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Home » Recipes » Baking

Healthy Date Banana Muffins

Published: Feb 8, 2022 Updated: Apr 15, 2024 Author: Roxana Begum· This post may contain affiliate links.

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These healthy banana muffins are so sweet and moist. You won’t believe that they are sweetened only with dates and bananas. And you won’t miss refined sugar in this one. Start your morning tasty and wholesome!

Baked healthy banana muffins on a plate.

Date Sweetened Banana Muffins

Anyone who loves baking knows how important sugar is to baking. How it contributes to the texture and taste. So, baking with other sweeteners often meets with less than satisfying results.

But these date-sweetened banana muffins solve an important problem. How to satisfy the sweet tooth, without depending heavily on refined sugar! An absolute must try for anyone who loves sweet mornings and baking.

I was amazed with the results. The banana muffins rise nicely, are moist and have a great texture. You really can’t tell there is no refined sugar in these muffins. So easy to make too.

Nourish your body while pleasing your senses, with these healthy banana date muffins.

Recipe Ingredients

  • Flour: Use all purpose flour or whole wheat flour .
  • Oats: Rolled oats give a wholesome texture.
  • Bananas: Choose very ripe bananas. You can freeze over-ripe bananas and use as needed. If they are not ripe enough, bake them at 350 degrees F for 6 to 8 minutes until the skin darkens.
  • Oil: Use any oil that does not have a strong flavor. You can’t skimp on the oil though, or the muffins will be dry. 
  • Dates: Choose soft and plump medjool dates as they are easy to work with. 
  • If dates are too dry, then place in saucepan, add small amount of water (as needed), heat at medium high and when bubbles appear, lower the heat and simmer. Cook it until soft, turn off the heat and allow to cool.
  • Ready-Made Date Paste: This is available at middle eastern stores or online, but make sure to remove any pits or fragments. Use 300 grams (about 10 ounces) for this recipe. The date paste can be sticky, so work with it using food prep gloves or oiled palms.
  • Dark Chocolate Chips: These add some bursts of sweetness. Use raisins as a substitute.
  • Walnuts: Toast nuts at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes, cool and chop them coarsely.
  • Flavors: I use cinnamon and vanilla. Adding 1 to 2 teaspoons of freshly ground green cardamom is also nice. A few pinches of freshly grated nutmeg may be good too.
  • Milk:  Whole, reduced fat or low-fat dairy or non-dairy milk will work.
  • Other Ingredients: Egg, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt.
Healthy banana muffins arranged on a plate.

How to Make It

Brief overview below. *Full recipe for healthy banana muffins at the end of blog post. 

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Dry Ingredients: In a food processor, pulse walnuts into big pieces. Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats and pulse. Transfer to a bowl.
  3. Wet Ingredients:  Process dates with milk into a paste. Add oil and pulse. Then add egg, vanilla and pulse. Add bananas and pulse until smooth.
  4. Combine: Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips if using.
  5. Bake: Spoon batter into muffin pan and bake at 350 degrees F. 
Combining the dry ingredients.
Combining the wet ingredients.
Making the batter and filling the baking pan.

Top Tips

Use Ripe Bananas: This is an absolute must. Ripe bananas are sweeter and more flavorful.

Thick Batter: The batter consistency should be in between that of cake and drop cookies. Thick enough to mound. Adjust with flour if needed.

Domed Muffins: Don't hesitate to fill the muffins pans, for nice domed muffin tops.

Hot Oven: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and then lower it to 350 degrees F before baking. This will help the muffins rise better.

Raisins, other dried fruits and dark chocolate chips are some ways to adjust sweetness in muffins.

Variations

Below are some suggestions, but I have not tried some of these.

Gluten-Free: Be sure to use certified gluten free oats and substitute all purpose flour with Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour.

Nut-Free: Skip walnuts or use pumpkin seeds and coconut flakes.

Dairy-Free: Instead of dairy milk, use nut based milk, soy milk and such.

Egg-Free: Use flax or chia eggs in place of regular eggs. Combine 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal or chia seeds with 3 tablespoons water and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

Vegan: Try flax or chia eggs, use non-dairy milk and vegan chocolate chips.

Other Sweeteners: You can try using about ¾ cup of maple syrup or honey instead of the dates. Another option is to try our oatmeal banana muffins.

Make Ahead

Combine dry ingredients and have them ready. Make the date  paste ahead.

Storage

Banana date muffins are best for 1 to 2 days at room temperature. They can be frozen in freezer safe bags or containers.

Muffins sweetened with dates and baked with toppings.

What to Serve Along

Enjoy these healthy banana muffins with milk, tea made with our homemade tea blend, hot chocolate or coffee.

Why Are These Healthy?

The muffins are made with the following ingredients.

Rolled Oats: Are whole grain and a good source of fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. They have a lower glycemic load, releasing sugar slowly from the carbohydrates and keeping you satisfied longer.

Bananas: These sweeten the muffins. And are a great source of fiber, vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium, and magnesium.

Dates: They are high in fiber, potassium, magnesium, vitamin B6 and a good source of niacin, calcium, phosphorus, iron and polyphenols. Therefore are a wholesome alternative to refined sugar.

Olive oil: It makes the muffins moist and is a great source of heart healthy monounsaturated fats.

Walnuts: A great source of omega-3 fatty acids and a good source of healthy fats — monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, fiber, protein and antioxidants.

Dietary fiber, protein and fat, in the muffins are all nutrients that help moderate blood sugar levels.

Date sweetened muffins in a plate.

Why Bake With Dates?

Compared to sugar, dates come with a lot of beneficial nutrients. One date provides almost 2 grams of fiber or 8% of the daily value. Plus they are also a source of nutrients that support good health and lower risk of diseases. 

The dietary fiber in dates can slow the absorption of carbs and therefore reduce blood sugar spikes. In fact, some research has shown that people with diabetes did not experience significant blood sugar spikes after consuming certain number of dates. 

Dates have a low glycemic index (foods with low GI cause less significant changes in blood sugar levels). However dates are also a rich source of carbohydrates and calories, so always moderation is recommended. 

And when we look at another measure, glycemic load, which considers the amount eaten, then 2 dates would be of medium glycemic load.

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Full Recipe Video

Healthy date banana muffins YouTube video image.

★ DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? PLEASE COMMENT AND GIVE IT A STAR RATING BELOW!

Close up view of muffins sweetened with dates and baked with toppings.
5 from 18 votes

Healthy Date Banana Muffins

Full tutorial video above. These healthy banana muffins are so sweet and moist. You won’t believe that they are sweetened only with dates and bananas. And you won’t miss refined sugar in this one. Start your morning tasty and wholesome! Traditional method (without food processor) in recipe notes.
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time20 minutes mins
Total Time30 minutes mins
Print SaveSaved!
Course :Breakfast
Cuisine :American
Servings: 12 Muffins
Calories: 353kcal
Author: Roxana Begum

Ingredients

  • 1 cup walnuts or pecans
  • 1 cup all purpose flour or whole wheat flour
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup rolled oats old fashioned
  • 1 cup chopped medjool dates packed tightly, see note
  • ¼ cup milk whole or reduced fat, or buttermilk
  • ⅔ cup olive oil or any neutral oil, see note
  • 1 egg large
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
  • 3 bananas very ripe, large
  • ½ cup dark chocolate chips or raisins
  • butter, flour or muffin liners as needed
US Customary - Metric

Equipment

  • Mixing Bowls
  • Muffin Pan
  • Measuring Spoons
  • Measuring Cups
  • Food Processor
Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Take walnuts in a food processor and pulse into large pieces. Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pulse. Then add oats, and pulse just to combine. The oats should remain whole and walnuts as pieces. Transfer dry mix to a bowl.
  • In the same food processor, take dates with milk and process into a smooth paste. Add oil and pulse. Then add egg, vanilla and pulse, just to incorporate. Finally add chopped banana and pulse few times until smooth.
  • Then add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and pulse just to moisten, making sure the oats remain whole and walnuts as pieces. Stir in chocolate chips if using. Make a thick batter that forms a mound with a scoop (see note for tip).
  • Prepare a muffin pan, by applying butter in the wells, sprinkle flour all over and dust off excess. Or line with paper muffin liners.
  • Spoon the batter almost full into the prepared muffin cups. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake until a cake tester inserted comes out clean and the muffin tops are golden brown, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove muffins from the pan and let cool.

Notes

  1. Dates: 
    • Choose soft and plump medjool dates. Use more dates for sweeter muffins.
    • If dates are too dry, then place in saucepan, add small amount of water (increase as needed), heat at medium high and when bubbles appear, lower the heat and simmer. Cook it until soft, turn off the heat and allow to cool.
    • Ready-Made Date Paste: Available at middle eastern stores or online. Be sure to look for any pits and remove. Use 300 grams (about 10 ounces) for this recipe.
      The date paste can be sticky, so work with it using food prep gloves or oiled palms.
  2. Oil: Since we don’t use sugar, oil is necessary for optimal moistness. You can try lowering it to ½ cup but the muffins will be less moist. 
  3. Batter: Adjust the thickness of batter with flour if needed.
  4. Make Ahead: Combine dry ingredients and have them ready. Make the date paste ahead.
  5. Storage: These are best for 1 to 2 days at room temperature. They can be frozen as well.
  6. Add-ins and Toppings: Chocolate chips, dried fruits, nuts, oats, shredded coconut.
  7. Traditional Method: Process dates with milk into a paste. Using a fork, mash bananas very well and stir it in. Add oil, egg, vanilla and whisk into a smooth mixture. In another bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats, chopped walnuts and chocolate chips. Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients, to make a thick batter that forms a mound, and with no lumps. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan and bake.
  8. Nutrition Facts: Without walnuts and chocolate chips - 249 calories, 32 g carbs, 3 g protein, 13 g fat, 3 g fiber, 14 g sugar.
  9. For more information on ingredients and variations (vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free nut-free and other sweeteners) scroll up the page to the blog post.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Muffin | Calories: 353kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 133mg | Potassium: 421mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 71IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 92mg | Iron: 2mg
Did you make this recipe?I would love to know about it. Tag me @thedeliciouscrescent.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anonymous

    September 05, 2024 at 6:28 am

    This worked exactly as written, thanks! Very moist, healthy stuff minus the refined sugar.

    Reply
    • Roxana Begum

      September 11, 2024 at 4:16 pm

      Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  2. Courtney

    January 13, 2024 at 8:52 pm

    Absolutely delicious!
    I came across this recipe while looking for a way to use some fresh dates i picked up at a date festival in Yuma AZ, and wow these are just fabulous. You don’t miss the addition of sugar at all, they are nice and moist and extremely flavourful. I’ll definitely be making these again !

    Reply
  3. Anonymous

    October 20, 2023 at 5:34 pm

    Great recipe. I’ve made this multiple times and have shared this recipe with friends.

    Reply
  4. Shirley Fowler

    October 05, 2023 at 7:39 pm

    I made these exactly like the recipe. They turned out fantastic, not to sweet. I’ll be making them again.

    Reply
  5. Catherine

    August 22, 2023 at 4:20 pm

    I reduced oil to 1/4 cup and added 1/4 applesauce. Very moist. I was short on banana with only 270 grams. Added 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp cardamom. Didn't use the nuts. Great flavor. The oatmeal gives it a texture like there are nuts.

    Reply
  6. Jean

    July 24, 2023 at 2:44 pm

    Any idea what the weigh of the bananas in your recipe are?

    Reply
    • Roxana Begum

      July 27, 2023 at 2:55 pm

      It is 1½ cups mashed bananas. Should be about 340g.

      Reply
  7. Anonymous

    November 27, 2022 at 6:44 pm

    Can this be made using unsalted butter instead of olive oil?

    Reply
    • Roxana Begum

      November 30, 2022 at 8:13 pm

      Yes.

      Reply
      • Kelly

        September 11, 2024 at 2:23 am

        This is a fantastic muffin recipe! Easy in the food processor, a little different then everything out there, nutritious and turned out amazing. Thank you!

        Reply
        • Roxana Begum

          September 11, 2024 at 4:16 pm

          Thanks Kelly, so happy you liked it.

          Reply
  8. John

    November 15, 2022 at 8:16 pm

    Hey Roxana!
    The muffins just came out of the oven and WOW!

    Since I had 3 dead ripe bananas, some dates that had been here more than a minute as well as an oversupply of walnuts I did a search and your recipe popped up. I wasn't looking for healthy. I wasn't looking for a well written recipe (so hard to find!). I wasn't even letting my science bias steer me to solid ingredient measures in mass instead of volume. I found all of those things in your muffin recipe (using your metric switch got the mass measures) so there was no chance they'd be good, right? As they baked the aroma wafted up the stairs and had my wife bounding down to see what smelled so amazing.

    As evidence of how impressed I am, I have NEVER subscribed to a food blog site and I use them almost every day. I just subscribed to yours. You now have a very high expectation bar though. All of your recipes will have to be that good! I'm smiling because I fully expect them to be. Nicely done!

    Reply
    • Roxana Begum

      November 30, 2022 at 8:26 pm

      Thank you John for taking the time to write such a lovely and helpful feedback.

      Reply
  9. Fahz

    September 21, 2022 at 4:19 am

    I made these today, I used 3 very ripe bananas and more than the required amount of dates, they are delicious and delicately sweet, I added chocolate disks as well, but i think it needs a tiny bit of sugar or additional sweetness to make them perfect!

    Reply
    • Roxana Begum

      September 22, 2022 at 7:14 pm

      Thanks for the feedback. When using very ripe large bananas and medjool dates that are packed nicely in the cup (300 g), the muffins have the standard sweetness.

      Reply
  10. CINDY VANDERZALM

    September 13, 2022 at 10:53 pm

    I've made these twice now. They are amazing! I left out the chocolate chips both times as I'm trying to cut out as much sugar as possible. The second time I cut the oil to ½ a cup...they were just as delicious. No my new "go to". Thank you so much.

    Reply
    • Roxana Begum

      September 19, 2022 at 2:51 pm

      Thanks Cindy for the nice feedback.

      Reply
  11. D. Hannon

    August 14, 2022 at 2:30 pm

    These are really delicious. I subbed yogurt for the milk and coconut oil for the olive oil. I also had enough extra batter for a dozen mini muffins. I like the mini muffin size better and next time would probably bake all as mini's. Love that they're not super sweet.

    Reply
  12. Anonymous

    August 01, 2022 at 4:01 am

    Delicious recipe and I love that they are naturally sweetened.

    Reply
  13. Chris

    July 21, 2022 at 4:58 pm

    I made these today. They are a success for me. I did drop the oil down to closer to 1/2 cup, only used 2 large really ripe bananas because that is all I had in the house, and omitted the chocolate chips because, again, I didn't have any. Other than those changes, I followed the recipe. I found them great for me. I don't eat the standard American diet or candy so my taste buds prefer less sweet baked goods. I will keep this recipe and make them again. Thanks for the great recipe.

    Reply
    • Roxana Begum

      July 28, 2022 at 3:04 pm

      Thanks for the lovely feedback Chris.

      Reply
      • Olga

        April 20, 2024 at 6:52 pm

        Replaced egg with 4 tbsp apple puree and they were delicious!

        Reply
        • Roxana Begum

          April 21, 2024 at 2:32 am

          Thanks for sharing. Great idea!

          Reply
  14. Agnieszka

    February 09, 2022 at 4:18 am

    These muffins turned out absolutely delicious. I love that they're sweetened with dates!

    Reply
    • Roxana Begum

      February 11, 2022 at 7:14 pm

      Thanks.

      Reply
  15. Katie

    February 09, 2022 at 3:57 am

    Wow- you were so right! The sweetness is all there, even without sugar! What a delicious and more healthy version of a great muffin! Love it!

    Reply
    • Roxana Begum

      February 11, 2022 at 7:14 pm

      So glad you liked it!

      Reply
  16. AISilva

    February 09, 2022 at 1:09 am

    I always have so many bananas left over and I usually make banana bread. These healthy banana muffins look so good though, I can't wait to try these next time!

    Reply
  17. Kristen

    February 09, 2022 at 1:01 am

    These were so scrumptious! Can't wait to make again. Thank you! :)

    Reply
  18. Heather

    February 08, 2022 at 11:54 pm

    These banana muffins are wonderfully sweet and moist - love that they are made with dates!

    Reply
5 from 18 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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Hi, I'm Roxana, registered dietitian and recipe developer. Here I share wholesome & delicious recipes with room for cravings. Healthy makeovers. Step-by-step photos & videos.
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