Woman in Real Life: Heavenly Hemp Seed Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (Vegan)

Mmmm...banana chocolate chip muffins. There's nothing better on a cold morning than a warm baked banana muffin and a hot cup of tea. Let the wind bluster outside and take a moment to enjoy a homemade, tasty, nurturing baked good before starting your busy day. No time? Bake a batch of banana muffins on the weekend and freeze them individually. Then grab a homemade banana muffin to take to work for your mid-morning coffee break! Once I started making homemade muffins, I couldn't stand the fluffy, cake-like ones from the stores anymore.

I love all kinds of muffins - apple crumble muffins, double chocolate berry muffins, strawberry muffins - but I think my all-time favourite muffin recipe is banana chocolate chip. The bananas lend a natural, gentle sweetness that pairs nicely with the chocolatey hit from the chocolate chips. The bonus to banana muffins is they also help you to use up those aging, spotted bananas on your kitchen counter!

One day recently, I noticed those aging bananas were right next to a bag of shelled hemp seeds that I bought but sometimes forget to use. So, I decided to modify my standard vegan banana muffins recipe to incorporate healthy hemp seeds. Shelled hemp seeds are a great (plant-based) way to add essential fatty acids and protein into your diet, but sometimes it can be difficult to know how to incorporate hemp seeds into your meals regularly.

Yes, I sprinkle hemp seeds on my yogurt bowls and blend them into my smoothies. But they can also be cooked into sweet and savoury hemp seed recipes. So I set out to create an easy hemp seed recipe - simple and healthy banana chocolate chip muffins.

I use Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts*, which contain 10g of protein and 12g of omegas per serving (of 3 tablespoons), for this banana chocolate chip muffin recipe. Hemp seeds contain all 10 essential amino acids for a good, plant-based source of protein. I have also included oats in the recipe to give the muffins some nice body. And I of course included (dairy-free) chocolate chips. Just so the kids would eat the muffins. Nothing to do with me and my cravings for chocolate. Ahem.

These vegan banana muffins are super simple to make, especially if you whirl up the bananas and wet ingredients together quickly in a blender as I suggest in the instructions. No need to mash up bananas with a fork. (Although truthfully that's not so difficult to do either.) Anyway, you can whip these hemp seed banana chocolate chip muffins together in 10 minutes and get a bunch of other tasks done in the 20 minutes they take to bake. Then you'll have warm baked muffins as you head out the door, or sit just down to watch Grey's Anatomy on repeat.

*This post contains affiliate links.

And finally, here's the recipe for these Heavenly Hemp Seed Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. As I said, these banana muffins are super quick to make - quicker than going to the store to buy those big cakey muffins. And much healthier. They are made with natural ingredients, including spelt flour, oats, coconut sugar and the aforementioned hemp seeds. These banana chocolate chip muffins are completely free of eggs and dairy. (Just be sure to source dairy-free, semi-sweet chocolate chips.)

If you're worried you won't like the taste or texture of hemp seeds in a muffin, worry no longer - you don't even notice them once they are baked into these delicious, moist and gently sweet muffins. Give the recipe a try and be sure to let me know how it goes! Healthy and tasty go hand in hand here.

Questions for you:

What's your favourite kind of muffin? Do you like banana chocolate chip muffins? Do you have any favourite hemp seed recipes?

Heavenly Hemp Seed Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (vegan)

by Joann MacDonald

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients (10 to 12 muffins)

1 1/3 cups light spelt flour

1/2 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup quick (or large flake) oats

1/4 cup shelled hemp seeds

2 bananas, peeled

1/3 cup grapeseed oil

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup soy or other non-dairy milk

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper muffin cups.

In a large bowl, stir together spelt flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats and hemp seeds.

In a blender, process bananas, oil, vanilla and non-dairy milk until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Add chocolate chips. Stir until just mixed. Spoon into prepared muffin pan. Top with banana slices, hemp seeds and chocolate chips if desired.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick or a knife inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

19 comments:

Suzie BNovember 11, 2013 at 2:33 PM
I love the sounds of this! I often east hemp hearts on yogurt, etc but really do not know many (or any) great recipes to use them IN!
UnknownNovember 12, 2013 at 6:51 AM
Oooh my tummy thanks you for this recipe lol!!! I adore banana-anything & these look beyond delish!!
RuthieNovember 12, 2013 at 3:51 PM
Yum! I always put chocolate chips in my banana bread- makes it so much better.
meNovember 14, 2013 at 9:37 AM
Omg, yes!!! I am a huge fan of hemp because of all the nutrients. I cannot wait to try this!!!
mychSeptember 22, 2016 at 4:14 PM
I love this recipe and have made it countless times. So yummy and easy. It's my go-to when I have extra bananas around.
UnknownSeptember 27, 2016 at 5:01 PM
These are great! I used avocado oil and just regular milk (we aren't vegan!) but I bet they would be good with coconut milk. Thanks for the recipe!
NinaJune 9, 2020 at 5:09 PM
These muffins are so delicious. My kids love them too. I added about 1/2 - 1 tsp of cinnamon, an extra banana, coconut oil instead of grapeseed oil, and 1/2 cup of crushed walnuts. I also used coconut milk instead of soy and used mini chocolate chips. So yummy. Definitely going to make them again.
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