Healthy Gluten-Free Banana Muffin Recipe

No joke, I’ve been baking this healthy gluten-free banana muffin recipe literally every week for at least the past decade. In spite of being super healthy, they still bake up moist and delicious. Now, if you’re coming from a recipe that’s loaded with butter and a sugary crumble on top, these might be a little different…but that’s not the point of this recipe! The point is to provide a healthy, tasty alternative that won’t linger in your gut, add inches to your waistband, or make you a diabetic. When you taste these, you'll realize that the richness you crave with your morning coffee can also be achieved with savory nut flours rather than with refined sugars and butter. Anyway, here are just some of the benefits of this healthy gluten-free banana muffin recipe:

• Using organic ingredients mean that you won’t be ingesting GMO’s, synthetic pesticides, or synthetic fertilizers; not to mention, when you buy organic products, you are supporting a sustainable future!
• The organic Greek yoghurt is a substitute for butter, which means you’re saving your body from saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium.
• The maple syrup and honey are a substitute for refined or processed sugars. Real maple syrup is known to have minerals and antioxidants, while honey is also known to be an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-bacterial, among many other great things.
• Cinnamon is a well-known anti-inflammatory. If you want an extra boost of cinnamon in your diet, I recommend putting a healthy dose of cinnamon in the bottom of your coffee cup before you fill it with coffee. It tastes great, and you get the full benefit of its nutritional powers rather than just smelling it on top of your cappuccino foam like most people do.
• Organic whole oats are well known to reduce cholesterol. They are full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants.
• Gluten-free nut flours are easier to digest and are also full of protein, minerals, and fiber.

Ok, so now you’re convinced of the incredible health benefits of this recipe, but are they still tasty? There’s only one way to find out! Enjoy my recipe, and as always, you are the chef, so please feel free to add your own twists as you see fit (just make sure they're healthy)!

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Bake Time: 30+ Minutes

Yield: 12 Medium Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 Large Ripe Organic Bananas
• ½ Cup or 5.3 Oz Container of Organic Greek Yoghurt – Banana Flavor if Possible
• ½ Cup Organic Maple Syrup OR Organic Honey OR a Combination of Both
• 3 tsp Organic Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Organic Vanilla Extract
• 2 Organic, Free-Range Eggs
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• ½ Cup Walnuts
• LEVEL ½ Cup Organic Oats
• LEVEL ½ Cup Organic Coconut Flour
• LEVEL ½ Cup Organic Almond, Hazelnut, or Any Other Nut Flour

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (325°F for higher altitudes or ovens that run hot).
2. Mix the ripe bananas on low and by themselves for a few minutes until they are completely pureed.
3. Add the yoghurt, maple syrup and/or honey, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Mix for another couple minutes on low until combined.
4. Next, add the eggs and baking soda and mix on low until combined.
5. Finally, add the nuts, oats, coconut flour, and nut flour and mix on low speed for another couple of minutes. In this recipe, I used Hazelnut flour, which is my personal favorite, but the recipe works just as well with the more common and less expensive almond flour.

*Important Note: It is important to use level cups rather than heaping. In gluten-free baking, if you put too much flour, the result can easily become dry. This muffin batter should still be wet like normal banana muffin batter. If you want an even moister version of this healthy recipe, remove the oats and substitute them with another ½ cup of nut flour. This was my old recipe, but I started substituting the organic oats for extra, and more diverse, health benefits.

6. Use a spoon and spatula to portion the batter into paper lined muffin tins.
7. Bake on 350°F for 30-32 minutes. The bake time depends on the size of your muffins and the way your oven bakes, so be sure to decrease or increase time according your own baking situation.
8. When you wake up, be sure to toast them first, add a little organic, all-natural peanut butter to the top, and make yourself a fresh cappuccino! That is how I start every single day, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

As always, thank you sincerely for reading and trying my recipes. Once again, please feel free to adapt anything to your personal liking. I wish you all the best on your path to healthy, sustainable living, as I continue on my own!