Ah – these Strawberry Banana Muffins 🥰. Where do I begin? I did a recipe trial last year, which turned out nice(ish), but I knew it was not the real deal. Lately, I have been on a quest on finalizing exactly some of those recipes that I had trialed at some stage but never gotten around to properly finishing it. Enter: The final recipe you find below 😍.
When I went back to the drawing board, I knew I wanted to make these muffins fully vegan. So, I played with the ingredients and ratios and put the trial into the oven. I put the muffins aside for my husband to try later. He tried the first one and declared it an instant success. Whereas I had not really anticipated that – I was also not too unhappy 😂. After asking a few more people for their opinion (usual recipe trialing process) and them all declaring it a success – here we are 😊. I shot them immediately so that you can take full advantage of this great and easy recipe the entire strawberry 🍓 season!!
Now – just a little word on the taste of these beauties: They are kind of like banana bread in muffin form and then have distinct notes and hints of strawberries coming through. I am sure that you could probably also add a bit more liquid and swap the strawberries for chocolate at a later stage in the season 😉. Once you are familiar with the basic recipe – the world is your oyster (or banana muffin) here.
Why are these Strawberry Banana Muffins good for you?
Bananas
Sweet, beautiful banana. Bananas contain both a fair amount of fiber, as well as antioxidants. They are also high in Vitamin B6, Potassium, Magnesium, and Manganese. Principally, the greener the banana the more starch and fiber it contains. When the banana ripens, these starches turn into sugars. The fiber (called “pectin”) and resistant starch found in bananas slow down the digestive process by moving through the gut more slowly. Slower digestion helps with keeping you full for longer and also aids with moderating blood sugar levels. Additionally, resistant starch is a great food for the good gut bacteria in your large intestine, of which they feed off. This suggests that bananas may also be beneficial for your overall gut health.
Strawberries
Strawberries are a gorgeous spring to early summer fruit here in Europe when they are fresh and ripe. These bright red little fellas are full of Vitamin C, Manganese, Folate, and Potassium. A study on berries (this is all berries, not just strawberries) has found a link between increased heart health when consuming berries. This is because berries have been proven to reduce your blood pressure levels, and may improve your good cholesterol levels. Strawberries may also increase the antioxidant markers in your blood and reduce inflammation, as well as oxidative stress on the body. Eh – did I mention that they are also super delicious? This is a summer berry to be enjoyed to its fullest 🥰.
Coconut Oil
If you have been with me for a while – you know that this is one of my favorite oils to use! Coconut oil does not only have a high smoke point, which makes it ideal for frying at higher temperatures but it also fully vegan. Coconut oil contains medium-chain fatty acids (so-called MCTs). These MCTs are quick fuel for your brain and may even tell your body to burn fat. They also raise your good cholesterol levels, which can potentially prevent heart disease. Coconut oil also contains something called “lauric acid”. Lauric acid, along with monolaurin (a substance that your body builds when ingesting lauric acid) can kill bacteria, viruses, and fungi. This means that Coconut Oil also has an antimicrobial effect.
A quick word on baking with gluten-free flour…
Gluten-free flour has slightly different properties than non-gluten-free flour. For one, the “gluten”, the actual glutenous part in flour that makes it bind together, is missing, which is the reason, why we have to replace it with something else. In this instance, we are using chia seeds to create this binding effect. However, the other three important factors are: (1) Have your oven sufficiently pre-heated before putting the muffins in, (2) do not peak too often, as this will release heat from the oven and gluten-free flour needs steady temperatures, 3 (most importantly!) let the muffins cool completely. If you tear into anything that is gluten-free before having sufficiently cooled (even though this sometimes works in our favor, like with my Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie Bites) it will tear and become soggy in the middle. Still delicious, but you will always wonder where you went wrong in the baking process. You likely did not really – you were just not practicing patience in the end 😂. Be sure to follow these steps and the muffins will be Ahhh-mazing 🥰.
Wet ingredients 
Adding dry ingredients to the wet ones 
Mixing the dough through 
Cutting strawberries 
Mixing strawberries into dough 
Pouring dough in muffin forms
How can I adjust these Strawberry Banana Muffins to my dietary requirements?
This recipe is vegan, as well gluten-free, refined sugar free, and nut-free. Due to the grain content in the recipe, it is not suitable for the paleo lifestyle.
And there you have it for this week 🤗. I hope you enjoy these delicious Strawberry Banana Muffins. Perhaps you already get a chance to make them over the weekend 😉. Please let me know how you get on – either in the comments below or over on Instagram with the #lifeandlemonsfoodblog. I love hearing from you!
Strawberry Banana Muffins
Course: Dessert, CakeCuisine: Gluten-free baking, veganDifficulty: Easy8
muffins20
minutes40
minutesIf you love banana bread – and want a twist of it with some strawberries in it, these Strawberry Banana Muffins are the ideal recipe for you!
Ingredients
- Wet Ingredients
1 cup 1 mashed banana (about 4 small ones or 3 medium-sized ones – ca. 350 gr.)
2 tbsp 2 chia seeds, ground
¼ cup coconut oil (60 gr.), melted
¼ cup (60 ml.) non-dairy milk
¼ cup (60 ml.) maple syrup
- Dry Ingredients
¾ cup (90 gr.) oats
½ cup (100 gr.) buckwheat flour
¼ cup (38 gr.) coconut sugar
½ tsp vanilla powder
1 tsp 1 baking powder
Pinch of salt
About 1.5 cup strawberries, finely cut (ca. 300 gr.) – leave 4 whole ones for garnish
How to
- Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees (350 Fahrenheit) and grease 8 muffin forms
- In a bowl, add all the wet ingredients together and mix well
- Place both the oats and buckwheat in a blender and blend into a flour. Add to the wet ingredients along with the coconut sugar, vanilla powder, baking powder and pinch of salt
- Wash and de-stem the strawberries and finely cut into bite-sized pieces. Mix under the batter
- Fill the batter into the muffin forms. Cut the four remaining strawberries in half and gently press decoratively on top of the muffin form
- Bake the muffins in the oven for ca. 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the muffins cool completely before tearing into them, else the dough will not set and always be wet and soggy in the middle (this is due to the properties of gluten-free baking). Once fully cooled, ENJOY!!!
