At it again: GF/DF Banana Choco Chip Muffins!

After being so happy with how my GF/DF/refined sugar-free/low calorie delicious Zucchini Bread turned out, I had to try my hand at something else!

Luckily, I happened to have some persnickety bananas that decided to over-ripen far too quickly, and I, hating to be wasteful, had to find something to do with them!

Like the zucchini bread, I LOVE my mama’s banana bread, so I decided, hey, the substitution recipe can’t be that different than zucchini!

And lemme tell ya sis, I was right. Another spot on recipe, and this was super quick and easy! I made them early in the morning and they were mixed, out of the oven and in my mouth in about 45 minutes. These muffins are full of banana-y goodness, with a hint of naughty from chocolate chips without all the calories, gluten or dairy 🙂 My cousin even said they taste like Panera’s – I’ll take the compliment!

 

If you have some unruly bananas lying around and an itch for some muffin goodness, take notes:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mashed bananas (about 3-4 bananas)
• 1/4 cup Truvia Nectar (or honey if you’re not trying to get the calories/sugar!)
• 3 tablespoons egg whites (can sub for 1 large egg or flax egg if vegan)
• 1/2 unsweetened applesauce (could use greek yogurt if not dairy free)
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened nut milk of choice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I don’t measure this)
• 1 1/2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour (or whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour if you don’t mind gluten)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted and cooled (can sub melted butter or vegan butter)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips! (I use Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips to keep it dairy free and no sugar added!)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Mix bananas, Truvia Nectar, eggs, nut milk, vanilla extract, coconut oil and applesauce until smooth. This an be done in a bowl with hand mixer or in a mixer if you own one!
3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
4. Next, add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
5. Finally fold in the chocolate chips and mix again until well combined (leave a few to sprinkle on top later!)
6. Pour into prepared muffin tin and bake for 25 minutes until tester comes out clean.
7. Transfer to wire rack to cool and enjoy!

Nutritional Profile:

For 1 muffin:

Calories: 129 | Fat: 3.3g | Carbs: 25.9g | Fiber: 3.7g | Sugars: 9.1g | Protein: 2.6g

Nutritional Benefits:

Did you know that bananas pack some serious health benefits? Many people shy away from them because they are high in sugar and carbs, but they are HEALTHY sugars and carbs! Check out some main reasons of why I love bananas and you should too:

1. Bananas provide so many vitamins! 
   • Potassium – supports blood pressure, cardiovascular health, bone strength and muscle strength
   • Vitamin B6 – helps maintain a healthy nervous system, helps boost mood, and helps create important antibodies
   • Vitamin C – helps fight against chronic disease, improves iron absorption and boosts immunity
   • Magnesium – ALL THE THINGS – energy creation, nervous system support, muscle movement, protein formulation, so important for woman issues!
   • FIBER – we all know why this is important 🙂
2. They help moderate blood sugar levels
   • Anyone else deal with dizzy spells? Yeah, bananas are your friend, girl.
3. Bananas can help with digestive health! (Hello dear friends ilysm)
   • Bananas contain pectin (although it decrease as they ripen), which is said to help prevent colon cancer.
   • Bananas contain resistant starch, which bypasses digesting and ends in the large intestine, feeding good gut bacteria.
4. ANTIOXIDANTS!
   • Do I really need to talk about why we need these? (Let me know if we do, I’ll do a post!)

So, bake these yummy bad boys and feel no shame while devouring them!

Comment below if you try – would love to hear your thoughts!

xx

happily haleigh