. :D
For another paleo muffin recipe with an awesome texture, you have to try my paleo blueberry muffins! They’re magical. They’re almost like angel food-like in texture.
These paleo apple muffins are also amazingly delicious! They have grated and chopped apples and loads of cinnamon for a lovely explosion of fall flavor.
But back to today’s recipe! The banana taste is also pretty strong in these banana muffins so I wouldn’t recommend making these unless the idea of chocolate and banana appeals to you!
I was kind of hoping to use up my bananas in these muffins and not have them taste like banana at all, but I’m still really pleased with how they came out.
I haven’t tried subbing the banana with something else so I have no idea how that’d work. If you try using something else, let us know in the comments how it worked out!
If you’d rather have something more traditional, try these guilt-free chocolate banana muffins from Noble Pig. These double chocolate banana quinoa muffins from A Dash of Sanity also sound delicious and interesting!
Paleo Chocolate Banana Muffins (grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 2 medium super ripe bananas (each banana was 185 grams with the peel and 143 grams without)
- 1/3 cup (106 grams) honey
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup (56 grams) refined coconut oil, melted1
- 200 grams (~2 cups but please weigh!) blanched almond flour
- 3 tablespoons (27 grams) coconut flour
- 1/3 cup (42 grams) Dutch process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (180 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips (use dairy-free / paleo chocolate chips, if necessary)
- additional mini chocolate chips for sprinkling, if desired
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a muffin tin with 12 muffin liners.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas with the bottom of a glass. They should almost be like a puree.
- Add the honey and vanilla and stir.
- Add in the eggs and oil and stir until well combined.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the almond flour, coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
- Stir just until combined and then stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin liners and sprinkle on additional chocolate chips, if desired.
- Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Be careful not to confuse a melted chocolate chip with the batter.
- Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
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314 comments on “Paleo Chocolate Banana Muffins (grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free)” — Add one!
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I love anything chocolate and banana, these muffins look great!
Thanks, Laura! I’ll never forget your super pretty chocolate banana muffins in the blue wrappers. So, so pretty. :)
I have no words for how amazing these were. I love trying new recipes on pinterest and happened to have some browning bananas when I stumbled upon this. I had everything on hand (except i just used unsweetened cocoa powder from trader joes) – it made 12 exactly, i sprinkled in a few large ghirdelli dark chocolate chips.
WOW seriously one of the greatest muffin recipes i have tried. my boyfriend LOVESSSS them plus I was able to freeze half so i have them for next week. Great as an afternoon snack with my coffee and I don’t need to feel guilty about it- THANK YOU for this recipe :)
Oh, yay! I’m so happy that you enjoyed them! And it’s awesome to know that these freeze well. Thanks a ton for the feedback and the rating! You totally made my day with your review. :)
These look great. I dint think anyone will be able to tell that they are eating healthy when they devour one of these. Great recipe!
Thanks so much, Lisa! I hope you get a chance to try them. :)
Used this recipe last night and worked great. Unfortunately didn’t have enough muffin tins so we turned it into one big cake. It was lovely and moist and tasted amazing. Wasn’t able to find the exact ingredients so used ground almonds as almond flour and sweet desiccated coconut as coconut flour and still turned out great. Hard to think it’s healthy too :)
Desiccated coconut instead of coconut flour?! Whoa. That’s awesome. I’m really surprised (and happy!) that that worked. :) So happy to hear that they came out well for you! Thanks so much for the feedback. :)
Girl, these are insane! That texture! I can’t wait to make them.
Thank you and I hope you’ll love them! :)
I need to find coconut flour and pick up some almond flour immediately. These muffins look incredible!
I hope you do! They almost taste like “normal” muffins. :D
Do you have a calorie count for each muffin? Thanks…
I intentionally don’t include those (I focus on making healthier choices rather than low calorie / fat / etc.) but you can copy and paste the recipe here for that info, if you like. :)
Erin do you think that the almond and coconut flour can be substituted with a gluten free baking flour mix? I’d love to make them but that’s all I have on hand…
I’m afraid not. :( GF baking mix and even regular gluten-containing flour is totally different than almond flour and coconut flour and so subbing won’t work. What you could do is check out the whole wheat chocolate banana muffins I linked to in the post and use the GF baking mix for that! That would be a much better alternative than trying with this recipe (though I can’t guarantee it’d work since I haven’t tried it). I hope it works out for you! :)
I’m really loving you’re dairy free recipes. I would say I’m lactose intolerant, but really it’s more like an allergy. I use a lot of nut milks that we make from scratch. This recipe and the one for the banana pancakes look amazing. They’ll be perfect for dinner tonight for the grandkids. Thanks.
I hope that you and the grandkids enjoyed the pancakes! :) And homemade nut milk sounds great. I’ve tried making homemade almond milk but discarding all the leftover almond pulp was just too painful for me. ;)
I decided to attempt to make coconut flour after doing some research. It was quick and simple, now on to making your amazing recipe!
Oooh! I love that you made coconut flour. :) I hope that the muffins came out well!
I have everything but the coconut flour, do you think it will drastically change the muffin to use 3 more tablespoons of almond flour?
I’m afraid so. :( Coconut flour and almond flour (or any other type of flour) aren’t interchangeable. Coconut flour absorbs much more liquid than other types of flour, but there’s not really a good conversion system. I also think baked goods made with just almond flour (without the addition of a little coconut flour) come out kind of oily. But that could be personal preference! Sorry I couldn’t be more of a help.
Your words totally make sense. Thanks so much!
No problem! :)
Oh yeah, I love me some banana and chocolate. These muffins look incredibly moist and fudgy. Yum!
Thanks! And yeah. Chocolate + banana. YUM! Now I’m kicking myself I didn’t involve peanut butter somehow. Booo!
Hi there! I am planning on making this recipe today, they look amazing! My bananas however do not seem ripe enough.. I have frozen ones a can thaw, but you had me a peanut butter LOL.. do you think there’s a way to sub half the banana with homemade peanut butter?!
Thanks! :D
Hi, Lindsay! I guess that sub could work but I’ve never tried subbing peanut butter for bananas so I really have no idea if it’d work (it sounds kind of risky to me – I’d hate for you to waste all that almond flour!) If you’re going by a shop today, you could get some ripe (they don’t have to be super ripe – just not green) bananas and ripen them this way! I hope that helps and that you’ll enjoy the muffins. :)
I really need to get a Costco membership. These sound perfect, Erin!
Haha. Yeah, you do! I loved going there or to Sam’s when I lived in the US. :)
Love the texture of these! I need to do more baking with almond flour!
Yeah, you do! It’s good stuff. Just wish it weren’t so expensive in the US!
These muffins are utterly fantastic and just plain gorgeous and moist and flavorful and wow!!
Did you actually try them?! :)
These muffins look so chocolaty and moist! Yummy!
Thanks, Medeja! And yeah. These are super chocolatey. :D
Erin,
Which coconut oil do you use and how do you know if it is refined or not? I have been using Rapunzel Kokosfett Mild and haven’t noticed a discernible smell or taste with the finished product so I’m guessing it is refined. Have you found one that is actually liquid here in Deutschland? Also, would love to hear if you have any experience with the yeast here.
Thanks so much, Carla
I use Othuena coconut oil. It’s the kind at Kaiser’s, Rewe, Netto, Kaufland and everywhere else. :) I was pretty sure it said refined somewhere on the package but I can’t find it on there now. If it has absolutely no coconut smell / taste, it’s refined. And as far as I know, coconut oil is always solid at temperatures below 75F. I don’t use German yeast. I tried it several times with American recipes and the loaves (which I now make with American yeast without issue) never rose properly. So I suggest having a friend send you some yeast in the mail. :)
Thanks for the info. I was afraid you were going to say that about the yeast. ; [ Didn’t want to wait that long!
No problem! And sorry about the yeast. Baking with American recipes in Germany is just a pain in the butt, isn’t it? :(
Wow, this looks so delicious! Gooey chocolate things are always my favorite :)
Same! Goo + chocolate. YES! :D
Love these, they look really delicious! Great tip about the costco chips – I’ll have to look for those.
Thank you! And I hope you can find the chocolate chips. I haven’t tried them myself but the commenter seemed happy with them. :)
I love the look of these – annnnnd love that they’re filling!!
Thanks, Katrina! Same here. It’s just dangerous when you can eat 4 muffins without feeling the slightest change to your hunger. ;)