Marvelously fluffy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins are a joyous explosion of banana deliciousness! Bake them weekly to always have a bite of joy on hand 😉
Have you tried my The Best Gluten-Free Banana Bread Recipe?? If not, don’t panic. These muffins are basically the muffin version of that banana bread, with a couple of changes.
I made them with avocado oil instead of butter (still amazing!!) and used just a touch of pure maple syrup instead of coconut sugar. I found the bananas make the muffins plenty sweet, and especially if you add chocolate chips, there isn’t much extra sweetener needed.
When all is said and done, these muffins are nice and moist, substantial, rich in banana flavor, perfectly sweet and just a true pleasure to consume!
And truly…a good banana muffin can put a smile on your face regardless of the type of day I’m having. Works every time!
Pack them up and take them with you wherever you may go!
This gluten-free version of classic banana muffins is indistinguishable from the traditional version! Even those who don’t follow a gluten-free diet adore the texture of these muffins!
Let’s chat about the simple ingredients for these gluten-free muffins.
Ingredients for Gluten Free Banana Muffins:
Overripe Bananas: A great way of using up over-ripe bananas, we need a whopping FOUR ripe bananas for these moist gluten-free banana muffins.
I learned that using a tremendous amount of banana makes for the best banana muffins and banana bread, as the banana flavor really shines through and the fruit provides plenty of sweetness.
The mashed bananas also add a great deal of moisture without the need for added oil or butter.
Eggs: A couple of eggs help the muffins rise to fluffy perfection. I haven’t tested the recipe myself using an egg replacer like flax eggs, although I have had several individuals report back that they have and the muffins turned out great.
For an egg-free version, replace the regular eggs with two flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flax seed + 6 tablespoons water).
Avocado Oil: The fat portion of the recipe, which brings moisture and richness. Bringing the moist crumb to these muffin cups, avocado oil is my preferred source of fat.
Not only does it have neutral flavor and some healthy omega-3 fats, but it also provides a dairy-free option for my dairy-free friends.
Melted coconut oil or butter work as replacements here.
Pure Maple Syrup: While the ripe bananas bring a great deal of sweetness to this easy breakfast, a touch of pure maple syrup brings them to just the right level of sweetness.
If you prefer sweeter treats, consider adding 1 to 3 tablespoons of coconut sugar, brown sugar or regular white sugar.
Pure Vanilla Extract: A splash of vanilla brings warm flavor to the muffins for a lovely nuance.
Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: Taking the place of all purpose flour, we need a gluten-free flour blend. I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour in all of my gluten-free baking, as I personally feel it yields the best results that are most similar to using regular flour.
That said, you can absolutely use a brand of gluten-free flour that you trust and enjoy. Just be sure the blend is designed to be a 1-to-1 replacement for all-purpose flour.
Baking Soda: The leavening agent here. We need baking soda to help the muffins rise and ensure they hold together nicely when the paper liners are peeled away.
Cinnamon and Sea Salt: Ground cinnamon adds warm flavor and sea salt enhances all of the flavors for the absolute best recipe.
Chocolate Chips (optional): My fellow chocolate lovers, add chocolate chips for some fudgy goo! Chocolate chips add sweetness and also pops of gooey texture for the best banana muffins. Chopped walnuts or pecans are a great addition too!
There are several changes you can make to this great recipe to make your own gluten free muffins. Here are some options.
Recipe Adaptations:
- For a grain-free banana bread recipe, make my Coconut Flour Banana Bread and turn them into muffins, or my Almond Flour Banana Muffins recipe.
- Use coconut sugar, brown sugar, or cane sugar instead of pure maple syrup.
- Rather than using avocado oil, use melted butter or ghee. Full-fat coconut milk works as a replacement too.
- Omit the chocolate chips and/or add chopped walnuts or pecans.
- Turn these into banana blueberry muffins by adding 1 cup of fresh blueberries.
Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients for banana muffins, let’s bake a batch!
How to Make Gluten Free Banana Muffins:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a muffin tray with cooking oil or line with muffin papers. If you don’t have paper liners on hand, you can spray the muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl until most of the chunks are out (it’s okay to leave it somewhat chunky).
Whisk in the eggs, avocado oil, pure maple syrup, and vanilla extract until well-combined (wet ingredients).
In a separate mixing bowl, stir together the gluten-free flour, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, and chocolate chips until well-combined (dry ingredients).
Pour the flour mixture into the bowl with the banana mixture and mix until everything is well-incorporated.
Fill the muffin liners ¾ of the way up with muffin batter and sprinkle with more chocolate chips if desired.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the muffins are golden-brown and cooked through.
Allow muffins to cool completely in the muffin tin before peeling and eating.
Pro Tip: Microwave the muffins for 15 to 20 seconds in the microwave before eating 🙂
Store muffins in a large zip lock bag or an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can also freeze muffins for up to 3 months.
The next time you’re craving banana muffins, whip up this gluten-free banana muffin recipe!
The whole family is guaranteed to love it and you may just keep it on constant rotation. I’ve received feedback from numerous readers that this is their absolute favorite banana muffins recipe!
If you love these moist banana muffins, you might also enjoy my other muffin recipes.
More Gluten-Free Muffin Recipe:
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Paleo Carrot Cake Banana Muffins
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins
- Healthy Apple Muffins
- Gluten-Free Coconut Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
Enjoy these classic lumps of banana lovin’.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 ripe bananas mashed (about 1.5 cups)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup avocado oil or melted butter, or ghee
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup or brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 ⅔ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅔ cup chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a muffin tray with cooking oil or line with muffin papers.
- Mash the bananas in a mixing bowl until most of the chunks are out (it’s okay to leave it somewhat chunky). Whisk in the eggs, avocado oil, pure maple syrup, and vanilla extract until well-combined.
- In a separate mixing bowl, stir together the gluten-free flour, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, and chocolate chips until well-combined.
- Pour the flour mixture into the bowl with the banana mixture and mix until everything is well-incorporated.
- Fill the muffin holes ¾ of the way up with muffin batter and sprinkle with more chocolate chips if desired.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the muffins are golden-brown and cooked through. A great way of telling whether or not a muffin is fully cooked is by taking the internal temperature. To do so, insert a digital thermometer into the center of one of the muffins. It is done if it has reached at least 190 degrees Fahrenheit, with the ideal temperature range being between 190 and 205.
- Allow muffins to cool completely before peeling and eating.
- Pro Tip: Microwave the muffins for 15 to 20 seconds in the microwave before eating 🙂
Video
Nutrition
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I made these and used this super fine almond flour. The muffins are still kinda wet and I’m guessing it because
of that. Thankfully they are delicious!!!
Hi Gigi! Thanks so much for sharing your experience! I imagine the extra moisture is from the change of flour too, as almond flour is slightly less absorbent than GF AP flour 🙂 You could try adding more almond flour, or you could bake the recipe longer. As an alternative, I do have a recipe for Almond Flour Banana Muffins: https://www.theroastedroot.net/almond-flour-banana-muffins/ Let me know if you have any questions! xo
What a blessing this recipe has been! My family switched to gluten free and whole food ingredients 6 months ago and I recently was grieving the loss of biscuits and muffins and breads. I would wake up feeling so hungry and miss the convenience of just grabbing something fast and satisfying. Let me just say, these fill that satisfaction!! I loved the sea salt amount, by the way. It was perfect. I added half a cup of chopped walnuts and it hit the spot. Mine only needed 25 minutes but of course that will vary from location to location. Thank you for sharing! This is just what my family needed. God bless you.
Thank you for the sweet note, Amber! I’m so happy to hear you and your family enjoys the muffins and that they’ve been a little reprieve in the recent change you’re experiencing! I really appreciate the sweet words! 🙂
As usual, Julia- another great recipe!!!
Believe it or not- I had no chocolate chips in the house- something is so wrong with that picture!! I had some frozen (fresh) cranberries so I used them instead!!! Yummy!! Sweet and a bit of tart!!! I did use butter since avocado oil and cranberries don’t taste good together to me.
The extra bananas really make the muffins wonderfully sweeter and moist!!
I just love the thought of using cranberries! Definitely trying this on my next round of muffins. Thanks for sharing your creative adaptation – I’m sure there are lots of other people who will want to try it out too 🙂
Why would you put that much salt in a recipe? So overpowering.
Hi Sara! Did you use sea salt or iodized salt? Iodized salt tastes much saltier than sea salt, which is why I specify sea salt in the recipe. I actually personally use a full teaspoon of sea salt so the 1/2 teaspoon in the recipe is less than I would use myself. Let me know if you have any other questions!
I added 1/4 cup of white sugar instead of maple syrup (for the kiddo) and they turned out really chewy and dense. Is this normal?
Hi Taytum! What brand of gluten-free flour did you use? I’ve found varying brands of GF flours yield varying results, so that alone could be the culprit. To me, it sounds like the muffins needed more flour or a longer baking time (or both). If the batter seemed too thin, you could add some more flour, which should result in a regular muffin texture. I typically check the internal temperature of muffins using a thermometer. If the center is 190 degrees or higher, they are fully cooked and the texture should be just perfect.
Other causes of dense and chewy texture could be if your bananas measured more than 1.5 cups when mashed, or if your baking soda was expired. Feel free to give me more information and I can continue to help troubleshooting!
These are hands down the best gluten free muffins I’ve ever made. Even my fussy relatives can’t tell they are gluten free. The older and nastier the bananas, the better!!
What a stellar review, Elaine! I’m so thrilled to hear your relatives enjoy the muffins and that you’re a fellow supporter of the overripe muffin. Many thanks for the sweet words! xoxo
Definitely didn’t need 30 mins.. I would say 20
Thanks so much for the feedback, Katherine! xo
These are delicious! Mine needed only about 20 mins in the oven, so make sure to watch your muffins! I also would adjust the salt, they were a tad salty for my taste. But the texture and fluffiness is perfect!!
I’m so happy to hear they worked out for you! Good to know regarding the salt. I use sea salt so if using iodized table salt the measurement should be about half 🙂
I had to adjust cook time to 15-18 mins here in AZ or they overcooked and dried out.
Thank you for sharing that, Amiee! Baking at lower elevation is definitely different, so I appreciate you sharing your bake time! xo
Can the tsp of salt be adjusted or will that affect the end result (rise,texture, and flavor)?
Hi Karen! You can definitely adjust the salt and the recipe will still turn out great! I often leave it out entirely 😉
Julia, I’m not seeing how much vanilla to use in the ingredients list. Thank you!
So happy you caught that, Soledad! Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. I made the change to the recipe card 😉 Hope you enjoy!
Just curious if you’ve ever tried another flour like almond or tapioca??? These look fabulous!
Hi Kathy! Yes, absolutely! You can check out my Paleo Banana Muffins for an almond flour version and add chocolate chips if you’d like! xo
I shouldn’t have read this recipe before breakfast. Now, I want to eat one of these lovely muffins instead of my usual fare.
@Shirley,