Healthy banana muffins are low in sugar and high in healthy fats. These keto banana nut muffins are also dairy-free, gluten-free, and paleo friendly.
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Is a banana nut muffin healthy?
Ripe bananas are loaded with sugar so they aren’t the best ingredient for healthy muffins. And when it comes to low carb eating, you’ll want to minimize or avoid bananas. My low carb banana bread and banana split cheesecake use only a small amount per serving.
The other problem is the wheat flour. It’s high in carbohydrates and contains gluten which can trigger gut inflammation. This can lead to a condition known as leaky gut where things that shouldn’t leave the gut do like undigested proteins.
Although a banana nut muffin may contain beneficial nutrients, the high sugar and carbohydrates along with gluten make it an unhealthy choice. But, it’s easy to make a healthy banana muffins using alternatives to banana and wheat flour.
How to make banana muffins healthy
You can still have the flavor without the sugar by using a banana extract instead. The extract is often used to make keto friendly desserts like my banana cream pie and low carb banana pudding. I also use it in my banana bread recipe with coconut flour.
When removing the mashed bananas from the recipe, I wanted to use another fruit to make up for the volume. There aren’t a lot of low carb choices other than berries. However, avocado is a fruit that’s a good source of healthy fats as well as being low in carbohydrates.
So I decided to try using an avocado in my easy healthy banana muffins recipe. And each muffin tastes great despite the slight green tint. It may look a little different, but it’s so much better for you than the traditional high carb muffins!
And if you’re on a keto diet, you’ll love that there’s a good amount of fat. I calculated 30 grams of total fat in every muffin. So these muffins are not just healthy, they are very filling as well.
My low carb banana muffins recipe
The two main food sensitivities are gluten and dairy. So you’ll find neither of those in this recipe. I do use three whole eggs, but the recipe may work with one of the many egg substitutes like psyllium or flax with added water.
Making the batter
A blend of coconut flour and almond flour are used to make the muffins keto friendly and gluten-free. There’s also some salt, cinnamon, and baking powder mixed into the low carb flours.
To make the muffins without erythritol, pure stevia and monk fruit extracts are used to sweeten the muffins. Of course, you can always use a sweetener that you prefer. The stevia and monk fruit can be replaced with any sweetener equal to about ½ cup sugar.
The sweeteners are blended with coconut oil, eggs, banana extract, and vanilla extract. If you don’t care for coconut oil, butter or ghee can be used instead. Butter flavored coconut oil is also an option.
Once the flour blend is mixed into the wet ingredients, it turns into a thick batter. The mashed avocado and chopped pecan are then added in. Finally, the batter is divided between six greased muffin tins.
Baking the muffins
The healthy banana nut muffins are baked at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes. I like to bake them in a greased stoneware muffin pan. But a silicone or a metal non-stick muffin pan works well too.
After baking, the cooked muffins should sit for about 15 minutes before removing from the pan. If the pan was well greased, they should come out without sticking. However, I find it’s best to slide a knife around the sides first then use the knife to lift each muffin out of the pan.
Healthy banana muffins with almond flour and coconut flour
This healthy recipe uses a blend of almond flour and coconut flour to replace the all purpose flour that’s used in regular muffins. This gives a similar texture without the carbs and gluten found in white whole wheat flour.
Coconut flour is very absorbent so it usually requires using more liquid when used as the only flour. However, the absorbency of the flour can vary so you may find that only 2 or 3 tablespoons of coconut flour are needed to make the muffins instead of the ¼ cup.
I also find that it’s best to let the batter sit for about 5 or 10 minutes before baking to allow the coconut flour to absorb the liquid. And it’s always a good idea to measure the coconut flour sifted as it tends to be lumpy.
Almond flour can be used one for one in place of regular wheat flour. However, since there’s no gluten, it typically results in flatter and denser baked goods. That’s why I like to blend a little coconut flour into almond flour. It helps give a better rise than using almond flour alone.
Other healthy low carb muffin recipes
There’s no need to refrain from eating muffins on a ketogenic eating plan. Here’s a few of the other low carb muffin recipes you’ll find at Low Carb Yum:
- Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
- Atkins Breakfast Muffins
- Cinnamon Orange Keto Muffins
- Double Chocolate Muffins
- Coconut Flour Zucchini Muffins
There’s also some awesome looking low carb cinnamon rolls muffins over at The Big Man’s World. Not only are they low carb, but they’re also paleo and vegan.
Kitchen Tools Used
To make these muffins, the following items are good to have on hand:
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Healthy Banana Muffins (Low Carb, Keto)
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Ingredients
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 teaspoon monk fruit 30% extract
- 1/4 teaspoon stevia powder extract
- 2 teaspoons banana extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 medium avocado mashed
- 1/2 cup pecans chopped
Low Carb Sweeteners | Keto Sweetener Conversion Chart
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease six muffin molds.
- Beat coconut oil with monk fruit and stevia powdered extracts.
- Beat in eggs, one at a time. Then beat in banana and vanilla extracts.
- In a separate bowl, combine the coconut flour, almond flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder. Then blend into coconut oil mixture.
- Beat in mashed avocado. Then fold in nuts, saving about 2 tablespoons to sprinkle on top of muffins.
- Divide batter evenly between six greased muffin molds. Sprinkle reserved pecans on top.
- Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.
Notes
- Flax: 3 tablespoons flax with 1/2 cup water plus 1 tablespoon water
- Psyllium: 3 teaspoons psyllium husk powder with 3 tablespoons water
- Chia: 3 tablespoons chia with 1/2 cup water plus 1 tablespoon water
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Nutrition
Additional Info
Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Unauthorized use of this material without written permission from Lisa MarcAurele is strictly prohibited unless for personal offline purposes.
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Lisa MarcAurele has been creating low carb recipes since 2010. She enjoys experimenting in the kitchen to create low sugar foods that taste like high carb favorites!
Cheryl says
Made these recently they where yummy and easy to make ..
Tom says
Sorry, but these don’t even look appetizing! You eat with your eyes first….and banana extract? C’mon….aren’t your stretching it a bit by calling these banana muffins and you are only using extract and not the fruit? I get that bananas are high in carbs, but you could have at least made them with the real mccoy and not some extract. Just cut back on the amount of banana you use in the recipe.
Lisa MarcAurele says
If you want the real thing, make my low carb banana bread recipe into muffins!
Nellie Tracy says
Such a great recipe!!
Jessica Formicola says
I’ve been looking for a good banana muffin recipe, and I think I’ve found it! I can’t wait to try this recipe!