Gluten Free Banana Nut Muffins Recipe

Monday morning I was attempting to clear a path through the dirty dishes when I came upon an extremely ripe banana. With no idea what we were having for breakfast, I took this as a sign that we should have Banana Nut Bread. What followed was a typical early morning cooking experience in the Pickett household.

I whipped out my Joy of Cooking (complete with burn marks on the back cover and loose pages near our favorite recipes) and my apron only to discover, upon glancing over the Banana Bread recipe, that a mixer was required. There is no time for a mixer on weekday mornings. I decided to wing it and ended up completely changing the cooking instructions, besides freeing the recipe from it’s gluten bondage.

And wouldn’t you know that the recipe called for two bananas. Luckily I was able to find a frozen banana in the depths of my freezer and it worked well enough after a brief stint in the microwave.

By the time I had everything mixed up David was getting frantic for some food. I checked the recipe to see how long the bread had to cook and discovered, to my horror, that it was 50 minutes. Out comes the muffin pan and twenty minutes later we were sitting down to eat.

By this point David was really ready for some food and in his book nothing beats bananas or muffins for breakfast. Combine the two and you have one little excited muffin man.

My Muffin Loving Boy

Instructions

Yield: 6 large muffins.

  • 1 1/2 c. Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 2/3 c. brown sugar
  • 4 Tbsp. ground flax seed*
  • 4 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)
  1. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. Combine all of the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl. If you’re short on dishes as I was, melt the butter in the bowl first, then add the bananas and mash them, then add the eggs, and stir all of it really well so that eggs end up being lightly beaten.
  3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
  4. Spoon the batter into a lined muffin tin and bake at 350 until golden brown, depending on your oven it will be 15 – 20 minutes. (If you take one out and realize it’s not done, don’t freak. Just pop it back into the oven for a few minutes.)

* If you don’t have flax seed, increase the butter by 1 1/2 Tbsp.

10 thoughts on “Gluten Free Banana Nut Muffins Recipe”

  1. Back up…. did you say “frozen banana”…..????

    Ummm… I’ve never frozen a banana. Do tell. !

    What a GREAT Mommy-brag happy-guy shot!
    =)

  2. LOL… I freeze bananas all the time too Mary Frances! I have a whole bag that I really need to use!!! I love muffins! They are usually so easy and quick! One of my favorite things to bake really!! Great post!

  3. Kate,
    Yes! Frozen bananas. I throw them in the freezer when they get too ripe and I don’t have time to bake something. I usually end up using them in fruit smoothies, since they make it more like a milkshake without all the calories. You can throw them in the freezer with the peels on, and then slice the peels off before you use them. Or you can go ahead and peel and cut the banana, and freeze it in a freezer bag.

    Carrie,
    We love muffins too! If I’m thinking ahead I mix them up the night before, and then bake them while I’m getting a shower the next morning.

  4. Mary Frances-

    What a wonderful recipe! I refuse to make banana bread/muffins with a mixer. Melted butter is the way to go. And the flax seed addition is totally awesome.
    I have read that the freezing/thawing process actually intensifies the taste of the banana and I have found this to be true. What do you think? 🙂

  5. Thank you! This was officially my first Gluten Free batch of muffins! They turned out beautifully. I think the nuts (pecans) were my favorite part. It is encouraging when something new works out.

  6. We are dairy/soy/corn free (alomg w/ gf)–could we sub oil for butter or something else? TIA!

    Also, I loved your sandwhich bread, and just fyi, our gf flour mix (based on the comments on your recipe’s page) was:

    3 parts br rice flour
    3 parts potato starch
    2 parts sorghum flour
    1 part millet flour

    YUM!

    Thank you!

    Lauren 🙂

  7. Thank you so much for this recipe! My 3 year old loves “muffcakes” (as he calls them) and is on a gluten, casein, and sugar free diet, so I substituted the brown sugar for equal amounts of xylitol and 1.5 Tbsp. of sugar free Maple syrup. I also didn’t have flax, so increased the butter. They came out divine! Lighter in color, but SO delicious! Thank you. I have tried many of your recipes and love them all.

  8. I often go to the vegie market and find the bags of overripe bananas. They sell a large bag for $1. I peel them and throw all of them into a ziploc bag and into the freezer. That way, when I have a craving for banana bread/muffins I can just thaw and make.

  9. I doubt if this letter will reach anyone because the others are over a year old. I need to know what I can substitute for bran flakes in my apple-bran muffin recipe. I use flour(I understand I have to use special flour now), bran flakes, oats, and applesauce for a muffin I love. I can’t imagine starting my day with anything else.

  10. Our family gives you 10+ on your 6 large GF Banana Nut Muffins. Very simple and DELICIOUS!

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