For years I’ve been attempting to replicate the Power Muffins of the former Capers grocery stores in Vancouver B.C. Those very dense muffins were an entire meal, and an indulgence that Tony and I enjoyed once a week with a big mug of hot tea after a leisurely walk. When Whole Foods took them over, they attempted to keep the power muffin legacy, but their version just didn’t measure up. The healthy gluten-free muffin recipe below is by no means identical to those original power muffins (which were made with spelt flour and quite a bit of oil!), but they truly reminded me of them and gave that same comfort food feeling.
Healthy Power Muffins that Happen to Be Vegan, Gluten-Free & Nut-Free!
Unlike the original power muffins, this is a vegan (egg-free!) and gluten-free muffin recipe (made with buckwheat flour instead of spelt). My recipe also has less oil and less added sweetener, so they can be enjoyed nearly every day, rather than as an occasional indulgence.
However, there are a few special ingredients that make this dairy-free and gluten-free muffin recipe reminiscent of power muffins past. First are the shelled hemp seeds (I use the Hemp Hearts from Manitoba Harvest). These little morsels are a textural delight. If you don’t have any hemp hearts on hand, the muffins will still be good, but not quite as powerful. Second is my husband’s favorite ingredient, dark chocolate chunks. And finally, the hearty whole grains. I was actually a bit surprised at how the buckwheat almost mimicked the earthy flavor of spelt, but without gluten.
Beyond breakfast, we’ve found these plant-based power muffins to be a great portable snack. They go well in lunch boxes or supply packs for a day out hiking or on the ski slopes. I’ve included a few notes on how to adapt these muffins, if desired, but we love them as is. Enjoy!
Special Diet Notes: Gluten-Free Power Muffins
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, optionally vegan, plant-based, and vegetarian.
- 1¼ cups buckwheat flour
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (reduce to ¼ teaspoon above 3000 feet)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1⅓ cups mashed banana (3 to 4 bananas)
- ¼ cup oil
- ¼ cup honey or maple syrup (for vegan) (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup hemp hearts (shelled hemp seeds)
- ⅓ cup chopped dairy-free dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate chips, cacao nibs, or a combination (we've liked all three!)
- Preheat your oven to 375ºF and grease or line 9 muffin cups (unless you are using silicone muffin cups; they work best ungreased).
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the buckwheat, tapioca, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a mixing bowl, blend the banana, oil, honey or maple syrup, and vanilla until relatively smooth with just some small banana lumps remaining.
- Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined.
- Stir in the hemp seeds and chocolate.
- Divide the batter between the 9 muffin cups, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until slightly browned on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean (well, aside from possible a little melted chocolate!).
- Serve with hot tea or pack along in lunch boxes.
81 Comments
Do you have the nutrition data for these muffins please?
Hi Mindy, I’ve added the nutrition facts.
An I use coconut flour instead of tapioca starch?
Unfortunately, coconut flour doesn’t substitute 1:1 for other flours and starches. It’s extremely dry, absorbs much more liquid, and doesn’t add binding (as other flours and starches do). You can substitute another starch, if needed.
being gf and then, needing to be dairy free is a pain. love finding new recipes.
would almond flour work, instead of the buckwheat?
I’m honestly not sure how that would work without testing it.
These muffins are awesome!! We are new to the gluten free world, so it was nice to run into a recipe that actually tasted good. I did add two eggs and a lot more chocolate chips. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Happy it worked out well for you Beth and thank you for sharing your modifications!
Thanks for the recipe! I made them with freshly ground buckwheat flour from buckwheat groats. They turned out well. I am egg free, so I left that out. I topped the two I ate with a smear of coconut butter. Yum!
That’s great Aubri – and thanks for your feedback! There’s are no eggs in this recipe so you were good to leave eggs out 🙂
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These look great. We have severe nut and seed allergies in our family. Do you know of a good substitution for the hemp seeds in this recipe?
You can omit them!
Hi Alisa!
Thank you so much for this recipe, it really looks delicious, hearty and healthy, which are 3 of my favorite things!
I just have a couple of questions for you:
-I don’t have hemp seeds, but hemp flour atm. Do you think it would work anyway?
-I don’t really like the flavor of banana in baked food, so do you think I could replace the bananas (or maybe half of them) with something else? Maybe applesauce?
Thank you so much!
Martina.
Hi Martina, if you don’t have hemp seeds, I would either skip them or add in something else that you like as a flavor add-in! The shelled hemp seeds are whole, but tiny, so flour or powder of any kind wouldn’t be a suitable swap. Think other seeds or chopped nuts maybe instead.
As for the banana, see the other comments on this post. I believe someone swapped in pumpkin with success and applesauce should work, too!
These were delicious! I made 24 mini-muffins. Thank you for the recipe.
Good to know the mini muffin count – thank you for sharing Joanna. And so glad you enjoyed my recipe!
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Thank you, these were delicious! I had leftover cranberry sauce with citrus and walnuts so I used that in place of the honey/maple syrup and it was perfect – sweet, tart and rich. I only had buckwheat groats, but it didn’t take long to grind them in my coffee maker. My kids really enjoyed them!
Fantastic, so glad you all enjoyed them and thank you for sharing your modifications Lindsay!
These are the most divine tasting muffins. Every ingredient is spot on. I love the crunch of the hemp seeds. Thanks you.
So happy to hear you are loving the recipe Sheila! Thank you for the feedback.