After publishing my gluten free vegan banana muffin recipe recently, I wanted to tweak it slightly for two reasons. Firstly, I wanted to make a double batch (which uses slightly different measurements than the smaller batch). Secondly (and obviously) I wanted to add in chocolate chips. So here we are making these easy and delicious gluten free banana chocolate chip muffins.
Gluten free banana chocolate chip muffins
These muffins are extremely easy to make and very ‘free from’ friendly. They are egg free, easily vegan, xanthan gum free and nut free. The muffins use a single flour (no blends or starches) so they don’t require any fancy ingredients – just fine white rice flour.
The muffins, as discussed, use only fine white rice flour as the flour. When combined with plenty of mashed banana, the rice flour creates a perfectly fluffy and simple base for the muffins.
Light brown sugar is the sweetener of choice for adding a caramel depth of flavour.
An oil of choice and milk bring everything together to create a plush and delicious banana muffin. And of course, the jewel in the crown: the muffins are dotted with your favourite chocolate chips.
An optional added bonus? I love to press a piece of chocolate into the centre of a few muffins for a fun surprise.
Dietary notes and ingredient substitutions
These muffins, as discussed, are nut free, xanthan gum free, egg free and easily vegan. They use rice flour as the only flour and there is no substitute for this at the moment.
I have not tested any sugar substitutes or replacements in this recipe. I don’t have experience working with them and can’t offer advice on how how it might work.
To keep these muffins dairy free (and thus vegan) use a dairy free milk of choice and dairy free chocolate chips.
To make low FODMAP banana chocolate chip muffins, read the section below.
FODMAP notes
Common ripe banana is low FODMAP in 37g serves (as of April 2025). In 47g serves, it contains moderate amounts of fructans. This recipe uses 400g of banana divided by 12 muffins, which means each muffin contains approximately 33g of banana. So, one muffin is a low FODMAP serve.
However, you can lift the low FODMAP threshold by using ripe sugar bananas (ladyfinger bananas). These are low FODMAP in 112g serves. They contain moderate amounts of fructose in serves of 191g or more.
This means that you could eat 5 muffins and remain under the low fructose threshold if you use ripe sugar bananas.
Using ripe bananas, whichever variety you choose, is important here. This is what gives the muffins flavour.
Monash lists dark chocolate as being low FODMAP in up to 80g serves per person. They also have an entry for 85% dark chocolate which they say is low FODMAP in 20g serves. Currently, they don’t list an upper threshold.
The only other ingredient to consider FODMAP wise is the milk. Soy milk made with soy protein, rice milk and macadamia milk are some gluten free, vegan and low FODMAP milk options. I have a post on the FODMAP thresholds for milks here, if you’d like to choose a different option.
More gluten free banana recipes
- Gluten free banana cookies
- Gluten free banana mug cake
- Gluten free banana cake without xanthan gum
- Gluten free vegan banana bread
- Ninja Creami banana ice cream
Gluten free banana choc chip muffins
Equipment
- 12 hole (80ml or 1/3 cup capacity) muffin tin
- 12 medium muffin liners
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 320 g (2 cups)* fine and fresh white rice flour (Australians: not the variety in the box at the supermarket)
- 7.5 g (1 1/2 teaspoons) gluten free baking powder
- 4 g (1/2 teaspoon) baking soda
- Pinch of fine salt
Wet ingredients
- 400 g ripe banana, mashed (weighed with peels removed)
- 200 g light brown sugar (yes, this is a wet ingredient)
- 80 ml (1/3 cup)* oil of choice
- 80-125 ml (1/3 – 1/2 cup)* milk of choice (see notes)
- 10 ml (2 teaspoons) vinegar or lemon juice
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract or paste (optional)
To finish:
- 125 g chocolate chips (see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/356F. Line 10-12 X 80ml (1/3 cup) muffin holes with muffin liners. I find muffin liners are much better here because they save any chocolate chips that have sunk to the bottom. Gluten free muffins can be fragile fresh out of the oven and this helps them stay together until they set.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. It is important to distribute the baking powder and baking soda evenly here.
- Mix the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until you have a medium thickness batter. It should be about the consistency of regular yoghurt or a pancake batter.
- Add 100g of chocolate chips to the batter and stir to evenly distribute. Spoon the muffin batter into the muffin liners until it reaches just below the edge. Fuller muffins do get more of a muffin top but be careful not to go too overboard or they will spill over as they bake.
- Top the muffins with the remaining 25g chocolate chips. As an option, I also like to pop a piece of chocolate into the centres of the muffins if I want an extra chocolatey treat. Simply press them midway and smooth the batter over the top with your finger.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown and cooked through. You can eat these muffins warm or cooled. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and eat within a few days. Leftovers might need to be microwaved or heated slightly to restore them to their former glory.
Notes
- How much milk you need to add depends on how absorbent your rice flour is. I recommend adding it according to the description of the batter to ensure your muffins are perfect.
- Use dairy free/vegan chocolate chips to keep this recipe dairy free/vegan. Read the section on dietary substitutes for more options.
- At the moment I have only tested ripe bananas and not frozen ripe bananas. I will update the recipe when I test the latter.
- See the body of the post for dietary notes, FODMAP notes and general recipe notes.
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