Healthy Banana Lentil Muffins
These soft, chocolatey banana lentil muffins sneak in extra protein and fiber, with no added sugar—just a handful of chocolate chips for good measure. Loved by both kids and adults alike!
- Prep Time:
15 minutes - Total Time:
35 minutes - Makes:
12 regular or 32 mini
15 minutes
35 minutes
12 regular or 32 mini
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked lentils (green or brown, from approximately ⅓ cup dry)
- 9 ounces peeled, overripe banana (about 3 medium or 2 large)
- ¼ cup avocado oil, coconut oil, or other neutral-flavored cooking oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup old-fashioned (rolled) oats
- ⅔ cup white whole wheat flour (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips, plus more for topping if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C) and lightly grease a muffin tin with oil. Cooking spray or muffin liners work, too.
- Blend the wet ingredients. In a blender, combine the lentils, bananas, oil, egg, and vanilla. Blend just until mostly smooth, about 15–20 seconds.
- Add the dry ingredients. Using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, gently stir in the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Pop the lid back on and pulse 7–10 times, just until everything is combined and the oats are partly blended.
- Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Don’t blend them—they’ll disappear!
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin—about ¼ cup for standard muffins or 1 generous tablespoon for mini muffins.
- Bake and cool. Bake for about 19-21 minutes for standard muffins or 12–14 minutes for mini muffins, until the tops are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully run a greased butter knife or plastic knife around the edges to loosen before lifting them out.
Notes
Favorite Equipment
- Vitamix Blender
- Nordic Ware Aluminum Muffin Pans (Standard & Mini-Muffins)
- OXO Goodgrips Cookie Scoops for filling the muffin cups
- Stasher bags for freezing extras (the half-gallon or sandwich sizes work best for freezing muffins)
Ingredient Notes
- Lentils: If you plan on baking these more than once, save yourself some time by cooking up 1-2 cups of dry lentils and freezing in 1-cup portions for future batches. Canned lentils also work, just rinse and drain well before using.
- Flour: I typically make these with white whole wheat flour; however, whole wheat pastry flour or a 50/50 mix of all-purpose and regular whole wheat flour also work great.
- For muffins with no added sugar: Use sugar-free chocolate chips, like Lily’s Dark Chocolate or Semi-Sweet chocolate chips, which are sweetened with a combination of sugar alcohol and stevia, or ChocZeros chocolate chips, which are sweetened with monkfruit extract.
Little Helpers
Involving little ones can decrease picky eating and increase appetite and willingness to try new foods. Here are a few ways they can help:
- Toddlers: Peel the bananas; add ingredients to and help operate the blender; stir in the dry ingredients; taste-test the chocolate chips (because you know they’re gonna regardless!); portion
- Little Kids: All of the above!
- Big Kids: Give them the recipe and have them ask for help if/when needed!
Freezing Instructions:
Allow muffins to cool completely on a wire rack before transferring to an airtight freezer bag or container. Freeze muffins for up to three months. Frozen muffins will defrost in approximately 2-3 hours at room temperature.
Nutrition Notes
Nutrition information is for one standard muffin with regular semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 standard muffin
- Calories: 175
- Sugar: 9 g
- Sodium: 80 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 24 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 16 mg
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