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These gluten free banana muffins are soft, fluffy, and packed with banana flavor. They’re made in just one bowl, ready in 30 minutes, and never dry or dense.
Why this recipe works
Soft texture: These muffins have a tender crumb and a fluffy interior—never dense or gummy.
Bold banana flavor: Made with lots of ripe bananas, they taste sweet and rich, with subtle caramel notes.
One bowl, 30 minutes: Quick enough for busy mornings or last-minute baking.
Forgiving recipe: Short on bananas? Swap in a bit of applesauce. You can even use frozen bananas—just defrost and mash before mixing.
Recipe ingredients
Here's a little bit about each ingredient in these muffins and why it's worth sourcing the right ones:
- Gluten free flour blend – Any all purpose gluten free flour blend that is based on finely ground rice flour should work here to provide structure. Be sure to add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum if your blend doesn't already contain any, and 1/2 teaspoon more xanthan gum if you're using Bob's Red Mill's 1-to-1 gf blend or your muffins will be crumbly.
- Cornstarch – Increases the starch of an all purpose flour blend to make the crumb extra tender.
- Baking powder & baking soda – Help the muffins rise and brown in the oven without overbaking.
- Salt – Enhances flavor and balances sweetness.
- Granulated sugar – For sweetness and a soft and tender crumb.
- Eggs – Helps the muffins rise and holds the structure of the rise as they cool.
- Mashed bananas – Very ripe bananas add flavor, natural sweetness, moisture, and banana aroma. Less ripe bananas have less sugar and less moisture, and don't break down fully in the oven.
- Buttermilk – Adds some moisture, gentle tang, and helps keep the crumb tender.
- Melted butter – Gives richness and a tender bite and a denser texture that keeps these from tasting like cupcakes.
- Vanilla extract – Rounds out the banana flavor with warmth and depth.
How to make gluten free banana muffins (step by step photos)
Here's a quick overview of how to make gluten-free banana muffins in your own kitchen:
1. Mix the dry ingredients
Whisk together the gluten free flour blend, xanthan gum (if needed), cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar, rather than beating butter and sugar together. This keeps the crumb pleasantly dense, which is characteristic of a muffin, unlike cake.
2. Add the wet ingredients
Create a well in the center, then add the melted butter, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Mix until fully combined since there's no gluten to overdevelop and make tough muffins and this helps activate the xanthan gum to help hold the structure during baking.
3. Fold in the mashed bananas
Gently mix in the mashed bananas so you don’t break them down too much. If your bananas are not quite ripe enough, be sure to mash them completely first or they won't dissolve in the oven. The batter will be thick and a bit lumpy—that’s perfect.
Portion the batter
Divide the batter evenly among your lined muffin cups. Try to fill each well around 3/4 full so they rise evenly without overflowing. If your muffin wells are smaller, you may get more or larger muffins.
Bake
Bake at 350°F for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the muffins spring back when pressed lightly in the center. Don't leave them in the muffin tin for longer than 5 minutes or the muffins will steam and the outside can be become chewy.
Expert Tips
Fill each muffin cup evenly
Uniformly sized muffins bake more evenly. Fill each muffin liner about 3/4 of the way full so they rise evenly without spilling over.
Use muffin liners
Liners help your muffins rise taller and make cleanup easier. Just let the muffins cool completely before peeling, or the liners may stick.
Begin with a higher oven temperature
For a higher dome on your muffins, start with a hotter oven of 400°F for the first 5 minutes of baking to create more oven spring in the first few minutes of baking. Then, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking until done (begin checking for doneness at after a total of 18 minutes).
Ingredient substitutions
If you have additional dietary restrictions, here’s how you can modify this recipe:
Dairy-free
Replace the butter with virgin coconut oil (melted and cooled). Triple-filtered coconut oil is best if you don’t want any coconut flavor.
For the buttermilk, mix 1/2 cup plain dairy-free yogurt with 1/2 cup nondairy milk. This combo gives the right moisture and tang—better than soured milk.
Egg-free
This recipe uses 3 eggs, which makes it tricky to replace them reliably. You can try one chia egg (1 tablespoon ground chia seeds + 1 tablespoon water, mixed and left to gel) per egg, Bob's Red Mill's egg replacer, or “Just Egg” liquid egg replacer.
Corn-free
Swap the cornstarch for arrowroot or potato starch, and avoid a gluten free flour blend that contains cornstarch.
Storage instructions
Let muffins cool completely before storing to avoid sogginess. Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 5 days.
To refresh a slightly dry muffin, run it briefly under cold water and warm it in a toaster oven at 300°F—it’ll spring back to life.
To freeze, place cooled muffins on a baking sheet until solid, then store in a zip-top bag for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temp or microwave for 25 seconds. For best texture, reheat in a low oven.
Gluten Free Banana Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ⅓ cups (327 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- ⅓ cup (48 g) cornstarch
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 3 (150 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (400 g) mashed ripe bananas, (from about 4 medium to large bananas)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease or line a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar, and whisk to combine well.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the butter, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla, and mix until just combined.
- Add the mashed bananas, and mix gently to combine.
- The mixture be lumpy because of the bananas, and thick but soft.
- Fill each of the wells of the muffin tin, and shake back and forth to evenly distribute the batter in each well.
- Place the muffin tin in the center of the preheated oven. Bake until the muffins spring back when pressed gently in the center, 20 to 22 minutes.
- They’ll brown nicely around the edges, but not much on top. Remove the muffins from the oven.
- Allow them to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining muffin batter.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FAQs
Yes! Just be sure they're fully thawed before adding them to the batter. Frozen bananas release water as they defrost—use both the fruit and the liquid to maintain the right moisture balance.
No. “Soured” milk made with vinegar or lemon juice doesn't behave like real buttermilk in baking. For best results, use actual buttermilk or a proven dairy-free substitute like yogurt + milk.
Muffins tend to stick if the pan is scratched or no longer nonstick, or if you didn’t grease the wells well enough. Greaseproof paper liners help prevent sticking—just let the muffins cool before peeling.
This usually means they were underbaked. The muffins may have looked done outside while still raw in the center—often caused by an oven running too hot. Use an oven thermometer and bake until the centers spring back.
Yes! Use a 24-cup mini muffin tin and fill each well to the top. Start checking for doneness at 14 minutes. They’re ready when the tops spring back when gently pressed.
Definitely. Add up to 1/2 cup chocolate chips, or 2 to 3 ounces of chopped nuts like walnuts or pecans. You can also stir in 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon with the dry ingredients for a warm, spiced variation.
Made this recipe to share with the neighbor. I used 1/2 c whole milk yogurt and 1/2 c whole milk in place of the buttermilk. This recipe is my favorite go to banana muffin recipe. Always a hit. This made 18 muffin tops baked w/Nicole’s directions for 13 minutes.
Hi! I’ve been looking for a good gluten free banana muffin recipe for quite a while. Do you think I could use Measure 4 measure GF flour blend in place of your gf flour blend? I have it already and hoping it will work with this recipe.
Thank you so much!
That is not a properly balanced flour blend, Annie, and tends to be of inconsistent quality. The rice flour is gritty as well.
I would greatly appreciate it if you include recipes that are gluten free and dairy free baked goods. It is difficult to find delicious gluten free recipes that are also dairy free. I am confident if anyone is able to come up with such recipes it is you! Thank You.
I don’t specialize in dairy free recipes, although there are other bloggers who. All I can really offer is suggestions on how to make any given recipe dairy free as well, which you can find in the “ingredients and substitutions” section of each recipe post.
Making the all purpose GF flour seems so complicated with specialty ingredients that are not easily found in stores and even online it gets expensive. I get discouraged every time I consider making or buying GF flours. I’ve been sticking to a basic blend of rice flour, tapioca starch and xanthan gum, although it is not a perfect texture but is simpler for my busy life.
I understand, Cary, and there are plenty of blogs out there with recipes that are less exact and produce “okay” results. This is not that blog, though. It sounds like you know what works for you, and you should go find it!
Just to let you know. I take one packet(1 t.) powdered stevia, mix with 1 cup sugar. You now have a sweetener which has twice. The sweetness. So the recipe calls for 1 cup sugar, use 1/2 c, I have used it successfully in your banana muffins and your morning glory muffins. .
Hope this helps others
Made these today. Totally yummy! I didn’t realize the recipe was for 16 muffins so I filled the muffin wells with all of the batter, fairly evenly distributed. Muffins took a bit longer to bake but they are fluffy and tasty. I also added about 2/3 c. Walnut pieces for texture and flavour.
Those must be some really big, beautiful gf banana walnut muffins, Karen!
Is it possible to substitute the sugar with an alternative like Monk Fruit, or erythritol/Monk fruit blend?
You can always try using an alternative sugar (I like Lankato brand monkfruit granulated sugar alternative best), but it is very drying, so you may have to add more liquid and I can’t promise results. If you add too much, though, the muffins will be dense and gooey. Watch the video and photos carefully and try to mimic the texture you see. Good luck!
I accidentally made it without eggs and they turned out fabulous! I also happened to use Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose b/c I was out of rice flour. Happy accident!
Funny about the bananas! I always just freeze them with the peels on in a freezer bag! I think it might be better Nicole’s way as they are a sticky mess to peel!
Oh my gosh definitely peel and chop them first, Cherie! That way you can use what you like, rather than having to defrost and use an entire banana—and struggling with the peel. ☺️
Thanks for the tip, Nicole, regarding greasefree liners, I had never heard of them. Just an update, after making these this morning, I keep going back and having another :-) and another :-) well, you get the idea. They are amazing, and great all day, not just for breakfast! I absolutely love all your recipes, thank you so much for your attention to detail and delicious creativity.
That’s great, Pam! Thanks for letting us know. And yes, greaseproof liners are essential. I’m not really sure how I ever used the ones from the grocery store shelves. They always stick!