Banana Protein Muffins are moist, fluffy, and naturally sweetened without the use of refined sugar. With 10g of protein per portion, the healthy muffins makes a delicious and healthy breakfast or snack option!
These make a wonderful addition to your high protein snacks arsenal along with these protein cookies, homemade protein bars, and no bake protein balls!
Table of contents
Moist, fluffy muffins made with almond and oat flours, protein powder, and no added sugar are bursting with strawberry and banana flavour in every bite.
The trick to protein muffin recipe is to incorporate a moisturizing ingredient like bananas, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese into the batter and not over bake.
As much as I love making healthy versions of just banana based baked goodies like almond flour banana muffins, banana bread with applesauce and banana oat bars, I also love to have high-protein snacks to turn to, and now I can finally combine the two!
You might also love this list of over 65 healthy snacks!
Why Make Protein Muffin Recipe?
- Bananas: Delicious, affordable, and already pre-packaged. They’re full of potassium, fibre, iron, provide energy, and improve digestion and brain functioning.
- Strawberries: The sweet, juicy fruit is packed with vitamin C, fibre, and antioxidants. Try healthy strawberry muffins, too!
- Healthy: Wholesome ingredients full of fiber and protein, no refined sugar, and naturally sweetened with maple syrup and fruit.
- Naturally gluten free: With almond flour, oat flour and whey protein powder (always check labels to ensure!).
- Texture: These are moist, fluffy, and light!
- 10g protein: With peanut butter, almond flour and protein powder – these high protein muffins are a nutrient dense, nutritious start to the day or eat one as an afternoon pick me up!
Ingredients for Banana Protein Muffins
- Bananas: The riper the better. A great way to reduce waste and use up overripe bananas, just like in banana pancakes and banana applesauce muffins.
- Egg: You’ll need just 1 egg for binding the ingredients and adding moisture.
- Vanilla extract: A lovely warming flavour added to baked goods to enhance the all-around taste.
- Almond flour: A heavier flour to work with, which is why it’s important to follow the directions as listed.
- Oat flour: Adds flavor and adds to the fluffy, chewy texture.
- Whey protein powder: Plain works best to keep these protein powder muffins as wholesome as possible.
- Peanut butter: Adds a healthy fat plus delicious peanut taste to high protein muffins.
- Baking powder and baking soda: The key to making these muffins nice and fluffy!
- Salt: Needed to bring out the flavours of the surrounding ingredients.
- Cinnamon: Adds a warming taste that pairs well with the other ingredients.
- Strawberries: If your strawberries are large, you may want to dice them. If not, slicing them may get them to the size needed for strawberry banana muffins. It’s up to you.
When the strawberry season is in full bloom, we enjoy these protein muffins along with our local red gems full of vitamin C, fiber, and potassium raw, baked into a healthy cobbler, over a spinach salad, chopped into strawberry mango salsa, and chucked into strawberry smoothies and strawberry yogurt. Aren’t strawberries so versatile?!
- Chocolate chips: I recommended mini chips so you get chocolate in each bite, just like with healthy chocolate chip muffins, but use what you have, dairy free or sugar free if necessary.
- Cooking spray: Super important for creating a nonstick coating, so no protein muffin recipe pieces get left behind.
What Protein Powder is Best for Baking?
I recommend using a brand with minimum ingredients, preferably organic and grass-fed like this one. Certain recipes allow for total replacement of flour using protein powder like these protein powder pancakes, but this isn’t one of them! We’re using protein powder for the added health benefits as a bonus. I used plain whey protein powder, you can also use vanilla flavored and chocolate flavored. Just know muffins will come out sweeter because these powders are sweetened.
How to Make Protein Powder Muffins
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin tin with parchment paper muffin liners and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Combine wet ingredients: In a medium or large mixing bowl, mash bananas with a fork until smooth. Add egg, maple syrup, peanut butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and protein powder. Whisk very well until combined and no lumps.
- Add in flours: Add almond flour and oat flour and stir with spatula until well mixed.
Baking is a science and this includes precise measurements. Make sure to level the top of your measuring cup with a knife and do not pack!
- Fold in chocolate chips and strawberries: Stir in strawberries and chocolate chips until just incorporated.
- Divide the batter: Using an ice cream scoop, evenly distribute the batter into the 12 muffin pan.
- Garnish: Add strawberries and chocolate chips on top of each muffin.
- Bake: Place muffin tin into the preheated oven and bake for 22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle. Check at 20 minutes as ovens will vary. Allow to cool 15 minutes before enjoying!
Optional Add-In’s and Variations
- Chocolate chips: Although mini chips are recommended because you’ll get more chips per muffin, any size chip will work as will sugar free chocolate chips, dairy free, dark chocolate etc.
- Berries: You can use any other berries that are available in your part of the world to make this protein muffin recipe. Raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries will work great. Heck, use diced mango if you have it!
- Other nut butters: Almond, cashew, hazelnut – just remember to warm up the nut butter slightly so it incorporates into the protein muffin recipe batter evenly.
- Egg free: Try to learn how to make a flax egg.
- Banana free: Try unsweetened applesauce.
- Vegan protein powder: Use 1/2 cup of flavored plant-based protein powder, then reduce maple syrup to 2 tbsp and add 1/2 cup any dairy free milk or water to the batter. You may also love these no bake protein cookies!
- Chocolate protein powder muffins: Use chocolate protein powder.
- Warming spices: Nutmeg would also taste great!
- For a little extra sweet crunch: Add a streusel topping if desired. Use whole wheat flour (or gluten-free flour), coconut oil, oats, cinnamon, brown sugar, and salt. Combine into a crumble and add before baking your strawberry banana muffins!
Need more ideas for your ripe bananas? Check out my 10 healthy banana snacks!
Tips for Best Results
- Spray muffin liners! The batter contains little fat so liners would only end up sticking to the muffins! Spray the sides and the bottom of each muffin liner with cooking spray.
- Banana tip: Bananas have thick skin which we don’t eat, therefore it’s not necessary to buy organic. You can always save your money and buy organic leafy greens (or strawberries!) that are directly exposed to pesticides. However, the difference (depending on where you live) is usually a matter of cents, so if you’d like to support organic farming, and farmers who don’t spray with toxic pesticides, continue to buy organic bananas.
- Tip of the day: Get to know your local farms. Some smaller farms don’t have the means to be “certified” as organic but that doesn’t mean they’re not practicing organic farming. To be certified takes resources. The certification is helpful to us at the grocery store to know what’s organic and not, but go ahead and get to know your local farms and their practices, you may be surprised at what you find!
FAQs
You can! Use a flax egg instead of an actual egg, which is just a combination of ground flaxseed and water that has been combined and allowed to set and thicken. All out of flax? Try chia egg! You’ll also want to replace the whey protein powder with a plant based protein powder and dairy free milk – see notes in recipe card. You may find the texture and consistency slightly different, but it’ll still taste great.
Yes and No. Whether you choose to liners or not (which I do recommend using), you will need to spray your muffin liners or pan with cooking spray because there is no fat in this recipe to create its own “grease”. Spraying will help your muffin ‘slide’ out easier, leaving no protein muffin behind!
Yum! Turn this into high protein banana bread easily by pouring the batter into a loaf pan (again sprayed and dusted – best lined with parchment paper) and bake it until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Check at the 30-minute mark.
If your bananas are not overripe quite yet, there are a few tips and tricks you can use. The first is that you continue making these as-is, knowing they will not have the same natural sweetness, will be harder to mash and you may find you need added sugar to compensate. The second, is you place the bananas in a paper bag on the counter for a couple of days and you hold off on making these until then. The third is that you place the bananas (skin and all) onto a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees until the skin is completely black. Once cool enough to touch, slice open the skin and reveal the sweet, soft, and mushy banana ready to be used!
How to Serve High Protein Muffins?
I love to eat these muffins as is or with a small smear of nut butter! Here are some other ways to enjoy them all day long:
- Breakfast: A healthy high protein way to start the day, enjoy with lemon water recipe or a green smoothie!
- Pre or post workout: In rotation with peanut butter protein balls.
- Mid afternoon snack: With a glass of kombucha or even a kombucha smoothie.
How to Store Strawberry Banana Muffins?
Make Ahead: You can prepare the batter, minus the leavening agents and berries, up to a day in advance. Leave it covered in the refrigerator and mix in the baking powder + soda, strawberries + chocolate chips before baking the muffins.
Storing: Store muffins at room temperature for 1 day and then transfer to refrigerator for another 4 days (muffins are moist and can spoil fast).
Freezing: Freeze in layers with parchment paper between, in a large freezer bag. They will store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Healthy Muffin Recipes
- Healthy blueberry muffins
- Healthy pumpkin muffins
- Chocolate quinoa muffins
- Morning glory muffins
- Lemon zucchini muffins
You may also like to browse 21 of our favorite healthy muffin recipes!
Banana Protein Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 large overripe bananas mashed 3/4 cup
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter warmed up
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup whey protein powder plain
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup oat flour
- 1 cup fresh strawberries chopped into tiny pieces + a few berries for garnish
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips + 1 tbsp for garnish
- Cooking spray I use Misto
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin tin with parchment paper muffin liners and spray with cooking spray. Set aside. In a large bowl, add bananas and mash with a fork.
- Add egg, maple syrup, peanut butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and protein powder. Whisk very well until combined and no lumps.
- Add almond flour and oat flour (make sure to level the top with a knife and do not pack) and stir with spatula until well mixed.
- Garnish with strawberries and chocolate chips, stir a few times until just incorporated.
- Using an ice cream scoop, divide batter between 12 openings of previously prepared muffin tin, about 3/4 full per each.
- Add strawberries and chocolate chips on top, and bake for 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Don't overbake.
- Remove from the oven, let cool for 15 minutes and enjoy.
Notes
- Store: Store muffins at room temperature for 1 day and then transfer to refrigerator for another 4 days (muffins are moist and can spoil fast).
- Freeze: Freeze in layers with parchment paper between, in a large freezer bag. They will store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Ripe bananas: You can use yellow ripe or just ripe bananas, add a few more tablespoons of maple syrup. For banana free try unsweetened Instant Pot applesauce.
- Warmed up peanut butter: If you keep your peanut butter refrigerated or it’s thick, warm it up in the microwave or on the stove until it’s runny. Otherwise, you will have a hard time mixing it with other ingredients. Any other nut/seed butter works.
- Vegan: Use 1/2 cup of flavorite flavored plant-based protein powder, reduce maple syrup to 2 tbsp and add 1/2 cup any milk or water to the batter. Replace egg with a flax egg.
- Mini chocolate chips: Mini chocolate chips will distribute more evenly among the muffins because the amount is small. Healthier too.
- Almond and oat flours: I have not tried any other flours, so can’t recommend. You will need different amount though because all flour act differently. Baking is a science and it’s best to follow the recipe.
- Berries: Raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries would all work!
I just made these today. I thought I had almond flour on hand but I didn’t, so I used all oat flour. I also didn’t have plain whey protein powder, just vanilla and chocolate, so I used vanilla. I followed everything else to a T. Mine turned out kind of soggy, not puffed up like yours. I think the vanilla protein powder gave it a weird taste as well. should I have used more oat flour in place of almond? I want to try them again because I know they could be really good. I also pulsed my strawberries in a food processor. Do you think this made the outcome of the muffin for moist?
TIA
Hi Aubrey.
A few thoughts:
1. You should follow the recipe, especially with baking.
2. Soggy muffins because not correct flours are used and do not pulse strawberries.
I will remove comments about whole wheat flour. You should just follow the recipe card and there is also ingredients shot above. Next time it will work.:)
I had to come and thank you for this recipe! The muffins came out light, fluffy and oh so yummy! I changed it a little based on what I had in my pantry. I used a caramel fudge flavour protein powder which is quite sweet so I didn’t bother with the maple syrup. I added pumpkin and sunflower seeds (10g each) for texture and didn’t include the strawberries. Chocolate chips were minimal (5 mini chips on each muffin) and since the consistency of my batter looked quite dry I added 4tbs of full fat milk. 123 cal – 10g Carbs – 6.2g fat – 7.6g protein. I’ll double the seeds the next time because I love seeds but this is such a great base recipe to tweak. Thank you so so much!
So glad you enjoyed it!
I have ground flax seed, will that work instead of whole?
Yes.
Strawberries are in season now here in Ankara,Turkey so I had a lot of them and was struggling to find a healthy protein packed recipe so that I could use them up. I’ve made these muffins twice now and they are simply AMAZING!! Thank you so much! We love your whole blog (protein pancakes are also a weekly staple here!!). But these muffins are sweet and tart and theres no protein taste. Even the husband liked them 🙂
That is so great to hear! Can’t wait for strawberry season here.
Can you use thawed frozen strawberries?
I would just use frozen. Might be more wet muffins which is fine.
I have made these about 20 times. I often switch things up according to whats in stock (blueberries work well, or different flavoured protein powders, wholemeal spelt, flax egg, other types of milk etc). Each time they work well and i enjoy having them on hand because of their nutritional profile. One of the best nutritious muffin recipes i have come across- I have also added a dot of maple syrup and handful of choc chips for a less nutritionally-minded crew. Worked well.
Thanks for the recipe!
You are very welcome!