Moist, fluffy and made with simple ingredients, these gluten free banana muffins are the best snack, breakfast or healthy dessert to get you through a busy day. Studded with chocolate chips and perfectly sweet!
It only took me about 1 million tries to finally get these gluten free muffins right, but it was so worth it. I swear one batch only lasts 24 hours in my house, they’re that good!
These gluten free banana muffins are similar to my chocolate chip banana bread, with a few key tweaks to make them perfect as muffins. They’re a bit lighter and fluffier thanks to the egg, and have the perfect amount of chocolate in every bite.
Have them for an on the go breakfast, a sweet snack, or a healthier dessert. You can use blueberries instead of chocolate chips so you have the best of both worlds with a banana blueberry muffin.
All you need is a few pantry staple ingredients like almond flour and 30 minute until you have fresh, bakery style muffins! If you love this recipe, try my gluten free blueberry banana bread next!
How to make gluten free banana muffins
If you are making these vegan, you will want to start by prepping your flax egg. To do so, use 1 tbsp ground flax seeds and mix with 2.5 tbsp of water. Set aside to let thicken for 5-10 minutes and proceed with the rest of the recipe as usual. If you’re not making these vegan, skip this step!
Mash or puree your bananas and measure out 1 3/4 cups of mashed banana. I personally like pureeing the banana in the blender to prevent any dense bits of banana in the muffins, but the choice is yours!
Add this to a large mixing bowl with the oil, egg, sugar, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar. Mix until well combined.
Next, add in all of the remaining dry ingredients and mix together until a batter forms. It will be on the thicker side, so don’t be alarmed.
Carefully fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips into the batter. I don’t recommend using more as this will make the better more heavy and wet and the muffins will take much longer to cook, but you can add a few extras to the tops if you want with no problem.
You can omit the chocolate chips if desired or add some crushed walnuts for a healthier twist, or even some fresh or frozen blueberries. If you have access to wild blueberries, those are delicious in the mix.
Measure the batter into a lined muffin tray, filling each cup almost to the top so we get nice round muffins. I like to use a medium cookie scoop to ensure even sized muffins.
Top with a sprinkle of extra chocolate chips if desired. Bake for 18-22 minutes, depending on your oven, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Because of the nature of banana muffins, a toothpick will not come out completely clean, there should still be a few crumbs on it.
How to add moisture to muffins
A lot of people hear gluten free baking and think of crumbly, tasteless, cardboard like food. Well, my whole mission with Eat With Clarity is to prove otherwise!
These gluten free banana muffins are quite the opposite of dry and bland. They’re fluffy, moist, full of flavor and have a soft, melt in your mouth texture.
They’re the perfect gluten free muffin without the need of ingredients like xanthan gum. The bananas, oil and even almond flour are the key ingredients that add moisture and the addition of the egg or flax egg will help bind all of the ingredients together.
You can reheat these muffins in the microwave for 10 seconds to help soften the chocolate chips so they’re good as new!
Make them vegan!
I have made them both with an egg and flax egg and they are great either way. If you make this recipe vegan, the muffins will have a slightly different texture, but will still be delicious!
They will be a bit fluffier with an egg and a bit more dense with a flax egg.
To prevent the muffins from getting too dense, we’ll be keeping the baking powder on the lower side and not using any baking soda. This will ensure the muffins rise properly, but don’t collapse, resulting in a dense muffin.
Tips for success
Be sure to measure out the mashed bananas. If you use 3 and only end up with 1 cup mashed, grab another banana until you get 1 3/4 cups mashed.
You want to make sure there is a strong banana flavor, so a full 1 3/4 cups is key.
Don’t over bake! It’s important not to over-bake any baked good, but especially gluten free baked goods as they can get dry more easily. Start on the low end of the bake time and adjust as needed.
How to store muffins properly
These gluten free banana muffins will last for about 3-5 days once they have completely cooled. With most baked goods, you generally want them to be at room temperature in an air tight container for best results.
However, whenever a baked good involves fresh ingredients like banana or apple sauce, I find they can get too moist if kept fully sealed.
I like to store these on a plate covered loosely with foil, or just in the original muffin tin with a kitchen towel on top.
You can also store them in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Simply reheat at 300 Fahrenheit until warm through the center.
Try these snack recipes next!
- Paleo Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Lastly, if you try this recipe, leave a comment below and let me know how it turns out! Be sure to follow me on instagram and subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes and daily eats.
Gluten Free Banana Muffins
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet
- 1 ¾ cups mashed or pureed ripe banana about 4 medium sized bananas*
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar see notes
- 1 egg flax egg works really well too
- 3 tablespoons oil I used avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
Dry
- 1 ⅔ cups + 1 tbsp oat flour spoon and leveled
- 1 cup fine blanched almond flour spoon and leveled
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Peel and mash the bananas and make sure you have a full 1 3/4 cup worth. If you have less, add in another half of a banana until you get the full amount.
- I have also tested this recipe with pureed banana instead of mashed, and really like the result. It yields a slightly more fluffy muffin without any dense pockets from banana, but you can do either.
- To the same mixing bowl, add the egg , apple cider vinegar, vanilla, sugar, oil and whisk together.
- Next, whisk in the oat flour, almond flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- Mix well until a batter forms.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop out the batter and add to a lined muffin tray, filling each spot about 3/4 of the way up. I like to use a cookie scoop to ensure evenly sized muffins.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs. Let cool, then enjoy!
Julie says
These look fantastic! I am going to give them a try. Thank you for all your hard work making gluten free recipes.
Claire Cary says
Thank you so much Julie! Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Olivia says
Hi Claire. You babysit me. This was the best banana chocolate chip recipe you have. It was a perfect snack for me. I liked that the banana flavor was subtle and not over powering. I have had other dairy and gluten free recipes from other bloggers and the banana was either to much or too little. Yours is in the middle. I loved them!!!!!!!
Claire Cary says
Thank you Olivia! I had so much fun making these muffins with you, let’s do it again soon 🙂