These flourless chocolate peanut butter muffins are unbelievably moist and tender and packed with chocolate and peanut butter flavor. You simply won't believe this gluten-free and even grain-free recipe, made without added butter or oil!
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Why this flourless muffin recipe with peanut butter and chocolate works so well
When I first developed this recipe in 2016, I had been failing off and on for years. And then you loved it as much as I do, so I doubled down on flourless baking recipes.
At the start, I tried to make flourless chocolate peanut butter muffins without banana. But banana helps add moisture, plus lots of natural sweetness.
- The structure of the muffin comes from the smooth nut butter and eggs. Even the mashed banana helps.
- The moisture and sweetness from the honey and banana.
- The flavor comes from honey, cocoa powder, and peanut butter.
The result is these amazingly moist, tender and even light grain-free flourless peanut butter breakfast muffins.
They taste great, aren't very sweet, and are still super filling. A staple of the gluten free breakfast rotation in my house.
What makes this grain free chocolate peanut butter muffin recipe the best—even if you don't like banana
If you compare this flourless recipe to my recipe for flourless chocolate peanut butter breakfast cookies, you'll find that the real difference is the addition of mashed banana here.
If you really don't like the taste of bananas, you don't even taste them. I do like bananas, but I'm still sensitive to the taste because I only want things like our gluten free banana muffins to taste like them.
If you scroll down, though, I do have some suggestions for replacing the mashed banana. And you can always try our recipe for flourless Paleo muffins, which are much more neutral-tasting.
What makes these chocolate peanut butter muffins healthy?
Most grab-and-go breakfast foods aren't healthy at all. Even if they fill you up for the moment, you'll probably crash pretty soon after.
These chocolate peanut butter muffins are healthy because they're made with smooth peanut butter as a base, and much of the sweetness comes from mashed bananas. If you've ever been running low on energy and grabbed a spoonful of peanut butter as a snack, these muffins are a more satisfying alternative.
Ingredients and substitutions for chocolate peanut butter muffins
As long as you're using dairy-free miniature chocolate chips (or simply leaving them out of the recipe), these muffins are naturally dairy-free.
Here are some educated guesses about other allergenic ingredients you may have to eliminate. If none of them suits you, don't forget there are so many other gluten free breakfast ideas here on the blog.
Egg-free chocolate peanut butter muffins
There are 3 eggs in this recipe, as it's been scaled up to make more generous muffins, which is generally too many eggs to successfully replace in a recipe.
Before you try replacing each egg with a “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel), I recommend scaling the recipe back down to call for only 2 eggs.
The other ingredients would be as follows:
- 1 cup (256 g) peanut butter
- 2 mashed bananas (200 g)
- 2 “chia eggs”
- 4 tablespoons (84 g) honey
- 1/2 cup (40 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ounce miniature dark chocolate chips (optional)
Follow the remaining recipe instructions as written. The recipe should only make 8 chocolate peanut butter muffins.
No banana flourless muffins recipe suggestions
I love bananas, but I know not everyone shares my heart here. I really really believe that you cannot taste the bananas in this recipe.
One more pitch for including them: The banana flavor is completely overshadowed by the chocolate and peanut butter flavors.
But if you simply will not bake with mashed bananas, try replacing them with an equal amount, by weight, of unsweetened smooth (jarred) applesauce.
For a different, but similar recipe, try our flourless quinoa chocolate cupcakes recipe instead.
Making flourless muffins without honey
If you'd like to make vegan chocolate peanut butter flourless muffins, you'll need to make them egg-free (see above) and without honey.
I don't usually have success replacing honey in baking with pure maple syrup. Syrup is much thinner than honey.
To match honey's sweetness and viscosity, try Lyle's Golden Syrup instead. If you can't find Lyle's, I think light corn syrup (which is not at all the same as the dreaded high fructose corn syrup) should work, too.
Flourless Chocolate Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (384 g) no stir smooth peanut butter
- 3 (300 g) peeled ripe bananas mashed
- 3 (150 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
- 6 tablespoons (126 g) honey
- ¾ cup (60 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch processed will work just fine)
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ ounces miniature dark chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line the wells of a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the peanut butter, bananas, eggs and honey, and beat with a handheld mixer until very well-combined.
- Add the cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt, and mix with a spatula until just combined.
- Beat the mixture again with a handheld mixer until very well-combined. The batter should be thick but soft and as smooth as possible.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared wells of the muffin tin, and shake the tin back and forth to distribute the batter in an even layer in each well.
- Sprinkle the optional miniature chocolate chips evenly on top of the batter in each well.
- Place the tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the tops of the muffins are puffed and spring back and feel relatively firm when pressed gently in the center (about 25 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- They freeze exceptionally well when placed in a well-sealed freezer-safe container.
- Defrost at room temperature or in the microwave.
Notes
Nutrition
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Miriam says
Sounds absolutely delicious. I have some frozen bananas in the freezer I usually use for muffins, will these be alright to use or will they be too wet? I’m so glad I found your web page it’s made my life much easier baking for my husband. Thank you.
Erika says
Could I use milk chocolate chips instead of dark? My kids are not fan of dark chocolate . Thanks
Nicole Hunn says
Of course, Erika! If you can have dairy, you can always use milk chocolate chips—or any other chip you prefer.
Coco says
Amazing muffins! They taste much more rich than they are, I served them as dessert at my dinner party with vanilla ice cream and a dribble of chocolate liqueur, they were a huge hit. Thank you so much for sharing!
Nicole Hunn says
Oooh that sounds amazing, Coco!
marcie says
No scale, what 300g of banana would be as ? Cups of Applesauce please
Nicole Hunn says
The only reliable way to bake is by weight, Marcie, particularly when you’re making substitutions. 1 medium-sized banana weighed out of its peel usually weighs about 100 grams. I suggest using that as a guide, but I can’t promise results without a simple inexpensive digital scale.
Susan says
These muffins have an incredible cake-like texture. Hard to believe it, since they contain 1 1/2C peanut butter! What a yummy way to get protein at breakfast. They are satisfying and one muffin keeps me going all morning.
Nicole Hunn says
That’s awesome, Susan! They really are magic muffins.
Lisa says
Hi Nichole, I made these muffins last week and they are delicious! Followed the recipe just as it is written, and they came out perfect. Your recipes work and are delicious-especially for GLUTEN free! Thanks for another winner!
Nicole Hunn says
You’re so welcome, Lisa! Thanks for letting me know you loved them. Stock that freezer!
Cynthia says
This is a great chocolate muffin recipe! I had one ripe banana so I decided to try cutting all the ingredients to 1/3 of original, i.e. one banana, one egg, etc. and made six smallish muffins. That was perfect for my husband and me until our 16 year old grandson walked in! He loves chocolate and peanut butter as much as we do. Now that I know how wonderful the muffins are I will be making the full recipe! Glad to know they freeze well too! Thanks Nicole!
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Cynthia, I’m so glad! And you can always reduce any recipe by a percentage across the board. That’s the beauty of baking by weight!
Mildred Wiens says
Excellent, just a bit strong chocolate. Could part of the cocoa be substituted with one of the flours, like arrowroot ?
Nicole Hunn says
I’m afraid not, Mildred. I would say to make sure you’re using very ripe bananas, as that really sweetens the muffins and makes the chocolate flavor smoother.
Lee says
I just made these muffins in the hopes that one really doesn’t taste the banana flavor but alas I do. :( . I used mixed nut butter and cut the honey down to 3 Tablespoons. Otherwise, I didn’t make changes in the ingredients. I saw in one of the replies that you suggest using apple sauce as a substitute. Do you think apple butter might work better and also how much to use? Same amount in weight as the bananas?
Nicole Hunn says
I’m not sure what “mixed nut butter” is, Lee, but the strong flavor of peanut butter, and the addition of the honey as specified, both help to disguise the banana flavor. Every change, even ones that might seem unimportant, to you, takes you further away from the recipe as written. I don’t recommend apple butter, no. I refer you back to the part of the post that discusses applesauce, as you mentioned.
Kate says
Followed the recipe, looked lovely when cooked, but found them very dry, think if I were to make again would add some oil,
Nicole Hunn says
It sounds like you overbaked them, Kate. If you add oil, you’ll end up with greasy muffins—that are likely still overbaked. Check your oven temperature, as it likely runs hot (as most ovens do).
Margo Plachetka says
What are the calories and carbs in the recipe? Thanks so much!
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Margo, I’m afraid I don’t have that sort of information, but you can find it out just as I would, by plugging it into an online nutrition calculator. I like Spark People (https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp).
Becky says
I appreciate the time and effort you have spent developing your recipes. This one sounds really good. My question is you mention weighing the bananas and eggs, but did not mention what the weight should be for either. Can’t wIt to try them. Thank you again.
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Becky, the weights are there—just click “metric” on the recipe card, and everything switches over. I’ve thought about defaulting to the weight, but many Americans are put off by that. It should be more clear to switch. I apologize for the confusion!
ETA: Good news! I’ve found a way to make both values (customary and metric) available at the same time.
Janice Neufeld says
What is the point of saying weighed out of shell or peel of no weights are given?
Nicole Hunn says
The weights are all provided, Janice. Just click “metric” on the recipe card, and everything switches over. I’ve thought about defaulting to the weight, but many Americans are put off by that. It should be more clear to switch. I apologize for the confusion!
ETA: Good news! I’ve found a way to make both values (customary and metric) available at the same time.
Tracey Taylor says
What kind of peanut butter do you recommend .
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Tracey, Good question! I recommend using any safely gluten free brand of smooth, “no-stir” peanut butter. That’s the kind that is smooth and light-colored right when you open the jar. It usually has some sort of oil added to it, to help emulsify the peanut butter. I like Skippy brand. Even the “natural” is still not the “drippy” kind. Unless it’s specifically indicated, I never recommend baking with real “natural” peanut butter, the kind that’s only peanuts and maybe salt. It’s not smooth or integrated enough.
Cindy Ranuio says
I want to thank you for the fantastic “Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins | A Magical Recipe” recipe! It is sugar-free, or at least using alternative sweeteners and I truly appreciate it. Because I am on a special sugar-free diet due to cancer, I really appreciate recipes like this right now! And I’m sure others who also need to go sugar free are grateful for such a delicious recipe!
Nicole Hunn says
I’m so glad, Cindy! I’m so sorry to hear about your illness. These muffins are light in texture, but also really calorie- and protein-dense, which I hope is useful to you.
Tia says
Hi Nicole,
Thanks so much for another amazing recipe!! Just want to mention that I often replace bananas with canned pumpkin and it works pretty well. You lose the sweetness of the bananas but I don’t like anything too sweet anyway.
Nicole Hunn says
That’s an interesting swap, Tia. I could see it working just as you described. I’ll have to try that sometime! You will absolutely love these muffins, this way or that.