Naturally dairy free gluten free banana muffins made without any butter or oil, but still tender and delicious. One bowl, 30 minutes start to finish!
These muffins freeze really well and are easy to defrost for a healthier make-ahead breakfast for busy school mornings. Just pop each muffin in the microwave for 30 seconds to defrost, or cover and leave on the kitchen counter overnight.
How do you make healthy muffins from scratch?
For as long as I can remember, there have been tips and tricks to making healthy muffins from a prepared cake mix by replacing the butter or oil with applesauce or pumpkin puree. They tend to work well, but you can easily make that same healthier muffin from scratch.
The purpose of replacing the butter or oil in a recipe with applesauce or pumpkin is to remove most if not all of the fat in the recipe. But when you remove the fat, you may end up with a chewy, tough muffin.
The reason the packaged fat-free baked goods of the 1990’s (Snackwells, anyone?) still tasted good and had nice texture was all the added sugar. You see, both fat and sugar are tenderizers in baking. If you remove one, the easiest way to maintain texture is to add more of another.
By making banana muffins, though, we can add more sugar in the form of tons of mashed bananas. The more ripe your bananas are, the better.
But that sugar is paired with all of the fiber, potassium, and antioxidants of whole bananas, so it’s much healthier than refined added sugars. Speaking of sugar…
Can you reduce or replace the sugar in these muffins?
This recipe for naturally dairy free gluten free banana muffins is based on our recipe for classic gluten free banana muffins. Here, we’ve eliminated all of the 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter and reduced the flour, eggs, baking powder and soda, and liquid.
But we’ve kept the same amount of granulated sugar, and the same whopping 2 cups of mashed bananas. The mashed bananas and that granulated sugar really help these muffins stay tender.
To make these muffins more Weight Watchers-friendly (as written, they have 5 WW points each), you’d have to reduce or replace that granulated sugar. I’ve made these muffins with 2/3 cup (133 grams) granulated sugar, and the recipe still works but the muffins are more dense and less tender.
If you’ve like to replace the sugar with a granulated sugar alternative, try Lankato brand monkfruit granulated sugar replacement. It tends to be drying, though, so increase the nondairy milk added until you reach the proper consistency as demonstrated in the how to video and photo above.
Keep in mind that replacing the sugar with an alternative may result in a much less tender muffin, since sugar is the main tenderizer remaining in the recipe. If I were replacing all of the sugar, I’d try adding another egg yolk and perhaps a couple of tablespoons of vegan butter.
Ingredients and substitutions
Eggs: There are 2 eggs in this recipe, which is my upper limit for recommending attempting an egg replacement with one “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel) each.
The eggs are very important to this simple recipe, I’m afraid, with the yolks providing the only fat, so you’ve got your work cut out for you. If you eliminate the eggs, perhaps add a tablespoon of vegan butter.
Corn: Instead of cornstarch, try using arrowroot or even potato starch if you can’t have corn.
HELLO! I’m Nicole! I make gluten-free food enjoyable & affordable. If they can make it with gluten, we can make it without. That’s a promise!
Tip to simplify muffin/cupcake baking…Farberware makes a ceramic coated muffin tin (comes in purple or Aqua) that you can put any muffin recipe in WITHOUT the need for using liners (which do stick to muffins) or prepping the pan. I used to use a silicone pastry brush to brush on coconut oil with my other muffin pans to avoid liners but with these pans you can just fill with batter and bake! The best part is when you take pan out of oven you can tip it over and they all literally fall out of pan onto cooling rake with no need to loosen with a knife. These pans make muffin making such a breeze and no nasty cooking spray or greasing each muffin well.
I’m going to have to check that out, Peggy. Thank you. I have a lifelong frustration with muffin tins (mini muffin tins are worse). I had loved USA Pans for years, but the seams get so dirty. I also avoid dark-colored muffin tins because they bake everything more quickly, too. I have a lot of requirements!
Hi Nicole, do I remove liners to freeze please
Hi, Juli, You don’t have to, no, but remember that the liners must be well-greased or the lowfat nature of these will cause them to stick to the muffins. Once they’re greased, they’ll likely come off on their own after the muffins cool.
What is kosher salt?
Kosher salt is a coarse salt, Fiona, which is most appropriate for baking because it’s much harder to overmeasure. You can also use lightly flaked sea salt, which is about the same grind.
Could you replace the sugar with Maple syrup or Coconut sugar, if so how much and would you need to make any other adjustments to this recipe?
I’m afraid you can’t replace a granulated sugar with a liquid one, no, Susan. You could try coconut sugar, but it has a very distinct taste.
Thank you Nicole will bake these tomorrow x😀
You’re very welcome, Victoria!
Can I use regular milk instead of non dairy?
Absolutely yes, Andrew! In fact, if you can have dairy, I prefer buttermilk (or half milk, half plain yogurt).
Does it need to be nondairy milk?
Definitely not, Connie!
How do I know if the mix has xanthan gum?
Look at the ingredients list, Justi! It will tell you.