Best Ever Banana Muffins

Kids in the Kitchen Series

I have been making these Best Ever Banana Muffins for so many years now that I know the recipe by heart.  What does this tell you?  It tells you that this Best Ever Banana Muffin recipe will become a family favourite in your household, too!

My little daughters helped make these often…(sometimes with surprising results).  Like the time the baking soda perhaps found its way into the mixing bowl a few too many times and our muffins tasted mighty soapy.  Or the time that we forgot the baking powder and they ended up a little on the flat side.

Baking with children is always an adventure and one that I would not have missed for the world.  We look back on those times with fond memories and now have carried it into another generation with grand kiddies.  They enjoy it just as much as their mommas did.

BEST EVER BANANA MUFFINS

CHEF TALK:  This gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and refined sugar-free muffin recipe can be made quickly and easily and it is a great way to use those over-ripe bananas.  You will notice that I suggest a range for the amount of sugar in the ingredients.  If you use very ripe bananas, they should be sweet enough to reduce the sugar in the muffins.  I use 1/2 cup raw plantation sugar or coconut sugar and I find the muffins are perfectly sweetened.  In the photograph above, I used a mini muffin tin that has 24 individual wells.  This recipe made 21 mini muffins in my particular mini muffin tin.  When I make gluten-free muffins, I prefer making them on the small side, which is perfect for children’s lunches, after-school snacks or for eating warm from the oven.  

CHEF TIP:  Make the Best Ever Banana Muffins even better with this tip:  Use frozen bananas.  Try draining and reserving the liquid from the bananas.  Reduce this liquid by half before proceeding with the recipe.  By using this simple reduction technique, the banana flavour in your muffins will be ten-fold. This is a game changer!  

BEST EVER BANANA MUFFINS

YIELD:  12 large muffins or 21 – 24 mini muffins (depending on your mini muffin tin)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 large bananas, ripened (1 cup mashed bananas), fresh or frozen (see CHEF TIP above)
• 1/2 – 2/3 cup granulated raw cane sugar, coconut sugar or granulated sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature, slightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon banana extract, optional
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend (or all-purpose flour)
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil (or melted unsalted butter)

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 375o F (350°F if using a convection oven).
2. Prepare the muffin tins:  Line the muffin tins with muffin papers.  CHEF TIP:  To remove the paper from the muffin without leaving most of the muffin behind, spray the muffin papers lightly with pan spray.
3. in a medium-sized bowl, mash the bananas thoroughly.
4. Add the sugar, slightly beaten egg and extracts to the bowl with the bananas.
5. Add the melted butter.  CHEF TIP:  Whisk a bit of the banana mixture into the melted butter first to make it easier to add it to the rest of the bowl.
6. Sift the dry ingredients together and mix just until moistened.
7. Scoop into the muffin cups.
8. Bake for 20 minutes for the large muffins and 12 – 15 minutes for the mini muffins or until golden in colour.

Optional:  Sprinkle a little sugar on top of the muffins before baking to achieve a crunchy topping.

CHEF TIP:  Did you know that you can scoop muffin batter ahead of time and bake the next morning?  This was done all the time in my workplace at the golf course where multiple dozens of muffins of several varieties were required for early tee-off events every week.  Scooping the muffins the night before meant that I could hit the ground running the next morning, and sprinkle toppings on the muffins while the ovens were preheating.

Here is a simple streusel topping that you can sprinkle on top of your Best Ever Banana Muffins, or any other muffin, for that matter.  Enjoy!

STREUSEL TOPPING

YIELD:  approximately 2 cups of streusel topping (I freeze the extra streusel topping to sprinkle on crisps, cobblers, muffins, quick bread, etc.)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour or Gluten Free Flour Blend
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
• 1/2 cup Butter, soft

METHOD:

1. Combine the dry ingredients and blend together.
2. Add the butter, mixing with your fingers until you achieve a crumbly mixture.
3. Sprinkle on top of the muffins and bake according to instructions above.

LEARNING TIPS:  

Please CLICK the link above to access my UrbnSpice LEARNING TIPS, which are listed alphabetically on the Learning Tips blog post under the following subheadings:

• Prepare Your Pans
• Gluten-Free Flour Blends
• Vanilla Extract
• Extracts
• Oven Temperature Accuracy
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Other Urb’n’Spice Posts You Might Enjoy:

Baking Dilemmas and The Fix

Good Morning Cranberry-Coconut and Carrot Gluten Free Muffin

Making Sense:  Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda

Roast Your Nuts!

If you make this recipe for Best Ever Banana Muffins – Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free and Refined Sugar-Free a try, please leave me a comment below.  Send me baking with your children in your kitchen.   

You can find me on social media – just be sure to tag @urbnspice and #urbnspice so I am sure to see it. Enjoy!