One of my favorite memories of Sunday mornings as a kid was waking up and seeing my dad walk into the kitchen with a box of delicious pastries from the bakery for us to eat before church. He'd slowly open the lid to reveal the delectable, flaky goodness. He always remembered to get my favorite...a chocolate croissant. Mmmmmmm.
Now that I have a family of my own, I want to carry on some of the traditions I cherished in childhood. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a bakery that serves delicious treats that are safe with my new food allergies, but that hasn't stopped me from trying to recreate some my childhood memories.
My toddler son loves bread-y products (apple didn't fall far from the tree!) and I was determined to find/create a recipe we could all enjoy that would remind me of those Sunday morning treats. Prior to changing my diet to gluten free for medical reasons, I was quite the banana bread connoisseur, so when I found a gluten-free banana chocolate chip muffin recipe I was thrilled!
I was thrilled for a few reasons: the blogger claimed it was a 5-min recipe and as many of you know getting a child ready in the morning for church (or going anywhere!) can be a bit like herding cats; it required throwing all the ingredients in at once and letting my mixer do the work; it wasn't coconut and egg based which produces just a weird texture to me; and it looked amazing. Maybe too amazing. I have become a little skeptical of some gluten free recipes which seek to recreate gluten products because they often turn out weird and disappointing. BUT! I'm happy to report that this recipe stood up to it's claims. After baking batches and batches of these muffins, I've made some modifications to the recipe. The final product is what you'll see below. This recipe does take a little more than 5 minutes as the original recipe claims, but it's super easy to make and super easy to clean up!
Without further ado, here's a quick, healthy, and tasty muffin recipe that is sure to please! Below the recipe, I include a few notes (look for the items with a *) on a few ninja muffin making tips and my favorite products. Enjoy!
Sunday Morning Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (GF) Recipe
Adapted from Kaylie Johnson's recipe at Paleo Gluten Free Eats. Original recipe here.
Time: 10 minute prep, 35-40 min bake
Ingredients
- 2 cup finely-ground almond flour *
- 4 medium soft bananas (the ones with brown spots are best) *
- 6 medium cage-free eggs
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 2 teaspoon baking powder *
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ cup coconut sugar *
- 1 tbsp. cinnamon (more to taste) *
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional) *
- ½ cup chocolate chips*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line muffin pan with silicone baking cups* or grease them with a healthy fat (Nutiva palm shortening works well).
- Wash eggs, crack and add to stand mixer, food processor, or blender. Combine all remaining ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, with the eggs. Mix until combined and bananas are slightly lumpy.
- Add chocolate chips, stir. Scoop out ¼ cup batter into silicone-muffin cups*. You can fill each cup to just under the top of the cup. Optional: top with a pinch of cinnamon and chocolate chips.
- Bake 35-40 minutes until top of muffins are golden and your home smells amazing!
Notes
Choose organic whenever possible to reap the greatest health benefits from your food.
Almond flour: Best price I've found on finely-ground almond flour is our local Costco. I considered buying online in bulk from Blue Diamond or Honeyville's website; however after price comparing, Costco was a better price at the time.
Bananas: I often buy two bunches of bananas each week: one green, one yellow. This way we always have ripe bananas on hand for eating, and we'll likely have some that are starting to brown for muffins. If I'm not planning on making muffins, I peel the bananas and pop them in a freezer bag to use another day for muffins.
Baking powder: Store bought baking powder may not be gluten free so check your label. I prefer to make my own using this simple recipe: 1/2 Tbsp baking soda to 1 Tbsp Cream of Tartar. I mix up a small batch of this and keep it in an air tight container in the pantry.
Vanilla extract: Be sure to look for one that is gluten free if your diet requires that. I never considered what the vanilla was distilled in until recently! I've had good luck with Simply Organic Vanilla Extract but always read the label to ensure it says "gluten free."
Coconut sugar: The original recipe from Paleo Gluten Free Eats used Stevia Liquid instead of coconut sugar. I prefer the brown sugary flavor of coconut sugar instead of Stevia; however it does slightly increase the calories of these muffins.
Cinnamon: Cinnamon adds a warm, sweet flavor to these muffins but also many health benefits. Cinnamon has been shown in to have “anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antitumor, cardiovascular, cholesterol-lowering, and immunomodulatory effects” (Find the study here, additional reading on the health benefits of cinnamon here). We buy our cinnamon in bulk with our other herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs.
Chocolate Chips: Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips are my fav. Ideally I'd love to do organic, however organic chocolate in the volume we consume break the bank. Enjoy life is one of the cleanest brands I've found and is gluten-free. We like to order this 5lb bulk bag of chocolate chips using Amazon Subscribe and Save (check out this post for how I use Subscribe and Save). Just did a price comparison this week and this 5lb bag was cheaper per ounce than if we bought the same chocolate chips on sale at Whole Foods even with their bulk discount!
Silicone baking cup: Love using these instead of paper muffin cups. No peeling shreds of paper off the muffin while your toddler is pawing at your legs for the freshly backed muffin. Using these silicone baking cups makes the muffins slightly smaller.
This recipe is not for a low calorie muffin; however, this recipe contains excellent, high-quality, healthy fats from the almonds, eggs, and coconut oil. If you're short on time for breakfast, this muffin would be a MUCH healthier alternative to grabbing something quickly at the gas station. This muffin has significantly less calories, less sugar, and no artificial ingredients (preservatives, flavors, coloring, dough conditioners) compared to a comparable gas station muffin.
You are worth more than mediocre. You are worth exceptional health!
Caitlyn J. Hanson
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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to diagnose or treat any illnesses or disease. Please always check with your doctor before beginning any new nutritional or fitness program or before making any nutritional/fitness changes.
Disclaimer: Am I recommending that you go gluten-free? The quick answer is no. This is a decision that is not to be made without great thought, research, consultation, and prayer. Talk with your health professional before making a diet change. For those of you that are reading this and your body can process gluten without adverse side-effects, praise the Lord for your body's ability! You cannot subsitute gluten flour for almond flour in this recipe as almond flour is not 1:1 with regular flour. We'd love for you to share your favorite muffin recipe below though for others to enjoy!