Elana's Pantry

New York Times Bestselling author Elana Amsterdam founded Elana’s Pantry, the go-to website for easy, healthy, grain-free, Paleo recipes, in 2006

banana walnut muffins

Banana Walnut Muffins

123 Comments Affiliate Links

This date-sweetened, gluten-free muffin recipe is easy to make and super healthy. It’s also incredibly delicious!  I serve it to the boys for breakfast with scrambled eggs, or as an after school snack. I love gluten-free baked goods made with healthy flours such as almond, coconut, or flax meal. I’m especially fond of treats that are sweetened with fruit, rather than honey or maple syrup. The great thing about using fruit as a sweetener is that it comes with fiber, which slows down the absorption of sugars.

Enjoy these fruit sweetened muffins made from coconut flour!

Print Recipe
Banana Walnut Muffins
Serves:6
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Place eggs, oil, bananas, dates and stevia in a vitamix; blend on medium speed until combined
  2. Add in coconut flour, salt and baking soda and blend until smooth
  3. Fold in walnuts
  4. Scoop ¼ cup batter into a lined muffin pan
  5. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes (my batch took exactly 23 minutes; all ovens are slightly different)
  6. Cool and serve

These muffins will come out just as well when made without the walnuts. Then, you’ve got a great gluten-free, nut-free breakfast recipe! Lately loads of readers have been letting me know that they have nut allergies. If you can’t eat nuts, check out my Nut-Free Recipes page!

Here are some other nut-free Paleo muffin recipes:

Comments

  2. My family loves these muffins! I make them for breakfast and to send to school for snacks. To make them SCD legal, I omit the stevia and add 1 extra date plus 1-2 Tablespoons of honey (either one works-2 is a little sweeter, 1 is mildly sweet). I also use food grade silicone muffin liners in my muffin tins and bake about 28-30 min’s until golden and firm to the touch. They take longer to cook using the liners so if you under cook them they will be mushy. I then let them cool for 15 minutes before taking them out of the liner and setting them on a cooling rack. I find if you leave them in they sweat a bit and become mushier. I then let them cool overnight and place them in a Pyrex glass baking dish, with a lid, to freeze. To thaw, I place them in the oven on 200 F until warmed. Perfect every time! I usually get 8 muffins when I use this recipe with the added honey and date. Thank you again Elena for all of your fail proof recipes!

    Reply

  3. Beautiful recipe. I tripled it, poured into greased 9 x 13 pan. Sweet mercy, it smells good. It’s for our boys group tonight, they’ll love it. I skipped the dates and thought about using currants but it was plenty sweet without them. I subbed in palm shortening in place of coconut oil, and used vanilla stevia. So these subs work, for anyone interested. Wish I could share a pic with you. Thank you for what you do! Blessings!

    Reply

    • Kirsten, thanks so much for your comment! If you have an Instagram account you could upload the photo there and use the hashtag #elanaspantry I’m so glad you loved this recipe :-)

      Reply

  4. Hi Elana

    How many muffins must eat a 3 and 7 years old girls to be considered a good breakfast
    before they go to he school?

    thanks!

    Reply

  5. I have a question that i am hoping you can help me with. I can’t eat bananas and so many recipes call for them – do you know of something i can use instead of bananas? i miss out on great muffin, pancake recipes etc because of this.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  6. Hello there! I cant find liquid stevia in Luxembourg! How could i subtitute this? Any other liquid sweetener will do the job??
    Thank you!!

    Reply

  7. LOVE this recipe! I’ve made these muffins many times over the last few years but now I have to avoid egg whites. Would you suggest I use 4 or 5 egg yolks instead or egg replacer? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

    Reply

  8. I made these on the weekend for some non-paleo friends, I was a bit concerned they wouldn’t enjoy them so added in some sugar free chocolate drops, cinnamon, ginger, and a few more walnuts. They loved them!!! It’s a great recipe which I have found works every time! Thank you x

    Reply

    • Shaunie, I’m so happy to hear that this is a great recipe that works every time and that your non-paleo friends loved these muffins!

      Reply

  9. Elana, I just tried making a couple of batches of these and I’m having trouble getting them to bake in the center. The second batch was a bit scorched after 50 minutes, and still not completely done. I’m in Arvada, and love that you test your recipes at elevation so usually that isn’t an issue. I followed the recipe, leaving out nuts and stevia. Baking is a challenge for me, but I’m determined to keep trying for my grandson who loves them regardless. I wonder if my baking soda is a bit old?

    Reply

  10. I so appreciate the simplicity of this and the fact that it can be kept for days. Probably even more if someone can resist picking up one every time he goes by the kitchen…

    Reply

  11. These muffins are a staple in our house. I leave out the stevia and add 1/2 chocolate chips ! They freeze really well so I take them on flights for my kids to pop in their mouths! They also make a great recess snack and something to bring to school parties for those kids who are gluten free. I find they stick to the pan and to paper muffin cups, so I use a silicone muffin tray. Thank you so much, elana, for so many popular and healthy recipes. My family never ever feels like they are missing out!

    Reply

  13. I made these muffins many times and they were always delicious. I used 2 big bananas and did not put dates and they still worked really well. Sometimes I add the stevia if I do them for kids or people who really like sweet but for myself they are perfectly sweet just with the bananas.
    I do like to add some vanilla extract and sometimes a tiny amount of cinnamon. Once I added raisins because I had no walnuts and another time chocolate chips. As I said they turned great every time and they are so easy to do.
    With other recipes, I did not have the same luck when I changed the recipe.

    Thanks Elana, you inspire me with your great recipes.:-)

    Reply

  14. Are the dates necessary for the sweetness or to glue things together? As a diabetic I stay away from all recipes that call for dates! I love Stevia though.

    Reply

  15. Oh my goodness! These are great! My Heilkunst Doctor has been trying to get me to eat according to my blood type for years and it only half works because I can’t find anything to curb those sweet cravings. She finally told me about your website as she has used it for her own family’s cooking. I was hesitant because I had never used many of these ingredients before, but after making a triple batch of these muffins I am a changed lady. I substituted blueberries for the walnuts and did some experimenting with different muffin pans, muffin cups and variations on the stevia/date ratio…but they were all fantastic. I can’t wait for our kids to wake up from nap so I can share these with them! And I am so grateful that I can provide myself and my family with nutritious food that tastes good! I used a NutriBullet blender and it only took about 4 minutes to measure ingredients and whip up a batch of these. Thanks again!

    Reply

  16. Delish! I made these this morning but substituted honey for the stevia. I also did not have any dates, but they turned out sweet enough since my bananas were very ripe! Thanks for sharing your recipes Elana!

    Reply

  17. I made these yesterday. Left out stevia and used 4 dates and lot of cinnamon (my favourite spice which I add wherever I can :)). Also added 1 full tbs of almond butter and they were absolutely delicious and moist. Not too sweet and perfect for breakfast. Great recipe, thanks!

    Reply

  18. Just made these nummy muffins. Don’t like stevia so omitted and added extra dates. Also due to allergies changed the walnuts to pecans. Next time will try adding some seeds (pumpkin, sunflower) as I like a heartier muffin. Excellent recipe to work with!!

    Reply

  19. I made these tonight and I could not believe how moist and tasty they were. I used 4 dates and more drops of stevia than indicated. They were not as sweet to me, but I have only been GF and semi sugar free for 3 days. I am following the Wheat Belly eating lifestyle and I was in the mood for something good. I had 3 with a cup of tea and it gave me my dessert fix for the day. Will make these again. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  20. I’ve just made these muffins but replaced the walnuts with pecans and I used 8 dates and no stevia. The outcome = absolutely delicious! I too will double the quantities next time as all 8 have been eaten within 10 mins (by my non-Paleo children who loved them).
    Thank you!

    Reply

  21. I have a batch of these in the oven now. I found your site/recipe by doing a search for GF muffins using bananas, as I had some I needed to use. I chose your recipe because the ingredients look great and I already had all of them in my kitchen — no need to make a run to the store. However, I had to post a comment to say what a let-down to discover this recipe only yields 8 (EIGHT) muffins. Not even a dozen. Not even 10 of them! Obviously, I followed the directions to the letter. I’ve just never, ever done a muffin recipe that yielded less than a dozen muffins. I hope these 8 muffins are delicious at least, because this was a lot of expensive ingredients for a low-yield recipe.

    Reply

    • Okay, so I just ate one. They are, indeed, very delicious. I’m still disappointed by the low yield, but these are a great breakfast muffin and a wonderful healthy snack for my toddler. I will make these again in the future — and double the recipe!

      Reply

      • this comment was written a while ago but with 4 kids just want to say I appreciate to know I need to double a recipe! I can’t stand food blogs comments about how good the recipes look and nothing about how they turn out. So not helpful.

        Reply

  24. Just made these tonight. Accidentally used 2 eggs instead of three. Subbed 1/4 cup almond flour for the walnuts. Subbed 3 TSP palm sugar for the dates and agave. 22 mins @ 350F. Even though I was a little off (in several areas… ahem) they are still great. Yum!

    Reply

  26. Just made these–my first coconut flour recipe. I made a lot of substitutions, but they look just fine, held together great. I’ll have to see if they pass the taste test in the morning. I’ve used almond flour for years, and love it, but my grandson’s ulcerative colitis doesn’t do too well with nuts. Something new to learn!

    Reply

  27. Made these today. My coconut flour muffins in the past have always turned out too eggy and certainly not yummy the next day. These are not. I really like the texture, and the taste is AMAZING! These are going into my breakfast rotation. I have 3 kids 8 to 2 and they loved them also. I doubled the recipe and it was fine. They did not rise, and I like a bigger muffin so next time I will quadruple the recipe to make 2 muffin pans worth.

    Reply

  28. I wanted to make a chocolate banana bread and had fantastic results modifying this recipe. I reduced the coconut flour to 3 tablespoons and added a scant quarter cup of cocoa powder. I increased the sweeteners to 4 dates, 15 drops of stevia and about 2 tablespoons of honey. I also used some chopped dark chocolate and toasted pecans. A new favorite is born! Thanks Elana, as always :)

    Reply

  29. We use parchment large baking cups made by PaperChef. They are now available in the Denver Metro area at King Soopers (Kroger). No sticking of ANY muffins with these!

    Reply

  30. My muffins were very tasty. The problem being is they stuck to the paper liners. Any suggestions anyone? Are we supposed to pack the coconut flour down in the measurement cups or use small eggs?

    Reply

  31. Made these today. Doubled the recipe on accident, but I’m glad I did. I ended up making 12 muffins, as well, but doubling the recipe gave my muffins a muffin top, which I like. I halved the stevia as other have stated it was too sweet and so I added an extra date. I thought they were in the middle of sweet or not. Perfect. I baked mine for 26 minutes and they came out perfect. Well done, Elana. I love your work!

    Reply

  32. I just made these muffins this evening and they are delicious. I’m new to eating Paleo and have really been enjoying your recipes. They are fast to put together and come out great every time. Can’t wait to try more of your yummy ideas. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  33. We make this muffins frequently in our house with several changes- we don’t put in the coconut oil or the stevia, we use ripe bananas to sweeten them and we add some dark chocolate chips.

    Reply

  34. I’ve made these muffins several times now and they are some of my family’s favorites. My 3-year-old begs for them and can hardly wait for them to cool when they come out of the oven. I just wanted to note that if you don’t have/care for stevia or agave nectar, you can probably skip it. I use very ripe bananas and the muffins are sweet enough without the added sweeteners. I love your page, Elana! I thought I’d miss out on all kinds of sweets when we went Paleo, but as long as you’re blogging, we’ll be fine!

    Reply

  35. These were delicious! I left out the nuts (personal preference) the 1st time and plan on adding some blueberries in the batch I’m making right now. Thanks for sharing this one!

    Reply

  36. These…. Are DIVINE!

    I was craving something cakey (doesn’t happen very often these days – gluten free for 2 years now) and what should pop up on my Facebook news feed but this recipe?

    And lo and behold… I had all of the ingredients in (makes a change)! So I made them there and then and WOW! My kitchen will be seeing these bad boys again!

    Reply

  38. Just made these for the first time. Subbed raisins for dates since I didn’t have any and this was spur of the moment. Used 7 drops vanilla flavored stevia and 1/2 tsp of raw agave because the little agave seems to nullify the aftertaste of the stevia. (At least to me.) They are moist and delicious and may keep me sane as I transition out most carbs. Thanks for the great recipes.

    Reply

  39. Just wondering about the ingredients. You didn’t give an amount of coconut flour unless it’s that 1/4 cup before the celtic sea salt. I’m assuming you didn’t use that much salt. There is no coconut flour mentioned on the Agave Nectar Debate recipe either.
    Also, if I want to use Agave do I use the same amount as the Stevia?

    Reply

  40. I tried these this morning – they are delicious! Fabulous texture too. I was a bit worried about the thickness of the batter – was tempted to add some more liquid, but didn’t. I didn’t add the stevia, but used about a tablespoon of Agave. Plenty sweet. EASY and DELICIOUS! Thanks Elana!

    Reply

  41. Made these today with a few changes:
    – left out stevia
    – used 5 dates soaked in some warm water (they were small ones tho)
    – subbed flax seed for one of the eggs
    – added vanilla, cinnamon, allspice
    – added a bit of extra walnut
    – added raisins to 3 of them

    Needed to cook longer – hard to tell since I had a stop & start, but I’ll do ~30 minutes next time I make them.

    I got 9 muffins, could have maybe squeezed out 10. And they are already gone :)

    Very good and kids liked them a lot. I liked the ones with raisins. They were not very banana-flavored, next time I might fold in some pieces of banana as well.

    Will definitely make again! Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply

  43. When you have coconut oil in a measure do you add it in its solid form and add it to the mixture or melt it then measure it and add it?
    I am new to cooking with it expecially in baking.

    Reply

    • At room temp (in my home)it is in a semi-liquid state. When dry-measured and added to the liquid the coolness of the eggs causes it to “harden-up” which when mixed and baked melts-in nicely. Hope this helps.

      Reply

  44. This recipe was great! I didn’t have dates so I used raisins…next time I will add vanilla and cinnamon too! Thanks Elena!

    Reply

  46. These were fanfastic!!! I made one batch with 2 tablespoons of dark chocolate chips and one plain- both were excellent! I omitted stevia in both and added 1 tablespoon coconut sugar instead. Fabulous! Smelled awesome as kids came home from school :) they are a perfect moist texture.

    Reply

  47. I just made these for the first time. I followed the recipe exactly except added 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Delicious, perfect little muffins! I don’t have a Vitamix (too expensive in Norway) so I just used my hand blender. I used Amanprana organic gluten-free coconut flour. Thanks Elana!

    Reply

  48. These are absolutely my new favorite thing. I added a splash of vanilla extract and I need to bake them longer in my oven to get the middles cooked. Delicious every time, and no health fallout! I put butter on mine. :-)

    Reply

  49. Made these tonight without the stevia and used 4 dates which i soaked in a little bit of warm water. after soaking i added the date water as well. very good!!!!!! thanks for sharing!!!

    Reply

  50. i made these tonight and didn’t use any stevia as some of the others mentioned. even without it, they were still very sweet. i used 4 dates which i soaked in a little warm water and used the date water as well. delicious except now i have to share with my husband. :) thanks so much for the recipe!

    Reply

  52. I’ve made these many times and they’re great! I’ve never used stevia (only because I’ve never had the liquid on hand) but I don’t think I’m missing anything. The bananas and dates sweeten the muffins just fine, IMHO. I do usually add an additional banana (mine always seem so small) and an extra date or two so that may account for not missing the stevia. And I’ve substituted pecans because that’s what I usually have in my pantry. Today I added some toasted coconut (as suggested by another commenter). Haven’t tried those yet but the idea seems delightful. Thanks for sharing so much of your knowledge, Elana! I really enjoy visiting your site. Oh, and I also wanted to add that since I don’t have a Vitamix (just a regular blender) I chop the dates up really fine before adding, otherwise they jam my blender. I’ve also accidentally overcooked the muffins and they were still delicious – all eaten before they could cool. : )

    Reply

  53. I just made these and followed the recipe exactly. It made 10 muffins for me and I baked for about 24 min. I watch my carbs/sugar so I just calculated the nutrition info on spark and it told me for a batch of 10 muffins, each muffin contains:
    148.7 cal
    11.4g fat
    10.2g carb
    2.4g fiber
    3.5g protein

    Wasn’t sure if it is helpful to post on here or not, but thought I’d share in case others are wondering.

    thanks for all these healthy, low sugar, delicious options that are keeping me and my family as healthy as possible without feeling deprived!

    Reply

    • Oh thanks for sharing. I’m diabetic and I was just wondering what the carbs were per muffin and I saw your post. and yeah only 10 per muffin which means I can have banana muffins again :)

      Reply

  55. DH and I just ate these. Good flavor, light texture. Prefer making banana muffins w almond flour. Will make them again, may add vanilla. Love that they are sweetened w dates and stevia. They were plenty sweet. I followed the recipe. In Mass. I baked a dozen in silicone cups for 26 min.
    Thanks Elana, yummy as usual.

    Reply

  57. I got 10 muffins from this recipe. I added cacao nibs, cinnamon and allspice too. They were very egg-y – Almost like French toast – even though I baked them for almost 30 mins. Still, I love the flavours. Thanks!

    Reply

  58. I had given up hope that I would be able to eat baked goods again after starting the paleo(ish) diet. I’ve tried some recipes and they did not turn out well to say the least. I decided to try these out when looking for something other than egg cupcakes for my two-year-old to take for breakfast at daycare. These didn’t get a chance to cool and they didn’t make it into my child’s lunchbox; we devoured the entire batch! I am SO addicted to these–I even woke up last night craving one of them! I am now optimistic that yummy baked goods, in moderation, will make it back into our household! THANK YOU! You’ve also turned me on to the fabulous brown-sugar-like yumminess of the date! WOW! Can’t believe what I’ve been missing… :)

    Reply

  59. Made these this morning ,but had to tweak the recipe since I didn’t have stevia or walnuts and used cocnut sugar and almonds instead and they cme out GREAT!!!

    Reply

  60. Dear Elana,

    I was home sick the past couple days so I finally got around to buying some new flours, oils, stevia, etc – and, 6 months into the GF diet, I am totally convinced by your angle on it. I just made these muffins today and the coconut almond bars yesterday. Both are delicious and loved equally by the gluten-eaters who tried them. The first word one of them used to describe them was actually “moist” – not exactly the typical comment when using rice flour/potato starch combinations. I also love the fact that there’s no cane sugar, and hardly any sweetening at all, in a lot of your recipes. You have one more follower!

    Thanks,

    Ben

    Reply

  63. Made these on Thursday morning – yes before school and (My 3 little boys gobbled them up and took a few in the car on the way to school) had to make them again Saturday morning! We had trouble waiting for them to cool they were so yummy! Thanks!!!

    Reply

  64. I just made your Almond Flour Banana – Blueberry muffins from the original cookbook but substituted walnuts for the blueberries. Fabulous! I always sub out the agave and use Stevia or Xylatol (i.e. Zero) and Coconut Palm Sugar (not quite as low glycemic as Stevia at none but pretty low). Add some applesauce if needed for liquid.

    At this point there is no baking we don’t do that is not in one of your two cookbooks or blog! Couldn’t live without you – thanks!

    Reply

  65. I made these recently and wow are they good! I missed out the stevia, but substituted a tspn of cinnamon into the recipe, and they were truly delicious and disappeared very rapidly with positive comments from everyone who had one – thank you so much!

    Reply

  67. Can I substitute almond flour instead of the coconut flour? I am trying to only buy ingredients that I use on a regular basis to fit into our monthly budget. :) Thanks Elana, your recipes are SO delicious and easy!

    Reply

    • Coconut flour and almond flour are very different – coconut flour absorbs many times more liquid that almond flour. You could give it a try though!

      Reply

    • Once the new cupcake cookbook came out I was thrilled b/c it is so much easier to get coconut than real almond flower. It also uses very little in each batch. I think you will find that it is a good investment.

      Reply

  68. Elana,
    I just had to tell you your website is amazing! I follow a grain-free, sugar-free, dairy-free diet to keep my colitis in control. Every recipe I have made from your website has turned out great and my husband can’t get enough of your recipes! The asparagus salad is my fav right now (asparagus is in season at the farm by my place here in Canada). Sooo yummy! I’ll definitely be ordering your cookbooks! Thanks for sharing all your amazing recipes!

    Reply

  70. Seriously when I visit your blog it is EXACTLY how I like to cook & bake. Wonderful to see someone who speaks the same language. These muffins look awesome.
    Gonna go check out the agave debate now….

    Reply

  71. Elana, your recipe for almond butter brownies is my family’s favorite!! I even let my kiddos eat some for breakfast!!!…. Shhhhh don’t tell anyone!!(;

    Reply

  72. Thanks for reposting this! I did miss it, and I use Stevia all of the time.
    I checked out the coconut waffle recipe. Looks so yummy, but I don’t have a waffle maker, bummer.

    Reply

  74. mmhm, they look so good!! Im not sure where I stand with agave at the moment, and I try to stick to maple sirup for now.

    Reply

    • Consider substituting coconut syrup for Agave (as I do). It is a very healthy, low glycemic index sweetener (35 on the scale). I use all of the coconut products for low carb cooking so I was very happy to find these recipes by Elana. You can get the syrup at iherb.com, where I get loads of healthy products for a lot cheaper than the local health food store or online (try Coconut Secrets brand raw syrup, they also have raw coconut flour and “sugar” crystals made of raw coconut, too). BTW – Nutiva has 3 lbs. coconut flour for about $11. I have a coupon to get $5 or $10 off your first order plus free shipping ($5 off a $20 order or $10 off a $40 order). Just type in RAC867 when you check out or use this link to the syrup and it will do it for you http://iherb.com/p/24095?rcode=rac867.

      Reply

  77. Sounds great, Elana! Will definitely link these to my clients with thyroid disease. Coconut flour is so wonderful. :)

    Reply

  78. I found these were so naturally sweet, I did not need the addition
    of stevia or any other sweetner. Loved them <3

    Reply

    • Thanks for posting this comment. I haven’t enjoyed the taste of stevia (and it may just be I need to find a better one like astraya) and was just wondering if I could leave it out. I think I’ll try it without!

      Reply

      • I agree. I did not care for the taste of stevia, until I completely went low carb (20g carbs/day) for a week and gradually added carbs back (including fruit). Now that I don’t eat sugar on a regular basis (including fruit), I like stevia. I also discovered that stevia sweetness is a VERY fine line between sweetness and bitter (IMO). My bottle says a serving is 3 or 4 drops, but I do not care for more than 2 in my coffee. Also, I love stevia with HEAVY cream in my coffee rather than half and half. I don’t know why but I feel like the added fat really helps the stevia flavor. Try the recipe with half the drops and start from there. Or you could try using a couple more dates? I’m making these right now with 5 drops plus an extra date, so I will let you know!

        Reply

  79. Thanks for posting this recipe. I have found that agave does not agree with me so I’m constantly looking at the recipes you post and trying other sweetners — Brown Rice Syrup, Coconut Syrup, Stevia. I will definitely give this one a go.

    Reply

    • The issue is generally the coconut products that might cause issues with stomach upset as coconut has a natural mild laxitive effect.

      Reply

  80. I have made this muffin recipe many times since you first posted it. The batch seems to mysteriously disappear within a short time – although no one wants to admit they ate the last one ;)

    Reply

  81. When you made this, did you use green bananas, ripe bananas, or very ripe bananas? I look forward to making it very soon. Thanks.

    Reply

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Your comment will need to be approved before it will appear on the site.

Like my recipe and health tips?
Get free updates sent to your inbox!

Get free recipes by email!