Banana & Bean Muffins
Gluten-free, made with no added sugar, and surprisingly light and fluffy
Delicious BODY&SOIL banana muffins from bean flour.
At BODY&SOIL, we believe snacks should do more than simply fill the stomach — they should fuel learning, support concentration, and nourish the body.
These Banana & Bean Muffins are made with bean flour and cassava starch instead of wheat flour, making them naturally gluten-free and rooted in locally available ingredients. The sweetness comes entirely from ripe bananas, with zero added sugar.
100% local beans made into bean flour.
And despite what many might expect, the bean flour does not make them heavy or dense. Thanks to the combination of ripe bananas, eggs, cassava starch, and baking powder, the muffins come out beautifully fluffy, light, and soft.
This is exactly the kind of food innovation we want to show here in Africa: nourishing ingredients that still taste and feel joyful to eat. At the end of this recipe we’ll talk about why we’ve gone “bean crazy”, so keep scrolling until the end!
Beans are central to this recipe because they provide protein, soluble fiber, and slow-releasing energy. Instead of a quick sugar spike and crash, these muffins support steady energy and longer-lasting fullness. Something especially important for students who need to focus and learn.
Recipe developed by: Collins Wandera and Bonnie Kalungi
Ingredients
6 ripe bananas, mashed
3 cups bean flour (grind your any type of beans into flour)
1 cup cassava starch (find out how to make starch here)
2–3 local eggs
½ cup seed oil
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp of ginger powder
2 tbsp lemon juice
2–3 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
Romary (optional)
½ cup crushed groundnuts
Water, as needed
Ingredients for BODY&SOIL Banana Bean flour muffins.
Method
1. Preheat the oven Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a muffin tray or line with papers.
2. Prepare the bananas . Peel and mash the bananas until smooth.
3. Mix the wet ingredients
. Add eggs, oil, a bit of finely chopped rosmary, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix well.
Mix the wet ingredients together.
4. Mix the dry ingredients: In another bowl, combine the bean flour, cassava starch, salt, ginger, and baking powder.
5. Combine mixtures : Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and stir gently.
Chef Bonnie, mixing the dry ingredients.
6. Adjust consistency : Add a little water if needed. The batter should have a soft dropping consistency.
Mixing in water until the batter has have a soft dropping consistency.
7. Add groundnuts: Roast the peanuts and remove the peel, then fold in the crushed groundnuts into the batter.
8. Measure: We simply use our hands to measure the batter, taking handfuls of dough and placing them into the baking cups.
8. Bake : Bake for 20–25 minutes, until golden and fluffy.
Leave them to cool for 10-15 minuets (although fresh out of the oven they are delicious too).
They have a shelf life of 4-5 days!
Closing thought
This recipe is more than a way of baking muffins.
When children and students here in Uganda learn how to make food like this, we are also showing them something deeper: that they already have the ability to create value with their own hands from what they grow in their gardens. In a very real way, they can begin to see themselves as builders of small, local social enterprises right away. Which many secondary children in our clubs are already doing!
As they cook, share, and potentially sell or serve these kinds of foods, made with their local ingredients, something begins to shift. Parents and communities start to see the value of what is growing around them. This can encourage more families to grow and eat more beans again — not only as a staple crop, but as a powerful source of nutrition and opportunity.
Over time, recipes like this help bring back appreciation for an incredible food: beans.
If you would like to learn more about why beans are such an important part of our work, and how they can help you, we invite you to also read our Bean Bread recipe on the blog, where we share more about the nutritional benefits of beans and their role in creating steady energy and stronger bodies.
Don’t forget to share this recipe with someone who wants to make delicious and nutrious recipes!
With love from our kitchen in Uganda.