I wish I could call these gluten free Chocolate Banana Cupcakes "muffins" but the chocolate chips serve as the “frosting,” so I think I have to call them cupcakes. By all means though, feel free to call them muffins if you want to eat them for breakfast. They do have bananas in them after all;-).
Going Bananas
The bananas keep the cake super moist and keep the sugar to a minimum since they add so much sweetness naturally. I like to use very over-ripe bananas because they add so much sweetness. Mine are usually completely brown/black. Unfortunately the day I was planning to make these cupcakes my bananas still had some yellow to them. Fortunately they were still sweet and resulted in fantastic Chocolate Banana Cupcakes.
Let's Get to It!
This is a fairly straight forward recipe. In the bowl of your stand mixer place your bananas. Blend until mashed well, then add the butter and sugar. Mix well then add the eggs, milk and vanilla. The butter will still separate a bit, but don't worry. It will all come together after the dry ingredients are added.
Let's Bring it Home!
Start by mixing the remaining dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips) together in a small bowl. Gradually add this mixture to the wet ingredients on a slow speed until all is incorporated. Then turn the speed up to combine well. Remove the bowl from the mixer base and add half of the chocolate chips. Stir them in by hand. Using a ⅓ cup measure, scoop the batter into lined muffin tins and sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chips. Then let the oven do the rest of the work! They are so dark and chocolatey, are't they? Make sure to take them out once they have risen and the top is no longer wet or jiggly. Don't wait for a dry toothpick or they will be over baked and crumbly. With gluten free baked goods, you need to take them out a little before they look done.
Substitutions
This recipe can easily be made dairy free by using dairy free chocolate chips like Enjoy Life Morsels. Add an extra ¼ cup of mashed banana or use your favorite brand of plant based egg substitute like Vegan Eggs or Just Eggs to make them egg-free.
Gluten Free Flour Blends
A few thoughts on baking with gluten free flour blends. There are a LOT of options out there. For this recipe and most others (unless noted), I use the store-bought gluten free flour blends made by Carol's Gluten Free and Bob's Red Mill. Bob's Red Mill makes two different gluten free flour varieties. One called an "All-Purpose Baking flour" and the other called "1 to 1 Baking Flour." I only use the 1 to 1 Baking Flour. The "All-Purpose Baking Flour" contains garbanzo bean flour which has a very strong and distinctive flavor. That usually is not the kind of flavor I want to add to my recipes. Make sure to check the ingredients and name of the flour when buying it, because it is easy to mistake one for the other.
More Gluten Free Banana Deliciousness
- PB, Chocolate and Banana Cupcakes
- Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Seriously Great Banana Bread
- Banana Pancakes
- Dairy Free Chocolate Covered Banana Ice Cream
- Banana Cream Pie
- Make Ahead Banana Bread Oatmeal
Chocolate Banana Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups mashed over-ripe bananas
- ½ cup butter or coconut oil - softened
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg - sub 1 Vegan Egg or add ¼ cup extra banana
- ¼ cup whole milk - sub non-dairy creamer if needed
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup cacao or cocoa powder
- 1 cup Gluten Free Flour Blend with xanthan gum - I use Carol's or Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips - divided, dairy free chips will work too!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in your muffin pan.
- Place bananas in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix until well mashed. Add the butter or coconut oil and light brown sugar. Mix to combine them, then add the egg, milk and vanilla. Mix on a medium speed until combined as much as possible. The butter will likely still separate.
- Combine the baking soda, salt, flour and cocoa powder in a small bowl. Add slowly to the wet ingredients on a low speed. Once all of the flour is mixed in, turn up the speed on the mixer and combine well.
- Add in ½ cup of the chocolate chips by hand.
- Spoon or scoop batter into cupcake liners. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top of the batter.
- Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Watch them closely after 15 minutes. They might be done at this point. Once the top is solid and the center doesn’t jiggle, take them out and let them cool for at least 10 minutes before removing the liners from the cupcakes. Taking them out of the liners before they cool will result in them falling apart… super sad after you started drooling when you took them out of the oven;-)
Notes
the toothpick test (when it comes out clean) with gluten free baked goods usually results in over
baked cupcakes:-( *Recipe updated May 2020
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