Since I became interested in healthy living a few years ago, Eric has had to be on his guard against my baking experiments.
Why, you ask? Well, that would be because my husband has a serious sweet tooth, while his wife happily eats 90% dark chocolate, takes her coffee black, and–worst of all–makes all sorts of good-looking, good-smelling baked goods that don’t actually have mounds of sugar in them. The treachery!
However, this is a recipe that has no refined sugar and no added fats or oils, but still won Eric’s approval. In fact, when I brought one into our office for him to taste, his first reaction was “Wow, these are amazing… the texture is perfect… and the maple syrup adds such a depth of flavor.” What! (This is from a man of generally few words!)
The recipe is an adaptation of my applesauce spice bar and pumpkin bar recipes. I was curious to see if they’d work as muffins–and they do. They rise up tall and fluffy, and they have that soft, chewy crumb you find in glutenous muffins.
You can substitute the pecans/walnuts for dried fruit or add-ins of your choice. Or, feel free to add chocolate chips if you don’t need the muffins to be refined sugar-free. Best of all, they come together in just minutes, so you can have gluten-free banana muffins in a flash!
Lightened Up Banana Nut Muffins (Gluten, Dairy, Oil & Refined Sugar-Free)
Makes 8 regular-sized muffins
Ingredients:
- 1/2 c. mashed banana (2 small or 1 medium/large)
- 1/3 c. maple syrup or honey*
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 c. all-purpose gluten-free flour**
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- Add-ins of your choice: we like using 1/3 c. chopped pecans or walnuts, but feel free to swap for your favorites or go without!
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease or line 8 muffin cups.
- Mix the banana, maple syrup or honey, and vanilla. Then, add the eggs and mix well.
- Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Add all of the dry ingredients at the same time, then mix, to ensure even incorporation into the batter.
- Mix in nuts or other add-ins.
- Spoon batter into the muffin cups by quarter-cupful.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Notes:
*If you’re using a super thick, sticky honey, melt it in the microwave first for easy mixing!
**I usually bake with our favorite homemade gluten-free flour mix: 6 parts brown rice flour, 2 parts potato starch, and 1 part tapioca starch. For these photos, I used King Arthur Measure-for-Measure Gluten-Free Flour and it worked well too! Almost any gluten-free flour mix will work, as long as it doesn’t have leavening (baking powder/soda) in it.
But tell me: do you have a sweet tooth or more of a savory tooth? And what’s your favorite kind of muffin? These gluten-free banana muffins are definitely one of my favorites, but my mom’s double chocolate zucchini muffins will always have my heart!