Banana Protein Muffins (Paleo)

These banana protein muffins are EASY to make, fluffy, and so tasty. They are the perfect protein packed breakfast or snack for busy mornings with a whopping 8 grams of protein per muffin! Paleo gluten free, and kid approved.

Last week I was obsessing over my Paleo Chocolate Banana Bread recipe, and now I’m loving these light and fluffy protein muffins. I had a few ripe and spotty brown bananas that were about to go bad, so I figured it was the perfect time to make some protein powder muffins.

If you love banana bread, then this is a recipe for YOU. These muffins are made with almond flour, ripe bananas, protein powder, and almond butter for a healthy, but bakery style muffin. I wanted the flavor, texture and size similar to a muffin that you’d drool over at the bakery, but without all the processed sugar and flour.

soft, moist, and fluffy….with a crisp crackly muffin top ✔

Why This Recipe Is So Good:

• Each muffin is packed with 8 grams of protein!
• They’re made with grain free almond flour, but still fluffy, and moist.
• These healthy banana protein muffins are made with whole food ingredients, so you can eat them guilt free. AND there is only one bowl required.
• They’re super easy to make ahead, freeze, or meal prep.
• They are naturally sweetened with bananas, so no refined sugar. Don’t be afraid of brown bananas! The riper they are, the sweeter your muffins will taste.
• These healthy muffins are grain free, dairy free, gluten free, and Paleo.

Ingredients

The tools you’ll need for these protein banana muffins include: a 12-cup muffin tin pan, muffin liners (if you prefer), mixing bowl, and a baking spatula.

For the ingredients you’ll need some pantry staples (honey, almond flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, almond butter, and protein powder), as well as some fresh produce (bananas, and eggs).

How To Make:

The prep for this muffin recipe is just a quick and easy 5 minutes!

1. No mixer or blender needed. Mash the bananas with a fork in a large bowl. I mashed mine until there were no large chunks, but there were still small chunks. Whisk in the eggs, vanilla, and honey (optional).
2. Add the dry ingredients. Stir in the almond flour, baking soda and powder, salt, cinnamon, and protein powder. It’s important not to over mix the batter here. This will leave the muffins tasting cakey instead of moist and fluffy.
3. Fold in the almond butter with a baking spatula and divide the batter into the 12 muffin cups, filling 3/4 of the way. (There should be an even ratio of dry to wet ingredients. If you find your muffin batter to be too dry, add in a tablespoon or two of almond milk.)
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown. Insert a toothpick or fork and the batter should come out clean.

What Kind Of Protein Powder Should I Use?

These high protein banana muffins use 2 scoops or (1/2 cup packed) of protein powder.

When looking for a clean protein powder you want one that’s made without artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose), gums (guar gum, xanthan gum), fillers, gluten, additives, dyes, and other random ingredients you can’t pronounce. The healthiest protein powders are those with minimal ingredients.

There are many different types of protein powders, and you have to figure out which proteins (animal-based, or plant based) work best for your body. I don’t tolerate dairy well (hence why a lot of my recipes are Paleo), so I stick with collagen protein, or paleo protein powder. However, whey protein is another great option to cook with if you can tolerate dairy.

• Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel (chocolate coconut)- This is the powder I used for this recipe. It is great to bake with! Here is the vanilla coconut flavor.
• PaleoPro Protein Powder – I love this protein powder. I’ve tried both the chocolate and vanilla. It has clean ingredients and is so tasty! It’s gluten free, dairy free, whey free, soy free, and with no added hormones.
• Further Food Collagen – This collagen is unflavored, however they do have a chocolate and vanilla flavor. It’s sourced from the highest quality grass-fed, pasture-raised hydrolyzed bovine hide collagen. Non-GMO, Antibiotic-Free, Hormone-Free, Sugar-Free, Kosher-Certified, Paleo & Keto.
• Organifi Vanilla Protein – a plant based protein powder that’s dairy free, gluten-free, keto friendly, soy free, organic, and 100% vegan.

Protein Muffin Variations:

• Instead of mashed banana you can use unsweetened apple sauce or mashed baked sweet potato. Anything with natural sweetness will work!
• Use any nut butter (peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, cashew butter) to replace the almond butter.
• The honey is optional, because the bananas got you covered for this one, and provide all the sweetness you need. However, if you want to replace the honey use maple syrup, or coconut sugar will work as well.
• To make Vegan you can use flax eggs, however I have not tested this out. Let me know how it goes!
• Use a chocolate or vanilla protein powder. I recommend sticking with collagen protein powder, or protein powder (without whey).
• Experiment with adding Greek yogurt for some extra protein. This will add more moisture, so I recommend reducing the amount of banana, or almond butter. Try to keep the consistency the same as the photos.
• Almond flour unfortunately does not have a great substitute.
  • If you want to use all-purpose flour, it is a (1:1 substitution). Keep in mind that I have not tested this, so the quantity and baking time may vary. Almond flour typically requires more egg, so you may have to reduce the egg content if using all-purpose flour.
  • Oat flour is another option here. Use the 1:1 substitution rule, and let me know how it goes!
  • Whole wheat flour. Almond flour is heavier than wheat flour, so you will have to adjust the quantities.
  • Tapioca flour and coconut flour. Use 1 cup of each in place of 2 cups of almond flour.
  • Gluten-free flour blend is the closest substitute for an all-purpose flour. However, you can’t use the 1:1 substitution rule. If you are using a gluten-free flour blend, I recommend finding a different recipe.
• Add-in some chocolate chips, dried fruit, or nuts to the muffins for some extra flavor.

More Paleo Recipes You’ll Love

• Paleo Chocolate Banana Bread
• Fudgy Paleo Almond Butter Brownies
• Chocolate Avocado Smoothie
• Avocado Brownies (Easy and Healthy)

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