Boy am I ever glad to be on the the other side of that flu! Last Thursday, when I posted my Triple Almond Energy Balls recipe, I thought that after five long days of bedrest I was starting to feel a bit better. Unfortunately, I wound up taking a turn for the worse Thursday evening with some scary flu complications cropping up overnight. My temperature skyrocketed (despite being on fever meds) and my cough became much worse. Luckily I’d already done quite a bit of reading on this year’s flu season because I was so worried about the kids getting it and wanted to know which high-risk symptoms to look for. Based on what I’d read and what my doctor told me, having symptoms improve and then come back even worse than before was bad news (it’s actually one of CDC’s “emergency warning signs” of flu complications). Gulp!
On Friday morning I couldn’t even get out of bed to see the kids. I was nauseous, sweating profusely, and had major chills despite feeling super hot. Adriana came into my room looking concerned and said “Mommy, why you don’t wake up today?” That just broke my heart. I knew I had to get medical treatment right away.
I think it’s been about 15 years since I’ve needed to take antibiotics, but I can’t tell you how grateful I was to have them for this virus, which had turned into bacterial pneumonia. The medicine brought my fever down quickly and I’ve been feeling a bit better each day since—although I still don’t feel like myself. I’m currently operating at about 36%, maybe, lol! I think the flu was extra hard on me because I was already run down from taking care of the kids the week before (I’m so thankful their flu symptoms weren’t as severe as mine…I’ll take one for the team!), and of course nursing through the flu takes its toll on the body. It was a stroke of luck that Eric got by with mild body aches (consider me impressed as he was living off unhealthy food all week!), so he held down the fort while I slept, and slept…and slept some more. Each night, I would collapse into bed at 7pm as soon as Arlo was down (and this early bedtime was in addition to an afternoon nap each day). I’ve never slept that much in my life. (And now I know what it’s like to be a baby/toddler!)
Needless to say, we’re all ready to start a new fresh month and hopefully keep as healthy as we can through the spring. So far March is shaping up to be great—I’m alive, after all. ;) Take care of yourselves everyone…I’m sending you all healthy wishes for a happy month ahead!!
Update: Sooo many great questions are coming in about these muffins! I’m answering them in the comments below, so be sure to check them out. Thanks everyone! And if I do any more trials of this recipe I will be sure to update the recipe notes. My next test is going to be a sunflower seed and sunflower seed butter version.
Update #2: I added a nut-free version in the recipe tips! :)
Flourless Bite-Sized Breakfast Muffins
Yield
24 mini muffins plus a few ramekins
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
These grain-free, kid-friendly muffins are packed with fibre-rich chia seeds and contain only a couple tablespoons of natural sweetener! The almond butter base gives them a deliciously nutty flavour, and overripe bananas lend an extra sweetness. We love serving these mini muffins at breakfast and snack time. Best of all, this recipe is made entirely in a food processor so there’s only one dish to clean when you’re done! I’ve provided optional instructions for preparing larger muffins as well as a nut-free version so be sure to read through the tips. This recipe is inspired by Paleo with Mrs P.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (80 g) whole raw almonds
- 2 3/4 cup (400 g) chopped overripe bananas (about 3 to 4 large)
- 1/2 cup (120 g) natural smooth almond butter*
- 1/4 cup (33 g) arrowroot starch
- 2 tablespoons (20 g) chia seeds
- 2 tablespoons (30 mL) pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and set aside two silicone 12 mini muffin pans or one silicone 24 mini muffin pan. There’s no need to grease silicone pans, but if you’re using metal muffin pans, line them with mini paper liners. This recipe makes enough for more than 24 mini muffins, so line an additional 2 to 3 small ramekins with standard-sized paper liners to use up the remaining batter.
- Add the almonds to the food processor and process to a fine crumb. Be sure not to overprocess the almonds into butter. If the ground almonds start getting sticky, they can negatively impact the texture of the muffins once baked.
- Add the chopped banana to the ground almonds along with the almond butter, arrowroot starch, chia seeds, maple syrup, baking powder, cinnamon, apple cider vinegar, baking soda, and salt. Process the mixture until smooth.
- Use a small cookie dough scoop to portion the batter into the muffin pans, filling each until about three-quarters full. Use the remaining batter to fill the ramekins until about two-thirds full.
- Bake the mini muffins for about 18 to 22 minutes (I bake for 20 minutes), allowing an additional 6 to 9 minutes for the ramekins to bake through. To test doneness, gently touch the top of one muffin. When ready, they will spring back very slowly. Finished muffins should also have visibly golden edges.
- Cool the muffins in the pans/ramekins for 30 minutes before attempting to remove. Carefully slide a knife around each muffin and gently pop it out of the silicone pan. (If using paper liners, the muffins must be cooled completely before removing, or the liners will stick to the muffins when peeled.) I love spreading these muffins with a little coconut oil before serving, but they’re also fantastic topped with chia seed jam. And thanks to the nutty taste and natural sweetness, you can enjoy them plain too. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Tip:
It's important to stir the almond butter well before measuring. Be sure not to use firm/hard/dry almond butter as it'll result in dense muffins.
To make a dozen regular-sized muffins, use a 12-cup silicone muffin pan. Fill each mold to two-thirds full and bake for 24 to 26 minutes. If using a metal pan, be sure to line each with paper liners, filling and baking as directed, until they have golden edges and very slowly spring back when touched on the top.
For a NUT-FREE version: Swap the almonds for 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds and the almond butter for 1/2 cup smooth sunflower seed butter (I use SunButter Organic Sunflower Seed Butter...make sure it only has sunflower seeds on the ingredient list), and increase the cinnamon to 1 teaspoon. The muffins have a distinct sunflower seed flavour, but I find it quite pleasant even though they aren't as sweet as the almond version. The muffins are also a bit darker, but still need just as much bake time, if not a minute or two longer, and they are more dense.
If you’d like to make these muffins more decadent, try stirring some chocolate chips into the batter! For a crunch, add a couple handfuls of chopped walnuts or pecans.
Hello! I would love to make these for this weekend but don’t have a small muffin tin. Do you think that standard size muffins would work just adjusting the cook time?
Absolutely! Please see my tip in the recipe at the bottom.
Hi. Do these taste like bananas?
Yes they do have a banana flavour :)
These were amazing! We made these the other day and they were a hit with the whole fam. I had to substitute peanut butter for the almond butter and cashews for the almonds but they still turned it great!
That’s awesome they worked with peanut butter and cashews! Thanks for letting us know Leslie :)
This recipe is a dream! I substituted almond hazelnut butter for straight up almond butter and I’m not sure these little gems will make it through the day! I might be making another batch tonight! Many, many thanks! :)
Hey Sarah, I’m so glad they were a hit! Thanks for your feedback. :) I love that almond-hazelnut swap too.
I made these this afternoon and I love them! I try to stay away from any kind of sweetener so I replaced the maple syrup with non-dairy milk and I found them plenty sweet. I made the whole batch as mini muffins and got 36, in case anyone is wondering. It is nice to have a baked good that is sugar- and sweetener-free but does not rely on dates. Thank you so much for the recipe, Angela! I will definitely make these again (and again)!
Hey Elizabeth, Thanks so much for your review! I love that they still worked without the sweetener (and good call on swapping it with almond milk). :)
Thank you for the info on total number of mini muffins. I was trying to determine that before I baked.
Yay Flourless Breakfast Muffins I will make this tomorrow for breakfast before class, I was struggling to gluten-free breakfast, Thank you so much for this I really apparel ti
So bummed, I made these tonight using my vitamix but they didn’t work out for me. They turned out quite pasty :( I’ll have to try again. I used ground almonds from bulk barn (not almond flour…should I have used almond flour?!?!) but our place smelled great :)
Oh no I’m so sorry to hear the blender version didn’t work out! Another reader said that using almond meal didn’t work as well. I wonder also if the blender was too much heat and blending for the batter? Thanks for reporting back Marlen!
I made these with pecans and unfortunately they sunk in the middle. I baked them for 20 minutes but did take them out once to check doneness. The texture was too gummy for me and the taste was just ok. I think I may have ground the nuts too long and maybe that was the texture thing. I got 24-25 mini muffins out of the recipe.
Hey Patti, Thank you so much for your feedback! I did find that one batch I made when I processed the nuts a bit too long the texture was thrown off. I hope if you try the almond version it works out better for you…we really love them around here!
Hello! Can I just use already prepared blanched almond flour in place of the 1/2 c. raw almonds? Thanks for such a wonderful recipe!! Can’t wait to make these ?
Hey Cara, I’ve had some feedback from other blog readers who tried to sub almond meal for the whole almonds and they said the muffins turned out pretty dense and chewy. With almond flour, it’s much lighter than almond meal so I really don’t know what would happen if you used it as a sub. Sorry I can’t help you more. I will have to try it sometime! My guess is that you’d need to use a larger quantity since it’s so much lighter.
Thanks for this amazing recipe! As I don’t have a food processor I used pre-ground almonds (same amount), mashed the bananas with a fork and mixed everything with a wooden spoon. I also used corn starch (couldn’t find the arrow root one…). I put a little bite of organic dark chocolate in every (normal sized) muffin and had them as a breakfast on the go the entire week!
Hey Lilly, Oh I’m so happy they turned out so well even with those tweaks! And chocolate is always a good idea. :)
Just made these and the flavor is amazing. I’m always hurting for good breakfast and snack recipes for me (guess I’m just a big kid). I had to use frozen almonds and 1/3 of the bananas also from the freezer so that might explain why they were a bit dense in the centers even after baking for 30 min (exactly 12 regular-sized muffins). Will definitely be making again and probably without any additional sweeter since both the bananas and almonds are on the sweet side.
Sure hope you’re still able to take it easy. I had pneumonia three years ago and wasn’t “normal” until five weeks later, and then began the whole string of reflux, digestive problems due to the high-strength antibiotics, since I didn’t know about taking probiotics at the time. Much improved now, but I’ll probably never be able to eat the way I did before (and that might be a good thing, in some ways :-) )
Hey Janet, So glad you tried these out and enjoyed them! Thanks for your feedback. :)
And boy do I hear you about it taking a long time to recover from pneumonia. I’m still battling cold symptoms and going to bed by 9pm each night (quite early for me). Is it summer yet? haha
I’m so glad you’re feeling better! I had the same thing. The doctor called it “post-flu pneumonia” and said she’s seen a ton of moms especially with it this year. These muffins look fantastic. (I just plugged the recipe into my Weight Watchers app and they’re only 2 points each, so, bonus!) Is it possible to substitute almond flour for the ground almonds? (I have a bag I need to use up!) Thank you :)
Hey Mary, Oh sorry you had it too! It’s so awful…I think us mamas get run down when caring for everyone else. Some blog readers have said that almond meal didn’t work out that great so I worry that almond flour wouldn’t too. It seems like when some readers are swapping the whole almonds out the muffins are turning out dense or gooey in the middle. the recipe is pretty sensitive as they’re flourless and vegan. If you try anything I’d love to hear how it goes though :)
Great flavor but, as other reviewers have noticed, a gooey center, no matter how long I left them in. I tried both mini-muffins and small regular size.
I’m so sorry to hear that Jane! Did you make any chances to the recipe at all? Since they’re flourless and vegan even slight changes can impact the outcome.
Angela, Thank you! You’ve done it again and make feeding my toddlers so much easier. These muffins are perfect. Easy to make, delicious, nutritious and plenty of ingredients that my 3 year old can help me measure. These will be in regular rotation here.
Hey Melissa, Oh that’s great news!! I’m so glad to hear you and your toddlers love the muffins. They’re a big hit over here too!
5 stars for this recipe! Very easy to prepare and it’s really yummy. I just can’t get to perfect the center. I need to try it more. Thanks for this Angela!
I made these for my 15 month old. He loves them and devoured 3 in one sitting! I’ve been wanting to find fillimg, healthy and gluten free recipes like this for him (wheat triggers his eczema unfortunately) for snacks and will be making them regularly. So quick and easy throwing everything in the food processor too! Thanks!
Hey Becky, That’s wonderful news…thank you for letting me know! Glad my little ones aren’t the only ones who inhale them. haha. I think Arlo had 3-4 in his first sitting too.
Hi Angela! Longtime fan here. What do you think would happen if I left out the chia seeds? I can’t use a food processor during the time I plan to make these, so I’m wondering if it would affect the end result to not use them. I’m planning to use almond flour and to mash the bananas really well. Thanks, and glad you’re feeling better. We all got hit with it this year too.
Hey Rachel, Hmm I’m really not sure! Some readers have had mixed results using almond flour, so even that swap might be tricky. Since this recipe is vegan and flourless, making changes aren’t as straight forward as in some other recipes, so it’s hard for me to say. If you try it out I’d love to hear how it goes! :)
I’d really like to make these, but don’t have a silicone muffin tin. I’ve been wanting to buy one anyways – do you have any recommendations? So many of the ones I see online don’t get great reviews. Thanks!
Hey Rosie, I believe mine are Wilton brand. I like them well enough!
Flour less muffins, seriously the idea is unique for me. You made this beautifully. The size idea of one bite impressed me a lot.
Love these!
Hey Amy, I’m so glad you love the muffins…thank you!