These vegan banana walnut muffins are perfect for breakfast! They are sweetened with ripe bananas and have a little crunch from crushed walnuts. They are easy to make, and you can freeze them for later breakfast or snacks.
As Mother’s Day approached, I had big plans to make my mom some kind of vegan cake.
Last year, at the height of the lockdown, I walked 15 blocks to my mother’s apartment with a homemade carrot cake, trying not to trip or fall. I handed the cake to my mom, and we hugged each other in her building. Later that day, we all went to Zoom for cake.
Thankfully, it was a very different Mother’s Day and a different birthday for my mom. (Her birthday and Mother’s Day often fall on the same day.) We’ve all been vaccinated, and New York City is hopefully reopening and exciting.
With all this lovely spring developing, I still need help cooking and my cookbook writer’s block. While baking a layer of cake sounds excellent, making a simple breakfast muffin for my mom is a much better edible gift this year.
What could be better than a moist, sweet, fragrant vegan banana walnut muffin?
My favorite low-key baking project
I love baking anything. I love making vegan pastries, sweet bread and pies, buckles and pies, cookies and shortbreads, and cakes.
But when I’m in a hurry, stressed, tired, or feeling a little disorganized in the kitchen, my favorites are muffins and instant bread. These banana walnut muffins are my latest favorite!
Quick bread is usually easy to make. It requires one or two bowls, baking powder or soda, and a simple recipe that can be adapted to seasonal tastes. I make banana bread all year round, zucchini bread in the summer, and pumpkin bread in the fall. I love that these breads are quick and easy to make, and I love eating leftovers and freezing them for a few days after they’re ready.
Muffins offer all the benefits of quick bread, but they are even faster and easier! Making muffins takes no time at all – 20-25 minutes of baking time. If you have a good spoon and some muffin pans at home, they won’t make a fuss or require much cleaning up.
Muffins also serve a variety of purposes. Once made, they can be served as breakfast, snacks, or desserts. I eat them with nut butter, yogurt, fruit, or a combination of all of these things. I also like to have them as an afternoon snack.
Banana walnut muffin toppings
The ingredients here are straightforward, as in my other muffin recipes. The main ingredients are:
Plain, unbleached flour
This is my favorite baking recipe. You can use part of whole wheat flour in this recipe: I recommend 1 cup of whole wheat flour out of the 2.5 cups requested. The muffins can be dense if you’re making 100% whole wheat.
A ripe banana
And when I say well done, I mean well done! Blackening is good. Ripe bananas mean more flavor, moisture, and sweetness.
Cane sugar
I like to bake with simple cane sugar, but coconut sugar is also a good substitute.
Vegetable milk
I mainly bake with oats and soy milk, but sometimes, I also use almond or cashew milk. You can use any of them in muffins. I don’t recommend hemp milk, which can be bitter, or full-fat coconut milk, which is more like cream than milk (great for scones!).
Chopped walnut
I love using chopped walnuts in banana walnut muffins—I’m a big fan of the healthy fatty acids walnuts add to recipes! You can use chopped pecans, sliced almonds, or shelled hemp seeds if you don’t have walnuts.
Can muffins be made gluten-free?
I should think so! You can choose to use gluten-free, all-purpose flour. I like King Arthur’s “An Eye for an Eye” best.
Freezing and storage of banana walnut muffins
I keep the vegan banana walnut muffins at room temperature for two days or in the refrigerator for five days. If you need to store them longer, I recommend freezing them for up to six weeks. I usually freeze half of my muffins immediately after making them, and I eat or share the rest within four days.
