Paleo Banana Nut Muffins with Dairy Free Banana Cream Cheese Frosting
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This recipe combines two of my favorite things ever… Banana Nut Muffins & Cream Cheese Frosting. What more can I say …
I love muffins of ALL kinds, I don’t discriminate, but Banana Nut is in my 3 top favorite muffin flavors ever (with Blueberry coming in at #1, Banana Nut coming in at #2, and Coffee Crumb Cake coming in at #3) These Banana Nut Muffins are super versatile and can be changed into a whole new recipe with just some simple ingredient swaps. Add chocolate chips, or fruit, or they can be made into a Banana Bread if baked in a loaf pan. The options are endless.
BUT the real star of the show, in this recipe, is the Banana “Cheesecake” cream cheese frosting. I love cream cheese in all forms, on bagels, dipped in veggies & incorporated into my desserts and after going dairy free it took me a very long time to find a dairy free cream I liked. A lot of the vegan options either had a really weird after taste or a gummy or grainy texture and I was really turned off from the whole idea. I wrote off my love affair with cream cheese as a thing of the past UNTIL I was introduced to Kite Hill Dairy Free Cream Cheeses and Cream Cheese Dips. Kite Hill’s Almond Milk based cream cheeses are so similar to the regular cream cheese you won’t believe it nor will you miss the real thing! The texture is smooth and creamy, and the ingredient list is made up of whole foods and real clean ingredients. They come in variety of flavors, whether you prefer sweet or savory. I use the Kite Hill Cream Cheese Plain version as the base of the filling. I literally can eating this frosting with a spoon and sometimes I do :)
These Paleo Banana Nut Muffins with Dairy Free Cream Cheese Frosting are Paleo, Refined Sugar Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, & Grain Free and only a measly 239 calories each. ENJOY!
ingredients:
Simple Paleo Banana Nut Muffins:
(WET)
-1/3 cup + 2 tbsp creamy almond butter (I use this almond/cashew blend)
-1 egg
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-3 small overripe bananas
(Dry)
-1 cup almond flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
-1/4 cup chopped pecans
Banana “Cheesecake” Filling:
-1 container dairy free cream cheese (I use this one)
-1 small overripe banana (mashed)
-1/4 cup monk fruit sweetener
-2 tbsp coconut oil
-1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
instructions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 count muffin tin with liners.
2,In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas with a fork. Add in all ‘Wet’ ingredients to mashed bananas and whisk until combined.
3.Add in all ‘Dry’ ingredients to the wet ingredient mixture, leaving out pecans. Whisk until combined. Add in pecans last and stir to combine.
4.Distribute batter into the lined muffin tin. Bake for 15 minutes in preheated oven or until a toothpick comes out clean from center.
5.While muffins are baking, prepare the filling.
6.Add all filling ingredients to a mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, beat all ingredients together until combined and smoothed.
7.Place filling in fridge until muffins have completely cooled.
8.Gouge a small hole into the center of each muffin with the back of a spoon.
9. Spoon or using a frosting bag to pipe filling in the center of each muffin and on top.
10. Store in fridge, frosting will melt at room temperature.
makes 12 muffins/ approx. 164 calories per muffin OR 239 calories per muffin with frosting
PALEO/GLUTEN FREE/DAIRY FREE/REFINED SUGAR FREE/GRAIN FREE