Sweet banana base, cold brew kick, and lots of chocolate chips make these vegan + paleo Banana Mocha Chip Muffins an ultra fluffy indulgent breakfast or sweet treat!
If only life came with a homemade muffin on demand button I feel like the whole affair would be much more manageable.
You think I am joking. I am not. Just consider for a moment – they are the ideal cozy, cute, can’t-be-mad-while-consuming food. I have yet to find another baked good that can check all those boxes quite so effortlessly.
What’s that? You need a bulleted list of hypotheticals to convince you…
- Monday morning when you didn’t meal prep (shocker!) and breakfast is like: I’m here, it’s time for me! Muffin.
- Busy 4pm when you are trying to squeeze as much productivity as possible out of the last little bit of your workday motivation but need sustenance that tastes like cake NOW. Mocha muffin.
- Lazy day mug of warm cozy coffee or tea that is just begging for a caffeinated companion. Mocha chip muffin.
- Just casually being a human doing your human thing with impeccable taste in snacks. Banana Mocha Chip Muffin.
So now that you just saw your entire week flash before your eyes, I think we can agree the 5 minute effort investment it takes to throw this batter together in the blender more than pays for itself in snack problem-solving and overall positive vibes.
You’re feeling all Monday We Got This now too, right?
See here’s my dilemma with coffee in baked goods. In the past I have used instant espresso powder, but instant espresso powder is a) not something I typically have in my pantry and b) not something I feel good about consuming after 3pm. And if there are muffins in the house I am going to want to eat one after 3pm. Instant espresso definitely delivers on flavor, but I prefer to have my muffin and sleep sometime in the near-ish future too.
Hey, what’s coffee and super trendy and less potent but still so good in muffins?
Why yes, I do mean COLD BREW.
No I didn’t choose cold brew mostly completely because it’s really really easy. Effort level = unscrewing a lid. Fun fact: it also comes concentrated which means more flavor without over-liquidifying the recipe. And the caffeine equivalent of one full cup of coffee spread across six muffins means napping later is a very real possibility.
The flavor is certainly more subtle than the BAM-POW spoonful of espresso in your muffin batter route, so if you want to add that I will not stop you. If you don’t have cold brew concentrate, a half cup of very strongly brewed coffee will work too. If coffee isn’t your jam (wait…why are you still reading?) then swap it out for non-dairy milk and enjoy your coffee-less chocolate chip banana muffins like this.
The cold brew concentrate I used happened to be already mocha. Which means it happened to have chocolate flavor in it too. Which means I happened to not add cacao powder to the batter. Which happened to be the best decision because with mini chips in every bite the muffins were plenty mocha for me but not overpoweringly CHOCOLATE.
You do you though. As long as “you” involves chocolate chips and lots of them.
It feels a little late in the game to bring this up, but these are BANANA mocha chip muffins btw. No maple syrup. No dates. Just bananas – sweet and simple.
This entire batter-made-in-a-blender situation is heavy on the simple. Only 7 ingredients (including chocolate chips!), a couple of buttons to press, and a few spoonfuls to plop into a pan. Does this still qualify as baking even?
I used almond flour to keep these mocha chip muffins grain-free. You will need either ground flax or tapioca starch too, personally I prefer the texture with the tapioca. I did not test it with oat flour so you will have to experiment on your own. But almond flour + tapioca starch does make for the most amazing muffin texture ever…just sayin.
If you really want an oat flour muffin/cupcake with coffee flavor, I’d recommend this recipe instead -> Vegan Caramel Espresso Cupcakes
Muffins emerging from the oven perfect golden domes with a tiny bit of overflow and just a few crusty crackles on top. Those tell-tale signs before even prying them out of the pan that this is it. This is THE batch. The culmination of all those trials finally coming together in the ultimate soft fluffy inner surround by subtly crisp outer. This moment of muffin victory fills my heart with joy on a puppies and rainbows level.
Happy mocha muffin baking joy-creating to you!
Banana Mocha Chip Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 muffins 1x
- Category: muffins
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Description
Sweet banana base, cold brew kick, and chocolate chips make these vegan and paleo Banana Mocha Chip Muffins an ultra fluffy indulgent breakfast or sweet treat!
Ingredients
- 3 (325g) ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup (120g) cold brew concentrate (*)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup (70g) tapioca starch (**)
- 2 1/4 cup (250g) almond flour (***)
- 1/3 cup (65g) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a high speed blender or food processor, blend the bananas briefly until no large chunks remain. (Or you could mash/mix by hand.)
- Add the rest of the ingredients (except the chocolate chips) and blend until combined. The batter should be very thick and barely able to blend, so if it seems too pour-able add an extra 1/4 cup almond flour.
- Stir/mix in the chocolate chips.
- Spray or line a muffin pan with paper liners. Divide the batter between 6-8 muffins filing each to the top if you want nice rounded domed muffins.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350F or until golden brown and bounce back when lightly pressed in the center.
- Remove from the oven. Cool for 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Enjoy! Keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
*Or very strongly brewed coffee. Or 1/2 cup non-dairy milk + 1 tsp instant espresso powder. Or if you don’t like coffee at all, just use non-dairy milk. **You can sub with arrowroot or cornstarch. Or an equal amount of ground flax (60g) although they will be a bit more delicate/crumbly. ***I have not tested these with oat flour. You can experiment on your own, but since there is no nut butter or oil they will be quite dry. I’d recommend this coffee cupcake recipe instead that is designed for oat flour.
Keywords: baking, snack, dessert, banana, chocolate, paleo, vegan
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I had some overripe bananas and was searching for a breakfast muffin recipe as you published this on Facebook. I made them straight away and was not disappointed! I subbed half the choc chips for walnuts and couldn’t even wait for them to cool down to dig in. Another great recipe, thanks!
★★★★★
Woohoo!! We are so in sync today it seems, I am thrilled they turned out so well😊 Funny enough while editing these the thought went through my mind: “These would be so good with some nuts added!” Thanks for the feedback and enjoy the rest of the batch!
A muffin on demand button…I was on board even without your very well-organized, bulleted list! We can dream, right? I have to say with such button my first order would 100% be one of these. For whatever reason I’ve never even thought of combining mocha and banana, but they’re two such amazing flavors on their own, there’s absolutely no way you could go wrong with one of these cute lil muffs! And oh my goodness the texture looks downright dreamy!! Hope you had a happy Monday, Natalie!
Oh yes, there will have to be options on this button so you can get just the muffin you are craving at the moment. Because while we’re dreaming…😊 This is my first time combining mocha and banana too but highly recommend! Although then again there isn’t much that doesn’t work with banana. Happy Monday to you too!
I’m so in love with these caffeine spiked fluffy muffins <3 You made me realize how badly I need more muffins in my life. Your list is very convincing and so well done – I love! My new life dream is for that instant muffin button – maybe a new business venture??
Bahahaha!! Yes I can see us on shark tank now😂😂 Thanks girly and wishing you a muffin (and good vibes) filled week💜
I’m laughing because I made cinnamon cold brew banana bread last week. I think I have been reading your recipes for so long that I have started to replicate/anticipate your style and choice of flavors! This is such a yummy combo, though I had my doubts about it at first. Because sometimes it’s nice to deviate from squash recipes, even if just for a day or two 😉
★★★★★
No way!? Hahahaha!! We are so totally on the same banana + coffee page here, although I am loving the sound of this cinnamon addition so I will definitely be adding that to my next batch 🙂 A little pumpkin break is nice now and then…although already working on another orange treat today lol!
Ok, these look amazing! Sadly, you know I don’t like bananas but I DO love coffee and chocolate chips together! In fact, my favorite muffin recipe is coffee and chocolate chips with almond flour. The combo is out of this world and the fact that these are relatively healthy with mainly bananas as the sweetener (and some yummy choco chips) is such an awesome bonus! Any extra sneaky little way to decrease the sugar is great! Then we can eat more, right?! Haha! I love both coffee and espresso powder in baked goods and have done both in many recipes and agree that the espresso can definitely perk you up, lol! Coffee gives a more overall robust flavor. Either way, I can’t give too much to Olivia or she will not be sleeping. Also, I need to find some of that mocha cold brew, STAT!
Eat more indeed haha! I just made another batch yesterday (because I over-bought on bananas while testing) and had 3 throughout the day because I just cannot resist fluffy muffin + chocolate 🙂 The coffee is much more subtle than espresso powder and just sort of melds into the other flavors instead of being front and center, you said it perfectly. I think my caffeine tolerance is pretty similar to Olivia’s lol. The mocha cold brew made as a latte though…mmmm so good. Highly recommend, although their vanilla one is my fave. Obviously 😀
oooo. I think you had me at 5-minute batter for this one! Oh and the fact that you use cold brew instead of instant coffee! I love the easy use, but I never have it in my fridge either! I always have my own coldbrew, but I’ll have to check out the mocha variety you have since I typically make my own cold brew! I love these muffins…and you’re right. Whenever I have muffins in the house, it’s ALL I want to eat ha!
★★★★★
Ha I am the exact same way with muffins, sometimes I find minis to be smarter so I can snack on more of them throughout the day. Oh wow HOMEMADE cold brew–I forgot you could do that because that’s how lazy I am lol. Might be even better in baking!
Hi Natalie! I’m really excited with this recipe and I have some ripe bananas waiting! But I still didn’t receive my order with tapioca and arrowroot starch (it’s not easy to get it in Germany:)). While I have the potato starch at home, do you think it might work instead? I need to get rid of it anyway and I wonder if I could use it for the gluten free backing…
I do not work with potato starch very often, and honestly it is not my favorite for baking. It doesn’t make for nearly as fluffy a texture in my experience, but you could try it and see. Sorry! I really can’t give you a more definitive answer without trying it myself, gluten-free baking is tricky and you never know what substituting will do. Best of luck and hopefully that package arrives soon!
Thanks for your feedback! Oh I don’t want to spoil these amazing muffins, so maybe I’ll just make banana-oat cookies (again:)) and wait for my starch to arrive))
I just made these subbing whole wheat flour for the almond meal and water for the cold brew. They are very delicious. I used cupcake papers and they stuck badly to them so just wanted to advise anyone else who wants to sub whole wheat flour for almond meal to maybe spray your cupcake papers with cooking spray before putting the batter in. Thank you for the yummy sugar free recipe! I love your ideas!!
★★★★★
Again so good to know! I haven’t tried this one with wheat yet but I probably will soon since it’s one of my faves, I make them over and over because no sugar but perfectly sweet. Yikes, sorry to hear about the papers🙈 Thanks for the info though and happy baking!
Can I skipp the choc chips? Will it5 affect the texture? Tnx
They will be fine without the chips, I’ve made them many times that way myself 🙂 Enjoy!
Instead of muffins, can I use the same batter and bake in loaf pan as banana bread?
I don’t recommend it, the thicker/deeper shape of a loaf pan makes it much harder for the center to bake through properly, especially with grain-free and vegan recipes. Muffins allow for a lot more heat all around, so the texture will be better (no mushy middle!)
Hi Natalie, what’s the function of tapioca flour or cornstarch?
I want to bake something yummy for my colleague. My team will throw a farewell party for her. However, she has problems with her digestions. Meaning she can’t consume sugar, yeast, flour (oatmeal or almond meal is okay), dried fruits, honey, coffee, chocolate, tapioca meel or cornstarch. Perhaps you have tips for me?
It acts as a binder since almond flour really doesn’t have much binding power on its own, so sort of replaces the egg and gluten in a recipe like this. Almond flour doesn’t work very well by itself, but I do have some oat + almond flour recipes that don’t use any starch that could work for her. Like maybe one of these:
https://www.feastingonfruit.com/vegan-pumpkin-cake/
https://www.feastingonfruit.com/lemon-yogurt-bundt-cake/
Can I substitute potato starch for the tapioca?
I haven’t tested it but you can try it and see! Should be okay, but might change the texture somewhat 🙂
I read in one of the comments that wheat flour works with this recipe. Can I use half almond flour/ half whole wheat? To save up on almond flour. Is cornstarch still needed for this flour combo? Thanks for your reply.
Haven’t tested it, but yes that should work! And nope, you will not need the cornstarch in that case. I’d try 1 cup almond and 1.5 cups whole wheat!
Appreciate the quick reply! I will let you know how the muffins turns out.
The muffins were amazing, perfect texture using almond/wheat flour! If using instant coffee granules, how much should I use, is 2 tsp enough or not too much?
Also, would this mean that for your other recipes using almond flour, we can use almond and wheat flour mix? Thanks for your healthy recipes!
YAY!! I am so happy that flour combo was a success😊 And personally I’d do about 1 tbsp granules dissolved in 1/2 cup water. I can’t guarantee the almond + wheat combo will work across the board where almond flour is called for because almond flour contains a lot more natural oils so you risk the recipe turning out too dry sometimes. Feel free to ask about any ones in particular you want to try though and I will try to advise best I can!
Thank you for all your effort in helping us do your recipes right! It means so much to know that you’re always on the other end.
I think my reply did not get through the first time. Thank you for all your effort in helping us do your recipes right! It means so much to know that you’re always at the other end.
Always here and happy to help, I try to get back to blog comments within 24 hours 🙂 Appreciate you May!
Hi Nat! Is is possible to bake entirely with oat flour? 🙂
I don’t recommend all oat flour in this one, they will turn out rather gummy since its much much lower fat that almond flour. You could do this recipe in a muffin pan: https://feastingonfruit.com/peanut-butter-banana-bundt-cake/ It’s half oat half almond but with the nut butter to keep them moist and not gummy. Sorry and hope that helps!