Gluten Free Banana Muffins
The best moist gluten free banana muffins are easy to make with pantry staples! These bakery muffins have domed muffin tops, learn our tips for making tall muffins! Add chocolate chips to make banana chocolate chip muffins.
If you love muffins as much as I do, be sure to try our blueberry muffins and rich chocolate muffins.
Back in 2006 when I found out I have a gluten intolerance, the gluten free world was limited to ENER-G bread. Anyone else remember how disgusting and hard that was?
I’m thankful there have been so many gluten free food developments over the years.
I specifically remember when Cheerios launched gluten free cheerios, I was hunting the stores for weeks until I finally found them. I bought a box, walked out to the parking lot, immediately opened it and started eating them.
Now there are so many gluten free products, but you definitely still need to weed through them and decide what’s actually good.
Table of contents
I’ve seen a lot and tried a lot of different kinds of gluten free flours since 2006. The one that I personally like the best based on taste and texture is King Arthur’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour.
However, any gluten free all purpose flour will work in this recipe.
While we’re on the topic of flour, be sure to properly measure it.
How to properly measure flour
- Fluff the flour with a fork
- Use a spoon to scoop the flour into your measuring cup
- Use a butter knife to level off the flour in the measuring cup
Sticking the measuring cup straight into the bag of flour will result in too much flour to be packed into the cup, which can result in dry baked goods.
How to mash bananas
Any good gluten free banana muffin starts with ripe or (even better) over ripe bananas!
You want to mash the bananas well. Use a potato masher, electric mixer or blender for this step. You need about 1 heaping cup of mashed bananas.
It’s important to actually measure the mashed banana since bananas vary so much in size.
If you don’t have ripe or over ripe bananas on hand, you can quickly ripen bananas in the oven.
How to quickly ripen bananas
Spotty, over ripe bananas make the best banana muffins! If your bananas aren’t ripe, you can fix that!
Place the bananas on a foil lined baking sheet in a 300ºF oven for 30-40 minutes, until the peels become black and shiny. Roasting them in the oven causes them to become sweet and mushy.
Ingredients overview
- mashed bananas: adds banana flavor and moisture
- vegetable oil: adds fat and moisture
- granulated sugar: adds sweetness and flavor
- egg: binds the batter together by providing structure
- vanilla extract: adds flavor
- gluten free all purpose flour: flour is necessary to build structure, I recommend using King Arthur’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
- baking soda: helps to leaven and lift the batter
- cinnamon: banana muffins benefits from cinnamon!
- salt: just a pinch to balance the sweetness and enhances the other flavors
- semi-sweet chocolate chips: the best pairing with banana muffins!
Have extra bananas in your kitchen? Make banana pancakes! They are only three ingredients!
How to make bakery muffins with domed tops
Bakery muffins are known for their high domed tops. I used a few techniques to help “lift” these gluten free banana muffins so they would have domed tops.
1. THE REST PERIOD
Let the batter rest for 15 minutes after it’s mixed and before you scoop it into the muffin pan. During the resting period, starch molecules in the flour are absorbing the liquid in the batter, causing them to swell and giving the batter a thicker consistency (ref the kitchen whisper)
2. BAKE AT HIGH TEMPERATURE INITIALLY
Bake the muffins at a high temperate (425ºF) for 7 minutes then lower to 375ºF. Starting the muffins off at a higher temperature causes the batter to rise rapidly, producing a domed shaped.
3. FILL THEM TO THE TOP
Fill your muffin liners to the top with batter. Yes, this goes against everything you’ve heard but it’s important in helping the muffin gain that height.
How to freeze banana muffins
Allow the gluten free banana muffins to cool completely first. I like to wrap two muffins together (the bottoms of the muffins touching) in plastic wrap, then place all the wrapped bundles in a ziplock bag.
To thaw, either let them come to room temperature on the counter or place as many as you need in the microwave for 15 second intervals.
Total time required
- 5 minutes to prep the batter
- 15 minute rest (this helps produce domed tops!)
- bake for 7 minutes at 424º
- bake for 12-14 minutes at 375º
FAQs
I recommend using a high quality gluten free all purpose flour. I used King Arthur’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour.
To make gluten free banana bread, follow our banana bread recipe and substitute gluten free all purpose flour for the regular all purpose flour.
More Muffins Recipes
Gluten Free Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 large ripe bananas, about 1 heaping cup mashed
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups gluten free all purpose flour, I recommend King Arthur’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, optional
Instructions
- Mash the bananas. Use either a potato masher, electric mixer or blender to do this. Be sure to measure out the mashed banana, you need 1 heaping cup.
- In a mixing bowl combine the mashed bananas, vegetable oil, sugar, egg and vanilla extract. Stir to combine with a spatula.
- Add in the gluten free flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, stir together with a spatula.
- If adding chocolate chips, mix them in now.
- Cover the bowl with a towel and allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes. During this time, preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- Line a muffin pan with muffin liners. Fill the liners to the top with batter.
- Bake for 7 minutes at 425ºF, then keeping the muffins in the oven turn the temperature down to 375ºF and bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
If I don’t need them to be GF can I use AP Flour in a 1:1 replacement? I have bananas ready to use for these and all other ingredients on hand but don’t have GF flour.
Thanks!
Yes! Just use regular all purpose flour. Here is our standard banana muffin recipe: https://thefirstyearblog.com/bakery-style-banana-bread-muffins/
Can I replace veg oil with olive or avocado oil?
These are FANTASTIC! Loved them so much!
This is by far my favorite banana muffin recipe. I decrease the sugar a little, but otherwise I follow it step by step. They are incredibly fluffy and delicious!!!
I followed everything exactly as said & they are still no where near cooked, yes they have risen but you put a fork in centre & it is all batter still
Shoot! What type of muffin pan are you using? Have you checked your oven temperature for accuracy?
This is what happened to mine too!
There is a lot of batter in each muffin cup! Did you bake them longer? Every oven is different!
Can I swap the vegetable oil for butter? I don’t love the taste of oil lol
Hi Fin! I haven’t tried this recipe with butter, but I’m assuming it will be okay!
It’s so hard finding gluten free recipes that my whole family can enjoy, but I made these for my family yesterday morning and everyone loved them! My family had eaten all of them by the time I went for seconds, which never happens when I bake gluten free! I’m going to make them again today or tomorrow, and was wondering if I made a double batch if I could freeze some of the batter? These are definitely a new family favorite. Thank you!