Recipe: Gluten Free Banana and Almond Muffins

December 14, 2011 by Laureen Fox | 5 Comments

Earlier entries by Fox in the Kitchen for A Gluten Free Holiday 2011:

Week 1: Frosted Red Velvet Doughnuts (GF, SF, Vegan)

Week 2: Gluten Free Pepita (Pumpkin Seed) Sandwich Bread with option for Thanksgiving Dinner Rolls

Week 3: Gluten Free Melting Snowman Cookies featuring the Melting Snowmen Duo

Week 5 of A Gluten Free Holiday Event.This week the Event is hosted by Ricki at Diet, Desserts and Dogs, the topic is Breakfasts and Brunch

Breakfast (or Brunch) on Christmas morning is a pretty big deal here in the Fox Household. It is the one time when we know our children, their spouses and our grandchild will all sit down together to celebrate Christmas. The table will be beautifully decked out with our Holiday linens and china. We will have Mimosa (one part chilled sparkling wine and one part orange juice) for toasting the day and of course there will be freshly brewed coffee and tea.

After our meal together, the kids will split off to visit with their in-laws. Every other year we come together again in the late afternoon for a large family dinner (for about 25 people) at my MIL’s place but with this year being an off-year, it might just be the Hubby, our Bachelor son and myself joining mom and a few local family members for Christmas Dinner. This year will most likely be a quieter Christmas but sometimes quiet is nice and thanks to long distance calling, we will be able to reach out and touch base with our extended families.

Traditionally, I serve fresh home made Waffles, with real Maple Syrup, fresh strawberries, blueberries, fresh unsweetened whipped cream and breakfast sausages (for the omnivores at the table). I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.

GF Banana and Almond Muffins with a surprise chocolate centre. The grandson couldn’t wait to get his hands on one.

With this being my first Gluten Free Christmas, I haven’t decided what will be on the menu this year. I would love to have Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes but there are some who don’t care for buckwheat and others who don’t like fruit in their pancakes. I could do up Fresh Hash Brown Potatoes with Herbs, Sausages, Toast and an Egg Scramble with Cheese, Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions but fried eggs have not been sitting well with me lately.

Maybe the best thing to do, would be to set up a breakfast buffet or brunch. I can make a little something special for everybody. Hash-brown Potatoes, Egg Scramble, Pancakes, Sausages, an assortment of Fresh Fruits, Cheese and some nutritious GF Muffins like the ones featured here.

This recipe originated as the “Super Moist Banana & Almond Cake” by Jules at Stone Soup. It then appeared as Healthy Almond Meal Banana Muffins by Honest Fare in June 2011 and has now been further revised by Yours Truly here at Fox in the Kitchen (December 2011).

Did you notice the little one in the background? He couldn’t wait to get into one of Nana’s fresh-baked Muffins

Recipe: Gluten Free Banana and Almond Muffins

View Print Friendly Recipe Here

Summary: Nutritious, moist and satisfying, with a surprise chocolate centre, these muffins are perfect for a quick on the go breakfast or serve alongside soup or salad for a satisfying and nutritious lunch.

Inspiration for this recipe came from Honest Fare

Ingredients

1 3/4 Cups almond meal or make your own by grinding up whole raw or sliced almonds (I used whole raw almonds, with skins on, from Costco)
1/4 Cup brown rice flour
1/4 Cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 Cup agave
3 med-large bananas
juice 1/2 lemon
1/4 Cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamom
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (if doing cocoa center)
Pinch of coarse sea salt (optional for topping if you like)
extra banana slices for topping (about 1 small peeled)
1/4 Cup sliced almond, extra for topping

Instructions

For best results, use evenly ripe slightly spotted bananas. Riper bananas will take longer to cook. You can omit the cocoa for the chocolate centre and add some extra cinnamon and raisins if you prefer.
Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease or line muffin tin or baking pan of choice, 9×9 inch cake pan, bread pan, etc. If desired, use non-stick baking spray to moisten parchment paper.
If using almond meal, where the nuts are already finely ground, you can skip the next step (grinding the almonds) and go on to the one after it.
Note: adding baking powder to the almonds helps to absorb the oils in the nuts which in turn, helps to prevent them from clumping. Process whole or sliced almonds and baking powder in a food processor until finely ground. Be careful not to over process or you may end up with Almond Butter. Transfer the nut mixture into a medium bowl, add brown rice flour and coconut flour, whisk until mixed, then set aside.
In the same food processor as you used for the nuts, beat the eggs and agave until light and fluffy (2-3 mins). Pour over the reserved almond mixture, barely stir through, set aside.
Once more, in the same food processor, purée the bananas with applesauce and lemon juice until nice and smooth. Add cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, and vanilla. ** Check, did you use the baking powder when grinding the almonds? If not, you can add it now. Pulse once or twice until spices just blend in.
Pour banana mixture over the almond egg mixture and gently stir through until barely mixed. Be careful not to over mix.
If adding cocoa powder, place 1/4 to 1/3 of batter in a separate bowl and stir in unsweetened cocoa powder.
To create the chocolate center, first spoon 2 Tbsp your original batter into lined muffin tin, then top with 1 Tbsp cocoa batter. Do this for all twelve muffins, using up all the chocolate batter. Then evenly distribute remaining original batter over the tops to cover cocoa.
Top each muffin with thinly sliced bananas, sliced almonds and a pinch of coarsely ground sea salt. The salty crunch of the coarse sea salt on top, adds an interesting bite but you can leave it out if you like.
Bake about 35-45 minutes for muffins (or until the top is brown and a skewer comes out clean). Try not to over cook in the oven because they’ll continue to cook a little as they cool.

Quick notes

For a grain free version, omit brown rice flour and increase almond meal by an equal amount.

Variations

To make an Almond Banana Loaf or Cake, follow the directions as above, divide batter into thirds, layer with the chocolate in the middle. Top with sliced bananas, almonds and sea salt. Bake in a parchment lined bread or 9×9 cake pan for 45 minutes – 1 hour or until the top is brown and a skewer comes out clean.

Recipe by Laureen.

Preparation time: 20 minute(s)

Cooking time: 40 minute(s)

Diet type: Vegetarian

Diet tags: Reduced fat, High protein, Gluten free

Number of servings (yield): 12

This posting is linked to the following events:

Week 5: A Gluten Free Holiday Eventhosted by Ricki at Diet, Desserts and Dogs

Make Your Own! Mondays hosted by Nourishing Treasures

My Meatless Mondays hosted byMy Sweet and Savoury

Holly Bloggy Christmas Recipe Party – Day 2 hosted by Nikki at chef in training

Hearth and Soul Hop hosted by Alea at Premeditated Leftovers