Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

How's everybody liking the return of Daylight Savings Time?

Me??  I'm loving it.

It makes me so happy to have sunlight later in the day....and it makes me nearly giddy to have a few uninterrupted minutes in the morning with my husband (and once he leaves, to myself) without my darling littlest ones pulling on my pant legs asking for vitamins or bananas or cereal or my ipod.....because they're still asleep.  :)

I currently have a bunch of quickly ripening bananas in my fruit bowl and I'm gonna make a batch of these to welcome the kiddos up from their slumber today.

When I first saw this recipe, I was seriously skeptical.
The notion that you could make legitimate muffins, that actually look and taste and feel like muffins, without any flour whatsoever just perplexed me.  It just wasn't possible.  Was it??

Curiosity got the best of me and I made a batch recently.
I could not have been more pleasantly surprised.

They're tender, moist, and even have a crumb just like regular muffins.  We kinda went crazy for them.  Even my boy who has gotten rather weary of me making "banana" muffins.  Could have been the chocolate, but whatever.

What's also awesome is how fast they go together.  Throw a few ingredients in a blender, whir it around until it's smooth and creamy, stir in a little chocolate, and bake.  Couldn't be easier.

And while we are certainly not a gluten-free family, it's pretty awesome to have some recipes that are.


Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Banana Mini-Muffins
Yield: ~ 40 mini-muffins

2 medium bananas, peeled (don't need to be over-ripe)
2 large eggs
1 cup peanut butter
4 Tbsp. honey or maple syrup
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
pinch salt
1 cup mini chocolate chips or chopped chocolate - optional

Preheat oven to 400° F. Prepare mini-muffin tins by lining with paper liners or spraying generously with floured cooking spray.

Place bananas and eggs into a blender and puree until smooth.  Add peanut butter, honey, vanilla, baking soda, and salt and puree again until thoroughly combined.  Add chocolate and stir by hand.

Fill mini-muffin tins 3/4 full.  Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean or with a few crumbs.  Be sure to watch closely, as all ovens are different!
Allow to cool in pan for a few minutes - until they're cool enough to handle.
Muffins are best fresh - but can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 4 months.

Note: If you used the muffin liners, some of the batter will stick to them.  If you wait until the muffins are completely cool, it will be easier to remove them.  You may still be nibbling some of the muffin off of them. :)

Source: adapted slightly from Averie Cooks

Gluten-Free Banana Coconut Flour Muffins

As I mentioned before, I've not ventured into the land of "gluten-free" very often.
Particularly in baking.

Enter my mom.
She recently confessed that some time ago, she heard/read about the benefits of coconut flour and proceeded to order a 25 lb (!!!) bag of it.  Organic and all.  And it had been sitting unopened in her laundry room ever since.  She didn't really know what to do with it.

I graciously told her that I would be more than happy to take some of it off of her hands and play around with it.  After all, I do a lot more baking than she does these days, with a family of 7 and all.  She's just cooking for herself and Dad most of the time.  She was delighted to share her abundance with me and gave me at least 12 lbs of it a couple of days ago.

As I was deliberating what to make for breakfast this morning, I remembered the bananas languishing on the counter top and decided banana coconut muffins would be just the ticket.

I looked through a few recipes before deciding on one from Tropical Traditions, which is my favorite company from which to purchase coconut oil.

Having never baked with or even tasted coconut flour, I wasn't sure what to expect.

I read that coconut flour is high in fiber and protein, is of course gluten-free, and can be added to standard wheat recipes in small amounts to add extra protein.  Some recipes of muffins and quick breads can be accomplished with 100% coconut flour.  Since coconut flour contains natural sugar from the coconut meat, baked goods need less sugar added. The coconut flavor is fairly mild.

You need much less flour than in regular recipes - but that is countered by needing a lot of eggs, since it's a very dry and thickening flour. So these muffins end up with lots of protein from all those eggs and the flour -  and that's not a bad thing.  

I thought they were delicious.  The texture and flavor is a bit different from traditional wheat muffins, but I enjoyed them a lot.  The kids commented that they seemed not as sweet as our normal muffins, probably because I didn't sprinkle chocolate chips on top (don't know where they get the idea they need chocolate for breakfast.  I mean, really.)  I found them to be just sweet enough.  Grant thought they were really good, too.  

I will definitely make them again - variety is great - plus I still have 12 lbs of coconut flour to use!

Banana Coconut Flour Muffins
adapted slightly from Tropical Traditions
Yield: 16 regular muffins

1 cup coconut flour (organic is best)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
6 eggs
4 Tbsp. melted coconut oil (OR 2 Tbsp. melted butter + 2 Tbsp. oil)
3/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350°.
Sift the coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together into a small bowl.  Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, beat eggs together.  Add oil, milk, honey, sugar, and vanilla.  Whisk together to blend.
Stir in coconut flour mixture and bananas until well blended.  Batter will be thick.  Divide batter among greased or paper-lined muffin tins.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

It's always fun when one of my kiddos has to take a snack to their Wed. night church classes.  I like to try out new recipes.....kid-friendly sweets, typically, that we can share with others.  Recipes like Homemade Oreos or Melting Snowman Cookies.

Last week I decided to (gasp!) go with something a little more healthy. 
Brimming with pumpkin, apple, and raisins and made with whole wheat flour, maybe we can overlook the sugar factor and consider these a nutritious snack. 
At any rate, they were immensely popular with the first grade girls, as well as their teacher.  She made a point of finding me to rave about them, so I know they must have been enjoyed.

They're very moist, nicely spiced, and have that sweet and cinnamony streusel on top....which can be a little crumbly and messy if you're not careful, just a word from the wise there.

Recipe: adapted from Circle B Kitchen
Yield: 15-16 muffins

For topping:
2 Tbs all-purpose flour
8 Tbs sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbs unsalted butter, softened

For muffins:
1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (I used regular ground nutmeg)1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1-1/4 cups of canned solid-pack pumpkin
3 oz vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 apple (I used Gala), peeled, cored, and chopped into small-ish pieces (1 cup)
1 cup raisins

Prepare topping first.
Blend together flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter in a small bowl with a fork until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease muffin pan with cooking spray.
Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice into a medium bowl.
Whisk together pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl. Add flour mixture, stirring until well combined. Fold in apples and the raisins.
Fill muffin tins with batter and sprinkle with topping mix.
Bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of muffin comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.

Linked to Crazy Sweet Tuesday