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banana and carrot gluten free muffins

The Best Homemade Gluten-Free Muffins

/Updated /11 Comments/in , /by Mary Hunt
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I thought this matter of gluten-free was pretty solid—that some people are truly allergic to gluten, others have celiac disease for whom gluten is a serious health issue, while others are simply gluten sensitive. Now I learn there is a growing school of thought that unless a person is diagnosed with celiac disease, it’s all a big hoax. 

banana and carrot gluten free muffins

Here’s what I know for certain: My husband had an annoying cough for at least 20 years. He visited every kind of doctor and to no avail. His symptom was unexplainable and about drove me nuts. About six months ago we decided to remove gluten from his diet, and I agreed to go along as well. Within days, his cough began to wain.

A hoax? I say no and here’s my proving ground: Now and then Harold will fall off the wagon, either knowingly but oftentimes not (gluten is in a lot of things these days). Sure enough, I start to hear that low-grade cough. He can’t help it, he can’t hide it. 

All that to say, we are convinced, and grateful to have figured this out. The good news is that he is not suffering. Are you kidding? I make him the most amazing things, like muffins. In fact, I believe these two recipes I have for you today—Gluten-Free Banana Muffins and Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Muffins from Yammies Gluten Freedom—are right up there with the best muffins of all time, gluten-free or not. Thank you, Yammie!

Gluten-Free Banana Muffins

The complete printable recipe that follows below, makes a dozen large muffins and is unique in that you won’t dirty even a single dish to make them. 

You’ll need:

 

muffins
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5 from 2 votes

Gluten-Free Banana Muffins

These banana muffins are so delicious, so gluten-free, so unique you won’t dirty even a single dish to make them. 
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 large muffins
Calories: 171kcal
Author: Yammies Gluten Freedom

Ingredients

Muffins

  • 3 ripe bananas (1 cup mashed)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup white granulated sugar
  • 1 cup rice flour (NOTES)
  • ½ tspn salt
  • ¾ tspn baking soda
  • ½ tspn baking powder
  • ½ tspn cinnamon
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tspn pure vanilla extract

Glaze (Optional)

  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tbsp milk

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 F.
  • Get out a 1/2 measuring cup and a 1/4 teaspoon (these will be all you need to measure your ingredients).
  • In a large gallon-size Ziploc bag, mash the bananas. Add the eggs, seal the bag, and shake and squish until combined. Add the sugar and mix well. Dump in the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Before zipping and mixing them all the way in, mix them together a little with your measuring spoon. Now add the oil and vanilla and shake and squish until well combined.
  • Snip the corner of the bag and squirt the batter into a lined muffin tin (if you don't want to clean the pan, line it with tin liners so the grease doesn't come through). Don't make the hole very big at all because the batter is very runny. Pinch the corner between each muffin.
  • Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do Not Overbake!
  • To make the glaze, just mix together the powdered sugar and milk or lemon juice and drizzle over cooled muffins.

Notes

I use King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 171kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 45mg | Potassium: 132mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 61IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Muffins

The complete printable recipe follows below.

You’ll need:

  • eggs
  • white sugar
  • brown sugar
  • vegetable oil
  • vanilla extract
  • rice flour (I use King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour)
  • cinnamon
  • ground cloves
  • ground ginger
  • nutmeg
  • salt
  • baking powder
  • baking soda
  • grated carrot
  • cream cheese
  •  butter
  • powdered sugar
carrot muffins
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5 from 2 votes

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Muffins

Easy to make, gluten-free, healthy and absolutely moist and delicious!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Bread, Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 muffins
Calories: 309kcal
Author: Yammies Gluten Freedom

Ingredients

Muffins

  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tspn pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup white rice flour
  • ½ tspn cinnamon
  • 1 pinch ground cloves
  • â…› tspn ground ginger
  • â…™ tspn nutmeg
  • ½ tspn salt
  • ½ tspn baking powder
  • ¾ tspn baking soda
  • 1 cup finely grated carrot. firmly packed

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • ½ cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 tspn pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Muffins

  • Preheat oven to 375 F. Line muffin tin with paper liners
  • Mix together eggs, sugars, oil, and vanilla.
  • Mix together the dry ingredients and add to that wet, mixing just until combined.
  • Add the carrots and stir to incorporate.
  • Bake in prepared muffin tin for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Beat together the cream cheese and butter
  • Add the vanilla. 
  • Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until desired thickness is reached. 
  • Beat on high speed for five minutes, until fluffy.

Notes

Feel free to modify any of the spices. You can leave them out all together or double them all based on how "spicy" you like your muffins. As printed, this is very mild but flavorful. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 309kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 152mg | Potassium: 87mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 2185IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg

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11 replies
  1. Kay says:

    These are absolutely delicious. I used a big bowl instead of the zip lock bag. Thanks for this recipe, I know I will make it again.

    Reply
  2. Kay says:

    5 stars
    I’ve been gluten free for 6 years now. I was glad to see these recipes pop up. I make my own buns and bread. Store bought is so dry. Happy Birthday Mary. I love your column.

    Reply
  3. Karen says:

    Going gluten free was one of the things that helped me get off my rheumatoid arthritis meds 12 years ago. I was excited to try the carrot cake muffins but for some reason mine rose on the edges and sank in the middle. I baked them a little longer hoping they would even out, but they didn’t. Taste was excellent and we are eating them but they look pretty sad. I will try again with my gluten free flour blend instead of just white rice flour.

    Reply
      • Karen says:

        I figured out my problem. Costco changed the packaging for their butter. They looked like half the size of the old sticks and I measured accordingly. After 2 recipes flopping I noticed that they did have 8 tablespoons of butter in them just fatter and shorter. I do not like the new size, it makes a tablespoon of butter quite thin and hard to cut off when measuring and it doesn’t fit on a butter plate right. Why mess with something not broken in the first place. Anyway, I will try the muffins again and based on how the first ones tasted, they should be great.

  4. Jo says:

    Thank you so much Mary! I’ve been eating gf for about 12 years and still keep an eye out for new gf ‘scratch’ recipes. Will try the carrot muffins for sure. (Glad to hear hubby’s cough improved. For me it was migraines.)

    Reply
  5. Candy Davison says:

    Thank you so much! Gluten sensitivity is definitely not a hoax! I have a horrible skin condition that only rears it’s ugly head when I have gluten!

    Reply
  7. Maria says:

    Mary,
    As always, your email was very timely. I was in the process of making gluten free muffins (the only kind we eat) and you have come up with a very clever recipe! I will try the Ziplock bag trick which will make cleanup a breeze. Thanks, Mary and wishing you a wonderful new year!

    Reply
  8. miriam kearney says:

    My daughter gets achy and her face ‘breaks out’ (at 48) when she eats gluten. Same as your husband she occasionally does and 2 or 3 days later you can tell. It’s not immediate but it is certain. This ‘hoax’ nonsense is just that – nonsense.

    Reply
  9. Dee says:

    Thank you for sharing these recipes….I have a husband with gluten AND dairy allergies so no needed dairy in these muffins is so exciting. Can’t wait to make them for him.

    Reply

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