This Banana Lentil Muffin is soft, moist, and packed with wholesome ingredients that make breakfast, snacks, or lunchboxes a little more nutritious without sacrificing flavor. Sweet bananas, applesauce, cinnamon, chocolate chips, and crunchy walnuts come together with protein-rich lentils to create muffins your whole family will love. They're easy to make, freezer-friendly, and a delicious way to use up ripe bananas.
Banana Lentil Muffin Recipe Essentials
- 🍽️ Course: Breakfast, Snack, Dessert
- ⏱️ Cooking Time: Prep: 10 minutes | Bake: 10-12 minutes | Total: 27 minutes
- 🍴 Servings: 24 muffins
- 🧄 Flavor Profile: Sweet banana, warm cinnamon, rich chocolate, crunchy walnuts
- 🍚 Best Served With: Coffee, tea, milk, yogurt, or fresh fruit
- 🧊 Make Ahead?: Yes! Perfect for meal prep and freezer-friendly.
Summarize and Save This Content On
One of my favorite things about these banana lentil muffins is that they're a wonderful example of how healthy ingredients can taste absolutely incredible. The lentils blend seamlessly into the batter, adding extra protein, fiber, and moisture while letting the banana and cinnamon flavors shine through.
My grandma always believed the best recipes were the ones that tasted like a treat while secretly nourishing the people she loved. She was always finding creative ways to add wholesome ingredients to baked goods without anyone noticing. These muffins remind me of those cozy afternoons in her kitchen, where every batch was baked with love and shared with family and friends.
This lentil banana muffins recipe was inspired by my chocolate chip banana bread and applesauce crumb cake and pairs perfectly with banana pudding fluff or your favorite morning coffee.
Jump to:
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Wholesome and delicious: Bananas, lentils, applesauce, walnuts, and chocolate chips create moist muffins that taste like a bakery treat while adding extra protein and fiber.
- Perfect for busy mornings: These muffins are easy to make, like our pineapple muffins, freeze beautifully, and are ideal for breakfast, lunchboxes, meal prep, or grab-and-go snacks.
- Family-friendly and customizable: Kids and adults alike love the soft texture and sweet banana flavor, and you can easily change the mix-ins to suit your family's favorites.
Ingredients
You won't need any fancy ingredients for these homemade muffins. Everything can be found at your local grocery store, and you may already have most of it in your pantry and refrigerator.
- Fruit and Moisture: Ripe bananas, applesauce, butter, egg, and vanilla extract create an incredibly moist, tender muffin with naturally sweet flavor.
- Dry Ingredients: All-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt provide structure while keeping the muffins light and fluffy.
- Mix-Ins: Cooked red lentils add protein and fiber without overpowering the flavor, while chopped walnuts provide crunch and mini chocolate chips add little bursts of sweetness in every bite.
- Finishing Touch: A sprinkle of coarse sugar creates a lightly crisp, bakery-style muffin top.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations
- Change the Mix-Ins: Replace the walnuts with pecans, sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds. Swap the mini chocolate chips for dark chocolate, white chocolate, butterscotch, or peanut butter chips.
- Boost the Flavor: Add nutmeg, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, or a pinch of cardamom for extra warmth. A little orange zest also pairs beautifully with the banana and cinnamon.
- Make Them Healthier: Replace part of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour, reduce the chocolate chips slightly, or substitute coconut oil for the butter.
- Add More Fruit: Fold in fresh blueberries, diced strawberries, shredded apple, or raisins for even more natural sweetness and texture.
- Turn Them into Mini Muffins or Loaf Bread: Divide the batter into mini muffin tins and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or bake it as a quick bread in a greased loaf pan for about 50 to 60 minutes.
How To Make A Banana Lentil Muffin
These homemade muffins come together in just four simple steps. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper liners or lightly grease each cup with nonstick cooking spray.
Step 1: Prepare wet ingredients. In a large bowl, mash the cooked lentils with a fork. Add the mashed banana, applesauce, melted butter, egg, and vanilla extract, then stir until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
Step 2: Prepare and add dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and ground cinnamon until evenly combined. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring just until no dry streaks remain.
Step 3: Add mix-ins and fill muffin cups. Gently fold in the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips. Divide the batter evenly among greased or paper-lined mini muffin cups, filling each about ¾ full. Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar, if desired, for a sweet, crunchy finish.
Step 4: Bake and cool. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Expert Tips
- Use ripe bananas: The darker the bananas, the sweeter and more flavorful your muffins will be.
- Don't overmix: Stir the batter only until the flour disappears to keep the muffins soft, light, and tender.
- Mash the lentils well: A smooth lentil mixture blends seamlessly into the batter so no one will know they're there.
- Customize the texture: Leave the walnuts chunky for extra crunch or chop them finely if serving children who prefer a softer texture.
- Bake with confidence: Check the muffins a few minutes early since oven temperatures vary, and allow them to cool before storing to help maintain their texture.
- Regular and jumbo muffins: For 12 regular-size muffins fill the cups about ¾ full and bake at 350°F for 18 to 20 minutes. For jumbo muffins, fill the cups about ¾ full and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Loaf: Pour the batter into a greased 9x5-inch loaf pan and bake at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top begins browning too quickly, loosely tent it with aluminum foil during the last 15 to 20 minutes of baking.
If you love wholesome muffins like these, you'll also enjoy our peanut butter banana bread and double chocolate banana bread.
Storage Directions
These banana lentil muffins are perfect for meal prep because they stay moist for days and freeze beautifully.
Room Temperature: Store the cooled muffins in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
Refrigerator: Keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature or warm slightly before serving for the best texture.
Freezer: Freeze in a freezer-safe bag or airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature for about an hour.
Reheat: Microwave individual muffins for 15 to 20 seconds or warm in a 300°F oven for 5 to 8 minutes.
Make Ahead: Bake a batch ahead of time and freeze individually for quick breakfasts, snacks, or lunchboxes.
Serving Suggestions
- Breakfast favorite: Serve warm with strawberry butter, peanut butter, organic almond butter, or cream cheese alongside coffee, tea, or a cold glass of milk.
- Healthy snack: Pair with Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, fresh berries, or sliced bananas for a satisfying afternoon snack.
- Brunch spread: Add these muffins to a breakfast board with scrambled eggs, asparagus quiche, bacon pancake dippers, glazed bacon, bacon wrapped sausage, sausage, fresh fruit, and yogurt parfaits.
- Dessert option: Warm a muffin slightly and serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or a drizzle of peanut butter or chocolate sauce.
- Lunchbox treat: Pack with air fryer apples, air fryer baked apples, grapes, cheese cubes, or classic trail mix for an easy school or work lunch.
Banana Lentil Muffin Recipe FAQs
No. The cooked red lentils blend into the batter and add moisture, protein, and fiber without changing the banana flavor. Most people never realize they're eating lentils.
Cooked red lentils are the best choice because they become soft and mash easily into the batter. If using canned lentils, drain and rinse them well before using.
Dense muffins are usually caused by overmixing the batter. Stir only until the dry ingredients are incorporated to keep the muffins light and tender.
Yes. Thaw the bananas completely and drain off any excess liquid before mashing and adding them to the batter.
Yes! For 12 regular-size muffins, fill the cups about ¾ full and bake at 350°F for 18 to 20 minutes or jumbo muffins for 25-30 minutes. You can also bake the batter in a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan for 50 to 60 minutes, tenting loosely with foil if the top browns too quickly.
More Banana Recipes
Love baking with bananas? Here are some delicious banana recipes you may also enjoy trying.
If you try this recipe and love it please leave a star rating in the recipe card below or even better, drop a review in the comment section. I always appreciate your feedback. Be sure to follow along with me on Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube for more easy recipes!
Banana Lentil Muffin
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup bananas, over ripe, mashed 2 large bananas
- 1 cup cooked red lentils, rinsed or canned drained well
- ⅔ cup applesauce
- ½ cup butter melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup walnuts coarsely chopped or pecans
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
- cooking spray
- 2 tblsp coarse sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper liners or lightly grease each cup with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, mash the cooked lentils with a fork. Add the mashed banana, applesauce, melted butter, egg, and vanilla extract, then stir until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and ground cinnamon until evenly combined. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring just until no dry streaks remain.
- Gently fold in the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about ¾ full. Sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar, if desired, for a sweet, crunchy finish.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, start checking at 9 minutes. Muffins will spring back when gently pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs (not wet batter). Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature and enjoy!
Notes
- Regular and jumbo muffins: For 12 regular-size muffins fill the cups about ¾ full and bake at 350°F for 18 to 20 minutes. For 6 jumbo muffins, fill the cups about ¾ full and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Loaf: Pour the batter into a greased 9x5-inch loaf pan and bake at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top begins browning too quickly, loosely tent it with aluminum foil during the last 15 to 20 minutes of baking.
- Use ripe bananas: The darker the bananas, the sweeter and more flavorful your muffins will be.
- Don't overmix: Stir the batter only until the flour disappears to keep the muffins soft, light, and tender.
- Mash the lentils well: A smooth lentil mixture blends seamlessly into the batter so no one will know they're there.
- Customize the texture: Leave the walnuts chunky for extra crunch or chop them finely if serving children who prefer a softer texture.
- Bake with confidence: Check the muffins a few minutes early since oven temperatures vary, and allow them to cool before storing to help maintain their texture.
Nutrition
Matt says
Great recipe thanks! My toddler and I are making a second batch.
Your recipe instructions are missing a couple of key points.
1. Oven temperature. I’m doing 350F but your recipe doesn’t specify that.
2. When to add cinnamon.
Karin and Ken says
I am so glad you and your toddler are enjoying this recipe. It is a favorite of mine and I have some in my freezer right now. I always do. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to let me know. Hopefully you find some other recipes on this site that you enjoy just as much. Take care and be well. Karin