A fabulously healthy treat: These delicious Keto Banana Muffins are grain free, sugar free and seriously nutrient-dense. No fake banana extracts here – my low carb banana muffins contain a real banana! This is feel-good snacking taken to the next level, without the sugar rush.
We’ve just returned from our summer holidays. Back at home in London, without sun, pool and the general feel-good-factor, I knew I had to bring the big guns in. You want peaceful silence and smiley faces all round? Plus that fab feeling when you’ve served up a bunch of healthy ingredients and everyone thinks it’s a real treat?
Make these Low Carb Banana Muffins. They are true sugar free baking magic.
Because this recipe uses almond flour and ground flax seed, the texture is a bit coarser than that of a wheat muffin. My keto banana muffins are a brilliant nutrient-dense treat that won’t make you feel bloated the way a wheat muffin does.
Hang on though – banana? Can I eat banana on a low carb diet?
Bananas contain the largest amount of carbs among fruits. In fact, they are made up almost completely out of water and carbs. One medium banana (7-8 inches long) contains about 10 calories, 25g of total carbs and 3 grams of fibre. Here’s an interesting infographic showing the carb content of fruits from low to high.
If you are on a moderate low carb diet you’ll aim to stay between 20-50 net carbs per day (you subtract the fibre content from the total carbs to calculate the net carbs. The fibre is non-digestible). This means banana is one of the fruits we generally avoid on a low carb diet.
How come these sugar free banana muffins are low carb?
Easy: There is only one banana in the entire recipe! As we distribute it here among 8 or 9 muffins, the carbohydrate content of each muffin is quite low. The banana flavor is so strong you can taste it with every bite – just like in my super moist sugar free banana bread or these Healthy Banana Cookies (Sugar Free, Keto)!
Top tip: Make sure the banana you use is VERY RIPE. The browner the peel the better! Ripe bananas have WAY more flavour than the ones with yellow or – God forbid – green peel.
How to make Keto banana muffins – step by step:
1.) Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit / 180 Celsius.
2.) Mix the wet ingredients – banana, eggs, almond milk, vanilla and oil in a food processor or with a blender using a large bowl. Take your time with this. About 2 minutes is perfect – by then you have plenty of air bubbles in the mix which makes the muffins lighter.
Tip: If you are using extra-fine almond flour, I recommend that you reduce the amount to 1 3/4 cups or 175 grams. Super-fine almond flour is more absorbent than regular almond flour or the ground almonds you can buy here in the UK.
3.) Add the dry ingredients: the ground almonds or almond flour, ground flaxseed, erythritol, baking powder and spices. Blend until you have a smooth batter.
4.) Lastly, stir in the cacao nibs. Of course, the cacao nibs are optional. You can totally leave them out! As an alternative, dark chocolate would work well. I would choose a variety that contains 85% or 90% cocoa solids. Lindt is one of my favourites, as is Montezuma’s. Or go for sugar free chocolate chips such as by Lily’s.
5.) Fill into a muffin tin lined with paper cups. If you don’t have any muffin cups to hand, make sure the tin is really well greased. You don’t want them to stick! My mix made 8 muffins, but I did “try” the dough quite a few times. Yours might yield 9!
6.) Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until browned on top. You can also test with a toothpick. If there’s no dough sticking to it, the muffins are done.
Substitutions for almond flour banana muffins
It’s always possible to tweak recipes to make them suit your taste and the ingredients you’ve got in your larder.
First of all, you can replace the coconut oil with butter if you like. I wanted to keep my muffins dairy free, but butter would taste great here, too!
Also, any type of milk works. I prefer nut milks such as almond milk or hazelnut milk because they are lower in carbs than dairy milk. Coconut milk would be a good option, too.
The flaxseed gives the recipe a rustic flavour. It is possible to use more almond flour instead. In this case though I recommend that you add another egg to the recipe. Flax helps to bind baked goods and without it your low carb banana muffins would be too brittle.
I don’t recommend that you replace the almond flour with coconut flour. Coconut flour is a very different beast from any other grain free flours. You would have to use a lot less of it (I normally substitute with 1/3 – 1/2 the amount because it’s much more absorbent). It is also more brittle and you would definitely more eggs.
If you don’t want to add chocolate nibs or chocolate, consider stirring in a handful of chopped walnuts or pecans.
How to store keto banana muffins
I always store my muffins in a cake tin on the kitchen counter for a couple of days. Normally they are all gone by then, but they would be absolutely fine in the fridge for about 5-6 days.
These muffins also freeze well, for up to 3 months. So, make a double batch and simply defrost one in the microwave (30 seconds is perfect in mine) when you feel like a treat!
Try my other low carb muffin recipes:
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffins with Hazelnuts
- Grab & Go Low Carb Muffins
- Low Carb Zucchini Muffins
- Low Carb Keto Blueberry Muffins
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Low Carb Keto Banana Muffins
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Ingredients
- 200 g / 2 cups almond flour or ground almonds
- 30 g / 1/4 cup flaxseed ground
- 1 banana very ripe
- 2 eggs large
- 120 ml / 4 ounces almond milk
- 60 ml / 2 ounces coconut oil
- 3-4 tbsp granulated sweetener (So Nourished) depending on your sweet tooth
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 40 g cacao nibs or chopped dark chocolate, 85-90% (1/3 cup)
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- optional: 1 tsp mixed spice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 350 Fahrenheit.
- Mix the banana, eggs, almond milk, vanilla and oil in a food processor or with a blender.
- Add the dry ingredients: the ground almonds, ground flaxseed, erythritol, baking powder and spices. Blend until thoroughly combined
- Lastly, stir in the cacao nibs (or chopped dark chocolate)
- Fill into a muffin tin lined with paper cups. If you don't have any to hand, make sure the tin is really well greased. My mix made 8 muffins, but I did "try" the dough quite a few times. Yours might yield 9!
- Bake at 180 degrees 25-30 minutes or until browned on top. You can also test with a cocktail stick or a knife - if they come out dry, the muffins are done.
Notes
Nutrition
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Claire McDonnell says
Have made these twice now. They are delicious and great for a Keto sweet treat.
Patricia says
Do you used Superfine Almond Flour? The link to Amazon shows a superfine almond flour so I want to make sure I have the right ingredient.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi I used ground almonds, which are the same as regular almond flour. As long as you don’t use defatted almond flour any should work 🙂
Jayne Misra says
I used fine almond flour in the us and my muffins were amazing . My bananas were super ripe so I only added one tablespoon of swerve. And I bumped up the banana pulp to 1 cup plus 1/4 at the end so not all would be super blended. Using the blender really makes them soft!
Yolanda says
I would love to make this recipe but don’t have the flaxseed, what can I use instead?
Katrin Nürnberger says
You can try with more almond flour, or maybe 1 1/2 tbsp coconut flour.
Petra Jorgensen says
Hi there, can I substitute regular cow’s milk for the almond milk? I’m not on any kind of diet, just love your recipes and trying to stay as low carb & sugar as possible with my sweets. Thanx much.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Of course! Any milk would work in this recipe 🙂
Billie P says
Is the 30g of flaxseed measured before or after grinding? I’m not clear, but I can imagine it would make a significant difference in the recipe.
Many thanks
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi Billie, sorry this was not clear. I always buy my flax milled, so it’s measured ground up.
Rashida says
Can this recipe Be made with a standing mixer?
Katrin Nürnberger says
Of course!
Rashida says
I have another question. Does the coconut oil have to be in liquid form?
Katrin Nürnberger says
It can be at room temperature, too. Just make sure your blender is powerful enough that you can fully incorporate it into your dough.
Diana says
Do u know if this muffins freeze well?
Katrin Nürnberger says
Yes, they do!
Leah says
Is the nutrition for all 8 muffins or per muffin?
Katrin Nürnberger says
It’s per muffin 🙂
Erika says
Hi 🙂 I’m trying your recipe today but I want to add 3 bananas total. Would I need to adjust anything else in the recipe to account for 2 extra bananas?
Katrin says
Hi Erika,
I think the recipe will still work – banana muffin/bread recipes tend to be quite forgiving… maybe it will be a bit fudgier. You could increase the baking powder to 1 1/2- 2 tsp to give it an extra bit of rise and use a little less milk.
Erika says
Ok thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly!! 🙂
Sally manton says
I really enjoyed your muffins but can always taste the coconut oil which I dont like. Could I swap this for butter? If so how much would you try? Thankyou
Katrin says
Of course you can, just use the same amount of butter.
Ruth K says
I made them with Lily dark chocolate chips and the recipe yielded 24 mini muffins. Baked them in well-greased silicone trays and they popped out easily. Delicious!
Marci says
Hi I am just starting this recipe and adjusting to make 24 muffins. However, the conversion of ingredients is not correct. Be aware of this. 4ounces tripled should be 12 ounces. The metric conversion is correct but NOT the imperial version.Also, imperial and metric conversions are used throughout. Would be helpful if it was consistent throughout the recipe, rather than going back and forth.
Will comment after the taste test!
MArci says
Was able to adjust ingredient measurements and the muffins turned out delicious! Yum! Added some very tiny bits of dark chocolate crumb on top of baked muffins while still hot. Melted beautifully! Best low-carb muffin recipe I’ve tried!
Katrin says
Hi Marci, the recipe plugin I’m using can only convert the first set of numbers, not the second… sorry about this. Glad you like the recipe!
Mandy says
Really delicious and fluffy muffins. Thank you!! I supplemented the flaxseed with spelt flour and also added chopped up apple.
Katrin says
Sounds yummy! Perfect for autumn 🙂
John says
Trying this one for the first time, there is vanilla listed in the ingredients, bit not mentioned anywhere in the method, also it says 1 tbsp of baking powder, that seems like a LOT, should this be 1tsp?
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi John, I’ve added the vanilla to the method, thanks. I think you’re probably fine using between 1 1/2 to 2 tsp of baking powder if you don’t want to use the entire amount. In my last muffins – these keto blueberry muffins – I used 1 1/2 tsp, but the flour amount was smaller.
Helen Morris says
These are great !!! Made them exactly as per recipe and they were delicious, moist and healthy !!
Katrin says
That’s great to hear, I’m glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Ems says
How do you store the muffins that aren’t inhaled? Kitchen counter or refrigerator? Thanks!
Katrin says
Fridge is always the better option – though 1 day on the counter in a tin should be no problem 🙂
Ursula Metselaar says
Hi Katrin.
Your recipes look inspirational. Do you have any which might have a low fat content (for those under doctor’s orders!), please?
Katrin says
Hi Ursula, I don’t really watch my fat intake as it’s the stuff that keeps me full because I’ve reduced my carbs. However, in terms of baking you should look out for coconut flour recipes and avoid the almond flour ones – almond flour has a much higher fat content. I think you’d like my 3 ingredient crepes (we all love them!), which you can fill with anything you like, sweet or savoury. Also try my blueberry jam (with the crepes perhaps??), not an ounce of fat in sight and so easy and yummy. Or my Moroccan cauliflower rice, it’s a super-delicious light lunch or dinner.
April says
Thanks for the conversions for those of us in USA. My husband is a Londoner, trying to switch to LCHF, and your recipes are GLORIOUS! Thanks!!
Katrin says
This is 180 Celsius – 356 Fahrenheit
Stacy W says
It would be great if you could amend your recipe to include this information. The original states nothing of being a U.K. conversion and had I not read the comments right after putting the pan in the oven I would have had a much different outcome for mine with such a different temperature.