Home > Desserts > Gluten-Free Banana Muffins Gluten-Free Banana Muffins July 1, 2020 | 68 Comments SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Jump to Recipe This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy. 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 TIPWhile 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 TIPMake 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 Once completely cooled, store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature. Gluten-Free Banana Muffins are best eaten within 2-3 days. To freeze/thaw: 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 FOLLOW ALONG! Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates, recipes and content. Gluten-Free Banana Muffins 4.73 from 22 votes - Review this recipe 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! SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe Gluten-Free Banana Muffins 4.73 from 22 votes - Review this recipe SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe 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! Course Breakfast, Snack, Vegetarian Cuisine American, Vegan, Vegetarian Keyword gluten-free banana muffins Prep Time 15 minutes minutes Cook Time 25 minutes minutes Total Time 40 minutes minutes Servings 9 muffins Chelsea Lords Calories 178kcal Author Chelsea Lords 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)US - Metric USMetric InstructionsPREP: 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 NotesNote 1: Chocolate: Dark chocolate offers health benefits and a fun textural addition to these muffins. Milk or semi-sweet chocolate can be used instead, but it does make these muffins slightly less nutritious. You can use all miniature chocolate chips or all dark chocolate chips if preferred; just keep the amount to 1/2 cup total. Chocolate doesn't contain gluten, but check the label to be sure. Nutrition FactsServing: 9muffins | Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 156mg | Potassium: 191mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 58IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 1mg We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed. DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? I love hearing from you when you've made one of my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @ChelseasMessyApron or leave me a comment below.
I love this recipe, I made something similar, but I actually used a little flour, and blueberries, but I love all that chocolate, may have to try it your way! Reply
Ohhh I LOVE those big chunks of chocolate chips inside these cute lil’ muffins! And because they’re on the healthier side, you can have 3 or 4, right ;). Reply
These look great– and I happen to have two sad looking bananas on my counter. Still love your flourless oat pumpkin muffins- made a batch or two of them this week and froze some extras. Can’t wait to try these. Thanks! Reply
These look insanely good! I love baking with oat flour. I am going to have to let my bananas go brown so that I can make these ASAP. Reply
Love these flourless muffins! They look delicious and perfect for a healthier start to the morning! Reply
WOW-these muffins are gorgeous! the texture is perfect, I love all those chocolate chips, and the fact that they’re so healthified is amazing! YUM YUM YUMMERS Reply
So I am a huge muffin person but never make them! Obviously I needed this recipe. Love that they are flourless! Genius, Chelsea!! Reply
Just saw these on FG and they look great! I just posted banana oatmeal choc chip cookies today with very little butter. But they do have flour 🙂 Your muffins look awesome! Need to try! Reply
I love the oat flour in these! I have never tried oat flour before so I want to try it! These look amazing, love the melted chocolate in the pictures, so pretty 🙂 Reply
Found your recipe on Pinterest yesterday. It was the first time visiting your blog. I wasted no time and made these last night! HUGE hit in our household this morning. Yup, I let my boys have them for breakfast! My 6 year old requested one for his lunch box today. Thank you for sharing. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!! Reply
My daughter doesn’t like bananas and she can detect them anywhere. What can I use to substitute banana in this muffin? Reply
Hi Margaret! These muffins probably wouldn’t be the best to make as the banana is one of the most essential ingredients so replacing it probably won’t yield a great muffin. Does your daughter like pumpkin? I’d recommend these healthy and flourless pumpkin muffins: https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/skinny-healthy-pumpkin-chocolate-chip-muffins/ Reply
I love these muffins but do you think I could make them into a loaf? I know you have other banana loaf recipes but I was looking for one that was flour less and had yoghurt. Reply
loveeeeee this!!! i made these twice! the first time was MUCH BETTER DEN THE FIRST, and i did not use any chocolate chips. The second time i made these the inside was wet, if you know what i mean.. why is that?? they tasted awesome though! Reply
Hmm not sure why you had different results the first from the second time, did you perhaps change anything on the recipe or measuring anything differently? The only other thing I can think since you said the inside was wet the second time is that maybe you didn’t cook them long enough or on the right oven temperature the second time you made them? And are your baking agents fresh? Reply
So I follow a kinda weird diet. I should be on the Candida diet but it’s very restrictive and I find I need many more carbs than it allows, so I follow it to some extent. With that said, I try to avoid most sugars, which include natural sugars in fruits, and bananas have a lot of fruit in them. I also have a friend who has a latex allergy, so she can’t have bananas but uses pumpkin instead for things like smoothies. So I thought, what if I used the same amount of pumpkin in this recipe instead? Holy cow. The muffins turned out amazing. So I did make a couple adjustments to the recipe: Instead of sugar, I used 1/4 cup stevia and 1 tbs of honey. Instead of banana, I used pumpkin. Instead of chocolate chips, I used carob chips. This recipe turned out amazing even with my adjustments. I can truly say I’ve been very frustrated as of recently trying to find things that taste good on such a restrictive diet, but these are the BOMB. Reply
That is SO great to hear!! Thank you so much for leaving a comment and sharing how you changed this recipe, I appreciate it as I’m sure many other readers do too! 🙂 Thank you! Reply
Made these and they turned out perfectly! My entire family (including my hubby) devoured them! Thanks for the great easy recipe! Reply
Your Banana muffins are delicious. I made a change to the recipe. Instead of brown sugar, I used honey. They turned out great. I used the food processor to grind the oats into a coarse flour which I used for both the flour/quick oats quantities. I heated a tablespoon of extra honey in the microwave for 10 seconds to make a syrup and brushed it on top of the muffins then sprinkled some crushed pecans on top. Keeps them moist and adds flavour. After I finished, I had plenty of banana and oat flour left over so I just made overnight oats with them – added milk and honey then stuck them in the fridge. Two birds, One stone. This is now my go-to recipe. I’ve been eager to find a homemade recipe that was easy and uses Oat flour to suit my daughter and I. Thank you very much. perfect for a healthy pre-school treat! Reply
Thank you so much for the comment!! So glad you enjoyed these muffins 🙂 And those overnight oats sound delicious! Such a smart idea!! Reply
Best healthy muffins i have come across, i only use 2 tablespoons of sugar and they’re still amazing. My kids absolutely love them and i make a batch every couple of days Reply
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. Reply
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! Reply
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! Reply
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. Reply
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! Reply
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. Reply
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 Reply
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! Reply
I tried it and they worked out! My 2 year old loved eating them for breakfast 🙂 Thanks for all the great recipes! Reply
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! Reply
Lovely recipe! Just made these on a rainy day and they are just what I needed. Perfect amount of sweetness, choc chips & cinnamon flavour. Reply
I’m so happy to hear this! These are perfect for a rainy day! Thanks so much for your comment Amy! 🙂 Reply
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. Reply
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! Reply
Can I use an immersion blender to make oat flour? I don’t have a regular blender or food processor. Reply
I’ve never used an immersion blender but if it blends it down enough that it’s the same consistency as regular flour it’s great! 🙂 Reply
Just made these today and they are scrumptious! Don’t like dark chocolate, so used milk chocolate chips instead. This is a recipe I will use often! Yum! Reply
My kids love these!! I have to make a double batch because my son eats 4-5 in one sitting! I use only mini chocolate chips and use half the amount the recipe calls for and find that it’s PLENTY! I sprinkle a few more on top of each muffin for looks. I also stir in a few teaspoons each of ground flax and hemp seeds for an omega boost. Great recipe! Thank you!! Reply
I made these and they are perfect for breakfast along side a bowl of cereal. Or they would make the perfect snack…so good! Reply
I love this recipe. I don’t see Greek yogurt in the list of ingredients? Is it needed for this recipe? Thank you – Debbie Reply
The flavor of these muffins were great and I love the fact that there is no added sugar (I’m not sure what recipe others are reviewing, that mention brown sugar). I had to cook longer, as they were very mushy (Not sure why. My ingredients are all fresh). I wish that people would not rate or review a recipe that they did not make. We are all on here to find recipes that we would like to try and it’s nice to see reviews from people who have actually made the recipe, not those who give 5 stars for something that looks good and they can’t wait to make. Reply
Thanks so much Deanna, I’m thrilled you enjoyed it! We’ve updated the recipe and some previous reviews are on it! So sorry for the trouble! Reply