If you’re living the gluten-free lifestyle but you love a delicious banana muffin, this is the post for you! I’m going to show you how to make a muffin so tasty, and so simple that you won’t need to pull out the mixer!
What Can I Bake with Bananas?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked myself that question over the past two years, since I started this blog. I always seem to have more bananas on hand than I need.
This week, though? Well, this week really takes the cake. Er, the muffin.
See, I ordered groceries online about a week ago when I was feeling under the weather I “thought” I ordered one bunch of bananas. Instead, three bunches showed up in the order!
I used some to make my banana pancakes. They’re delicious. I also froze a bunch in 3” sections, to make chocolate covered bananas. And I sliced up a bunch to freeze for smoothies.
That still left me with one bunch. I wasn’t sure what to do with them until I started looking through my recipes and realized I had everything I needed to make my first-ever gluten-free banana nut muffins.
Why Gluten-Free?
I don’t have celiac disease but I’m on a low inflammation diet as I try to recover from a long round of auto-immune issues. With that in mind, I’m trying to stay away from things that raise inflammation levels.
White flour, while delicious when baked into treats, converts to sugar as your body processes it. And sugar, of course, leads to inflammation. So, for that reason I’ve been doing my best to trim back.
I’m not really sugar-free, though I’ve cut back a lot. But I’ve been using coconut palm sugar, which is far healthier than granulated sugar.
I decided to make these muffins so that I could freeze them to eat later. I’m a food preppar by nature and my freezer is always loaded with options.
So, let’s get to it!
Gluten-Free Banana Nut Muffins
You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post but here’s a quick look at what you’ll need. These are simple ingredients you might already have on hand.
- room temperature butter, (salted or unsalted, your choice)
- coconut palm sugar (can substitute brown if you prefer)
- large room temperature egg
- pure vanilla extract
- mashed bananas (overripe bananas are best)
- baking soda
- all-purpose gluten free flour (unsifted: I use bob’s red mill brand)
- chopped pecans or walnuts
How to Make these Delicious Gluten-Free Muffins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grease or butter two cupcake pans, making sure the muffin cups are coated. (This recipe makes 15 muffins.)
Make sure your butter is completely softened before starting. I put mine in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up.
Mash bananas and butter together in a large bowl of the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Add vanilla extract and mix well.
Now add the sugar and mix.
Add the eggs and mix until fully incorporated.
Add the dry ingredients (baking soda and flour). Mix well.
Now stir in the chopped pecans or walnuts.
Use an ice cream scoop to fill your pans with muffin batter. One scoop per cup in the muffin tin.
By the way, you can use paper liners if you like. I tend not to when making muffins. I like the crispy edges that coconut sugar provides.
If you like, you can press a few pecan pieces on top before baking.
Place in preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back to the touch. You can use a cake tester or toothpick to make sure they’re done in the center. (Toothpick should come out clean.)
Remove and place the muffin pan on a cooling rack.
After about ten minutes you can remove the muffins from the pan.
Serve and enjoy.
You can keep these at room temperature in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap for up to four days. They should last 4-5 days in the fridge. They can be frozen up to two months.
What to Expect from these Healthy Muffins
Friends, if you didn’t know these were gluten-free, well, you wouldn’t know they were gluten-free. They’ve got that same texture and delicious flavor you have come to expect from a terrific banana nut muffin.
I loved the rich banana flavor and the palm sugar just gives it added depth. The muffins are crisp on the edges, soft in the center, and spring back to the touch. If you like, you can spread a little butter onto the warm muffin. (Is there anything better than melted butter on a muffin?) Peanut butter on a warm muffin is also delicious!
In short, these are yummy! You could proudly serve them, not just to family, but to guests. Like I said, they probably wouldn’t realize they were eating the healthy version! Serve them as an afternoon snack, have one for dessert, eat one for an easy breakfast treat. No matter the time of day, you’re going to love these muffins!
One last thought: Gluten-free baking is easy with Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose flour. I am so glad I found it! can’t speak to other brands, but for best results, try Bob’s to get the same results I did.
Variations on this Recipe
This is such a delicious and easy recipe. It can stand on its own. But I love to mix things up, so here are a few things I could do differently next time.
Banana nut bread: Use this recipe to make a loaf pan of sliceable banana bread. It will work perfectly. I know, because I used a similar recipe awhile back.
Banana walnut muffins: You can easily swap walnuts for the pecans I used.
Chocolate Chips: If you read my gluten-free banana bread recipe you saw that I added some semi-sweet (sugar-free) chocolate chips to the batter. It was delicious and sliced up beautifully.
Maple Extract in place of Vanilla: I love maple with bananas so I think this would be lovely with maple.
Berries: I love my banana pancakes, in part because they’re packed full of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Berries and bananas are a terrific combination. You could totally skip the nuts and add a full cup of fresh (chopped) berries.
Peanut butter: Skip some of the butter and add peanut butter. Peanut butter banana muffins are delicious!
Coconut oil in place of butter: This is an easy swap, for those who don’t want to consume butter.
Oats: Skip some of the flour and add rolled oats. Yum! Added texture and protein!
Mini muffins: I think you could easily use this recipe to make mini muffins. You’ll probably get 30 minis.
Other Muffins from Out of the Box Baking
Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins: Every now and again you stumble across a muffin recipe that’s so delicious, so packed with flavor, that you simply can’t resist. This is that recipe.
Traditional Blueberry Muffins: If you love the sweetness of blueberries and the rich hearty flavor of a sweet muffin, have I got a treat for you. These traditional Blueberry Muffins are loaded with flavor, have a crunchy topping, and are easy to make!
Instant Oatmeal Muffins: In this post I’m going to show you how to take leftover packets of instant oatmeal–in any flavor you happen to have on hand–and turn them into luscious muffins.
Easy Cinnamon Sugar Muffins: If you love the combination of cinnamon and brown sugar and you’re in a hurry, these muffins will be perfect for you. They come together (start to finish) in under 20 minutes. And best of all, they start with a simple white cake mix.
Luscious Lemon Berry Muffins: You love lemon. You love the tangy sweetness of berries. And when you merge the two? Perfection! These luscious lemon berry muffins have the right blend of fruity flavors. They’re perfect for breakfast or even for dessert or a mid-afternoon snack!
That’s it for this post, friends! I hope you enjoyed this delicious gluten-free banana muffin recipe. It’s going to be one of my new favorite recipes!
If you make this recipe and love it, don’t forget to leave a review and a comment below. And while you’re at it, go ahead and pin some photos to your Pinterest boards!
See this recipe at
About the Author
Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 165 books for the
Gluten-Free Banana Nut Muffins
If you’re living the gluten-free lifestyle but you love a delicious banana muffin, this is the post for you! I’m going to show you how to make a muffin so tasty, and so simple that you won’t need to pull out the mixer!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup room temperature butter, (salted or unsalted, your choice)
- 3/4 cup coconut palm sugar (can substitute brown if you prefer)
- 1 large room temperature egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 mashed bananas
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour (unsifted)
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Grease or butter two cupcake pans. (This recipe makes 15 muffins.)
- Make sure your butter is completely softened before starting. I put mine in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up.
- Mash bananas and butter together in a large bowl of the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Add vanilla extract and mix well.
- Add sugar and mix together.
- Now add the egg and mix it in until fully combined.
- Add the baking soda and flour. Mix well.
- Now stir in the chopped pecans or walnuts.
- Use an ice cream scoop to fill your pans. One scoop per slot.
- If you like, you can press a few pecan pieces on top before baking.
- Place in preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back to the touch. You can use a cake tester or toothpick to make sure they’re done in the center. (Toothpick should come out clean.)
- Remove and place the muffin pan on a cooling rack.
- After about ten minutes you can remove the muffins from the pan.
- Serve and enjoy.
- You can keep these at room temperature in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap for up to four days. They should last 4-5 days in the fridge. They can be frozen up to two months.