Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins GF + DF

Sugar makes my kid nuts.

I was going to start this post with a very boring bit about not making New Year’s resolutions, but how I’d like to try baking with less refined sugar, blah blah blah. It makes me yawn just typing that. The bottom line is, well, it’s the top line. Sugar makes Bunky crazy, and since she has always been a bit extreme, even as a baby (colic), it’s best to keep the crazy down. The kind I can control, anyhow.

It’s no wonder she’s a sugar monger, since I am. We kept it away from her for as long as possible, but when you bake, there’s usually sugar in there. Quite a bit now that I’m paying attention. Over the past year + of being a celiac mama, I’ve come across more food and recipe sites than I can shake a stick at, and lately I’ve found myself veering away from the sugar bombs I usually gravitate toward and am experimenting with dates, coconut sugar, maple syrup, honey. Don’t get me wrong – I will always love the white stuff, and I doubt I will ever become one of those no refined sugar ever people, but now that Little Guy wants to eat everything we do, it’s important for me to at least TRY to keep the white stuff at bay.

This leads me to my latest recipe for yumma-licious Banana Chocolate Chip mini muffins. Which happen to be vegan, if you’re into that sort of thing.

If you’ve been following this blog, you may remember that I’m a huge banana fan. One of the first recipes I converted to GF was a modest yet perfectly delightful Banana Bread (with chocolate chips, of course).

Now this new recipe is adapted from Gazing In’s Vegan Banana Chip Muffins. I tweaked it a bit to make it gluten free and mini. I love how you can use your food processor or blender for the (wet) batter. Little Guy happens to LOVE the Cuisinart after living in mortal fear of it for months. Now I let him push the “on” button and he makes funny chirping noises as it whirls around.

He is really into his belly.

And the muffins.

The healthy thing about these suckers is that there is no oil, butter or eggs (hence, vegan) and it only uses ½ cup of sugar. If you use coconut sugar, health benefits go up. I use what I’ve got, which is usually cheapo light brown sugar, though after reading this article about how brown sugar is about just as bad for you as white, I may invest in coconut sugar, which incidentally tastes lovely in my morning coffee. But kinda pricey. Oh, it’s expensive being healthy sometimes.

Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins GF + DF

Ingredients:

• spray to grease muffin tins (or butter if you’d like)
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1+1/2 cups gluten free all purpose flour (I use my own blend)
• 3/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum (omit if your blend contains it)
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar or light brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1+1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (or whatever, just not the chunky kind)
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (use Enjoy Life brand for dairy free)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or use butter to grease two 12 cup mini muffin tins (or one 12 cup regular muffin tin).

2. Place the bananas, coconut milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla into a food processor or blender and whirl away until smooth. Pause to scrape down sides and blend again.

3. In a large bowl whisk the dry ingredients together (not including chips). Then add the wet mixture to dry and stir well. Then fold in the chocolate chips, if desired.

Batter after chips have been added.

4. Using a tablespoon, which is a nifty trick, spoon batter into the mini muffin tins.

Best thing about vegan muffins? You can totally lick the spoon (and bowl) without feeling like you might be poisoning yourself.

The top tin has chips, the bottom doesn’t. Little Guy gets the plain ones. They’re good, too.

5. Bake for about 10 minutes. Check for doneness by sticking a toothpick or knife in the center, which should come out clean. Let cool in tins for 5 minutes then pop them out on a plate to cool completely.

Makes at least 24 mini muffins. My last batch made 30. If you want you can make 12 regular sized muffins. If so, bake for 20 minutes.

Note: It may be necessary to hide these from your spouse. Or yourself.

I’m happy to have shared this post at the Gluten-Free Friday’s link up party hosted by Vegetarian Mamma, and Simply Sugar and Gluten Free’s Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays. Click the links to find more great GF recipes.