Soft, chewy, and moist, these Gluten-Free Banana Muffins are made without any flour or refined sugars. For a fun flavor addition, add chocolate chips. This recipe relies on pantry staples and requires no unique ingredients!
Gluten-Free Banana Muffins
After sharing my healthy pumpkin muffins, I knew I had to create a banana version immediately! Those muffins have become wildly popular, and I’m thrilled to share this recipe today, which is similar to the pumpkin muffins: it contains no flour, no butter, and no refined sugars.
These naturally gluten-free banana muffins are made with regular pantry staples, requiring no trips to a specialty health-food store or online purchases. The ingredient list is fairly short; below, I’ve listed the ingredients used in these muffins.
Quick Tip
While the ingredients in Gluten-Free Banana Muffins are naturally gluten free, make sure to check all your ingredient labels to be sure they weren’t processed in a facility with gluten.
Ingredients In Gluten-Free Banana Muffins
- Old Fashioned Oats: Blended to make oat flour for your Gluten-Free Banana Muffins.
- Overripe Bananas: The sweeter the bananas, the sweeter the muffins.
- A Large Egg: Acts as a binder, improving texture and structure.
- Baking Agents: Baking soda and powder for light, fluffy muffins. Make sure your agents are fresh before starting.
- Ground Cinnamon and Salt: Optional, but enhance and balance flavors.
- Vanilla Extract: Optional for a subtle flavor enhancement.
- Coconut Oil: Use a small amount, melted and cooled in these Gluten-free Banana Muffins.
- Pure Maple Syrup: Naturally sweetens and adds nutrients.
- Dark Chocolate Chips: For texture and health benefits; milk or semi-sweet chocolate are alternatives.
How To Make Gluten-Free Banana Muffins
- Preheat & Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease 9 muffin tin cavities. Melt and cool coconut oil.
- Blend Oats: Blend 1 cup old-fashioned oats into a fine powder.
- Mash Bananas: Thoroughly mash 2-3 ripe banana.
- Mix Batter: In a large bowl, combine mashed bananas, egg, maple syrup, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, cooled coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Stir in blended oats and chocolate chips.
- Bake: Fill muffin tin cavities 3/4 full with batter. Bake for 23-26 minutes until tops are set and edges are lightly browned.
- Cool: Let cool in tin for 5 minutes, then remove Gluten-Free Banana Muffins and place on a cooling rack.
Quick Tip
Make sure to fill the 1 cup measurement of old fashioned oats to the very top. Then level off the top by scraping the backside of a table knife across the top. (There is no need to measure the oats after they’ve been blended and are in powdered form).
Tips For Success
- Grease Tin: Generously grease the muffin tin for easy release. Avoid liners as the batter sticks to them.
- Smooth Batter: Thoroughly mash the bananas to avoid lumps in your Gluten-Free Banana Muffins. For speed, use an electric mixer.
- Extra Chocolate: Add a few extra chocolate chips on top of each muffin before baking.
- Salty Sweet Touch: Optionally, sprinkle Maldon® sea salt flakes on the muffins fresh out of the oven.
Storage
Storage Tips
- Cool muffins completely before wrapping and freezing.
- To freeze: Wrap Gluten-Free Banana Muffins individually in plastic wrap and then place in large freezer bags.
- To thaw: Set out at room temperature, or heat frozen muffins in the microwave.
More Gluten-Free Recipes
- Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
- Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins
- Zucchini Cake
- Gluten Free Apple Muffins
- Gluten Free Brownies
Gluten-Free Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats (not steel cut or quick oats)
- 1 cup very ripe mashed bananas (~2-3 large bananas)
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (See Note 1)
Instructions
- PREP: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease 9 cavities of a muffin tin. Melt the coconut oil and set aside so it can come back to room temperature (we don't want to add hot oil to the batter).
- BLEND OATS: Fill the 1 cup measure of oats to the very top. Then level off the top by scraping the backside of a table knife across the top. Add the cup of oats to a blender or food processor and blend until the oats resemble flour -- a fine powder. If needed, stir and re-blend to break up larger chunks of oats. Set aside.
- BANANA: Mash 2-3 very ripe bananas in a small bowl with the back of a fork. Mash thoroughly.
- BATTER: Add the mashed banana, egg, maple syrup, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, melted coconut oil, and vanilla extract to a large bowl. Stir until well combined. Add in the blended oats and stir until combined. Add in the dark chocolate chips and mini chocolate chips and stir again.
- BAKE: Transfer the batter into the prepared muffin tin, adding equal amounts to the 9 cavities; cavities should be about 3/4 filled. If desired, add a few more chocolate chips on top. Bake for 23-26 minutes or until no longer gooey/wet looking on top and lightly browned around the edges (if you lightly touch the muffin, it should spring back). Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before using the tines of a fork to coax the muffins out onto a cooling rack.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These are incredible! I took a chance and used instant oats, and sprinkled a tad bit of walnut on top of each one. Too good to be true!
Sounds delicious!
This recipe is now made on repeat in my house. I love how easy it is to make & how yummy and moist the muffins are! I usually make 1 1/2 of the recipe at a time to fill a whole 12 pan of muffins.
Yay! So thrilled to hear that 🙂 Thanks Abigail!
Lovely recipe! Just made these on a rainy day and they are just what I needed. Perfect amount of sweetness, choc chips & cinnamon flavour.
I’m so happy to hear this! These are perfect for a rainy day! Thanks so much for your comment Amy! 🙂
These were so delicious! Subbed blueberries for the choc chips and added a little bit of vanilla protein powder and a little less maple syrup YUM!
So happy you loved these muffins! Thanks for the yummy sub tips! 🙂
Hi! Can you substitute whole wheat flour for the oat flour?
I haven’t tried that substitution in these muffins, so I’m not sure how it would work. Oat flour absorbs a lot more liquid than whole wheat flour so it wouldn’t be a 1:1 substitution. Wish I could be of more help!
I tried it and they worked out! My 2 year old loved eating them for breakfast 🙂 Thanks for all the great recipes!
What is the nutritional info for these muffins?
These were great! I did change a few things: I used old-fashioned oats and did not pulse the whole ones. They worked great for my taste; added a little chew. I used blueberries instead of chocolate chips, and only used 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. I think they were plenty sweet enough 🙂 thanks for sharing
Made them yesterday and am looking forward to eating them all week!
Funny story – I didn’t notice the part about instant oats ahead of time. The only instant oats I had were honey and almond flavored, but I was already halfway through the recipe, so decided….why not? They came out great! I’ve been working through several of your recipes in the past week and have enjoyed them all.
Hello, did you change this recipe? I had this saved on pinterest and just made them last week. The ones I made used honey and there was no sugar in the recipe. The pictures were different too. I LOVED the sugarless recipe so I’m hoping I’m just looking in the wrong spot. Thanks!
Hi Heidi, I did not change this recipe. A few other readers have told me about this; apparently my recipe got linked on Pinterest to someone else’s photo which has caused a mix-up. I’m not sure which recipe you are looking for either. I apologize!
Never mind – I found it. For some reason my pinterest link is sending me to your website and not to the website I originally pinned.
I will have to try your recipe too – looks delicious!
Yeah I’m not sure why that is happening and sorry for the confusion! Thanks Heidi! 🙂
Hey! Did you find the other recipe? The same thing happened to me and I’m trying to track down the other recipe that doesn’t use sugar but honey instead. If you’d link it or tag me I’d so appreciate it!
Looking forward to trying this recipe! Can the batter be made ahead of time?
Great! I hope you love it! I wouldn’t make the batter ahead of time. It’s important for the baking agents to hit the heat of the oven soon after being added to the other ingredients.