Chocolate Banana Muffins - gluten free, paleo

These coconut flour chocolate banana muffins are a perfect sweet treat. Thanks to sweet mashed banana and cocoa powder these gluten free muffins are soft and chocolatey with a fluffy crumb.

How to Make Banana Chocolate Muffins

To start making these banana chocolate muffins, you should preheat your oven as mixing the batter goes quickly. When lining your muffin tin, feel free to choose either parchment or silicone liners. Unfortunately, coconut flour batter sticks too much to paper liners, but they remove easily from parchment baking cups. Silicone liners are great because you can wash and reuse them.

Next, you whisk the dry ingredients together including coconut flour, cocoa powder, tapioca starch, leavening agents like baking soda and powder, and salt. The cocoa forms the chocolate component of this recipe and should be naturally free of gluten. Some producers add ingredients like malt, but most don't. If you are in doubt, just be sure to check the label in the store.

After mixing your dry ingredients, you can combine the wet ingredients in another bowl. Using handheld electric beaters is great for this, but you can use your stand mixer as well. Simply place the eggs, mashed banana, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla in the bowl and beat until well combined. If your banana wasn't quite mashed to begin with, this step will help break it down further so that it incorporates into your batter nicely similar to banana bread recipes.

Next, you mix the two bowl mixtures together by adding the wet to dry and stirring until a smooth batter forms. You can use a wooden spoon or spatula to do this.

When you divide the batter between the muffin tin cups, it can be challenging to make sure you put an equal amount in each cup. A really efficient way of doing so, however, is to use a large cookie scoop. Otherwise, you could use a measuring cup to divide the batter between the cups.

These chocolate banana muffins bake quickly with a total time of only 18 to 20 minutes. To test for doneness, inserting a skewer to check for crumbs is the best option. You can also test by pressing into the tops of the muffins; if the indent stays, they need more time, whereas if the tops spring back, they are done.

You should allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a rack to cool. This is because they will be quite delicate directly out of the oven. The addition of a 10 minute rest time allows them to become firm enough to remove from the muffin tin without breaking.

What Makes These Muffins Gluten-free?

Many muffin recipes comprise of wheat flour, but these chocolate banana muffins don't. Instead, coconut flour, cocoa powder, and tapioca starch form the flour element. Coconut flour is a wonderful flour substitute because it absorbs fluids very well. It also has an incredible coconut flavour that adds dimension to baked goods. It is a little more expensive, but a little goes a long way. In fact, you only need between ¼ to ⅓ cup of coconut flour for every 1 cup of flour you would normally use in a recipe.

Tapioca starch, also known as tapioca flour, is naturally gluten-free. It comes from the cassava plant and is great for paleo diets as well. It is not the same as cassava flour, which utilized the entire cassava root. In fact, tapioca starch only involves the starchy portion of the cassava plant. The benefit of using it in addition to the coconut flour is that it adds more of a pleasant chewiness to desserts and has a neutral taste.

Besides these gluten-free flours, these chocolate banana muffins include other naturally gluten-free ingredients like eggs, ripe bananas, coconut oil, and maple syrup. Even those who don't need to follow a strict gluten-free diet will enjoy these muffins.

Are These Chocolate Banana Muffins Dairy-Free?

Yes, they are! This is a great recipe because these gorgeous, fluffy, and chocolatey muffins don't include any butter, milk, yogurt, or sour cream. The main liquid and fat components are eggs, coconut oil, mashed bananas and maple syrup, which means that these muffins are suitable for those on dairy-free diets. The coconut adds to the coconut fragrance and flavour in these muffins, making them even more delicious than they already are.

How to Store These Coconut Muffins

To store these chocolate banana coconut muffins, you can simply place them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. This is a perfect storage method if you intend to eat the muffins quickly. If keeping longer, though, you can put them in the refrigerator for up to 1 week to pull out as needed.

Another wonderful way to keep these muffins is to freeze them which should prolong their freshness for several months. This may be your preferred choice if you aren't a frequent baker but want something to grab-and-go for breakfast or have as a snack. You can put them in an airtight container for the freezer or in a sealable bag. When you are ready to enjoy, simply pull however many you need out of the container and allow to thaw at room temperature.

Other Gluten-Free Chocolate Recipes You'll Love:

• Flourless Chocolate Cookies
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
• Keto Chocolate Mug Cake
• 17+ Best Gluten Free Cookies

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