Both my daughters love bananas, but eating half a banana is a common occurrence. So, we tend to have a lot of leftover bananas in our house. I take all those half bananas, peel them, and toss them into a resealable plastic bag in my freezer. When I have the equivalent of 3 bananas, I make paleo banana muffins. Here is my favorite variation (yield: 12 muffins):
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup raw macadamia nuts, chopped
- 2/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes/chips, chopped (or use shredded)
- 1 cup blanched almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/3 cup extra virgin coconut oil, melted and cooled
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Toast macadamia nuts and coconut flakes on a baking sheet in the oven until starting to brown, about 6-8 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, salt and baking soda. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, mashed banana, honey, coconut oil, lemon juice and vanilla.
4. Pour wet mixture over dry mixture and stir to combine. Add toasted macadamia nuts and coconut.
5. Spoon batter into greased muffin tin and bake for 30 minutes.
Do you need help finding any ingredients? Check out Important Pantry Items for the Paleo Baker.
Barb says
I made these muffins this weekend. I think they are now my favorite banana muffin and I’ve tried an assortment of almond, coconut, & rice flour banana muffin recipes. These are nicely sweet and moist and I love the added coconut flavor. I substituted the pecans I had on hand and used palm shortening instead of butter. They puffed up like a normal muffin and are a lovely golden color. Very yummy – thanks for sharing your recipes!
Cass says
Hi! I love this recipe! Do you think I could substitute unsweetened applesauce for the bananas for someone who doesn’t like bananas. I tried the apple “oat” muffins but wasn’t a big fan of the texture. Thanks!
ThePaleoMom says
I think it’s worth trying.
Shireen Blau says
I absolutely love this recipe! My second batch is currently in the oven since these don’t last long with my paleo and non-paleo roommates. Thanks for sharing!
Mary Ann says
These are my husbands new FAVORITE Paleo muffin. Thank you! I love them, too.
I make a batch, wrap them individually in foil, and freeze them or they’d be gone in a day around here!
Mrs. Maqui Slawski says
Hi I just made these. Incred. I sub’d 100% maple syrup for the honey and walnuts for the macadamias. Thank you thank you!!!!
Meagan says
Were you the one submitting this on Tropical traditions website? That’s where I originally found the recipe! I made it and am going to blog about them, so I figured I could use the direct source 🙂
ThePaleoMom says
I did way way way back when it was first posted. 🙂
Steph says
This was my first attempt at baking anything Paleo and it was a success! Thank you for sharing.
bethwilkins says
What do you suggest as the best egg substitute for this recipe?
Carol says
in baking there are many things you can successfully use in baking t replace eggs. check out some of the ideas at http://www.betternutrition.com/egg-substitutes/food/goglutenfree/1224
To replace 1 egg use one of the following:
*1 tablespoon ground flax seed in 3 tbsp water – let sit 5 minutes.
*1 tbl chia see in 3 tbsp water – let sit till gelled like egg
*3 Tbs. or ¼ cup fruit or vegetable purée and add roughly ½ tsp. more baking powder to compensate for the egg’s leavening effect
*Combining an acidic substance, such a lemon juice (or vinegar), with baking soda, which is alkaline, produces leavening action in baked goods. For a cake or sweet bread, try 2 Tbs. lemon juice mixed in the liquid cake ingredients, and 1 tsp. baking soda mixed with the dry ingredients. When you whisk the liquid and dry ingredients together, mix quickly, and pop into the oven to get a baked good that rises without the eggs.
Elizabeth says
Delicious! We made these yesterday and they are so moist and delicious, I couldn’t wait to have one for breakfast. The texture is terrific and my kids like them!
Alison says
Is it okay to substitute whole milk for the coconut milk if we are eating dairy? These look amazing, I’m always trying to come up with breakfast ideas for my husband who grabs and eats on his way to work.
Tamar England says
This recipe does not use coconut milk. Sarah does not use cow’s milk in her recipes. — Tamar, Sarah’s assistant
Amy Jo says
This recipe calls for coconut oil, but not coconut milk, as far as I can see rereading it. I just made them and didn’t use any milk, otherwise this might be a fail! HA.
Alison says
Thanks Amy Jo, I did read the oil as coconut milk and that would have been a big fail. I’m making them today with coconut oil and can’t wait to taste!
Gem says
Does the almond flour need to be blanched? I only can find almond flour/meal locally.
Tamar England says
You can use almond meal. In this post about Paleo flours, https://www.thepaleomom.com/2012/11/the-science-and-art-of-paleofying-part-1-paleo-flours.html, Sarah notates: ” If you are using almond meal in place of almond flour in a recipe, use slightly less as it tends to be denser.” — Tamar, Sarah’s assistant
Aimee says
Can I use almonds instead of macadamia nuts?
Tamar England says
Sarah has not prepared this recipe with almonds instead of macadamia nuts, but you can certainly try. If you do, please leave another comment to let us know how they turned out. — Tamar, Sarah’s assistant
Aimee says
Thank you! Will do! 🙂
Dot says
Does this recipe have to use nuts? We have a nut allergy.
Tamar England says
Sarah has not made this specific recipe without nuts. However, she does have several other nut free recipes for baked goods. You can view them here: https://www.thepaleomom.com/category/recipes/paleo-baked-goods/nut-free-baking All AIP recipes are nut free, you can view them here: https://www.thepaleomom.com/category/recipes/aip-friendly All of the recipes in The Paleo Approach Cookbook (available in May) will be nut free. You can learn more about teh cookbook here: https://www.thepaleomom.com/about-the-paleo-mom/the-paleo-approach-cookbook — Tamar, Sarah’s assistant
Belinda B says
is there anything that can be used in place of the nuts and nut flours. i would like to make them for school lunches but my kids go to a nut free school.
Tamar England says
Sarah has not made this specific recipe without nuts. However, she does have several other nut free recipes for baked goods. You can view them here: https://www.thepaleomom.com/category/recipes/paleo-baked-goods/nut-free-baking All AIP recipes are nut free, you can view them here: https://www.thepaleomom.com/category/recipes/aip-friendly All of the recipes in The Paleo Approach Cookbook (available in May) will be nut free. You can learn more about teh cookbook here: https://www.thepaleomom.com/about-the-paleo-mom/the-paleo-approach-cookbook — Tamar, Sarah’s assistant
Belinda B says
thanks so much Tamar
Ethan Boyle says
How does this fit in with a paleolithic diet? I would not expect a caveman to have so many processed ingredients to bake in an oven. Respectfully submitted, just curious.
Christina Feindel says
You can read Sarah’s thoughts on Paleo treats here: https://www.thepaleomom.com/2013/07/is-a-paleo-treat-really-paleo.html – Christina, Sarah’s assistant
Lynda says
Mine came out dry….. : (
shan says
I think 30 mins is too long. Probably 20-25 mins. Mine took 25 mins and I made large size ones. Yielded on 9.
LeAndra says
I agree with that- wish I’d seen this before popping them in the oven 🙂
Shona @ Eat for Yourself says
I can’t have almonds. Do you know what the replacement coconut flour/tapioca flour/Flaxmeal mix substitution might be? Thanks!
Christina Feindel says
You can read about almond flour alternatives here: https://www.thepaleomom.com/2012/11/the-science-and-art-of-paleofying-part-1-paleo-flours.html – Christina, Sarah’s assistant
shan says
I have been baking gluten free and dairy free for 4 years. I have to say I shd hv tried a little harder back then to be on grain free. These muffins taste heavenly amd kids love them. Quite versatile too. I used cashew instead of macademia since I ran out.
Rob says
Good Lord! People.. make these using the recipe provided and enjoy them! It’s only a muffin not a Rib Eye Steak!
Bree says
These are delicious!!! Big hit with my not so paleo loving hubby and friends !!!
Thank you. I will always have a stash in my freezer from now on 🙂
Bev says
My daughter made these and substituted the nuts with choclate chips and they were delicious.
Effie says
I would love to make this, but I don’t do nuts or seeds. Nut flours, yes. I have diverticulosis. Could I make this and just eliminate the nuts? Or would the batter not be quite the right consistency? I have the same problem with things that have berries in them! Love nuts, seeds and berries, but can’t have them! 🙁 really limits me from a lot of recipes.
Amy says
Has anyone made these without coconut flakes?!? I love coconut oil but do not like actual coconut shreds/flakes
Sue says
Theese look great, abd my family would love them! But unfortunately I am allergic to coconut :-(. Is there anything I can replace the coconut with?
Christy Macnish says
How about using plantain instead of banana? Do you think that would mess up the flavor and texture? Thanks for the recipe!
Beverly Goodman says
I would love to make this more low carb by omitting the honey. Any idea what I could substitute for it?
Wendy says
Love to have calorie count on these
Ashlee says
These look absolutely delicious! Any chance you have a similar recipe that would be AIP friendly? I’m about to start the protocol next week (thanks to your wonderful book and site!)
elia says
How would make a low fat version
Lucy says
Made these without the honey( I’m doing a sugar detox) and used green tipped bananas, sweet enough, my new favourite muffin, thanks sarah
Kim says
These are amazing…just start Paleo and needed something for my husband who is having a hard time cutting back the carbs. He loved them and we are both progressing well. Thanks for all the posts and blog info.
Ange says
I made these last night and have officially declared them as Best Paleo Muffin E.V.E.R! Seriously, they’re moist, sweet and have just the right amount of density. The toasted macadamias are genius and add such lovely crunch. Well done – lots of love from Australia!
lacey says
i want to try making this recipe, but i’m wondering if it would be ok to use ONLY coconut flour instead of the coconut flour + blanched almond flour? if so, what amount of coconut flour would you recommend? i read your post on paleo flours, but don’t have much experience at all with flours of any sort, or baking, for that matter.
Lucas says
I inverted the measure between the coconut flour and almond flour because in Brazil almond flour is much more expensive. So 1 cup of coconut flour and ¼ cup of almond flour.
It worked very well and it’s VERY filling.
Great recipe! Thanks
Kiersten Peterson says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Karen Cebenka BSN, RN, CEN says
I just made these muffins and they were so moist and delicious! I substituted pecans and cranberries since that is what I had on hand. Thank you for this recipe!
Erin says
I made these using completely brown plantains for the bananas and maple syrup for the honey. I also tested them using silicone cups, paper liners, and palm greased pans. All worked perfectly and they are delicious!