Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
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Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins are fluffy and delicious. Made with wholegrain sorghum flour and almond flour they are quick and easy to pull together and just as easy to devour in moments. Stuffed with dark chocolate chips and hazelnuts for ultimate satisfaction.
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At the weekend I was utterly craving a gluten-free banana muffin so headed straight to Planet Organic for a muffin and a green juice. One will counteract the other right? However, I was sorely disappointed that they had completely sold out. It was rubbed in my face further still since I had promised Cole a muffin and luckily for him they still had non-gluten ones left. So I had to sit and watch him devour his muffin, my pregnancy hormones seething at the injustice of it all.
Well, since I am a baker I could hardly take this situation lying down and headed straight for my own kitchen to put the wrongs to right. I developed these amazingly delicious Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and they totally hit the spot. The ones I didn’t eat I have stuffed in my freezer to annihilate any future pregnancy banana muffin cravings.
Why you'll love these muffins
- No xanthan gum – we just don’t need it if we use the right flours!
- Only 2 gf flours required - to make life easier on ourselves.
- From now on I refuse to have a banana muffin without chocolate chips.
- They also have little nubbins of hazelnut. Perfect flavour combo.
- They are fluffy and moist.
- Uncomplicated recipe which takes 2 bowls and can be ready within the hour.
Gluten-free flours required
These muffins only use 2 gluten-free flours:
- Sorghum Flour – I chose it here for its earthy wholegrain taste. You can substitute for oat flour if it’s hard to find.
- Almond Flour – thanks to the protein punch of this flour it helps bind the muffins together but keeps them lovely and fluffy.
How to make Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Mix together mashed bananas, brown sugar, caster sugar, olive oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl.
- Beat together until smooth.
- Add sorghum flour, almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, chocolate chips and hazelnuts and mix together.
- Divide into 10 muffin cases and bake for 25 minutes.
- Once ready immediately remove the muffins from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool.
Baker’s tips
- This recipe was tested using brown bananas but it’s not totally necessary. Over-ripened bananas will be easier to mash and give more sweetness. More yellow bananas will mean you have little lumps of banana in your muffins and won’t be as sweet. I think it’s baker’s choice.
- Use a light flavourless olive oil. You can certainly substitute for melted coconut oil or even melted unsalted butter.
- This recipe was tested using medium eggs. About 60g each. If you can't get hold of medium sized eggs then use them by weight.
- Why use both brown sugar and caster sugar? I love the flavour and moisture that brown sugar brings to the table but too much and the muffins would be overwhelmed by it. Caster sugar keeps things lighter.
- Of course you can omit the chocolate chips or the hazelnuts or the cinnamon.
- Reserve some of the chocolate chips and chopped hazelnuts to sprinkle over the top of the muffins just before they go into the oven so it looks like they are bursting through when they are baked.
- Do remove the muffins from the tin as soon as they are out of the oven. Prolonged heat from the tin can cause excess moisture and the muffins to pull away from their cases.
- I love these muffins as they are but a smear of salted butter takes them into another dimension.
Essential equipment
- Regular 12-hole muffin tin
- These brown muffin cases are strong and durable. I have them in an assortment of colours.
- A Trigger-release ice cream scoop is invaluable when dividing out the batter into the muffin cases. It’s 2 scoops per muffin.
How to store
- It’s best to store these gluten-free banana muffins in a cake tin (rather than a plastic food container) and keep in a cool dark place.
- The muffins should keep for up to 5 days.
How to freeze
Freeze them once they are cooled in ziplock plastic bags. Remove from the freezer overnight to thaw before enjoying or re-warm in the oven. You can freeze for up to 2 months.
Flavour variations
- Banana White Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Muffins - Substitute the dark chocolate chips for white ones and the hazelnuts for pecans.
- Banana Nut Muffins - Remove the chocolate chips entirely and include even more nuts. Macadamias, walnuts, almonds would all be delicious here.
- Banana Oat Muffins – Remove the sorghum flour and use rolled oats instead. These muffins will be oaty and chewy. It’s up to you if you still want the chocolate chips and hazelnuts. So good!!
More gluten-free muffin recipes you'll love!
- Vanilla Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffins
- Blackcurrant White Chocolate and Thyme Muffins
- Cheesy Oat Bacon Breakfast Muffins
- Chocolate Courgette Muffins
- Banana Peanut Butter Streusel Muffins
- Easy Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
I hope you give these Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins a try. If you do make this recipe then please leave a comment below and/or give the recipe a rating. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own baking creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
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Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 250 g mashed bananas - about 3 large bananas
- 100 g soft light brown sugar
- 100 g caster sugar
- 100 g light olive oil
- 2 eggs
- 120 g sorghum flour
- 120 g almond flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 125 g dark chocolate chips
- 65 g hazelnuts - roughly chopped
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4.
- Pour the mashed bananas, sugars, olive oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat together until smooth.
- Add in the sorghum flour, almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, chocolate chips and hazelnuts and mix together until thoroughly combined.
- Divide the batter into 10 muffin cases and bake in the oven for 25-28 minutes.
- Remove the muffins from the oven and immediately transfer to a cooling rack.
Notes
- This recipe was tested with 70% dark chocolate chips.
- This recipe was tested with brown bananas but it’s not totally necessary. Over-ripened bananas will be easier to mash and give more sweetness. More yellow bananas will mean you have little lumps of banana in your muffins and won’t be as sweet. I think it’s baker’s choice.
- Use a light flavourless olive oil. You can certainly substitute for melted coconut oil or even melted unsalted butter.
- This recipe was tested with medium eggs. About 60g each.
- You can substitute the sorghum flour for oat flour if it’s hard to find.
- Of course you can omit the chocolate chips or the hazelnuts or the cinnamon.
- Use an ice cream scoop for scooping the batter out into the muffin cases. 2 scoops per muffin.
- Reserve some of the chocolate chips and chopped hazelnuts to sprinkle over the top of the muffins just before they go into the oven so it looks like they are bursting through when they are baked.
- Do remove the muffins from the tin as soon as they are out of the oven. Prolonged heat from the tin can cause excess moisture and the muffins to pull away from their cases.
- Try these muffins warm with a smear of salted butter.
Can I use granulated sugar without adding caster sugar?
Yes you can use granulated sugar instead of caster sugar.
Hi These muffins were lovely very moist family & friends are still talking about it. Thank you,
That's lovely to hear Celia - thank you for your feedback!!
These muffins turned out great & were very tasty. The Sorghum /Almond flour combination is a good one! Looking forward to trying out more of your GF recipes!
Hi Sue - thank you so much for your feedback on this recipe!! I'm so happy you enjoyed the muffins.
Hi, Georgina, Just found your website and the flour guide - Thank You! For this recipe, can you suggest a substitute for the almond flour due to anaphylaxis. Also, is 'caster sugar' also called 'icing sugar'? Thanks again.
Hi Lin, I'm happy you found me! You can substitute the almond flour with sunflower seed flour (if seeds are okay). It has a more distinctive flavour but the texture it provides is exactly the same. Caster sugar is a fine white baking sugar common in the UK (not as fine as icing sugar which is powdered sugar) - granulated sugar can be substituted.
Hi Georgina, great muffins - I used oat flour, I cut the sugar by 50% and they came out very well and not at all crumbly.
That's great to hear - thank you Anna!
The muffin was moist and the sorghum almond combo lent a nice flavor.
However, they were too sweet for my taste. Next time, I will cut the sugar in half.
Also, they tend to fall apart and don’t have much structure. A muffin liner is a must.
Hi Kristen, that's great to hear. Although beware as sugar doesn't just provide sweetness in the recipe - it also aids in the structure. If you cut the sugar too much then the muffins really will crumble.
Thank you. I reduced the sugar by only a third, and also added a few tablespoons of ground flax, and they were perfect. Thank you for the recipe, I love the sorghum/almond combo.
Two thumbs up! These are delicious and easy to make. I can serve them to people who aren't gluten free and they wouldn't know the difference. Thank you also for explaining everything so well. I really appreciate the extra tips and such as how to store them.
Amazing! Really flavoursome, moist and so easy to make. A great hit even with non-coeliacs. Thanks for another tasty recipe.
That's brilliant - thanks Bethan!!
Yay! Looking forward to making this. Thank you for creating a recipe with just two gluten free flours. You rock!
Yes - I'm always looking to cut down on the amount of GF flours in my recipes. Not always possible but in this case these muffins were perfect!!