These healthy tahini gluten-free banana muffins with chocolate chips are naturally sweetened and packed with protein. They’re tender and moist with a chewy crumb and just the right amount of chocolate. Unlike those cakes masquerading as muffins, these nut-free, refined sugar-free, and gluten-free banana muffins are the perfect morning bite. 

Do you ever feel like you’re so behind on absolutely everything that there’s just no way you can ever catch up?

I remember this notion so distinctly in college. There literally weren’t enough hours in the day to do all the assigned reading, and I just accepted that as a fact of college. I’d think, “As soon as I graduate, I’ll feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Just get through this.”

That was a pipe dream. Each phase of life makes way for a new stage, each with its own overwhelming sense of never-ending to-do-lists. Over and over again, I promise myself that there’s an end in sight. Now that I’m a grown-up with kids and bills, though, I’m realizing that’s just life. Last month, I vowed to be a new person as soon as our home remodel construction was over. And I am, but that milestone passed with a different phase of busy taking its place. And so it goes. 

Tahini Gluten-Free Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chips

These banana tahini muffins seem like just the breakfast recipe to mark the transition between phases. Just as construction wrapped up, these muffins were the last recipe I shot and shared with the contractors and painters. And with the remodel (nearly) finished, I’ve been sitting on this tahini chocolate chunk muffin recipe for a month. There still aren’t enough hours in the day. 

A batch of make-ahead grab-n-go healthy breakfast muffins is giving me life right now.

What makes these banana chocolate chip healthy muffins?

These gluten-free banana muffins really are the ideal healthy breakfast muffin. They’re rich in nutrients, whole grains, and protein. 

Let’s be honest. Most of the time, muffins are really just an excuse to eat cake for breakfast. If you compare recipes between most bakery muffins and cupcakes, the sugar amount between the two is not significantly different, save for the frosting. (Though, mom-tip: top these muffins with a maple-sweetened cream cheese frosting or this refined sugar-free chocolate buttercream and call them cupcakes!).

For these muffins, I wanted a recipe I could confidently serve my kids for breakfast, knowing it wouldn’t give them a sugar high followed by sugar crash an hour later. And yet, they’re still indulgent and rich in flavor. Mom-tip #2, I leave the chocolate out when I’m baking these to bring for preschool snack. 

Banana Bread Choc Chip Muffins

For these banana bread style muffins, I used chocolate chunks because I like how melty and gooey the chocolate gets when the muffins are warm. That being said,  I’ve also made them using dark or semisweet chocolate chips with equal success! Use what you’ve got on hand. 

Just remember, if you’re aiming for the muffins to be entirely refined-sugar free, look for a chocolate bar or chocolate chips sweetened with coconut sugar or other refined sugar-free sweeteners. Or leave the chocolate out entirely!

And if bananas aren’t your thing?

I’ve tested these healthy banana chocolate chip muffins with date paste in place of the banana puree. It’s equally delicious, though ever-so-slightly more moist/dense, with the tahini taking a starring role. 

Gluten-Free Coconut Flour Banana Muffins

Thanks to coconut flour and oat flour, these muffins are rich in fiber and whole grains. Coconut flour makes a great pairing for banana and maple-sweetened desserts because of its hygroscopic nature – it absorbs the extra liquid, keeping the muffins from becoming too dense from moisture. 

Paired with oat flour for cakiness and sweet rice flour for chew, these three flours create a muffin that’s simultaneously moist, soft, cakey, and chewy. 

Banana Protein Muffins with Tahini

Adding nut butter to muffins is a great way to pack in extra protein, but when you need a nut-free school-safe alternative, tahini swoops right in. Its toastiness adds a subtle nutty note that’s warm and comforting, especially when paired with dark chocolate. The protein boost is just a bonus.

Think peanut butter and banana toast drizzled with chocolate, but a thousand times more sophisticated. And good for you to boot!

More Chocolate Tahini Desserts

• Gluten-Free Tahini Snack Cake with Chocolate Buttercream
• Chocolate Banana Tahini Popsicles

More Banana Desserts

• Salty Date Banofee Pie
• Spiced Banana Date Cake
• Banana Macadamia Nut Muffins