Chai Spiced Banana Mini Muffins (Vegan + GF)

Chai Spiced Banana Mini Muffins (v + gf)

When the weather cools down, my mind starts wandering to thoughts of warm baked goods; muffins and donuts being at the top of the list. These 30 minute chai spiced and caramel glazed mini muffins are everything I’ve been dreaming of and more.

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These little cuties are packed with autumn spice and are the perfect gateway muffin into fall flavor, especially if you’re not ready to leap into the pumpkin craze just yet. If you saw my Pumpkin Spice Syrup and Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte posts last week, you know it’s already too late for me. Despite my full-on immersion in pumpkin spiced treats, these banana muffins were delicious enough to give me pause in my pursuit of all things pumpkin. They’re moist, perfectly sweet, and so easy to make. Maybe too easy.

muffin-mania

My kitchen was overflowing with mini muffins! Nobody seemed to mind too much 😉

Chai Spiced Banana Mini Muffins (v + gf)mini-muffinbanana-chai-drizzle

In addition to being vegan, these two-bite banana muffins are also naturally gluten free (I use a combination of oat flour and buckwheat flour), oil-free, and sweetened with banana and coconut sugar. They’re a healthier option than anything you’ll find inside a bakery display case, that’s for sure. The no-cook vegan caramel glaze is made with pure maple syrup and almond butter, and it’s so easy. Even easier than my easy vegan caramel sauce from a few weeks ago! Just whisk and drizzle. I can see myself using it in all kinds of delicious ways.

I hope you give these cozy chai spiced muffins a try, I just know you’re going to love them!

Chai Spiced Banana Mini Muffins (v + gf)

Makes about 16 mini muffins

Inspired by my Peanut Butter and Banana Buckwheat Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup oat flour* (use certified gf if needed)
  • 1/4 cup buckwheat flour*
  • 2 tsp ground flax seed or psyllium husk powder
  • 1 + 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • Spices: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cardamom, dash of cloves
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 large very ripe, well-mashed banana (about 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp)
  • 3 tbsp of smooth, runny almond butter (I used raw)
  • 1/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/4 cup almond milk (or other dairy free milk) + 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Caramel Glaze

  • 2 tbsp almond butter
  • 1 – 1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp almond milk
  • a few drops of vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt

Chopped raw walnuts for topping, optional

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (all the way up to and including salt). Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
  3. Pour wet into dry and stir together. Let the batter rest for a few minutes while you prepare your mini muffin pan.
  4. Lightly oil your muffin pan (I used coconut oil) or use muffin liners. Spoon batter into each cup, filling about 2/3 – 3/4 of the way. Bake in your preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  5. Cool in pan for about 5 minutes and then carefully remove muffins from pan (you may need to gently run a knife around the edge and pop them out) and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. They may seem soft and slightly underdone when first taken out of the oven but they will be perfect after they cool a bit.

*I blend my own oat flour and buckwheat flour in my blender. Measure after blending. Use certified gluten free grains if needed.

As always, I’d love to know if you give them a try! Reading your comments makes my day! Snap a photo and be sure to tag it #feedingyourbeauty on Instagram, I can’t wait for you to try these!

Chai Spiced Banana Mini Muffins (v + gf)

 

15 thoughts on “Chai Spiced Banana Mini Muffins (Vegan + GF)”

    • Larice says:
      Reply

      I think the overall cuteness of food definitely ups the yummy factor! Yes, chai flavors are so good! I knew I wanted to make some yummy banana muffins but had to sneak some cozy autumn spice into them! They remind me of these tiny muffins I used to buy in a package as a kid. Do you remember those? I don’t know if they even sell them anymore and it might be way before your time! Anyway they were terribly unhealthy I’m sure! These are much more wholesome and just as moist and cravable. Thanks for checking them out Natalie, hope you give them a try; muffin lover that you are I think you’d enjoy them!

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  5. Christine says:
    Reply

    Hello! I made these tonight and great flavours. Thank you! Just wondering, I had to use cashew butter as that is what I had on hand, they were a little ‘stodgy’. Sorry for the choice of word but can’t think of another and that does not reflect on the taste, no doubt it’s my cooking at fault and not your recipe!! My nut butters are normally not runny as you described and I really want to do them again with sunflower seed butter so my kids can take them to school. Any suggestions on why this happened? Otherwise we loved them and are keen to make again. Thanks 🙂

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    • Larice says:
      Reply

      Hi Christine! Thank you for your honest feedback, and I’d love to help any way I can! As for being stodgy, would you say they were a bit dry or tough, or kind of “blah”? These should turn out nice and soft and moist. It might be ripeness of the banana at play here, or even the amount. I would mash and measure just to make sure. As for the nut or seed butter, it’s a small amount and really just added in for a little fat, so I’m not sure if that would affect it too much if yours wasn’t runny. If you wanted to try it, sometimes I take my thicker/dryer nut butters and scrape them into my food processor and run it for a bit. This usually helps make it a little more smooth and runny. Some folks warm theirs up, like over the stove, but that never works for me. Otherwise, you could try adding a splash more almond milk to the batter if it seems too dry. Hopefully this helps! Let me know if that doesn’t answer your question.

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      • Christine says:

        Thanks for the reply Larice. Feeling silly now because I realised after reading the recipe again that I made them more cupcake size than mini due to the lack of a mini muffin pan. So can you make tham bigger and would you have to adjust anything. I’m wanting to do them again over the weekend so perhaps this was the problem. 😬 Thanks for the recipes x

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      • Larice says:

        No problem Christine! I was actually thinking about making a batch of these anyway, so I made some regular sized this morning and they came out great. So yes, you definitely can make them bigger! I had to bake them for around 17 minutes, so that is the main difference. A few tips I might add (because I really want you to love these!) would be:
        1. Make sure the banana is ripe (spotty) and that you mash your banana with a fork really, really well. I’m not sure I stress that enough in the recipe so I’m going back to add it in. You want to mash it into a liquid practically.
        2. Make sure your flour isn’t too coarse if you grind it yourself. You want it to be pretty fine, which can be done with a vitamix at home or you can buy oat or buckwheat flour at the store.
        3. Once again, make sure your almond butter is soft and ideally somewhat runny. If it’s hard and dry it won’t mix in as well and could affect the outcome.
        3. Ovens vary so keep an eye on them, mine were perfect at 17 minutes, but yours might take more or less time. When a toothpick comes out clean and the tops are light brown they should be good.
        Hope these tips help Christine! Let me know how it goes! 🙂

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