Banana Protein Muffins (with lentils)

This healthy muffin recipe is going to become your new go-to way to use up those overripe bananas. They are super easy to make and filled with wholesome ingredients to keep little bellies full and happy. Banana Protein Muffins are packed with plant-based protein and fiber thanks to lentils. But I promise you can’t taste the lentils at all! Bake up these muffins with your kiddos and enjoy them for breakfast, snack, or pack them up for school.

Baked muffins in a cupcake tin filled with paper muffin liners. Muffin tin is sitting on a cooling rack on top of a kitchen towel and is surrounded by bananas and a measuring cup full of lentils.

Kids in the Kitchen: Banana Protein Muffins

  • Add to the blender: Kids can peel the bananas and add the other ingredients to the blender then help turn this blender on. This is a great place to talk about lentils…what they are and what they might taste like. “Do you think we’ll be able to taste that they are in the muffins? Maybe they are our secret ingredient?”
  • Measure and mix the dry ingredients: depending on the age or your child and/or how much time you have to bake, you may want to measure many of the ingredients before inviting your child to bake with you. You can leave a couple things for your child to measure, such as the baking soda and salt.
  • Use a large bowl. Mixing in a large bowl means less mess when cooking with kids. I try and always and demonstrate what speed I’d like kids to stir before letting them have a turn. Most likely, their mixing will result in at least a little spillage, but that’s ok. With practice, kids will eventually learn to better control the spoon or spatula.

Baked muffins in a cupcake tin filled with paper muffin liners. Muffin tin is sitting on a cooling rack on top of a kitchen towel and is surrounded by bananas.

Subs and Tips for making Banana Protein Muffins:

  • Lentils: I like to buy pre-cooked lentils in the grocery store (they are usually in the produce section) because it makes it so easy to whip of these muffins in no time. However, you can easily cook your own lentils to use in this recipe. To cook lentils, cover 1/3 cup of lentils with water and bring up to a boil. Simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Let cool before using in muffins. You also can cook extra and freeze in portions to use the next time you make muffins.
  • Flour: White whole wheat flour has a more mild taste than the traditional whole wheat flour. I like to buy the King Arthur brand. If you don’t have white whole wheat flour, use half regular whole wheat and half all-purpose flour to get similar results. You can also use all all-purpose flour if you prefer a more bakery-style tasting muffin.
  • Gluten-free?: Yes, no problem! I tested these muffins with a gluten-free “cup for cup” flour blend and it worked out really well.
  • Egg-free?: You can replace the eggs with flax “eggs” or another egg substitute for baking. For 2 flax eggs, use 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed mixed with 5 tablespoons of water.
  • Reduce sugar or make no-sugar-added version: There is a 1/4 cup of maple syrup or honey in this recipe. However, feel free to reduce the amount or omit it and replace the sweetener with applesauce or additional mashed banana.
  • Helpful tools: Unbleached parchment paper liners, large cookie scoop (in picture below), and my favorite muffin tin are listed in my Baking Essentials list on Amazon HERE.

 

Loving this Banana Protein Muffins and want even more? Try these other muffins on for size!

 

Banana Protein Muffins (with lentils)

Healthy muffins packed protein and fiber. Great for toddler snacks or school lunch.
4.25 from 4 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 12 muffins

Ingredients
  

  • 3 medium-sized overripe bananas (1 1/3 cups mashed banana) the more brown and spotty the better
  • 2 large eggs or flax "eggs"
  • 1 cup cooked brown or green lentils make sure to drain well if in liquid
  • 1/3 cup avocado or vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
  • 1/4 cup milk (any kind) I use unsweetened almond milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cup whole wheat or all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour
  • 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp fine salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease well with oil or non-stick spray.
  • Add bananas, eggs, lentils, oil, maple syrup, milk, vanilla, and vinegar to a blender. Blend until smooth.
  • In a large bowl add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine. Pour blender contents into the bowl then use a large spoon or rubber spatula to mix until well combined.
  • Use a portion scoop or spoon to divide the muffin batter evenly into the muffin tin. They should be filled to the top.
  • Bake until golden brown and cooked through (a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean), 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan then transfer muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  • Store muffins at room temperature for 2 days, in the fridge for 5 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Notes

Options add-ins: mix in 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips or blueberries. Add hemp seeds, chopped nuts, or dried fruit.
For flax egg substitute: mix 2 Tbsp ground flax with 5 Tbsp water. Set aside for 5 minutes then use in the recipe.
Keyword banana muffins, healthy muffins, heathy toddler food, protein muffins

Save to Pinterest!

Baked muffins in a cupcake tin filled with paper muffin liners. Muffin tin is sitting on a cooling rack on top of a kitchen towel and is surrounded by bananas and a measuring cup full of lentils. Text on the top reads "whole grain and dairy free" "Banana Protein Muffins wtih Lentils!" and lists the website HappyKidsKitchen.com

18 Comments

  1. Mona on October 5, 2021 at 8:49 am

    5 stars
    I want to thank you for this recipe , at first its very healthy and it turned out great with gluten free flour , kids approved (😋) and so easy to put together.
    I used coconut nut oil and took off one tablespoon of flour and used raw coco instead of it because my kids love everything chocolate

  2. Kelly on October 11, 2021 at 9:52 pm

    5 stars
    These come together so fast and are really good. I’ve made them into donuts (using a donut pan) and also waffles with my waffle maker. Another super versatile and yummy recipe.

    • Heather on October 12, 2021 at 12:52 pm

      Thank you, Kelly!!

      • Jose on September 15, 2024 at 11:57 am

        Hi Heather,

        Thank for the great recipes! We tried this today, but ours did not rise and are a bit gummy. Wondering where we might have gone wrong. The only substitute we made was apple sauce instead of oil. We also weighed the whole whole wheat flour. Maybe the one you use has a fiffrwnet weight per cup? We used King Arthur at 28g per 1/4 cup.

        • Heather on September 18, 2024 at 12:46 pm

          Hi! It sounds like the muffin batter was too wet. I don’t think subbing applesauce for the oil is the best for this recipe. I know it typically works, but because the lentils add so much moisture, I think the applause might add too much. So sorry the recipe didn’t work out this time. Please let me know if you try again or if you have any other questions. 🙂 Heather

  3. Martha on January 11, 2022 at 8:50 am

    Would be great to know the nutrition in each muffin, especially the protein grams and calorie count! Thank you – looking forward to making these!

    • Heather on January 12, 2022 at 9:46 am

      Hi! Thanks for your comment. I think you can put the recipe into an app like “my fitness pal” to calculate the nutrition facts. I don’t have a way to do that for each recipe right now. Let me know if you give the muffins a try! 🙂 Heather

  4. Lena on June 8, 2022 at 1:50 pm

    2 stars
    Made them with bob’s GF 1:1 flour and they did not bake properly. The insides were so gummy and wet even after 40 minutes. I wish there had been instructions on how wet the lentils should be. I’m wondering if I needed to remove more moisture from them.

    • Heather on June 9, 2022 at 3:38 pm

      Hi Lena, So sorry the gluten-free flour didn’t work out for this recipe. I often have to add an additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the gluten-free flour blends since they don’t seem to absorb flour as well as regular flour. Thanks for the feedback about the lentils. I always use packaged pre-cooked lentils so they are very dry. I will definitely add to drain them well in the instructions if you have cooked the lentils and there is still some liquid with them. 🙂 Heather

    • Elsa Rodgers on September 8, 2024 at 2:03 pm

      Hiya, yeah I found the same thing- but actually I cooked them upside down and found they cooked slightly better, and once they cooled they had slightly cooked so weren’t as wet as I thought they would be!!

  5. Rachel on March 23, 2023 at 10:29 am

    5 stars
    I made these last night and they are delicious! I used applesauce instead of the oil which worked great. I added in raisins to half of the batter and chocolate chips to the other half.
    I doubled the recipe and they’re almost all gone! Thank you for this terrific recipe!

    • Heather on March 26, 2023 at 12:09 pm

      Hi Rachel! So glad you all enjoyed the muffins. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review! 🙂 Heather

    • Avital sen on April 4, 2023 at 6:56 pm

      Would this work with almond flour?

      • Heather on April 9, 2023 at 4:48 pm

        No, sorry, it wouldn’t work out the same because wheat flour and almond flour absorb liquid very differently among other differences. 🙂 Heather

  6. Lilia on January 18, 2024 at 9:49 am

    We made these two days ago and kids approved them so I’m doing them again today for snack!
    Thank you for all your recipes.

    • Heather on January 18, 2024 at 10:25 am

      So glad the recipe was a success! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. 🙂 Heather

  7. Laney Fazio on September 11, 2024 at 8:24 pm

    Do you know the cook time if I use mini muffin tins?

    • Heather on September 12, 2024 at 9:56 am

      Hi! Mini muffins usually take 12 to 15 minutes.

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