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!
22 comments are awaiting moderation!
hey can you substitute or get rid of the chocolate chips
You can omit the chocolate chips but they won’t be nearly as delicious. ;) But you can’t omit or sub anything for the cocoa powder.
Is there a substitute for almond flour? It’s one of our allergies but this recipe looks good!
Thanks! You could try another type of nut flour. If you can’t do nuts at all, I’ve heard of people using sunflower seed flour but I’ve never tried it and have no idea if it’d work here. Sorry about that!
I didn’t have much almond flour left in my pantry, so I ground up some oats for oat flour instead. They had a slightly chewier texture but otherwise were moist and delicious!
Interesting sub! I’m happy it worked out. :) Thanks for your feedback!
I had some very ripe bananas when I made this so instead of honey I used maple syrup. I also put chopped pecans as a topping. I love them! Thanks for sharing.
Good to know that maple syrup works well! And I love your chopped pecan addition. :) Thanks for your tips!
Shared these with my non Paleo friends and they can’t get over how moist and delicious these muffins were and healthier too! These will be one of my favorites ❤️😄
Aww, yay! I’m thrilled to hear that they seemed to have been a hit. :) Thanks for your comment!
Made these with two really ripe yellow plantains…so so good!
Oh, that’s interesting! I’ll have to try that. Thanks for the tip! :)
One of my favorite muffin recipes!! We make these all the time. We are out of honey, could we sub maple syrup?
The two aren’t always interchangeable and I haven’t tried it in these but I think it’d work. Let me know how it goes and thanks for your comment! I’m happy to hear that you’ve been enjoying them. :)
I just made these with maple syrup instead of honey and they turned out very well. Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome! It’s great to know that maple works well. :) Thanks for your comment!
Just made these and they turned out DELICIOUS!!
My main issue is that I entered all the ingredients into My Fitness Pal (an app. to track calories and nutrients) and these are super high in carbs (30 g) and low in protein (around 6 g).
Is this because of the bananas?
I was really hoping for a low carb high protein muffin :(
I’m happy you enjoyed them! :) Bananas are indeed very high in carbs as is the honey and the chocolate chips. If you want a low-carb muffin, I’d suggest looking for a recipe without bananas and that uses a low-carb sweetener like erythritol or stevia. I unfortunately don’t have any suggestions on recipes as I don’t do any low-carb baking. Sorry about that! I hope you can still eat them. :)
I made it. It was delicious!!!
Awesome! So happy to hear that. :) Thanks for your feedback!
Is it 1 cup coconut oil as it says 1 four cup? Is it 1 cup choc chips total??
They look so yum and want to get recipe right 🙃🙃
It says 1/4 cup coconut oil. Do you not see the same? If not, try viewing in another browser. :) It’s 1 cup chocolate chips unless you want to sprinkle more on top. I hope you’ll enjoy them!
Waaaayyyy better than expected! Amazing!
Yay! So happy you liked them. Thanks for your comment!
Am I able to make these into a loaf instead of muffins?
I’m assuming so but I haven’t tried it so I really have no idea how long you’d need to bake it. Sorry about that! I hope you’ll enjoy it if you try it out. :)
Hi and thank you for all the good work you are putting in here . I just made this muffin recipe and thought I would let you know of my substitution. I did not have any almond flower on hand so I ground up some walnuts and used that instead. They worked beautifully. I left the nuts a little more textured than what almond flower would have been, but it did not seem to hurt the muffins, only it made them with some nut texture. I will make these again. We are having a birthday party tomorrow so it will be interesting to see what the verdict is then.
What a nice thing to say! Thanks. :) And that’s interesting about the ground walnuts. I’m surprised (but happy!) that that worked out well. I’ll have to try it myself and see how it tastes. Thanks a bunch for your nice comment and the tips!
Made these today! I believe this is the best muffin recipe I have ever made that was “clean”! I love how moist they are and they really seem like cupcakes instead. I used sugar free chocolate chips and chopped them with my food chopper (so they wouldn’t settle to the bottom) instead of mini chocolate chips. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Wow! I’m thrilled that you enjoyed them so much. :) I also love how moist they are. I’ve had way too many weirdly textured grain-free cakes and muffins. ;) And good to know that they’re still sweet enough with sugar-free chocolate chips. Thanks for your comment!
These were amazing!!! We made a double batch for church and they were gone within seconds and people kept coming and asking if we had any more. Loved that they didn’t taste too much like banana as I don’t usually like chocolate and banana together. Will definitely be making them again… and again and again and again!!!
That’s great that they were such a hit at church! I’m so happy you liked them despite the banana + chocolate thing. I’m also not a huge fan of the two together but I do love these muffins. ;) Thanks a bunch for your feedback!
I found these quite dry. But then I usually do when baking with almond or coconut flour. OK with gobs of grass-fed butter! Sorry, but I wouldn’t make them again.
I think something must have gone wrong for these to come out dry because they’re quite fudgy and moist like in the pictures! Did you use measuring cups or did you weigh the flour? If you packed your cups denser than I do (I don’t pack them at all), then that could explain why they came out dry for you. Sorry you didn’t like them!
HI ERIN.
I’M VEGETARIAN .I DON’T EAT EGGS.WHAT CAN I USE AS A SUBSTITUTE.THANKS RAJ
Flax seed and water are an option as an egg substitute.http://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-a-flax-egg/
Made these beauties today for after church snack. I asked my twins if they wanted to try a muffin “just a piece of one it’s probably your gluten free crap” lol they said you’re getting better! I think I may turn them yet. I personally thought they were delicious. Thanks again for all you do making us healthier goodies!
Hahaha. Your twins sound feisty. ;) I’m happy that they thought they were better than the usual gluten-free stuff. I suppose that’s a step in the right direction. :D Thanks a bunch for your feedback and your nice comment!
Sam’s Club has blanched almond flour at our store 48 oz for $17.98!
Holy moly! That’s expensive. Or is that a good price in the US? I’ve never bought almond flour there!
Just made these muffins and am really impressed! Expected them to be good but honestly not this good!! Fantastic recipe!! It’s good to know there are tasty treats you can make while following gluten and dairy free diet! Thank you so much!!
You’re welcome! :) That’s awesome that you enjoyed them so much. They exceeded my expectations when I first made them, too. ;) Thanks a ton for your nice comment!
These muffins were UHmazing!! Very easy to make. And extremely hard not to eat them all. :0)
Haha. I totally agree with you on it being hard not to eat them all. ;) Thanks a bunch for your feedback!
My sister in law made these for me last year. The best ever! I am FINALLY getting around to making them today. Fingers crossed, it’s my first healthy baking attempt!
Good luck! I’m sure it’ll go great (as long as you don’t make any substitutions ;)) Thanks a ton for your feedback!
Thanks! It went PERFECT! I’m amazed and so in love with this recipe. Nice to sit down and enjoy a real treat, and it’s guilt free!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that it went well. :) Thanks for coming back to let me know how they turned out!