Healthy Banana Cupcakes (sugar free, gluten free, vegan) + A GIVEAWAY!
These healthy Banana Cupcakes are light, fluffy, sweet, and comforting. They’re frosted with the creamiest and richest Peanut Butter Frosting you could dream of too. One bite and you’d never suspect it’s a nutritionally balanced treat filled with healthy fats, complex carbs, fiber, and protein!
These cupcakes will fill you up rather than fill you out.
You know how it’s always tempting to eat multiple cupcakes? Especially the typical unhealthy bakery-style cupcakes? They may satisfy your cravings initially, but you always get hungry again half an hour later. They’re so full of sugar and quickly digestible ingredients, that they simply can’t keep you full. That’s why the temptation to keep eating cupcakes is always there.
Trust me, I think I’ve eaten like, seven store-bought cupcakes in a row once…
ANYWAYS. With these healthy Banana Cupcakes, it’s physically impossible to eat an entire batch!
Each cupcake has just 120 calories and 3.5g of fat, along with ZERO added sugar!
My eyes are bigger than my stomach. I wanted to eat all of the cupcakes in one sitting but I was absolutely stuffed after eating just two!
I left two cupcakes on a plate for my parents. My dad (who, keep in mind, does not even like sweets) ate BOTH before my mother made it to the kitchen. My mom walked in to see cupcake wrappers on the plate and said, “Hey! Where’s mine?!” My dad just stood there, wide-eyed, “Ummm.”
But don’t worry, my mom got her cupcake(s) 😉
Can you guess the secret ingredient used to make these healthy Banana Cupcakes?
Watch me make the cupcakes on video, start to finish, and see what secret ingredient I used 😉
I wish I could magically hand you a cupcake through the screen you are looking at but technology hasn’t caught up to that yet. What a shame, more for me I guess… 😉
These cupcakes are packed with banana flavor, reminiscent of Banana Bread just in a smaller package. These crave-able cupcakes provide a hint of quinoa with a rich peanut butter frosting — they are not your typical overbearingly sweet cupcakes so they are perfect for breakfast and a snack throughout the day.
Healthy Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
Ingredients
- 120g (1 cup) Oat Flour
- 96g (½ cup) Granulated Erythritol
- 68g (½ cup) Sweet White Sorghum Flour
- 68g (½ cup) Quinoa Flour
- 4 tsp Double-Acting Baking Powder
- 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1⅓ cups Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 320g (1¼ cups) Mashed Bananas
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp Natural Butter Flavor
- 1 tsp Liquid Stevia Extract
- 28g (2 tbs) Coconut Oil (melted)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray 2 standard cupcake pans with cooking spray (this recipe makes 14 cupcakes, so you’ll only need to spray 14 cavities). If you want to use cupcake liners, use parchment paper liners (these cupcakes might stick to paper liners).
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the oat flour, erythritol, sorghum flour, quinoa flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- In an electric stand mixer bowl fitted with a beater attachment, add the almond milk, mashed bananas, vanilla extract, butter flavor, and stevia extract. Mix on low speed. While mixing, pour the coconut oil into the stand mixer.
- Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer and increase the mixer speed to medium. Mix until the ingredients are fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake pans. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the surface springs back when tapped. Let cool slightly in the pans, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
For the Peanut Butter Frosting recipe, watch my YouTube tutorial video!
Recipe republished with permission from the Naughty or Nice Cookbook!
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I wanted to show you how thankful I am for all of your love and support and encouragement over the 8½ years that I’ve been blogging (yes, 8½!), so, to celebrate my newly published Naughty or Nice Cookbook, I’m hosting a giveaway!
Naughty or Nice Cookbook Giveaway!
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Good luck!!
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With love and good eats,
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
That’s an interesting way to make icing!
The Truvia takes place of confectioners sugar in typical icings so it isn’t overbearingly sweet. Peanut flour is basically just peanuts so without the Truvia it would be boring, bland and possibly even bitter. You can definitely use stevia packets instead!
you are so right i have tried it once and it tasted soo bad that i can still feel the taste
next time i will try the stevia
I had no idea quinoa cupcakes would be so amazing!!! Looove these
Another great recipe! 🙂
I love the idea, but is it possible to use almond flour or something similiar instead of quinoa flour for the batter? Quinoa flour is not yet available in store where I live and I don’t want to order a huge amount of it online.
The only flour variation I have tried with these cupcakes is a mixture of GF oat flour and brown rice flour. In my experience, almond flour tends to make the end product very dense and compact if not used with eggs, so I wouldn’t recommend almond flour.
I found quinoa flour online in a single package here on iHerb ( http://www.iherb.com/Ancient-Harvest-Organic-Quinoa-Flour-18-oz-510-g/31540 ). I order from this website a lot because you get free shipping over $40 and it’s pretty quick too. Plus, if you use this discount code ( BAF165 ) you can get $10 off your order 🙂
Anyways, I hope you get to try the recipe (and I hope you love it!)
I think you can make quinoa flour just like you make oat flour in a food processor!
this is interesting and a healthy choice for my mother in law I will try it once
please let me know if it has any instructions or if we can go directly and grind them in processor
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I am suprised to see such health conscious people advising others to use the microwave for cooking. Nuked food is DEAD. The radiation destroys the nucleus of any food. Working hard to shop and cook healthy? Don’t use the microwave! It does alter the food in many ways! Dead food is not for living people!
SRomans- There is nothing in this recipe that requires you to use a microwave. And I agree with you that the microwave isn’t the healthiest form of cooking, but it does not “kill” food. It reduces the vitamin levels in certain foods, such as broccoli, but there are still essential nutrients left in the food, along with water, fiber and minerals.
How could I adjust this recipe for altitude baking?
Christy- I haven’t had much success with converting recipes for high altitudes, I’m sorry, it changes every 1,000 feet 🙁 I would recommend baking the cupcakes as stated and fixing any problems from there. If the cakes are too dense, add a leavening agent (like more baking powder or egg whites)… if the cakes are too airy, reduce the leavening agent. Good luck! Tell me how the cupcakes work out 🙂
bookmarked!!, I love your web site!
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Hey Jessica!
I LOVE your site, i think i told you this already…
I just thought id post a comment (this is my favourite recipe of yours – so i thought i would just post it here!!) I think theres a bit of a problem with your website? (or else it’s my computer or something !! :()
For some reason – if you click on a category/link that may have more than one page of recipes, the links at the bottom of the page (ie. 2,3,4 to get to the other pages) is missing! Oh no! I can only scroll through ONE page of all of your recipes in each category now! Sadness!!
Do you know if this is a glitch with the site, is anyone else having this problem? In a way i hope they are so its not my computer!
I just thought i would let you know in case you might need to fix it – i wouldnt want you missing out on your much deserved following!
Best wishes, and happy 4th of July (even though we dont really celebrate it in Ireland – i know it is an important holiday for you!)
Belle
Belle-
AWWW thank you SO much for commenting Belle!! I’m glad you like these cupcakes, they’re one of my top faves too 🙂
I’m sorry you noticed that issue on my site 🙁
It’s not your computer, it’s just my silly blog. I was using a plugin to help with the page numbers, but it’s now outdated and was causing a lot of issues on my blog (slow/inconsistent load times or just a blank white page)… I’m trying to figure out another way to add the page numbers back because I totally understand how frustrating it is when you’re trying to find a recipe.
I’ll get on that ASAP!
-Jess
PS: Thanks for the Happy July 4th! 🙂
Ooh, reply to the above comment – YES you can make quinoa flour in a food processor (with patience…or a COFFEE grinder – works wonderfully!)
Anyway – another post from me regarding this recipe – it is just absolutely friggin amazing. made it again this week in cake form using fancy red bananas (you MUST try one- so creamy!!).
i have a problem though 🙁 with ALL of your cake recipes (but NONE of your cupcake recipes, or cookie recipes), i get a gummy, flat cake. It doesnt rise ever – i dont know whats going on!! Whats the difference (cooking-wise) between cartoneed and fresh egg whites? And do you think my oven may be the problem? (In ireland, we use fan and “conventional” ovens – fan assisted means the air is pushed around so the temp is even throughout, whilst conventional typically is hotter at the top of the oven etc) Do you have ovens like that in the states? Hmmm..i cant seem to figure out why the cake recipes never work!! Sadness. Have you any ideas? I tried the red velvet, vanilla, and peanut butter banana cake. all failures 🙁
(Also, which is the best stevia to buy in your opninion? i have to buy online as we dont have it here – last time i got Now Foods better stevia, but i heard NuNaturals is nicer? What you think?)
Sorry for the millions of questions! I just REALLY want to make a cake that works!!:(
Wow, I never knew you could make homemade quinoa flour! I tried making homemade quinoa puffs once but that was a total fail, haha.
I’m sorry to hear about the gummy/flat cakes 🙁
Cartoned and fresh egg whites act very differently when it comes to baking. Cartoned egg whites don’t provide much lift while fresh egg whites seem to act like a tablespoon of baking powder! I feel like cartoned egg whites act as a liquid rather than a rising agent.
About your oven… ovens are notorious for being slightly off temperature. My old oven used to be 20 degrees off! I recommend using an oven thermometer whenever you bake to ensure the proper temp. I don’t use the fan on my oven either, so that could be it too?
I’m also not sure what altitude you’re baking at. Sea-level and high-altitude recipes are very different. Check to see if you live in a high-altitude area because that can be another factor. I can’t publish the recipes I bake while I’m in Arizona because I’m at a high altitude and everyone at sea-level wouldn’t be able to make my recipes 🙁
As for the stevia, I really like NuNaturals. They have a really pure taste to me. I also like SweetLeaf (because they’re organic AND cheaper!). Always buy alcohol-free stevia too, stevia with alcohol tastes terrible! I hope I answered all your questions! Don’t feel bad about asking! 🙂
-Jess
Hey again,
So i double checked my own today just to be sure and its perfect! (i do love my oven!!). Also i am definitely at sea level (i DID have to ask my Dad that though…he hadnt a clue why i was asking…i confused him greatly).
So hmm…could be the fan thing! I wont use a fan oven next time….i wanna try make more quinoa flour cakes (I LOVE THE FLAVOUR OF THAT FLOUR!!) its so yummy.
Did ya ever think of doing a DIY stevia extract recipe? Ive tried many…and it always just tastes like…well, grass. Ew. I have both the powdered (green) and stevia leaf dried. Tried using both for an extract of my own but it seriously does just taste like…grass.
Anyway, thanks for all the amazing recipes!:)
xx
Michelle-
Yay I’m glad you like your oven! I love mine too, haha 😉
If you’re at sea level then I’m pretty sure it’s the fan. Oh, the science of baking, tsk tsk.
I’m surprised you like the flavor of quinoa flour, almost everyone who tries it isn’t a fan. That’s why I tried to conceal the flavor with the bananas and peanut butter frosting. I mean, I like the flavor too but it all depends on what the majority thinks I guess 🙂
As for the DIY stevia, I haven’t thought about it! I’m totally fine with buying it as long as it’s organic. And it also doesn’t have a grassy taste!
Thanks so much, Michelle. I’m glad you like the recipes 🙂
-Jess
Love this!
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Your recipe calls for Butter Extract, but I cant find that anywhere… Only Butter flavor, will that work? Is there a difference?
SaraBeth-
Butter Extract and Butter Flavor are the same thing 🙂
I started calling it “Butter Flavor” recently because “Butter Extract” makes it sounds like the extract is made from butter, which it isn’t… it’s vegan and dairy-free!
Hope you like the recipe 🙂
-Jess
Hi, just wondering what I could substitute the yogurt with? I’m guessing the yogurt works as a binding agent (I’m not exactly a pro in the kitchen). Would something like no-egg egg substitute work? Or even an extra banana? Thanks 🙂
Jess-
Yes, the yogurt act as a binder, but it also adds moisture, like oil or applesauce would. I don’t think flax eggs or chia eggs would work, but maybe you can try replacing the yogurt with mashed banana and add some more baking powder for leavening, let’s say, an extra 1/2 teaspoon?
I haven’t tried this but I hope it works out for you!
-Jess
Do you think I could use dry peanut butter instead of peanut flour? I’ve called every health store by me and not one carries peanut flour and I don’t have time to order it before my niece’s party. She just turned vegan and asked me to make her cupcakes.
Jennilee-
Hi! By dry peanut butter do you mean a peanut butter powder like PB2? If so, peanut flour and PB2 are basically the same thing, just PB2 has added sugar and salt. PB2 should work just fine in these cupcakes 🙂
If you mean regular natural peanut butter in the jar, I’m afraid that won’t work 🙁
-Jess
ZOMG making these toooday. You keep my oven busy 🙂
these look amazing! I want to make them for a friend for a post workout treat but I keep scrolling everywhere and cant seem to gind the recipe anywhere. Theres only a link to buy the cookbook but no recipe. What ingrediants are in the frosting?
Hey Jenn! The recipes that were added to my cookbook, Naughty Or Nice, were taken off the blog since they were remade and improved specifically for the book 😀
If you’re curious as to why I did this, I explain it in this post: http://dessertswithbenefits.com/about/why-i-removed-some-recipes-from-the-blog/
The ingredients in the cupcakes include:
Oat Flour, Granulated Erythritol, Sweet White Sorghum Flour, Quinoa Flour, Double-Acting Baking Powder, Ground Cinnamon, Salt, Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (or any other milk you’d like), Bananas, Vanilla Extract, Natural Butter Flavor, Stevia Extract, Coconut Oil
The ingredients in the frosting include:
Greek Yogurt, Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (or any other milk you’d like), Peanut Flour and Powdered Erythritol.
Hope this helps Jenn!
Best,
-Jess
I will be surprising my sister with some of these
cupcakes, as she just adores
peanut butter!
Aw thank you Liz! I hope your sister loves the cupcakes 😀
-Jess
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What a treat! That sounds much tastier and healthier than the average banana bread.
I really love the quinoa flour. It added a delicious background note!
Love to try this receipe.
Cant wait to make these!
Looks great, can’t wait to make them!
Wow – healthy dessert with peanut butter! Who’d have thunk it? Gluten free stuff sure is popular these days. From one peanut butter lover to another – cheers and Happy Holidays!
wow! so yummy.
Hi there, great recipe for us allergy sufferers (I need to see if I can sub the peanut better as I’m allergic to nuts though). Just thought I would advise that if anyone is dairy free due to allergies, “natural butter flavour” is apparently classed as a dairy as it’s derived from dairy products so be vigilant about whether you use it or not if the recipient of these is allergic to dairy.
Amazing recipe
Woow very taste and delicious thanks for sharing
I love your recipe. It is great and simple. Your recipe is great. It tastes better than I thought it would. Thank you very much.
Absolutely perfect! It’s the sweet comfort food I never thought I would be needing. I added chopped walnuts AND chocolate chips to mine
Oooooo that sounds so good!!! Such a good combo with the walnuts and chocolate chips 😍
I knew i had to make these immediately when I saw this recipe! They are so good! Thanks you so much.
I’m so glad you liked the recipe!!! That just made my entire weekend 🙂
Very nice recipe!
These pancakes are very delicious. I will definitely try.
These cupcakes look absolutely scrumptious and I would love to eat all of them! Cupcakes are the best!
The use of ripe bananas as a natural sweetener is a brilliant idea, adding both flavor and moisture to the cupcakes. And I appreciate the inclusion of whole wheat flour and Greek yogurt, which provide a wholesome and nutritious twist to this classic treat. It’s fantastic to see how you’ve managed to create a healthier version without compromising on taste.
Overall, I want to express my gratitude for sharing this fantastic recipe. Your blog post not only provides a delightful treat but also encourages a healthier approach to baking. I can’t wait to try these Healthy Banana Cupcakes myself and share them with my loved ones. Keep up the excellent work, and I look forward to exploring more of your recipes in the future!
Wow, what an incredible blog post! I am absolutely blown away by these Healthy Banana Cupcakes that are not only sugar-free and gluten-free but also vegan. It’s like a dream come true for anyone who wants to indulge in a guilt-free treat.
First of all, let me just say that the combination of bananas and quinoa in a cupcake is pure genius. The natural sweetness of the ripe bananas must provide the perfect base for these fluffy delights, while the addition of quinoa adds a wholesome touch that I can’t help but admire. It’s truly remarkable how you’ve managed to create a cupcake that is both healthy and delicious.
I also want to express my gratitude for the giveaway you’re hosting. It’s not every day that you come across a blog that not only shares amazing recipes but also gives back to its readers. Your generosity is truly commendable, and I’m sure many people are excited for the chance to win something special.
These cupcakes seem delectably delicious, and I would love to devour the entire batch! The very best is cupcakes!
Using quinoa in cupcakes is such a clever idea, and the peanut butter frosting adds a delightful touch of indulgence. I can’t wait to whip up a batch and surprise my family with these guilt-free treats.
In the realm of healthy desserts, these banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting stand as a shining example of how wholesome ingredients can be transformed into a culinary masterpiece. The cupcakes themselves are light and fluffy, offering a delightful contrast to the rich and creamy peanut butter frosting. Each bite is a symphony of flavors and textures, leaving one wanting more.