These Gluten-free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins are perfectly sweet, deliciously moist, light and fluffy and take just 30 minutes to make! You’re going to love this easy banana bread muffin recipe, they’re dairy-free, cozy and satisfying, made with simple ingredients, and no added oil or refined sugar.
This post has been updated from the original posted May 20, 2019.
These healthy banana muffins are perfect for a quick breakfast, an afternoon snack or even dessert. They’re easy to make in your blender or food processor, and they’re so fluffy and moist, everyone will love them.
Hectic mornings? This easy recipe for gluten-free banana chocolate chip muffins is the healthy breakfast recipe you’ve been looking for. It’s a great recipe, made with pantry staples and you can totally pull off these moist gluten-free banana muffins on a busy weekday too.
If you prefer banana bread, I’ve got a gluten-free vegan banana bread recipe you’ll want to make.
Why you’ll love these
- Meal prep and freezer friendly
- Super easy to make in under 30 minutes
- They taste like gluten-free banana bread, but take way less time in the oven.
- Use your blender or food processor. Mashed bananas without mashing!
- Healthy fats….but NO OIL. The avocado keeps them moist.
- Parchment muffin liners mean no wasted muffin on the paper and an easy to clean muffin tin.
- A healthy and easy breakfast that you can grab and eat on the go if necessary.
Ingredients and substitutions:
- OATS: Whole grains like old fashioned rolled oats contain soluble fiber which helps keep your digestive system moving. If you have gluten intolerance, make sure your oats are certified gluten-free. Substitute a combination of 1 cup gluten-free flour blend and 1 cup almond flour for almond flour banana muffins.
- BANANAS: A tasty way to get in your potassium and magnesium! Bananas also offer a natural sweetness with the added benefit of fiber. Substitute with 1 cup pumpkin puree.
- AVOCADO: Avocado muffins are deliciously moist with no added oil! Avocados are a good source of healthy fats, fiber, Vitamins C, E, K and B6 as well as magnesium, potassium, Omega-3s, niacin and folate. Avocado is a healthy substitution for butter or margarine , processed vegetable oils or even cream cheese in baked goods. These moist banana muffins use no oil! ½ cup applesauce will work as a substitute.
- ALMOND BUTTER: Use creamy or crunchy, or even peanut butter. If nuts are an issue, substitute with tahini or sun butter.
- EGGS: They help the muffins rise and hold together. For a vegan alternative, make a flax egg by mixing ¼ cup applesauce with 2 Tablespoons ground flax, 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar and ¼ cup water. The muffins will hold together and still rise, though they won’t be quite as fluffy.
- HONEY: I thought the honey offered the perfect amount of sweetness. You could substitute pure maple syrup or date syrup for a vegan muffin.
- ALMOND MILK: Any plant based milk will work in this recipe. It’s easy to make homemade almond milk.
- BAKING SODA: Even if you use the vegan substitutions, the baking soda will react with the apple cider vinegar and applesauce to make the muffins rise.
- APPLE CIDER VINEGAR: Helps activate the baking soda for these gluten-free muffins to rise beautifully, creating a less dense muffin.
- CHOCOLATE CHIPS: I use dairy-free chocolate chips. If you’re looking for a truly sugar free muffin, substitute blueberries for the chocolate chips. Even better if you can find the small wild blueberries (frozen is fine). However, if you’re looking for even MORE CHOCOLATE in your muffins, make these One-bowl Chocolate Muffins instead.
How to make these Muffins
Before you begin, know that this recipe works best with room temperature ingredients. If you’re using eggs, take them out of the fridge, same with the nut butter.
Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with parchment paper liners.
There’s no need to separate and mix the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients, since we are going to dump everything into the blender or food processor. Trust me. It’s easy and it works!
Place all ingredients, except for chocolate chips in bowl of food processor or blender. I prefer the food processor because it’s easier to scrape the batter out of, but either will work well.
Process until all ingredients are well blended into a batter. You may need to stop a few times and scrape down the sides to be sure oats are well incorporated. I like a bit of texture in my muffins, so I stop short of smooth and creamy, but you can blend for longer for a fluffier muffin.
When the banana muffin batter is fully mixed, remove the blade and stir in the dark chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon or heavy silicone spatula. Set aside 1-2 Tablespoons of the chips to sprinkle onto the top of the muffins.
Use a large cookie scoop to evenly distribute the batter into the muffin cups. You can also use a ⅓ cup measuring cup to scoop our the batter. To make 12 medium sized muffins, fill them about ¾ full. Or you can portion the batter into 9 large muffins.
Sprinkle on the reserved chocolate chips and bake for 18-20 minutes in the preheated 350 degree oven. Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes back clean and the tops are golden.
Transfer your gluten-free banana muffins to a wire rack to cool.
Debra’s Pro Tips
- For fluffier muffins, let the muffins rest for 5 minutes in the muffin pan before popping them in the oven.
- Think you don’t have time to make these in the morning? 5-minutes to prep and then 20 minutes in the oven…you’ll even have time to wash the food processor and take a shower before the timer goes off! You can pull this off, even on a hectic weekday morning.
- Let muffins cool in tin for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack so melty chocolate doesn’t ooze onto your fingers.
- Make sure muffins are COMPLETELY cool before transferring to an airtight container.
- Someone you know just had a baby, moved, or is going through a difficult time? I bet they would really appreciate a batch of homemade banana muffins dropped off…and you will feel so good too!
- You could also mix by hand, mashing both the bananas and avocado with a potato masher, using oat flour instead of rolled oats. Your muffin batter will have a coarser texture, but still be delicious.
Meal Prep and Storage
- SERVE: Straight from the oven or at room temperature.
- PREP AHEAD: Yes! They’ll stay moist and delicious for 5 days…if they last that long. Take a muffin straight from the freezer and into the brown bag, it will be perfectly defrosted in time for lunch or after school snack.
- STORE: Cool completely and then store in an airtight container. Room temperature 5 days, Refrigerator a week, Freezer 3 months.
- FREEZE: Make sure muffins are completely cool, then store in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
More Healthy Muffin Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Gluten-free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 2 large ripe bananas
- ⅓ cup honey
- ½ medium sized ripe avocado
- ½ cup almond butter
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup almond milk
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tin with unbleached parchment liners
- Add all ingredients, except chocolate chips, into bowl of food processor or high-speed blender. Process until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
- Fill prepared muffin tins ¾ full. Evenly disperse any remaining batter among the 12 muffins.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until tops are golden and toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean.
- Muffins will stay good up to 5 days at room temp or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Notes
Nutrition
Note
The nutrition calculations were done using online tools. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients you used. You are ultimately responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information is accurate, complete and useful.
Gloria
I always love when muffins are on the “healthy” side. Makes it much easier to enjoy them with my morning coffee. Perfect for after-school snacks when the grandkids visit too.
Beth German
Your recipes inspire me! Just made a dozen of these muffins with dark chocolate morsels and they are rich, moist, and decadent! They taste healthy to me in the best of ways! Thank you Deb for sharing your nutritious passions!
Debra Klein
Yay!!! Thank you Beth for making these and sharing that comment. Made my dat!
Debra Klein
Right? Nutritious AND Delicious goes down easier emotionally.
Jenni LeBaron
These look fantastic! I could go for one or three of these at the moment. They look like the perfect grab-and-go breakfast option and a great way to fuel up with some healthy and substantial energy before a long day of running around!
Sandra Shaffer
Delicious way to start the day! I’m a grab and go gal in the morning, so this is perfect for me. I’ll attempt to freeze some to make them last a little longer…fingers crossed!
Donna
I have to agree, the world would be a much kinder place if everyone had more chocolate (as I send my hubby out to buy me some….) These muffins are amazing, great little addition to the lunch box or an afternoon treat for me with a coffee!
Debra Klein
Chocolate does that! Enjoy your quiet afternoon treat!
Debra Klein
The freezer trick does work…especially if you don’t have a microwave…no instant gratification.
Debra Klein
Exactly…such a fine line between one and three!!! But yes, great energy to get that day started and focused.
Tracy
My family and I love these so much. They’re easy to make and I love giving them to my toddler as a snack that she thinks is a really special treat when I know how healthy it is!! Love love that avocado in them!
Debra Klein
Right? That avocado keeps the muffins moist and it’s so nice to use a healthy fat rather than anything refined or processed.
Dana
I’m in love with muffins right now and have been making batches weekly, and I’ve totally been sticking to healthier ingredients and unrefined sugars. So I love everything about this recipe. Might as well get some nutrition in while sating that sweet tooth!
Debra Klein
Exactly. Muffins can be BOTH, satisfying and healthy.
Trish Bozeman
Oooh is there anything better than banana and chocolate together! Maybe healthy muffins for breakfast! My toddler would adore these and I wouldn’t feel guilty at all about him gobbling these up. A must make!
Amanda
These muffins look like such a decadent treat. I love all of the healthy ingredients in them, so I can satisfy my sweet tooth without the guilt! The crumb looks so tender, too. I always have most of these ingredients on hand, so these would be a cinch to whip up at a moment’s notice.
Debra Klein
Absolutely. A decadent treat with nothing to feel guilty about. Enjoy!
Debra Klein
Definitely a hit with the toddler crowd. What’s not to like as a momma too?
Taleen | Just As Tasty
These look so soft and delicious! Love the addition of avocado.
Debra Klein
So do I….a great addition to baked goods when you don’t want to add any oil.
Andrea Janssen
I always love recipes that are healthy and delicious. And yet I found a new one. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Emily
These muffins were a perfect treat to make for my gluten free friend. The kids lived them too!
Sue
I love how moist these muffins are! The chocolate chips are just enough to enhance without overwhelming. These are my new favorite snack!
Robyn
Yum! I am always looking for healthy muffins for my son, and these look delicious, thanks for sharing!
Debra Klein
Big hit with the kids….they’re delish!
Kerri
I LOVE the avocado in these! I would have never thought to do that!
Debra Klein
Yes….between the avocado and the almond butter, no additional oil is needed…isn’t that awesome?!
Alexandra
These are a great easy breakfast or snack – perfect for the lunchbox!
Debra Klein
Yes! I freeze them and put them straight from the freezer into the lunchbox and they’re perfect and fresh when it’s time to eat.
Akiko
These muffins look SO good! I can eat more since they are healthy, right?? I can’t wait to try them. Thanks for the recipe!
Debra Klein
They are definitely good…and good for you!
Amanda Marie Boyle
Looks so good. Have you ever tried them with sunflower butter to make it nut free?
Meesha
This looks really yummy! Definitely have to try this out !
Marina
Love the banana chocolate chip muffins, healthy option and great for breakfast
Chef Dennis
These Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins look sooooo healthy-licious!
Sarah James
Your Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins look delicious, perfect for a guilt free snack. I like how you use oats and avocado, pinning for later.
Amy
Oh these muffins were absolutely delicious! Love that it was dairy free too as I have a lactose intolerance.
Swathi
Delicious chocolate chip muffins with banana my kids will love it as it has their favorite ingredients are there.
Debra Klein
Thank you….definitely a kid friendly recipe.
Mama Maggie's Kitchen
This looks insanely good. Yum!
Debra Klein
Thanks….they are definitely delish!
Lathiya
My kids love chocolate chip muffins and this one looks perfect for me to try for them.
Debra Klein
Definitely a kid friendly healthy recipe.
Elizabeth
Love that this is gluten free, but still a treat! Thanks for the recipe!
Debra Klein
You’re welcome.
Gloria
I need to make some muffins this weekend. I think these will be a hit with the grandkids. Perfect with my morning coffee too.
Debra Klein
Oh, the kids will love these…and so will you!
Dee Broughton
These muffins look delish! I pinned for later.
Debra Klein
Perfect place to find it when you need it! And…they ARE delish.
Giangi
They look amazing and are on my list to make this weekend.
Thank you for sharing.
Debra Klein
You’re welcome….great weekend project.