How to Make Banana Muffin Tops (V, GF): this moist vegan muffin top recipe is easy & healthy! Learn how to make banana muffin tops – gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free.
When we were little kids, my sisters LOVED tearing the muffin tops off of muffins. They were the best part—crispy top, moist interior and they had this beautiful dome full of goodies, like chocolate chips!
Naturally, I stood in horror when these poor muffin tops were torn off and their did-nothing-to-anybody bottoms were cast aside. You know me, I’m a softie for the underdog/under-muffin… Just… thank goodness the tops can’t be ripped off of banana chocolate chip oatmeal breakfast bars or this vegan banana nut bread… is all I’m sayin’.
Well, I promised myself that one day, I’d find a way to get them back them & all muffin-top lovers of the world their yummy muffin top halves without having a bin of discarded bottoms leftover. 😉
Easy Gluten Free Vegan Muffin Tops Recipe
Since muffin tops were already fully a thing by the time I was an adult, I figured I could contribute to the cause (lol) by creating an easy gluten free vegan muffin top recipe! Today, we’re gonna learn how to make/bake muffin tops without a muffin top pan (or a muffin pan).
Who’s excited?!? Let’s do it!
How to Make Banana Muffin Tops (GF, Vegan, Healthy)
If you’re looking for a muffin top pan recipe, but then realized you don’t want or need a muffin top pan (hehe), then look no further than this gluten free banana muffin tops recipe! We’re baking these banana muffin tops on a regular ‘ol baking sheet!
First, mash bananas then whisk in all wet ingredients. Then, whisk in all the dry ingredients. Fold in vegan chocolate chips. Use a cookie scoop to drop mounds of muffin top batter onto a prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, cool and enjoy! Related banana recipe: my yummy Vegan Gluten Free Banana Coffee Cake. 🙂
How to Store & Freeze Gluten Free Vegan Banana Muffin Tops
Store your vegan muffin tops in an airtight container at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, for up to 1 week. Or, you can freeze your GF muffin tops for up to 2 months. Just store the muffin tops in a freezer-friendly container or bag. Thaw for 30 minutes before enjoying, or heat in 10-second increments until just a bit warm. Similar storing instructions for my super yummy vegan peanut butter banana breakfast cookies!
Substitution Notes for this Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Tops Recipe
- Coconut Oil: sub with melted vegan butter, flavorless oil. Applesauce might add too much moisture in this muffin top recipe, so I wouldn’t recommend it.
- Maple Syrup: sub with brown rice syrup, honey (if not vegan), or agave
- Flax Egg: sub with chia egg or chicken egg (if not vegan)
- Gluten Free Oat Flour: sub with gluten free all purpose flour or make your own homemade oat flour.
- Almond Meal: sub with almond flour, cashew meal, sunflower seed meal
Are you ready to get your gf muffin top on?!? Okay, I know how that sounds… LOL. Anyone else thinking of Janet Jorplin’s Muffin Top song?!? 😉 Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I absolutely love baking and enjoying kitchen adventures with you. I can’t wait to hear what you and your loved ones think. In the meantime…
Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️
☀️Click below to Pin ☀️
💕 Did you make this gluten free vegan recipe? Take a pic & share it on Instagram with the hashtag #beamingbaker and tag @beamingbaker. I’d love to see it!💕
Healthy Gluten Free Vegan Banana Muffin Recipes & More
- Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins Recipe (GF, Vegan)
- Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins (GF, Vegan)
- Moist Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (GF, Vegan)
- Gluten Free Banana Oat Muffins (Vegan) (GF, Dairy-Free)
- Best Moist Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe (GF, Healthy)
How to Make Banana Muffin Tops (Healthy) – Easy Gluten Free Vegan Recipe!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 29 medium muffin tops or 20 large muffin tops 1x
Print Recipe
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How to Make Banana Muffin Tops (V, GF): this moist vegan muffin top recipe is easy & healthy! Learn how to make banana muffin tops – gluten-free & dairy-free! Refined Sugar-Free.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 3 medium, very ripe bananas (1 cup + 2 tablespoons, mashed)
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoons water, whisk together, set for 15 mins)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups gluten free oat flour — if using homemade, make sure it’s very finely ground, not coarse
- 1 ¼ cups unblanched almond meal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Add-ins
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips
Optional Topping
- 2 tablespoons vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or greased foil. Set aside.
- Peel bananas and add to a large mixing bowl. Using a sturdy whisk, fork or pastry cutter, mash bananas until smooth. Add coconut oil, maple syrup, flax egg and vanilla. Whisk until well incorporated.
- Add oat flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together until just incorporated, making sure no flour patches remain. Fold in vegan chocolate chips.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop and drop balls of thick batter onto the prepared baking sheet, spaced evenly apart. I used 3 tablespoons of batter for the tops. Tops will expand and spread just a bit. Optionally, dot each muffin top with chocolate chips. Give the pan a few taps to help lightly flatten the tops.
- For smaller tops, bake for 13-18 minutes. My smaller tops took 15 minutes. For larger tops, bake for 15-20 minutes. My larger tops took 17 minutes.
- Allow tops to cool on the cookie sheet for about 10 minutes (on a cooling rack). Using a heatproof spatula, transfer tops directly to a cooling rack to cool completely before storing. Storing instructions below. Enjoy!
Adapted from my Best Moist Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.
Try my favorite Gluten Free Vegan Banana Recipes: Banana Chocolate Chip Breakfast Bars, Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Cookies, Banana Bread Coffee Cake.
Notes
– Storage notes: Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
– Freezing instructions: store in a freezer-friendly container or bag for 1-2 months. Allow to thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or heat in the microwave in 10-second increments until just warm.
– Nutrition Information: is an estimate based on the best-selling, most common brands per ingredient. Also, it’s estimated based on 29 servings per recipe, without the optional chocolate chip topping.
- Category: Healthy Breakfast, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Refined Sugar-Free
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 medium muffin top
- Calories: 122
- Sugar: 7g
- Sodium: 20mg
- Fat: 7g
- Carbohydrates: 14g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
© beamingbaker.com. All content and images are protected by copyright. Please do not use my images or recipe without my permission. Please do not republish this recipe, instead, include a link to this post for the recipe.
Tools for Baking GF Muffin Tops like a Boss!
Click the links below to check out my favorite tools & ingredients used to make this healthy banana muffin tops recipe.
- Cookie Scoop – an absolute baker’s essential. Makes scooping batter super easy & uniform!
- Baking Sheet – my go-to baking sheets. Long-lasting and amazing!
- Vegan Chocolate Chips – Top-8 Free, dairy-free, great in my Best Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
- Almond Meal – such great quality & perfect for healthy, gluten free vegan baking
- Coconut Oil – a vegan baking essential!
- GF Oat Flour – so convenient to buy when you’re in a pinch.
- Homemade Oat Flour – my favorite recipe for homemade oat flour!
Karen says
April 15, 2019 at 3:09 pmWe loved these muffin tops. I generally would put walnuts in banana muffins, but put chocolate chips in and they were great! Loved that they were easy and GF.
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
April 17, 2019 at 8:50 amWoohoo! So happy to hear it Karen! 😊
Erin | Dinners,Dishes and Dessert says
March 30, 2019 at 2:06 amThis looks incredibly delicious! This is a perfect afternoon tea snack.
★★★★★
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
April 1, 2019 at 12:03 pmCouldn’t agree more! 😉
Allison says
March 29, 2019 at 8:59 pmI love that it’s only the tops! Perfect! That’s my favorite part.
★★★★★
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
April 1, 2019 at 8:46 amI know! More yumminess for everyone! 😊
Jacquelyn Hastert says
March 29, 2019 at 1:27 pmThese look fantastic! I love how simply they come together and that they are gluten-free 🙂
★★★★★
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
April 1, 2019 at 12:03 pmOh yes! I’m all about the easy recipes. 🙂
Catalina says
March 29, 2019 at 9:09 amThese will be great to have on hand this week! I love how healthy these are!
★★★★★
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
April 1, 2019 at 8:47 amTotally! Hope you enjoy them Catalina!
Jade Manning says
March 29, 2019 at 7:27 amYour Chocolate Chip Cookies look divine!
★★★★★
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
April 1, 2019 at 8:48 amThank yuh Jade! 🙂
Melanie Bauer says
March 29, 2019 at 2:58 amLooks divine! I can make a batch of these at home, definitely a huge hit in our house!
★★★★★
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
April 1, 2019 at 8:47 amWoohoo! They’re so easy and fun to make!
Ashlyn @ F5 Method says
March 28, 2019 at 9:19 pmOk muffin tops used to be my CRACK at Panera. Totally digging this healthier version!!!!
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
April 1, 2019 at 11:56 amLOL so glad you’re excited about the recipe Ashlyn! 😄
Lacie says
March 28, 2019 at 3:47 pmYes! These are the perfect breakfast snack! 🙂
★★★★★
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
March 28, 2019 at 4:02 pmWoohoo! I know right? So yummy in the morning!
Tisha says
March 28, 2019 at 10:01 amLove these for an after school snack for the kiddo!
★★★★★
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
March 28, 2019 at 2:24 pmYes! These would be the perfect afternoon snack. 😄
Meghna says
March 28, 2019 at 9:54 amThese look so delicious, such an easy, quick & fun recipe to try with kids in the kitchen. Thanks for the share.
★★★★★
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
March 28, 2019 at 10:17 amAgreed! Not sure which is more fun: making them or eating them! 🤔😂
Elizabeth says
March 28, 2019 at 9:32 amWell I never! I had no idea such a thing existed! Muffin tops to me means something totally different (size tiny jeans I’m looking at you). Still, it’s a genius idea and a fab recipe!
★★★★★
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
April 1, 2019 at 12:04 pmLOL I’m so there with you on the jeans! 😂 Now we finally have a muffin top we can actually enjoy! 😉
Rosa says
March 28, 2019 at 8:31 amI love this idea and my kids will too! Who wants to eat the bottom of a muffin anyways?? Haha thanks so much for this brilliant recipe!
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
March 28, 2019 at 10:16 amLOL I know, right? 😂 Hope you and the kiddos enjoy them!
Robin Gagnon says
March 28, 2019 at 8:23 amThe tops are my favorite part! Love this healthier version.
★★★★★
Demeter | Beaming Baker says
March 28, 2019 at 10:16 amHaha me too! 😊 Now we can eat even more of them!