One-Bowl Healthy Chunky Monkey Muffins [vegan, gluten free & packed with omega-3’s!]

These one-bowl healthy chunky monkey muffins are packed with oats and omega-3 rich ingredients such as flaxseeds, walnuts, and hemp seeds – making for a nutritious, chocolatey snack or dessert. 

I promise you friends, today’s recipe is big on flavor and nutrition! I’ve been making healthy chunky monkey muffins for awhile now, and I realized that I hadn’t shared it with you before.. so here we are! I make it a habit to have nutritious, yummy homemade snacks on hand for the week, and these muffins definitely fall into that category.

Omega-3 Rich, Healthy Chunky Monkey Muffins

These healthy chunky monkey muffins are vegan and gluten free, and they feature an oat base and are packed with omega-3 fatty acids – an important fat that many people do not eat enough of. In fact, a recent study found that 68% of adults and 95% of children in the United States do not consume enough omega-3’s.

What’s one easy way to get your omega-3’s in? Eating these healthy chunky monkey muffins! I like to whip a batch up, then have some of hand all week long for a quick snack. Plus my 2-year old loves them, which feels like a mom win since omega-3s are awesome for little ones’ development.

The Low-Down On Omega-3 Fats

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential fats, meaning the body can’t make them from scratch and must get them from food. There are a variety of reasons that omega-3 fats are important, including that they help prevent a variety of health conditions – such as heart disease, stroke, and macular degeneration.

Omega-3 fat consumption is linked with a reduction in anxiety, depression and ADHD symptoms. They’re also crucial to brain development during pregnancy and infancy, and they help to fight inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and age-related mental decline, to name a few perks. Sounds like pretty good stuff, right?

I attended a seminar on the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids years ago, and ever since, I’ve been deliberate with eating a lot of foods that contain omega-3’s. While fish (such as salmon and tuna) is usually associated with omega-3 rich foods, plant-based sources such as nuts, seeds, and plant oils are also be high in omega-3’s (in some cases, higher than fish!).

Healthy Chunky Monkey Muffins: The Ingredients

The star ingredients of these healthy chunky monkey muffins include oats, overripe mashed banana and coconut sugar.

Omega-3 rich foods that are featured in the recipe include:

• Flaxseed.

Flax offers more ALA omega-3s than any other food on the planet! They’re also extremely high in lignans, which are phytoestrogens and antioxidants. In fact, flaxseed contains 750-800x more lignans than other plant foods! Flax also is also high in fiber, protein and potassium. These banana muffins call for two flax eggs.

• Walnuts.

I mean, what’s a chunky monkey recipe without walnuts? Just one ounce of walnuts provides more than double the daily recommendation for women. 1/3 cup of walnuts are included in this vegan muffin recipe.

• Hemp Seeds.

Hemp hearts are one of my favorite easy add-ins to things like smoothies and pancakes because they’re incredibly nutritious and have a mild, nutty flavor. They’re full of protein, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals and healthy fatty acids.

• Canola Oil. 

This oil has a light, mild flavor, and just one tablespoon of it contains 1.28g of omega-3’s – more than a day’s of the recommended amount for women.

• Chia Seeds. 

These seeds may be tiny, but they pack a nutritious punch: Chia seeds are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, iron, calcium and antioxidants.

Healthy Chunky Monkey Muffins

Foodie Loves Fitness

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Servings 12 muffins

Calories 250 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 flax eggs: 2 TBSP ground flaxseed + 6 TBSP water
• 1/3 cup walnuts
• 3 large overripe bananas
• 1/3 cup smooth preferably runny peanut butter
• 3 TBSP canola oil
• 2 TBSP almond milk or other plant milk
• 2 TSP vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1 1/2 cups oat flour
• 2 TBSP chia seeds
• 3 TBSP hemp hearts
• 1 TSP baking powder
• 1/2 TSP baking soda
• 1/2 TSP cinnamon
• 1/4 TSP fine sea salt
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips I like using mini chips

Instructions

 

• In a large bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed and water. Set aside momentarily.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin cups.
• Chop the walnuts and set them aside.
• Next, mash the bananas. Add the bananas to the large bowl.
• Add in the peanut butter, coconut sugar, canola oil, almond milk and vanilla extract. Whisk the mixture together well.
• Add in the walnuts, oat flour, chia seeds, hemp hearts, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and fine sea salt. Stir together well, then mix in the chocolate chips.
• Evenly spoon the muffin batter into the muffin cups.
• Bake for 20-24 minutes, until they're lightly browned and pass the toothpick test.
• Allow the muffins to slightly cool before transferring them to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 250kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 5gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 2.5gFiber: 4g

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Looking for more awesome, healthy banana recipes? Check out these ideas: 

• Anti-Inflammatory Banana Turmeric Smoothie

• Blueberry Banana Oatmeal Protein Pancakes

• Strawberry Oat Banana Bread 

Tell me… Do you think you get the recommended amount of omega-3 fats in your diet on a daily basis?