Gluten-free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Name: Gluten-free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 28 min
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

Published: Jan 10, 2023 · Modified: Jan 11, 2023 by Debra Klein · This post may contain affiliate links · 51 Comments

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Gluten-free banana chocolate chip muffins that 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.

Three chocolate chip muffins stacked on a plate about to topple over.

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 these are the best gluten-free banana muffins

Close up of a banana chocolate chip muffin in unbleached parchment liner.

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:

Labeled ingredient shot: oats, honey, almond butter, eggs, banana, chocolate chips, cinnamon, almond milk, apple cider vinegar, vanilla, avocado, baking soda.

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!

Food processor filled with oats, banana chunks, eggs, avocado, nut butter, cinnamon and baking powder.

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.

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.

Food processor bowl with mixed up banana muffin batter.

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.

Banana oat muffin batter in the bowl of a food processor with a sprinkling of chocolate chips.

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.

Demo of scooping chocolate chip muffin batter into paper lined muffin tins.

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.

Banana chocolate chip muffins in muffin tins lined with parchment and sprinkled with extra chocolate chips.

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 chocolate chip 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!

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.

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Gluten-free Muffin FAQs

How do I make moist and fluffy gluten-free muffins

One way to make fluffier muffins is to let them rest for 5 minutes in the muffin pan before placing them in the oven. Another trick is to be sure to use room temperature ingredients. Also, if there are eggs in your muffins, whisk them vigorously to whip some air into them.

Why won’t my gluten-free muffins rise?

Make sure you’re using enough baking soda. I used 2 teaspoons in this recipe. Yo also try adding 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar to your recipe to help activate the baking soda. Having enough fat is also crucial to getting your muffins to rise. I used avocado instead of butter or oil, but it’s important that it’s ripe. Also, using only almond flour will usually result in a dense baked good, and it’s not an even swap for regular flour. Gluten free baking is more of a science. It’s important to follow the recipe as written.

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