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Your kitchen needs to be stocked with Protein Banana Muffins. Made with maple syrup, oat flour, and chocolate, they make the perfect snack, dessert, or grab-and-go breakfast!
Your new favorite chocolate banana protein muffins
In my world, muffins are always a good idea. They make the perfect snack, dessert, or grab-and-go breakfast. They’re always “just enough” when you’re hungry but not that hungry. And it’s a great bonus when they’re full of protein, too! A high protein snack that is lower in calories than typical muffin recipes is a win in my book! Plus they are great to make for meal prep.
That being said, protein banana muffins were an inevitable muffin rendition that were bound to find their way to my blog at some point or another! And boy, am I glad they finally did.
These muffins are fluffy, delicious, and perfectly filling. Using bananas maple syrup, oat flour, and of course protein powder, these muffins are quick and easy to whip together. There’s also extra chocolate added flavor.
Ingredients in protein banana bread muffins
This recipe uses all of the standard baking goodies, as well as some swaps like maple syrup and oat flour!
- Ripe Bananas: Can’t have banana muffins without bananas! You will need 2 large ripe bananas, which should amount to about 1 cup when mashed.
- Egg: 1 large egg will be used to help achieve the proper texture.
- Maple syrup: My favorite sweetener, maple syrup is an all-natural option that tastes fantastic! Add 2 tbsp. Feel free to substitute honey here!
- Vanilla Extract: As for the vanilla, 1/2 tsp will be perfect.
- Oat flour: This recipe is using out flour for a healthy twist. You’ll need 3/4 cup.
- Protein powder: Here’s where we throw in extra nutrients: protein powder! I like to use 1/2 cup. You can use unflavored, vanilla, or chocolate and it doesn’t matter if it’s plant-based protein powder or whey protein powder.
- Baking powder: To help the muffins bake properly, throw in 1 tsp of baking powder.
- Baking soda: Similarly, use 1/2 tsp of baking soda.
- Salt: Add 1/4 tsp of salt for taste.
- Chocolate chips: Finally, you’ll want to mix in 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, and sprinkle extra on top if desired!
What you’ll need to create these treats
Gather your standard baking items, and let’s get to creating protein banana muffins!
- Muffin tin
- Muffin liners
- Nonstick spray
- Large mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Small mixing bowl
- Baking spatula
For measuring, you will need the following sizes: 1/4 tsp, 1/2 tsp, 1 tsp, 1 tbsp, 1/2 cup, and 3/4 cup.
How to make protein banana muffins
Making these muffins is truly a breeze. You’ll just need to mix your ingredients, throw in your chocolate chips, and bake! You will only need about 20 minutes from start to finish.
To begin, preheat the oven to 350F and line a muffin tin with liners. Spray the liners with nonstick spray.
In a large bowl, mash two bananas very well until no lumps remain.
Whisk in the egg, maple syrup, and vanilla, and set aside.
Then, in a smaller bowl, mix the oat flour, protein powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Scoop the batter into the muffin tins and fill each one about ¾ full. I like to use a cookie scoop to make it easier. If you’re adding more chocolate chips on top, add them now.
Finally, bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Healthy protein muffins? How?
Healthy baking has never been easier. There are so many ingredient alternatives these days that it’s possible to turn almost any recipe into a healthier one! These come together in only a few mins!
In these muffins, the first healthy swap I made was the sweetener. Instead of loading these with granulated sugar, I used maple syrup to get that delicious sweet taste. It’s the perfect all-natural option!
For the flour, I skipped regular all-purpose flour and opted for oat flour instead. You could also use whole wheat flour here! And feel free to add a pinch of cinnamon for a little extra punch.
If you’re looking to add some extra crunch, walnuts or pecans would be a great addition. Or crumble one of these up onto greek yogurt and add a scoop of almond butter or peanut butter to make it an entire meal.
Recipe Tips
Here are some quick and easy tips that you may be interested in trying!
Protein banana bread
Would you prefer these muffins in the form of a bread? Go for it! Simply skip the muffin tin step and pour your batter into a bread pan instead. You will most likely need to bake for around 40 minutes, but keep a close eye on it incase!
Adding nuts
Want to add a bit of a crunch? Add your favorite nuts! Simply mix them into the batter or sprinkle them on top once your batter is poured. You can use pecans, walnuts, peanuts, or whatever you’d like. I think walnuts would work the best!
Storing leftovers
Extra muffins can be frozen for later use. Just stick in a freezer bag or container, and eat within 4-5 months.
Otherwise, simply store your muffins on the counter or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
If you liked this recipe, you’ll want to try these!
Muffins are the perfect type of treat to keep stocked in your kitchen! Here are some of my favorites that you should try!
- Healthy Strawberry Banana Muffins
- Paleo Sweet Potato Muffins
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Recipe by Erin Morrissey and Photos by Quarter Soul Crisis
Protein Banana Muffins
Your kitchen needs to be stocked with Protein Banana Muffins. Made with maple syrup, oat flour, and chocolate, they make the perfect snack, dessert, or grab-and-go breakfast!
Ingredients
- 2 large bananas (1 cup mashed)
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ¾ cup oat flour
- ½ cup protein powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup chocolate chips – and optional to sprinkle more on top.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a muffin tin with liners. Spray liners with non-stick spray as well.
- In a large bowl, mash two bananas very well until no lumps remain.
- Whisk in egg, maple syrup, and vanilla. Set aside.
- In a smaller bowl, mix together oat flour, protein powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Scoop into muffin tins until about ¾ full. I like to use a cookie scoop to make this easy! If you are adding more chocolate chips on top, add them now.
- Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Store on counter or in fridge for up to 5 days. Freeze for longer.
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Marina says
I have a protein powder sitting in my pantry that’s too sweet to drink on its own. This recipe is a life-saver! Now I have a way of using up the rest.
I doubled the recipe, and baked it in a 9×13 pan at 350ºF for 30 minutes.
I used white chocolate chips in place of the chocolate chips and added 1/2 cup macadamia nuts. It came out so delicious! Thank you Erin!
Erin says
Hi Marina, so happy you loved them and made them your own! Such good ideas here! 🙂
Caroline says
I had an issues with this recipe and had to adjust it, hence one less star.
My issue was that the batter was incredibly runny, so thin, almost like milk. I added 15 g of whole oats to thicken it up a bit. I also added 1.5 oz of Aronia berries because I have them. Because of how thin the batter was, the chocolate chips and berries sunk right to the bottom. That being said, these muffins are delicious! They came out of the oven puffed up and dark dark brown and then shrunk comically like a basque cheesecake. I didn’t have high hopes for them but boy was I wrong! They were delightful. The texture is fluffy and just right.
They don’t have a ton of protein, so they’re definitely a treat, but I’ll be sure to make them again next time I have spotty bananas.
★★★★
Paula says
How much protein is in each muffin? Also what are the total calories per muffin?
Erin says
Hi Paula, there is nutrition info. at the bottom of the recipe card: 5g protein and 85 calories each.
Samantha says
I followed this recipe to a tee and lemme tell you, it’s fantastic! The only change I made was I turned it into a loaf since I couldn’t find my muffin tin. I baked it at 350° for 45 minutes and it was absolutely perfect. I love it because it isn’t over sweet and it doesn’t have a wonky aftertaste that you can get sometimes when adding protein powders. Thank you for this!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Samantha, so glad you loved it and made it your own!
SJones says
I have made many healthy muffin recipes, most using bananas and/or canned pumpkin. I always have some in the refrigerator or freezer. I loved the idea of adding protein, so tried this recipe. I had some problems, and can’t say why. I followed the instructions exactly and measured all ingredients carefully. I usually like to use gram weight, but decided to use what the recipe provided for measuring, rather than trying to convert. I did add the chocolate chips and some chopped walnuts. I still ended up with only enough batter to make 11 muffins, each slightly less than 3/4 full in a standard muffin pan. My oven temperature is verified by an oven thermometer, and I baked for the 15 minutes called for, and they were done per the toothpick test. I’d used Bob’s Red Mill Whey Powder, but brand shouldn’t matter. The muffins are dry and, frankly, not as good as any of the other multiple “healthy” and usually oatmeal-based muffins I’ve been making. I feel 3 stars is generous. Very disappointing. Other commenters had a better experience. Any hints as to what I did wrong?
★★★
Laurie says
I have made many things with oat flour and I’ve found that measuring the oat flour wrong can totally change the outcome. You need to spoon it in your measuring cup and make sure not to pack it in. The oat flour absorbes some liquid and you can come out with a very dry outcome. Maybe that is what happened?
Paige M says
Easy and Delicious!!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Paige, so happy you loved them!!
Aziza says
Wow! These are amazing! I added in chocolate protein powder and some more cacao. I also added a couple of table spoons of almond butter which made them so moist! Delicious! Thanks!
★★★★★
Aziza says
P.s, I have an oat allergy so I used almond flour instead and it worked great 🙂 same amount!
★★★★★
Erin says
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Erin says
Hi Aziza, so happy you loved them and made them your own! 🙂