Tag: banana muffins

Banana Flour Chocolate Chip Muffins {gf, vg, nut free}

Published on by nathaliejasmin20192 Comments
Banana Flour - a healthy replacement for wheat flour
Banana Flour – a healthy replacement for wheat flour

What do you think if someone -who is absolutely NOT into health foods- can’t stop eating something that is healthy(ish)? I think that’s pretty cool! Let’s face it, most “healthified” or “alternative” baked goods – be they gluten free, paleo, vegan, sugar free, or whatever, taste great to the health-conscious palate, but they are not always crowd-pleasers. I was all the more excited when I came up with this recipe for banana chocolate muffins – muffins that you could serve at a school fête, bribe your junk food addicted teenager or impress your in-laws with without worrying that they might taste “healthy”. All this is possible using one of the latest additions to the gluten free flour realm: banana flour!

I was intrigued by the claim that you can completely replace wheat flour with banana flour by using 25% less, which should enable you to convert pretty much any recipe using what flour without experimenting with 8+ different flours and starches as you normally do in gluten free baking, which is just too good to be true! I got my banana flour from here. Yes, it is pricey, but if you have a few dollars to spend, it is a worthwhile investment as…it really DOES replace wheat flour! I did not use any other flour or starch for these muffins, and the texture was just like normal wheat muffins! It does taste like banana though, so I would not use it for savoury baking, but rather for goodies that are enhanced by a very subtle banana flavour, such as banana bread (for obvious reasons), pancakes, carrot cakes, and, yup, these delicious muffins!

You can even use banana flour as a healthy “thickener” in your favourite smoothie! Either way, banana flour is super-rich in resistant starch, which is a “good” starch (yes, that’s right! Not all starch is created equal!) as it enhances your gut flora, which is absolutely essential for your wellbeing, keeps you full without the bloat you get from flax and fiber, and stabilises your blood sugar, so that you can enjoy banana chocolate muffins without the carb-induced delirium that might otherwise come with a muffin. So again, baking with banana flour is healthy, easy, and yummy, just as I like it.

Makes 12 muffins

1 egg replacer or “flax egg” (1 flax egg = 1 tbsp milled flaxseed dissolved in 4 tbsp water)
90g coconut sugar
100g melted organic coconut oil
200g lite BPA-free coconut cream
210g banana flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 1/2 tsp aluminium-free baking soda
150g dark chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips) – the best quality you can find

Preheat oven to 180 °C. Mix egg, sugar, cream, and oil in one bowl, and flour, cinnamon and soda in another. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared muffin tray and bake for 20 mins. Let the muffins cool down and remove from pan once cooled. Will last several days at room temperature and even longer in the fridge.

Enjoy!

 

Gluten Free Vegan Banana Muffins with Maple Frosting

Published on by nathaliejasmin2019Leave a comment
Gluten Free Egg Free Banana Maple Muffins
Gluten Free Egg Free Banana Maple Muffins

Next time you see a bundle of overripe bananas in the supermarket marked down to next to nothing, don’t walk on by! There is sooo much you can do with ripe bananas! I just cut them up and chuck them in the freezer where they keep nicely until I want to create a recipe with them – or I just have them as they are! There is truly nothing more divine than frozen bananas, and they are great in smoothies and milkshakes, too!

My hubs asked me for some cakes he could take to work, so I made some banana muffins – some without frosting for on the road, and some with frosting for a little indulgence at home! These are wonderfully moist, packed with fiber from flax, and they are delicious in many ways. Due to the mashed banana inside, there is no need to add heaps of fat, so they are are a healthy cheat treat for those wathing their waste lines! The vegan maple frosting works beautifully with the banana flavour, too. Oh, and they are pretty foolproof, so you better start making them now – your kids will love you for these! (My hubby is a bit like a child in that he loves unhealthy things – he gobbled these up though, so I am secretly snickering behind his back that these are healthier than he thinks. I didn’t tell him about the flax!)

Makes 12 muffins

3 over-ripe bananas, mashed
100 g arrowroot starch
50 g white rice flour
50 g brown rice flour
100 g sugar or other sweetener (you should use at least some “real” sugar to achieve a nice texture and colour)
90 g low-fat vegan spread
50 g honey
30 g flax
3 tbsp almond milk
1 tbsp molasses
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla

Frosting
75 g powdered sugar
60 g low-fat vegan spread
5 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp almond milk
1 tsp vanilla

For the muffins, preheat oven to 180 ° C. Melt spread, sugar, honey, molasses and vanilla over low heat until spread is melted. Turn off the heat and whisk in the mashed bananas and almond milk (I know it’s tempting, but don’t eat this mix – at least not all of it!). Mix flours, flax, and soda in a different bowl, and slowly add banana-butter-mixture to the flour mixture. Mix until well combined, then scoop into muffin pan and bake for approx. 20 minutes or until muffins pass the skewer test. Turn off heat, let muffins rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn to wire rack and let cool completely.

Only scoop the frosting on top of the muffins once they have cooled down completely, as otherwise it will melt. Whip all ingredients for the frosting until light and fluffy, then store in the fridge until stiffened up and decorate the muffins.

Tip: Mix some walnuts or other nuts or chocolate chips mixed in the muffin batter.

Enjoy!