Recipe: Gluten-free, Grain-free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

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The weather hasn’t cooled, so I’m still finding myself unable to eat all the bananas in the fruit bowl before they start turning too ripe to eat. (It doesn’t help that I consider any banana with no green on the skin “too ripe.”)

Well, it’s time for more banana muffins! Just to keep some sort of variety in my life, I decided to make this batch gluten-free. I used a mix of gluten-free flours – buckwheat, chickpea, coconut and flax – since their attributes complement each other in baking.

Banana bread is often heavy and dense, but these muffins have a nice, light texture and were the perfect level of moist – if I may say so myself.

Even though buckwheat has “wheat” in the name, it contains neither wheat not gluten. It’s not even a grain, but rather the seed of a leafy plant. It’s high in protein, as well. If you want more buckwheat in your muffins,  use 1/2 cup buckwheat and 1/2 cup chickpea flour, keeping the coconut flour and flax seed ratios as listed below.

Supplies

  • measuring cups and spoons
  • 2 mixing bowls
  • a couple spoons, forks or spatulas
  • muffin tin with 12 2 ½-inch cups
  • cooling rack

Ingredients

  • 1/4 buckwheat flour
  • ¾ cup chickpea flour
  • 2 Tablespoons ground flax seeds
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar or xylitol
  • 4 large eggs
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used cococut)
  • 1¼ cup mashed bananas (3 small or 2 large bananas)
  • ½ cup chopped bittersweet baking chocolate or chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Whisk together all dry ingredients but the chocolate.
  2. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, bananas, and oil.
  3. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Batter should be somewhat lumpy.
  4. Stir in the chocolate.
  5. Spoon into lined or oiled muffin tin.
  6. Bake at 325°F for 25 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean and the top of a muffin springs back when you poke it. Let cool completely before serving.

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