Once or twice a month, my dad drives across town to cook with my grandma. He stops by Trader Joe’s on the way and picks up a few bags of groceries to create the healthy meals, then spends the next few hours mixing, cooking, and baking while Grandma chats and taste tests.
Two or three hours later, Dad packs up the majority of the food into individual servings to freeze for Grandma to reheat for her daily lunches and dinners. The menu usually consists of sweet ’n sour chicken, turkey burgers, pasta sauce, plus a few other dishes that rotate in and out. But Dad always makes sure she has plenty of fresh fruit and veggies for snacking in between meals too.
After stopping by last weekend, Dad brought back a few overly speckled bananas and told me, “These were too ripe for Grandma. Think you can use them?”
“Of course!” I replied… Yet my indecision kicked in immediately afterward. I thought about making my favorite banana bread or cupcakes, but since neither seemed to hit the spot, I decided to sleep on it and bake the next day instead.
As my feet pounded the pavement on my morning run, my mind mulled over the different possibilities. With a chilly breeze blowing, “Gingerbread!” floated into my head. After two miles, I still couldn’t shake that craving, so I finally decided to combine the two.
The result? These Banana Gingerbread Muffins! So soft and tender, they’re practically bursting with the spicy ginger flavor of fall, while the sweet banana slices bring a refreshing lightness to the rich pastries. Even without any refined flour or sugar, these healthy muffins still taste like an indulgent treat!
The dry ingredients are all of your usual suspects: flour (gluten-free works too!), leaveners, salt, and spices. You’ll need both ground cinnamon and lots of ginger. That’s where all of the spicy flavor comes from, so be generous! If you’re a huge ginger fiend, you could even add some diced crystallized ginger to the batter too. (Darn, why didn’t I think of that sooner??)
With only 1 tablespoon of butter and an egg, the majority of the moisture comes from mashed banana and Greek yogurt. Both create that soft, tender texture for a fraction of the fat and calories, so they’re perfect for healthier baking—especially with the indulgent holiday season quickly approaching!
It wouldn’t be gingerbread without molasses, so don’t skip it! Molasses brings out the spicy ginger flavor and adds a depth and color you just can’t match with brown sugar. It’s shelf-stable and keeps for ages, and it makes for a lovely addition to granola or whole wheat bread too.
Between the strong flavors of the molasses and ginger, you can’t actually taste the banana inside of the muffins, which is why I added those cute sliced ones on top! You’ll want a banana that’s perfectly ripe for those, mostly yellow with just a few brown speckles. Slice it really thinly and carefully lay the pieces on top of the raw batter before placing the muffin tins in the oven. While baking, the banana sugars come out and start to caramelize. Those fruit slices are the best part of the entire muffin!
Full of cozy fall flavors, these Banana Gingerbread Muffins are perfect for chilly morning breakfasts, light mid-morning snacks, and… Road trips. My parents stole the last two for their drive up to their cabin—definitely a sign of a successful recipe!
And with another ripe banana sitting on my counter, it’s already time to make more.
These muffins are bursting with cozy fall flavor! The spicy ginger and rich molasses make the muffins taste very rich, while the sweet banana spices on top bring a refreshing lightness to the treats. Store any leftovers in zip-topped bags in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and lightly coat 8 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the mashed banana, molasses, and yogurt. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated.
- Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Place 3 banana slices on top so that they’re just barely touching in the center of the batter. Bake at 325°F for 24-29 minutes, or until barely firm to the touch. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before carefully turning out onto a wire rack. (Note: The banana slices will be hot and will squish if they’re touched, so try to only touch the muffin when removing them from the pans.)
Notes: For the gluten-free flour, I used as follows: ¾ cup (90g) millet flour, ¼ cup (35g) brown rice flour, 3 tablespoons (23g) tapioca flour, and 1 teaspoon (3g) xanthan gum.
For a vegan version, substitute coconut oil or Earth Balance buttery sticks for the unsalted butter, 3 extra tablespoons of mashed banana for the egg, and non-dairy yogurt for the Greek yogurt.
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
Oh, Amy, I’ve been so swamped but have totally been missing you and your blog … and this is the PERFECT post to jump back into reading! Yum! I have a freezer full of bananas that got a little too ripe on the counter, and now are awaiting their calling in banana bread – just imagine how many Banana Gingerbread Muffins I can make (seriously – A LOT! 😀 ). Love the story about how your dad helps your Grandma cook, too – what a wonderful way for them to spend time together while also helping her make sure she has lovely, healthy food easily available! Oh … and that crystallized ginger suggestion? Game on, girlfriend! I’m all in! Ooooh-la-la … pinning this one like crazy! 😀
I’ve missed you so much Shelley! I figured life got pretty busy once the kiddos went back to school. That was always a crazy time for our family! I always forget to freeze bananas; I really need to try that. I get the biggest banana bread cravings for a few days, but then they disappear for a while… So it’s pointless to buy any and wait for them to ripen. Frozen would be so perfect! And thank you so much for the pin love! 🙂
Would it be possible to substitute whole wheat pastry flour in the place of regular whole wheat flour ? These look absolutely delicious btw, can’t wait to make them ! 🙂
Thanks Helen! 🙂 Of course! Whole wheat pastry flour would work perfectly. I’m excited to hear what you think of the muffins!
Yes!! Gingerbread!! It’s time for it!! Love these. Pinned!
Thanks Dorothy!! Gingerbread and pumpkin are practically tied in my book. Just don’t tell the rest of the blog world that! 😉
I love a good banana muffin.. and these look delicious Amy! The best thing about them has to be how healthy they are for you. Great recipe!
Thanks Thalia! I’m obsessed with healthy muffins right now too. I even eat them for dessert instead of cookies — it’s crazy! 😉
Hi. Are you using aluminum muffin pans or the nonstick ones? I only have nonstick (black) ones and I’ve read somewhere that temperature should be decreased when using these pans. Also, I don’t have molasses, only brown sugar and honey. How can I substitute brown sugar/honey for molasses?
I actually used silicone muffin pans Austin, but the ones you have should be just fine. The sides may turn out a little darker than my muffins in the photos, but you shouldn’t have to decrease the baking temperature. I highly recommend using molasses if you can find it; as I explained in the text of the blog post, it’s crucial to the flavor of gingerbread. However, you may substitute honey for the molasses, but it won’t taste like true gingerbread.
just made these and have enjoyed one straight out of the oven spread with a little bit of manuka honey! Yummy and healthy… Will test it on the kids in the morning!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Hannah! I really hope your kids like them too!
I made 2 batches. The first batch I accidentally used cane syrup instead of molasses. They were delicious. The second batch I used molasses. They were even more delicious. Thank you for another great muffin recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins Linda, and that’s great to hear that both batches turned out!
The recipe is really nice… but the amount of ginger killed it for me. The muffins were bitter.
I have the following suggestions: just 1 t(b)sp of ginger (you can add some nutmeg or cardamom – you will be surprised at the depth of flavour) and don’t be afraid to add in more yogurt. The muffins will taste much much better. .
I’m glad you figured out how to make the muffins suit your tastes Agnes!
These were delicious, but HOLY GINGER. I am not one to shy away from strong flavors and liberal use of spice, but I had to do some quick fixing to make these edible. I thankfully tasted the batter before popping them in the oven, and added about 1/2 c. brown sugar to make them not taste like chewing on a chunk of fresh ginger. They were definitely still great muffins, and my fiance loved them, but I would consider changing the recipe to only 1 TBS or so of ginger. 🙂
Thanks for your feed back, and I’m glad you were able to adapt the ginger to suit your tastes Emma! 🙂