These vegan Paleo Banana Muffins are made with cassava flour, ripe bananas and a blend of warm spices for a soft, moist and absolutely scrumptious treat without nuts, refined sugars, eggs, dairy or gluten.

Spiced Paleo Banana Muffins Recipe
To keep these gluten free and grain free muffins nut-free, the recipe uses coconut butter as a source of fat in lieu of nut butter. Palm shortening creates a desirable cake-like texture and warming spices of cinnamon, cloves and ginger provide the perfect complement to ripe bananas. A touch of maple syrup and vanilla bring the recipe together for a delicious and satiating muffin that’s perfect for folks on the autoimmune protocol.
These grain free Spiced Banana Muffins might just become your favourite banana-based baked good. They have for me! I would describe the texture of these muffins as a cross between banana-bread and a banana cake. They make an absolutely delicious addition to your breakfast and are also great as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea.
You might also enjoy these Paleo Banana Pumpkin Muffins, Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and AIP Cinnamon Streusel Muffins.

Ingredients and Ingredient Substitutions

- Coconut butter: In this recipe, coconut butter both helps to bind the ingredients. You want to ensure it’s melted and smooth. If you’re not following an AIP diet and can tolerate nuts, nut butters work well here as a replacement.
- Palm shortening: palm shortening helps create that desirable cake-like texture. Coconut oil will not work the same in this recipe.
- Cassava Flour: Cassava flour lends a neutral taste to these muffins and I wouldn’t recommend any other substitutions.
- Maple syrup: This adds a wonderful light sweetness to the muffins and some additional moisture. Ensure it’s room temperature and not cold!
- Powdered Ginger, Ground Cloves and Cinnamon: the ultimate AIP-approved spice mix.
How to Make Paleo Banana Muffins
Step 1: Combine dry ingredients.
In a large bowl mix together dry ingredients and set aside with a well in the center.

Step 2: Combine Wet Ingredients
To a food processor add pureed bananas, shortening, coconut butter, vanilla and maple syrup and pulse until smooth.


Step 3: Combine Dry and Wet ingredients
Add blended mixture to bowl of dry ingredients and stir to combine. Mixture will be quite thick. Stir in apple cider vinegar.


Step 4: Scoop and bake
Scoop batter into lined muffin tin and bake for 15 minutes in the middle rack of your oven.


Step 5: Cool completely
Allow muffins to cool in the muffin pan and then on a cooling rack completely before enjoying.

This recipe makes 6-7 muffins and they’re pretty satiating due to the use of the coconut butter. Feel free to double the recipe if you’d like a full dozen, but know that they’re quite filling!

Storage and Reheating
- Store muffins in a sealed container at room temperature for 2-3 days.
- Fridge: Otherwise, refrigerate for up to 5 days. Reheat before serving as they definitely firm up once they’re left out or in the fridge.
- Freezer: These muffins freeze well. Reheat in the microwave or oven before serving.
- If you loved these Spiced Banana Muffins I would appreciate it if you would give it a rating and review. Be sure to snap a picture of the finished product and share it with me on Instagram by tagging @healmedelicious and using the hashtag #healmedelicious.
Looking for more AIP Banana recipes? Try my AIP Banana Bread or Lemon Blueberry Banana Loaf
Looking for more AIP/paleo muffins? How about:
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Spiced Banana Muffins (Paleo, AIP, vegan)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6–7 muffins 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These vegan, AIP/Paleo spiced Banana muffins are made with ripe bananas, a medley of warming spices, and lightly sweetened with maple syrup for soft and moist muffin that’s free of gluten, eggs, dairy and refined sugars
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup palm shortening
- 1 cup pureed bananas (about 2 ripe, medium sized bananas)
- 1/2 cup coconut butter, melted
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup maple syrup, room temperature
- 1 cup cassava flour
- 1/4 tsp powdered ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tsps cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F and line muffin pan with baking cups.
- In a large bowl, mix cassava flour, powdered ginger, cloves, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
- To a food processor or high powered blender add pureed bananas, shortening, coconut butter, vanilla and maple syrup and pulse/blend until smooth.
- Add blended mixture to bowl of dry ingredients and stir to combine. Mixture will be quite thick.
- Finally, stir in apple cider vinegar. Scoop batter into muffin pan.
- Bake for 15 minutes in the middle rack of your oven.
- Allow muffins cool for a few minutes before removing from muffin pan, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before consuming.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Wondering about the Palm Shortening – the link is not working for me – my local Sprouts Market has a vegetable shortening made of palm oil, is this compatible? I am brand new to the AIP and learning all the things!
I use the Spectrum brand and yes the only ingredient is palm oil. I’ll update the link now!
Wow these are so delicious! I doubled the batch and added Hu Dark Chocolate to half of them.
I am just wondering, do you have any of the nutritional facts for the original recipe? I have a type 2 diabetic in my life wondering if these would be a good option for them!
Thanks and again…. yum!
What could I sub for the coconut butter, please? I seem to get a bad reaction from coconut.
Hi Jan, *update* i’ve tested this recipe with almond butter and it works well. I’d say any creamy nut butter would be a good substitute if you can tolerate nuts. Otherwise, I’d recommend you try my banana bread recipe or another muffin recipe like pumpkin banana muffins instead!
What is the best way to store these muffins? Can you batch cook and freeze?
They freeze very well!
I really can’t believe those are AIP.so completely satisfying and decadent. Thank you for this blog and resource!
I can’t believe these are AIP friendly. I’m one week in and love muffins and pastries and was so excited to try this after seeing the reviews!
SOOO GOOD!!! And surprisingly very filling!
I followed the recipe exactly and also got 8 muffins out of it. 🙂
These are soooooooo good! My favorite muffin recipe hands down after starting AIP, even my husband liked them!
Thank you for this!
Hi Julie, we’re so glad you like them. Thank you so much for leaving a review!
Hi Nicole,
I just made these, and they are AMAZING!!!!
For next time, can I use pumpkin puree or applesauce in place of bananas?
Thanks,
Sharon
I haven’t tested that substitution but my guess would be no – bananas are a lot thicker and “stronger” in their binding capacity
I finally made these and they are magical. I will be making these again. Thank you for another delicious recipe!
OMG WOW!! This recipe is seriously changing my life right now! Just diagnosed with Graves & in week 3 of AIP (as a vegan) to help get it under control. But it’s soooo restrictive without legumes & tofu & I’ve been craving something solid with bite. I had to wait for a lot of the ingredients to come via post as we live in rural Victoria Aust. & I’ve been hanging out to make these babies. I ended up using less coconut butter & maple syrup & added some frozen blueberries. And when they came out the oven I inhaled 2 before they were cool. Hubby’s doing AIP with me & he’s most thankful to you for this recipe! Now to check out the rest of your AIP treasures….
so happy for you Tova! Good luck on your AIP journey
Absolutely delicious! I didn’t have coconut butter so I subbed Applesauce and it was fine! Will definitely be making again. I was able to get 9 muffins out of this recipe.
I thought I was in heaven when I took my first bite of these muffins. It has been sooooo long. I will definitely be making more of your recipes. I can eat muffins again that are decadent but not inflammatory!
Fabulous! These literally taste like a bakery homemade non-diet-of -any-kind heavy yet fluffy sweet muffin. So yummy. I made mini muffins instead and baked for only 10-11 minutes.
Theeee best AIP muffin out there!! I promise…I’ve made a lot of them and have enjoyed a lot of them but this by far seems like you just went to a bakery and picked up a muffin like the good ol days! Honestly for those wondering about the maple syrup I used the stated amount because I’m training and walking 15 plus miles a day and figured I could use the sugars but it is a sweet muffin and I don’t think it really needs that much. I would just make sure your bananas are super ripe if you want to cut out the syrup or even add one extra banana? I am now gonna bake everything you have AIP! Thank you thank you thank you
These are my favourite AIP muffins! So tasty and moist. The flavour is perfect! Thanks for a great recipe I have made several times now.
These are awesome! I’ve tried several baking recipes and they came out ok but these are absolutely the best thing so far. I feel and taste like I’m eating a banana muffin not something that is trying to be a banana muffin. Love the spices and texture of these. Thanks for the recipe.
Delicious! Great texture! Moist and not chewy, gummy or gritty like lots of AIP baked goods. I omitted Clive bc I hate cloves and baked in a pan with parchment bc I don’t have a GF muffin tin. Next time I might try to add a 3rd banana bc I can’t get enough banana.
I’m wondering if anyone had tried cutting out the maple syrup and vanilla? I am still in elimination phase.
Hey Amber, the maple syrup is key in this recipe. Both maple syrup and pure vanilla extract are compliant with the elimination phase and all recipes on this site are elimination phase compliant as well!
These are absolutely delicious. The texture is so wonderful, I have to keep myself from eating more than one a day!
Originally forgot to rate the recipe in my first comment. These are hands down delicious!!
These are my go to to keep me going, and from giving in to cravings. I ditto all the good things previous reviews have stated re texture and taste. I like to switch out the clove for mace, and if I have carob chips I’ll throw 1/4 cup in.
Hi Nicole! These muffins were so delicious. I seriously never thought I’d taste anything good again when it came to baking. I am currently having to track all my food intake bc I’m new to AIP. Do you know how to figure out the nutrition facts for one muffin??
Oh my gosh….do you know how long it’s been since I had a delicious baked good item? This was so satisfying! Thank you for the delicious recipe. I’m new to AIP protocol and this was my first venture into AIP baking. So yummy. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed Carrie, thank you for taking the time to leave a review <3
These were absolutely lovely! Light and fluffy, spiced and sweet. The perfect treat. And AIP friendly as well as easy to whip up! Many thanks for this recipe!
I am new to AIP and every baked item I previously tried was a total fail. I came across your blog last night and decided to give these a try. These muffins are so good. I am so glad I found your blog. I’m a great cook, but baking was never my strength so I will definitely be trying some of everything on your site.
Thanks so much for leaving a review,Kris.I’m so happy you enjoyed <3
Gonna give these a try this morning. Can’t wait. I actually have all the ingredients, which is rarely the case. Does it make a difference which brand of cassava flour? I have Bob’s Red Mill.
That should work. I use bob’s and otto’s
Can you use regular butter in place of coconut butter?
Hi Melissa, I haven’t tried myself so I can’t say for sure but suspect that with the palm shortening it would be too much oil.
I subbed butter in for Coconut butter and it worked great.
I’d like to sub the banana with apple sauce, anyone known what weight that would be?? Thanks in advance
Hi Deenie, unfortunately I don’t think applesauce would work the same here as it’s not near as starchy as the two bananas that this recipe calls for.
I’ve made these several times now and they are sooo good!! Thank you for the great recipe!
Thank you for sharing your review, Kris.
Hi Nicole, looking to make these later today. Have you tried freezing leftovers?
Hey Laurie. I haven’t! There have never been leftovers that long that I’ve needed to ? I’ve stored in a sealer Tupperware in the fridge for a couple days and then reheated before serving. I think freezing should be fine though.
Hi Nicole – These look so delicious. I’m unable to get Palm Shortening in my country (I could ship a small container, but it’ll cost over $100!!). I understand coconut oil isn’t an alternative, but is there any other substitute you can think of or some concoction I could make with the coconut oil to make it suitable?
Hi Michelle, $100 is way too much!! So one reader does mention they made it with coconut oil successfully (I think her oil wasn’t completely liquified), but others haven’t had success using coconut oil as I suspected. Perhaps you could mix some coconut oil with coconut butter (as a sub for the palm shortening)? I haven’t tried this, but I’m just guessing! Let me know if you do try.
Coconut oil works just fine. It’s all I use. Turned out perfect.
These are THE BEST AIP muffins I’ve ever made and they’re ACTUALLY AIP I like some recipes you might find that are only appropriate after Stage 1 reintroductions. Fluffy and moist and easy to make small tweaks to. I swapped out the banana for applesauce and they’re still so yummy. My only mistake was not mixing all the wet ingredients in a blender and they still came out delicious. I’m a new follower, 100%!
These are THE BEST AIP muffins I’ve ever made and they’re ACTUALLY AIP I like some recipes you might find that are only appropriate after Stage 1 reintroductions. Fluffy and moist and easy to make small tweaks to. I swapped out the banana for applesauce and they’re still so yummy. My only mistake was not mixing all the wet ingredients in a blender and they still came out delicious. I’m a new follower, 100%!
Thank you so much Alyssa! <3
Seriously good muffins. Even my non-AIP peeps devour these. Delicious
These muffins are so delicious! This was my first foray into AIP grain-free baking and they came out beautifully. I didn’t have shortening on hand so I used coconut oil and the texture was still cakey and moist. I agree that they are very rich, so even half a muffin is more than enough for me with a side of fruit for breakfast. Amazing recipe and easy to follow!
I make these on a weekly basis now!! They are soooo good and especially when they are warm! I didn’t know AIP baking could taste so good and not be dry! It’s also incredibly easy to make! The spices in it are perfection. I am truly obsessed and excited to try out more recipes! Thanks for making being on AIP easy and delicious!
Thank you for such a lovely review! I’m so glad you enjoy them and thanks for your support. xx Nicole
These are super scrumptious!! And super fluffy! I didn’t have luck with this recipe the first time around but after chatting with Nicole, we discovered my coconut butter was too dry! I hadn’t used it before so it was great getting her advice. My second batch turned out PERFECT! Now I just have to try and not eat them all in one day lol. Thanks Nicole for the recipe and the quick reply!
Woo hoo! So glad you were able to get that sorted and are enjoying them 🙂
Super tasty, and the perfect thing to go with my breakfast patties! Thanks 🙂
So glad you enjoyed! Thanks for commenting <3