Gluten Free Banana Muffins

I’ve been on an easy breakfast baking binge, developing and posting a bunch of gluten free recipes for muffins and quick breads.

Today’s blog post is my gluten-free banana muffin recipe!

This recipe makes the best gluten-free banana muffins, right up there with my regular, wheat flour fluffy banana muffins - which were the best banana muffins I’d had, before these gf banana muffins!

This gluten free muffin recipe makes moist banana muffins with a tender crumb, great flavour, and the right amount of sweetness.

They make a delicious snack or breakfast - best when reheated, but are actually really good straight from the fridge as well!

A nice thing about this gluten free banana muffins recipe is that it’s NOT an almond flour banana muffins recipe.

I’ve never been a fan of almond flour muffins - I don’t find that almond meal makes for a good texture - AND it’s always nice to have a nut free muffin option for those with additional allergies.

These moist gluten-free banana muffins are also customizable!

Your choice of milk can make them vegetarian if needed, you can vary the add-ins used, and get fancy with the muffin tops, if you like.

Anyway, let’s get to it!

Ingredients

If you do much in the way of gluten free baking, you’ll find that this easy recipe uses fairly simple ingredients.

If not, the bulk of them are basic ingredients that can be found in any grocery store, the flours are usually easier to find in larger grocery stores, sometimes in the health food section.

A few notes for you:

Gluten-Free Flour Mixture

As with all of my gluten-free baking, I use a gluten free flour blend measured from individual flours, which I design for each recipe, specifically.

I’m not a fan of premade gluten free “all purpose flour” mixes - they tend to use the cheapest flours and starches possible, and don’t mimic the use of wheat flour at all.

All that rice flour and starch tends to lead to undesirable textures, and it doesn’t really taste like much.

The gluten free flours I use for making gluten-free muffins taste much better than regular flour, and produce a nice, soft muffin without much fuss, wait time, etc.

It also ends up to be FAR cheaper than using the pre-mixes.

I use:

Light Buckwheat Flour
Sorghum Flour
Coconut Flour
Xanthan Gum

If you like baking muffins and quick breads, know that this is my go-to blend for these kinds of recipes, so you can definitely get some use out of them! They’re great to have on hand.

Bananas

Overripe bananas are the best bananas to use for this recipe - they mash well, and have the most robust sweet banana flavor.

Don’t worry about brown spots - if the bananas aren’t full-out rotten, it’s all good!

IMHO, the best banana muffins are made with bananas you wouldn’t want to eat - blackened peels, mushy interior, etc.

As pictured, I actually froze these bananas when they were perfectly overripe, then thawed them when I was ready to use this.

This makes them even mushier, as the freezing and thawing process breaks down the fruit structure.

Milk

You can use whatever form of milk you like for this recipe.

For dairy milk, whole milk or 2% milk are both fine.

For dairy-free milk, almond milk, coconut milk, oat milk, cashew milk, and flax milk are all great options that we’ve used.

As pictured, I use unsweetened almond milk for this batch.

Vegetable Oil

While I usually use melted butter in a lot of my regular baking, I like to use oil for baking gluten-free quick breads and muffins.
I find it retains a nicer texture, even straight from the fridge - butter tends to lead to a more dry texture at cooler temperatures.

I use just basic vegetable oil, but you can use any neutral flavoured oil - canola oil and avocado oil are great options.

Olive oil has a bit too robust of a flavour for this recipe, IMHO, and melted coconut oil tends to run into the same temperature issue as using butter, so I generally avoid it for this.

Walnuts, or... Not.

I tend to default to using Chopped Walnuts when making these muffins, but feel free to use your favorite mix-ins.

Chopped Pecans or Chocolate Chips are other great options!

Optional Toppings

I like to sprinkle the top of the muffins with coarse white sugar - specificially Pearl Sugar.

It’s what I use to give a nice crunchy, crystallized topping to sweet baked goods.

Sometimes I'll sprinkle some over an unbaked Gluten Free Pie Crust, after brushing on the egg wash.

It’s optional, but I love the texture it gives the muffin tops.

Alternately, you could use a bit of raw sugar / turbinado sugar, if that’s what you have on hand. Coconut sugar is another great option, just not quite as decorative!

When I’m feeling fancy - or just have EXTRA - extra bananas on hand - sometimes I’ll thinly slice a banana, and add it to the top of each muffin before baking.

Usually one slice per muffin, but if you go paper thin, you can do 2 or 3.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Brown Sugar
Large Eggs
Pure Vanilla Extract
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Salt

... I just don’t have anything to add, as far as these last few ingredients go!

How to Make Gluten Free Banana Muffins

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners, or spray with baking spray.

Peel bananas. In a separate bowl (I use a medium bowl), mash bananas and brown sugar together until relatively smooth.

Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla, to the mashed bananas stir until well combined.

Divide muffin batter between 12 prepared muffin tin, filling each of the muffin cups to almost full. I like to use an ice cream scoop for this.

If you’d like, sprinkle some coarse sugar on each muffin top, and/or add some thinly sliced banana.

Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and a wooden toothpick or butter knife inserted in centers comes out clean.

Note: For best results, do NOT overbake. Keep an eye on it, and take them out as soon as they pass the “clean” test!

Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

Remove from muffin cups; serve warm. (They are fantastic spread with peanut butter!)

Leftovers

Uneaten muffins can be left on the cooling rack until they’re cooled to room temperature.

Place muffins in a freezer bag or other airtight container for storage. They’ll last in the fridge for up to 5 days or so.

Best served reheated, but they’re also great straight from the fridge!

More Gluten-Free Breakfast & Brunch Recipes

Looking for more breakfast food recipes for the whole family? Here are some easy gluten free options:

Gluten Free Apple Pancakes with Caramel Apple Topping
Gluten-Free Bagels
Gluten-Free Banana Bread
Gluten Free Banana Nutella Ebelskivers
Gluten Free Blackberry Muffins
Gluten Free Blueberry Banana Bread
Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins
Breakfast Meatloaf
Gluten-Free Cranberry Orange Bread
Gluten Free Crepes
Gluten Free Eggless Banana Bread
Gluten-Free French Onion Soup Tart
Gluten-Free Lemon Drizzle Cake
Gluten Free Lemon Mascarpone Ebelskivers
Gluten-Free Mushroom Soup & Eggs on Toast
Gluten Free Paska [Easter Bread]
Gluten-Free Pop-Tarts
Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
Gluten-Free Sourdough Waffles
Gluten Free Zucchini Bread

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