Classic gluten-free banana muffins. Make them with or without chocolate chips and nuts. This easy one-bowl recipe comes together in just minutes!
What was your favorite baked treat as a kid? Chocolate chip cookies? Chocolate cupcakes?
Mine was…banana bread.
Some other favorites of my childhood: watching Jeopardy, listening to adult contemporary music*, and reading an entire book in one sitting.
*Michael Bolton was the first concert I ever attended. I was, maybe, 13. And, if memory serves, I and the other attendees, who were almost all middle aged women, loved every second of it.
As you can see, I was a wild one with lots of friends and no social anxiety about fitting in at all. (<—That entire sentence is a lie. But you already knew that, didn’t you, smarty pants?)
But you didn’t come here to read about my awesome childhood. You came here because you’re wondering how to make the best gluten-free banana muffins. I got you.
This recipe was inspired by my gluten-free banana bread recipe. Like classic banana bread, these muffins bake up dense and flavorful. Unlike the original recipe, which uses butter, these muffins are naturally dairy-free.
You’ll only need one bowl to make these muffins. Start out by mashing together some really ripe,almost black, bananas with some dark brown sugar. The overly ripe bananas bring an intense flavor to muffins, while the dark brown sugar adds a caramel-like sweetness.
Then add the oil (or melted butter if you aren’t dairy-free), a couple of eggs, and a gluten-free flour blend. I really like Bob’s 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour for this recipe. If you use your own blend, be sure it contains a little xanthan gum or the muffins might not rise as high as you’d like.
Mix everything together and then divide the batter evenly between 15 muffin cups. For banana muffins and gluten-free blueberry muffins, I like to line the cups with paper liners. If you want to skip the paper liners, grease each muffin cavity lightly with oil to prevent the muffins from sticking. Do this even if you’re muffin pan is nonstick.
Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Once the muffins are done, let them sit in the pan for about five minutes. I use a timer or I totally forget about them. Then move the muffins to a wire rack to cool. This prevents the muffins from getting soggy and damp in the center.
That’s it. These gluten-free banana muffins bake in about 15 minutes, which gives you just enough time to watch half an episode of Jeopardy or listen to a few Michael Bolton tunes.
Gluten-Free Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour (9 ounces/ 260 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar (5 1/2 ounces/ 155 grams)
- 3 medium very ripe bananas (about 15 ounces/ 425 grams)
- 2 large eggs, whisked (about 4 ounces; 113 grams)
- 1/2 cup oil or (1 stick) butter, melted and slightly cooled (4 ounces; 113 grams)
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, optional (3 ounces; 85 grams)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional (3 ounces, 85 grams)
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.. Grease or line 15 standard size muffins cups with paper liners.
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In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher. Add brown sugar, oil, and eggs. Add the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until combined. Add chocolate chips and nuts if using. Fill prepared muffin cups halfway with batter.
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Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes; remove from pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
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Store, wrapped, on the counter for up to three days or freeze for up to three months.
Katie Fuselier says
These were delicious! Very moist! I used 2 bananas since that is all I had and dairy free chocolate chips,. I substituted 1/2 cup of almond flour (25%) for the gluten free flour. I added a teaspoon of vanilla, avocado oil(chosen foods high heat), and sprinkled turbinado sugar on top prior to baking! These were truly the best we’ve ever had for gluten and dairy free!
The Dreadful Baker says
Not being a baker but a cook, I did the usual screw around with the recipe thing not always with the best results.I added frozen raspberries with a bit of flour on them, cut the entire recipe in half, one banana, had to add an extra egg, used 3/4 cup coconut flour and 1/4 cup almond flour, little bit of walnuts, raisins and shredded coconut. Held my breath and prayed. They came out really weird, ugly, Dark, not raised a whole hell of a lot. Delicious in a very strange way. Don’t do this.
Elizabeth says
To the Dreadful Baker,
This comment delighted me. Coconut flour is why the muffins came out with a weird texture. It absorbs liquids like crazy and prevents rise. (I know because I wrote an entire book that used only coconut and almond flours.) I imagine that the muffins were a bit dense and damp.
Thanks for being a good sport about the ingredient subs.
JM says
I made these for the first time. I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out awesome. Even my husband couldn’t tell they were gluten free. The baking time posted was correct for my oven. Thank you for posting.
Allison says
These turned out great. I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup, subbed 1/2cup almond flour and added 1 tsp vanilla. Moist, sweet enough and delicious!
Erinn says
These are absolutely delicious! I cut the sugar back to half cup because that’s all I had left. Added a tsp of vanilla and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. So good, even my kids love them.
Janet DeGraw says
Great recipe! My grandkids gobbled them up. I was surprised by the amount of liquid at first, and thought maybe they’d be a bit mushy – not at all! They are the perfect balance of fully cooked texture with great moistness! Thanks for sharing! The banana flavor rang out beautifully. I’ve been cooking gluten-free since 1989 (yes, 1989), and this is the best banana nut muffin recipe I’ve ever used!
Elizabeth says
Oh, yay!!!
Mary M McCullough says
Great recipe use it exactly as written. So nice to have a recipe come out right.
Jenny L Bergez says
This my second time making these. First time followed the recipe, added walnuts. Perfect!!
This time I made them for a friend with a white sugar allergy who loves chocolate chips. Added Lily’s dark chocolate baking chips (Stevia sweetened) and turned them into minis! 24 mini muffins, adjusted the cook time to 10 minutes and it is exactly right.
I will definitely be experimenting more with recipe. Thank you so much for sharing.
GF DF living says
I made these muffins today, using the exact recipe, opting for avocado oil to remain both dairy free and gluten free. The gluten free flour I had on hand was King Arthur’s measure for measure Gluten Free flour. I also added walnuts. These are moist and delicious; they certainly don’t taste gluten free. So happy I found this recipe!
Lisa says
Delish! I added about a half cup of coarse ground almond flour to use up what I had in my pantry and adjusted the gluten free flour accordingly but kept the rest of the ingredients as listed.
I’ll definitely make these muffins again and again. Thanks for the recipe!
Shannon says
I absolutely love this recipe! So easy and delicious!! I make it every time I have some very ripe bananas! Sometimes I add organic vanilla yogurt with the bananas to add to the moistness, but I try not to eat dairy. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Sam says
Just made these to use up some aging bananas on the counter. I added some vanilla and cinnamon (because both flavors play so nicely with banana bread!) and did use mostly white sugar since I had only a few tbsp of brown left. I did what some others suggested and only used 1/2 cup sugar, and they came out AMAZING. Certainly don’t taste gluten- or dairy-free! I’ve already had to promise my toddler one to go with her dinner to get her to stop begging, lol. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Tan Hall says
Love this recipe second time making it. I always have extra batter so I made a mini loaf as well as 15 muffins.
I used walnuts in half