This easy recipe for Almond Flour Muffins comes to you from my friend Dale. When I first read her recipe I thought, "These are going to be little hockey pucks." Not so! In fact, they're the opposite. It must be the nut flour, which also makes these muffins gluten free.
When I've made similar muffins using regular flour, they're dense and chewy the next day. But cold from the fridge or at room temperature, these almond flour muffins are moist, delicate and sweet - though they have no refined sugar, just bananas and dates. They are also grain free, dairy free, and at about 200 calories, they're a light and filling breakfast or snack.
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Almond Flour Muffins FAQs
You'll get 16-18 generous almond flour muffins from this recipe and they freeze beautifully. I like to cook them 6 at a time, freezing extra batter portioned into paper liners ready to bake.
The day before I plan to bake them, I pop them into a muffin tin from the freezer, cover and thaw in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning I bake them and store any leftover muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They're even better the next day.
For these muffins, you’ll only use almond flour or almond meal. Though you can't use almond flour 1:1 for all-purpose flour (or whole wheat flour), in many recipes, you can substitute 25% of it.
Once opened, it's best to store almond meal / almond flour in the refrigerator to extend freshness. Nut flours go rancid faster than standard grain flours with little or no oil.
Both are ground almonds and used for gluten free baking. These terms vary by brand, but typically almond flour is more finely ground than almond meal. In most recipes you can use these interchangeably, though the texture may be slightly different.
I've made these muffins with both and could barely detect the difference.
In blanched almond flour, the almond skin has been removed. Natural almond flour is ground from almonds with the skin intact. There is a noticeable difference in color between the two, with the blanched flour being a light, off-white color and natural a warm brown.
Recipe Options
- To mix up the spice profile, swap in ground nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice for ½ teaspoon or more of the cinnamon. You can also add almond extract to intensify the almond flavor.
- For a sweeter muffin, add in a tablespoon or two of a natural sweetener like coconut sugar or maple syrup. You could also stir in a teaspoon of vanilla extract along with a handful of dried cranberries and/or chocolate chips.
- Mix in chopped pecans instead of walnuts if that's what you prefer or have on hand.
- For a vegan version of these muffins, use flax eggs (replace each egg with 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tablespoons of water), chia eggs (replace each egg with 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed mixed with 2 ½ tablespoons of water), or ¼ applesauce for each egg. If you substitute with applesauce, add ½ teaspoon baking powder to the recipe as well to retain the light texture.
More of My breakfast and snack favorites:
- Almond Flour Blueberry Muffins (A riff on this muffin recipe with plump frozen blueberries or fresh blueberries and lemon zest and juice!)
- Banana Oatmeal Cookies (Another one of my favorite almond flour recipes, these delicious cookies have no flour and are refined sugar free. They make a great portable breakfast or snack.)
- Almond Flour Banana Pancakes (Tender, fluffy and gluten free!)
- Banana Oatmeal Pancakes (Everyone loves these flourless pancakes - the batter is so easy to make in the blender!)
- Almond Flour Brownies (Thick and fudgy gluten free and grain free brownies.)
- Almond Flour Sugar Cookies (Make them thick and soft or thin and crispy - your choice!)
- Almond Flour Pumpkin Bread (Delicate, moist, warmly spiced and studded with pecans and dried cranberries!)
How to Make Almond Flour Muffins
Step 1: In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients: almond flour, shredded coconut, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
Step 2: Process dates, bananas, vinegar and coconut oil in a food processor until smooth. Add eggs and again, process until smooth.
Step 3: Add wet ingredients (date mixture) along with carrots and walnuts to almond flour mixture. Stir to combine.
Step 4: In a standard muffin pan, line muffin cups with paper liners and fill ⅔ full with batter.
Step 5: Bake 25 to 30 minutes at 350˚F, until muffin tops are set.
Almond Flour Muffins Recipe Video
Almond Flour Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour 224g
- ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 8 pitted medjool dates
- 3 ripe bananas
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vinegar white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 2 large large carrots shredded (recipe note #1)
- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts 100g
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line standard size muffin tins with muffin liners or generously grease.
- Combine almond flour, shredded coconut, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine; set aside.
- Add dates, bananas, vinegar, and coconut oil to the bowl of a food processor; process until smooth. Add eggs and again, process until smooth.
- Pour date mixture into almond flour mixture. Add shredded carrots and chopped walnuts; stir until combined.
- Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling each cup about ⅔ full.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until muffin tops are set and a sharp knife or toothpick comes out clean. Cool in muffin tin on a wire rack.
- Enjoy warm, at room temperature, or cold. Store extra muffins covered in the refrigerator and enjoy within a few days.
Notes
- Time Saving Tip: If you have a shredding disc for your food processor, shred carrots before processing wet ingredients - no need to wipe out the bowl in between.
- The uncooked batter freezes very well. I like to portion the batter into muffin wrappers before freezing then thaw overnight in a covered muffin tin in the refrigerator the day before I plan to bake them.
Haha, Marissa! I have made some "hockey pucks" myself using almond flour, so good to know you've found a recipe for us that isn't rock hard!! These sound terrific, and i love the alternative to regular all-purpose flour!
Thank you, Katherine!
Is there anything else you can use other than dates ? Boyfriend allergic, is there a substitute?
Hi there, Cathy. Absolutely! Soft, dried figs or prunes are both good substitutes. Hope you two love them!
What a great recipe! We are exclusively grain-free so I do lots of almond flour baking. This recipe is wonderful because it yields so many muffins for only 2c of almond flour, thanks to all the yummy nutritious ingredients. My kids loved these!
I love to hear this, Natalie! I'm so glad that your "kids loved these" - the highest compliment! Thank you for coming back to let me know!
These muffins look so good. Thanks for sharing such a nice and detailed recipe.
My pleasure! Thanks, Betty.
I love the use of almond flour in these muffins, Marissa! And the combination of bananas and dates could not be more delicious! I could definitely eat these marvelous muffins for breakfast, snack-time AND dessert! They look heavenly! Pinned!
aww...thank you so much, Cheyanne!
I've been baking a lot with almond flour lately, so I'm definitely trying these muffins some time soon! And what a great idea to freeze the batter in the muffin pans. Never would have thought to do that! Thanks for the tip Marissa!
Thanks, Leanne! It's great to have the batter ready to go. So convenient!
My 15 yr old son is gluten-free. This will be an awesome GF, on-the-go breakfast for him. I love the inclusion of the coconut and carrot. I'm actually thinking I'll make them today! I'll report back. 🙂
I would love that, Valentina! Thank you!
We all loved them! I didn't want to go the store so I used what I had -- oats instead of walnuts, and olive oil instead of coconut oil. They were great, and both of my kids had them for their on-the-go breakfast yesterday and today. We're already almost out. Thank you! Next time I'll try the walnuts and coconut oil -- assuming I get to the market. 😉
That's so wonderful to hear, Valentina! Thank you for coming back to let me know!
Always looking for new gluten free recipes to add to my repertoire Marissa! I've got a few GF friends, so I'll definitely baking a batch soon. Love almond flour!
Almond flour is amazing, isn't it! Hope you and your friends love these, Mary Ann!
Oh, my gosh, these look fantastic! Love the flavor, the healthy ingredients and the texture!! Marvelous!
Thank you, Liz!
Marissa, these would make the perfect breakfast! I have a 20 pound box of dates - I love eating them, but I sure could use a lot of them up in these muffins! The texture on these muffins looks amazing!
Wow! That's a lot of dates!! Thanks, Kelly! Hope you love these!
These look super flavourful, Marissa! Love the carrot in there....makes them extra guilt free! Wish I had one or 2 right now with my coffee...and maybe a smear of butter 😉
Wish I could share a couple with you! And everything is better with butter, right? 😉
Well thank you very much, Dale! All too often gluten-free muffin (and other baked goods) get a bad rap. I think it's because the first attempts at gluten-free baking were, well, hockey pucks. But folks have become wiser, and you sometimes can't even tell if a baked good is gluten-free. I can't wait to try these almond flour muffins, Marissa. They sound delicious!!
Fantastic, David! Thank you!
Love these low carb carrot muffins! They look fantastic and I can't wait to try this! Thanks, Marissa.
Thanks so much!
I LOVE this recipe! So healthy and nutritious, and am loving that they're totally gluten-free! They sure don't look like hockey pucks to me 😉 I can't wait to try them!
Love to hear that, Katherine. Thank you!
Love how natural these ingredients are too make a great tasting muffin! You've out done your self with this one!
aww, thanks so much, Kevin!
Do you put them in the freezer completely uncovered?
Hi Blair - You'll definitely want to cover them in the freezer - with foil, plastic wrap, or the baking pan lid if you happen to have one. Thanks for the good question - I'll adjust my wording in the post to make it more clear.
I also found time to make these this week, though probably not enough time since I forgot the eggs. They still turned out pretty good but am anxious to try them with all the ingredients next time.
Funny, last time I made them I forgot the coconut oil and was out of cinnamon so I used cocoa powder (not a good substitute 🙂
Those muffins look amazing! I love that they are gluten free, and so healthy! Well done and have a wonderful week!
Thanks Sandra! Just clicked over and saw that mushroom omelette you posted - looks fantastic! Hope you have a wonderful week too...
These do look like they would be a great snack to grab on the run, I love anything thats naturally sweetened by fruit.
Me too. I wondered if these would lack sweetness, but they're just right.
I don´t make muffins much because they do dry out quickly. But freezing them unbaked is the best tip I´ve heard this year ...jaja. Seriously, it´s perfect for me. And the ingredients just couldn´t fit my taste buds better. Might I say it might be the perfect muffin recipe? I will try them tomorrow, just need to get a few things.
Thank you Paula! I can't wait to hear how you like them....