Gluten Free Banana Blueberry Muffins

Lightly sweet and beautifully fragrant gluten free banana blueberry muffins are bursting with juicy berries, loads of delicious bananas, and whole grain (gluten free) flour. These easy muffins come together in minutes and make a wonderful morning treat.

Easiest Banana Blueberry Muffins Recipe

Sweet and moist gluten free banana blueberry muffins are a lovely morning treat, or you can even justify them as an on-the-go breakfast. Packed with juicy blueberries and ripe bananas, you'll get two kinds of fruit in every bite! And, they're made with oat flour, which happens to be both a whole grain and gluten free. Swap the brown sugar for maple syrup if you like, and you'll make a super wholesome start to your day.

Some Muffin Highlights

I love muffins - see my gluten free muffins and scones section for even more recipes, many featuring fruit! - and I'm always looking for new combinations. These banana blueberry muffins could hardly be simpler to make and they are so flavorful and tender. You don't need much sugar - just ½ cup sweetens the whole batch, and I love switching it out for coconut sugar or maple syrup for a hint of natural sweetness. You can also easily make these muffins dairy-free by swapping non-dairy milk for the milk and coconut oil or non-dairy butter for the butter. Enjoy!

What You'll Need

Here's a look at what goes into these muffins. The full ingredient amounts and instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.

• Oat flour - Whole grain, naturally gluten free oat flour is a nice choice for these muffins. See my substitution suggestions below if you don't eat oats.
• Leavening - Baking powder and baking soda work together to help the muffins rise.
• Salt - I always use fine sea salt in my recipes!
• Warming spices - Ground cinnamon and ginger add cozy warmth.
• Bananas - Choose ripe, spotty bananas for the most sweetness and flavor.
• Butter - Unsalted butter is best so that it doesn't detract from the sweetness of the muffins.
• Brown sugar - Use light or dark brown sugar, or substitute granulated sugar.
• Egg - I developed this recipe using a large egg.
• Milk - You can use whole or 2% milk.
• Blueberries 

Should I Use Fresh or Frozen Blueberries?

It's up to you! You can use either fresh or frozen berries to make this recipe. I will say that you can taste the difference when you use fresh blueberries (they're just a bit juicier) but frozen berries work wonderfully and can be a more cost-effective choice when blueberries are not in season. You can try frozen wild blueberries, too, if you can get them for tinier bursts of blueberry flavor. If you use wild blueberries, which tend to be smaller than regular blueberries, add an extra ½ cup of wild blueberries.

How to Make Blueberry Banana Muffins

I've briefly outlined in the photos below how to make these muffins:

• Make dry mix: Grease a 12-count muffin tin, then whisk together the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a bowl.
• Make wet mix: In a separate bowl, whisk together melted butter, mashed bananas, brown sugar, egg, and milk.

• Combine: Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.
• Add blueberries: Fold in the blueberries.

• Rest batter: Divide the batter equally between the muffin wells, then rest the batter. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Bake and cool: Bake the muffins until a tester comes out clean, cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then cool on a rack.

A Few Recipe Tips

• Gently add the blueberries - I note in the instructions that you should "gently" fold in the blueberries and I mean it! Use a light hand when combining the berries into the batter so that they retain their structure.
• Rest the batter - Gluten free flour always benefits from a rest before baking. At least 20 minutes is ideal, although letting it rest while the oven heats is also an option. This helps the flour to hydrate, making for a better finished muffin!
• Adjust the sweetness - Bananas are very sweet on their own, and the riper they are the sweeter they'll be. You can further reduce the sugar if you have very sweet bananas, to ⅓ cup sugar. On the flip side, if you like sweeter muffins you can increase the sugar to ⅔ cup of sugar.
• Refined sugar-free - Use maple syrup or coconut sugar in place of the brown sugar.
• Oat flour substitute - You can use sorghum flour by weight or try a 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour blend for the oat flour.
• Try another fruit - Use this gluten free banana muffin recipe as your base for adding other fruit, like blackberries, raspberries, or cherries.

What Are the Best Bananas to Use for Baking?

The best bananas for baking are the ones that your kids may turn their noses up at - you know the ones: spotty, even black, definitely looking less than perfect. However, aesthetics aside, these bananas are actually wonderful for tucking into baked goods! A good rule of thumb is that the darker the banana the better, because as the fruit ripens it becomes sweeter and more flavorful.

I don't tend to plan ahead for banana bread or muffins, preferring instead to make these bakes when I have ripening bananas that need a home. You can also freeze ripe bananas, in the skin or peeled, in a plastic freezer-safe bag, so you'll have them handy whenever you want them. Defrost the bananas in the fridge or on the counter, then mash them up an proceed with your recipe.

How to Store Banana Blueberry Muffins

You can store these gluten free muffins in a few different ways, outlined below:

• Counter – Keep muffins in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days.
• Fridge – Place muffins in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Eat them cold or at room temperature.
• Freezer – Put the muffins in a freezer-safe, sealable bag and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge before serving.

More Gluten Free Muffin Recipes

• Gluten Free Strawberry Banana Muffins
• Oat Flour Blueberry Muffins
• Gluten Free Oatmeal Raspberry Muffins
• Oat Flour Blackberry Muffins