It’s pretty rare that I have those lovely dark brown, very ripe bananas hanging around – the kind that are perfect for recipes. When I do, I almost always make some form of banana bread, like these muffins. To stick to an unspoken not-a-New-Year’s-resolution resolution, I wanted to create a muffin that contained no sugar and no oil.

Sugar-Free Banana-Date-Flax Muffins [Vegan]

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Ingredients

  • 2 very ripe bananas
  • 1/4 cup date paste
  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. non-dairy milk
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
  • 1/4 cup barley flour
  • 1/4 cup brown rice flour
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp. allspice
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. powdered stevia
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 1 cup pecans, chopped
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips, optional
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Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350F and lightly oil 10 muffin tins (or a 9″ x 9″ pan).
  2. In a medium-sized bowl, mash the bananas and then stir in the date paste, tahini, milk, and vanilla extract.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, flaxseed meal, barley flour, brown rice flour, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, baking powder and soda, and stevia.
  4. Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry and stir until almost combined – batter will be thick – and then stir in the coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips, if using. Stir until mixture is thoroughly combined.
  5. Scrape batter into prepared muffin tins or pan.
  6. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let muffins cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove them and let them cool completely on a cooling rack.
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