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.

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

More Muffins Recipes

• Pumpkin Muffins
• Lemon Muffins
• Chocolate Muffins
• Blueberry Muffins