Gluten free chocolate chip muffins are perfect for snacks. Finally a healthy chocolate muffin so delicious you won’t notice that they’re dairy, gluten and refined-sugar free.
If I admit to something do you promise not to judge me?
Alright well I am just going to tell you anyway.
When I originally wrote this recipe, I had a plate of chocolate crumbs sitting next to me on my desk.
You see as soon as I sat down to write it, I remembered that I still had one muffin lurking in the freezer waiting for me to devour it.
Why make this recipe?
I know there are a lot of gluten free muffin recipes out there but this one really is like nothing else you've tasted.
- Chocolate, so much chocolate - you can leave out the chocolate chunks or choc chips if you like and they are still deliciously chocolatey.
- No weird ingredients - some gluten-free recipes have odd ingredients you have to search for. Not these ones. You'll find all the ingredients (below) at your local grocery store. They use almond meal (or almond flour) instead of a gluten-free flour mixture which can sometimes be hard to find.
- Texture - they're super fluffy muffins with a deliciously moist crumb. Not dry and crumbly like some gluten free baking.
- Simple to make - you just need one large mixing bowl and a spoon to make these gluten-free double chocolate muffins.
- Healthy - if you're looking for healthy snack or lunchbox recipes that still feel like a treat then these are for you. We love almond meal in baking to boost the protein and fat.
They're sure to become a new favorite.
We have extended family members with celiac disease and these muffins feature in their regular baking routine.
Ingredients
To make these gluten-free chocolate muffins, you will need just a few simple ingredients:
- Ripe bananas - mashed
- Eggs - at room temperature
- Coconut oil - can also be substituted for olive oil or melted butter
- Pure maple syrup - can also use honey or rapadura sugar or coconut sugar
- Vanilla extract - here's how to make your own vanilla extract
- Almond meal - also called almond flour (this could be substituted with gluten-free flour but it won't be quite as tasty)
- Cacao powder - alternatively use unsweetened cocoa powder
- Baking soda - aka sodium bicarbonate
- Salt - I use Celtic sea salt
- Dark chocolate - chopped. Use the best quality you can get. Alternatively use dark chocolate chips or milk chocolate. You can leave these out.
These healthy chocolate muffins are gluten, dairy and refined-sugar free
But don’t let that put you off if you’re in the mood for a good, rich, chocolate muffin – you’ll never know those food groups are missing.
They’re dense and rich and light at the same time (can they be dense and light? I say they can).
I used super-dark, high-quality chocolate in mine and just a little chocolate rather than the half a cup suggested, seeing as my 2 year old at the time was going to get one too.
I've since made them without added chocolate and they still have a rich chocolate flavor.
Instructions
There are no fancy steps to make these gluten-free muffins.
Step 1
Measure out the ingredients to make the chocolate muffins.
Step 2
In a large bowl, combine the mashed banana, coconut oil (or melted butter), eggs, maple syrup & vanilla extract.
Step 3
Add the almond meal, baking soda, cacao & salt (and chocolate chips if using) and fold it all together gently.
Step 4
Divide the batter between 12 holes of a greased muffin tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle of one comes out clean.
Step 5
Leave to rest in the tin for 5 minutes after taking them out of the oven.
Step 6
Transfer gluten free chocolate muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.
Storage
The best gluten free chocolate muffins you'll ever make can be kept in an airtight container for a few days.
Alternatively, pop in a container or ziplock bag and freeze.
We pop them frozen into lunchboxes in the morning and they're nicely thawed by lunchtime.
I try and keep a decent supply of recipes like this in the freezer for snacks and lunchboxes (there are some more delicious freezer-friendly muffin recipes below for you).
FAQs
I can guarantee you no you can't taste the coconut oil. I have one child who hates the stuff and is very taste-sensitve and has never noticed.
You can use melted butter or olive oil in its place if you're concerned.
Just don't use vegetable oil.
That stuff is NOT great.
We like to use rapadura sugar as it's unrefined and has a lot of nutrients retained. If you can't get it or don't want to use it, brown sugar or organic cane sugar would also work. I wouldn't advise using unsweetened apple sauce as it will change the texture too much.
You could if you wanted to but it would change the flavour a little. If you like white chocolate, go for it.
If you can get your hands on it you could use hazelnut meal or macadamia meal instead of almond meal.
Recipe
Gluten free chocolate chip muffins
Ingredients
- 2 large ripe bananas mashed
- 2 free-range eggs
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted (or butter) I also made these the second time with olive oil and they were just as good
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cup almond meal
- ¼ cup cacao
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup finely chopped best-quality dark chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C(320F) fan-forced and line a muffin tin with liners (or use a greased silicone baking tin).
- Place the mashed banana in a big bowl and stir in the eggs, coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla.
- In another bowl, stir together the almond meal, cacao, baking soda and salt.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet then fold in the chocolate.
- Divide the batter between the 12 holes of the tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
A. says
Hello! If I wanted to use regular flour instead of almond meal would it be the same amount? Thanks!
Claire says
Hi A. Yes you could probably use the same amount.
Hotly Spiced says
What a blessing to be given all that almond meal. You will also have to make some friands. I do love the list of ingredients in these muffins and I think bananas and chocolate work beautifully together. It's definitely more important for Ollie to get his sleep than eat the last muffin! xx
Claire says
I may have already made some Charlie but they're back on the list for more! Haha and more important for Mummy that Ollie gets his sleep and she eats the muffin!
Alison says
These look great, just the thing I like to cook. And, I must say I'm very impressed at how clean your muffin tins are - mine quit looking that good years ago! lol
Claire says
Ahh that would be for two reasons Alison - it's new and I am too lazy to grease muffin tins so always use liners or use the silicone one if I'm not using liners.
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says
Wow 12 bags of almond meal! I think the freezer was definitely a good idea :D Hehe mums definitely deserve treats so you're not a bad mum at all!
Claire says
Our freezers are seriously jam-packed now!
Jess says
If anything you're more deserving of eating as many of these as you want after what I'm sure are long days of chasing that sweet little man around! I'm a freezer addict too, but I could never think of as many ways to use up all that great almond meal as you surely will!
Claire says
Haha thanks Jess! Oh yes I remember having freezer envy when you shared how organised yours was once.
Chris Scheuer says
Yum Claire, I love the way they rise up so high and the cracks on top. That's the sign of a good muffin to me!
Claire says
Well they are definitely good!
Tania | My Kitchen Stories says
Very nice Claire. There are lots of great new ideas for egg and dairy free goodies. I am not a fan of coconut oil but I can always add a smige of butter. How very lucky are you getting all that almond meal!!
Claire says
Yep you could definitely use butter instead or even any other type of oil.