A few years ago, my coworker Danielle surprised the office with vegan pumpkin muffins that her mom had made.
And oh my noms, they were some of the best muffins I’ve ever had, period.
Turns out, Danielle had asked her mom to make them vegan, because she’s a solid friend and incredibly considerate (at the time I was a vegan and she didn’t want me to be left out).
Mama Torralba was not familiar with vegan baking, but she did some research, modified an existing recipe, and the resulting muffins to this day are some of the best I’ve ever had.
This has since become one of my all time favorite vegan recipes. The best part about it is that you can easily modify it based on what you have on hand.
Don’t have coconut oil but have plenty of olive? No problem! Prefer another non-dairy milk to coconut? Use whatever you have! Want some crunch? Add in some chopped walnuts! Have a lot of bananas on hand? Make banana bread instead of pumpkin bread!
Honestly, I find myself using this recipe most frequently for banana bread. I love adding in seeds, nuts, and even chocolate chips, depending on my mood. I’ve added several suggestions for optional add-ins, so feel free to experiment and see what you like best!
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
Wet Ingredients:
1 cup smashed ripe bananas
½ cup melted coconut oil (can substitute olive oil)
4 tbsp coconut milk (can easily substitute with any non-dairy milk)
2 tbsp water
Optional Add-Ins:
Spices, such as cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves
Seeds, such as flax or chia
Nuts, such as walnuts or pecans
Chocolate chips
Oats
For pumpkin bread: instead of bananas, use 1 cup canned pumpkin, and add 1tsp each cinnamon and nutmeg, ½ tsp allspice and ginger, and ¼ tsp cloves.
Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 350°F
Step 2: Smash Bananas
You need 2-3 very ripe bananas* for this recipe (it really depends on the size of the bananas).
Mash the ripe bananas in a bowl. You should easily be able to do this with a fork.
*Very ripe essentially means there is a lot of brown on the peel. Before you cook, check the bananas for mold on the peel. If there is mold on the peel, the banana is rotten and is no longer safe to use.
Step 2: Mix Ingredients
In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients and mix. It is important to mix these first so the baking powder, baking soda, and salt are evenly distributed throughout the loaf.
Next, incorporate the wet ingredients.
Last, add the banana. Make sure everything is well mixed.
Step 3 (optional): Add-Ins
If you’d rather stick to a classic banana loaf, you can move on to Step 4.
Depending on what I have on hand, I often will mix in some extra goodness to my loaves. I especially love adding chocolate chips!
For this loaf I kept it simple and only added 1 teaspoon cinnamon and ½ teaspoon nutmeg.
Step 4: Bake
Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan.
Bake at 350 until fully cooked, about 40-50 minutes. The loaf is done when you insert a knife and it comes out clean.
Please note: if you decide to make muffins, cooking time will be much shorter. I suggest checking muffins regularly after about 20 minutes.
