No Monkey Business Gluten-Free Banana Muffins

The last few weeks I’ve felt like “The Flash” on speed. Maybe not my entire body, but my brain anyway. It’s the time of year when all of my worlds collide: job, volunteering, and hobbies. Throw in a season-change and our poor dog’s out-of-control allergies  translate to the entire family being up all night listening to her gnaw her paws. It’s a recipe for brain freak-outs.

With all of the craziness I haven’t stuck to my almost gluten-free diet. The local pizza place is back to relaying my order before I’ve finished placing it, and I’m getting tired of opened-mouthed, blank stares when asking service staff if they have gluten-free hors d’ouerve options. It’s come down to me shooting beef sliders on pretzel buns with a chaser of Ativan.

Since my anxiety seems more manageable when I eat gluten-free, I decided to get this bus turned around and so this weekend I committed to getting my domestic on by …deep breath… doing some cooking. Some may classify making muffins as baking but anything that requires me to be anywhere near an oven is cooking to me. Is heat a factor? Cooking.

I meant business. I mashed bananas like Martha mother-bleeping Stewart.

I found an easy looking recipe in Sweet Debbie’s Organic Treats cookbook. The Gluten-Free Banana Muffins “Mushy Monkey Banana Muffins” spoke to me. “You want us. Make us.” Sure, that may have been the anxiety talking but I am in no place to discount head-voices right now.

This was my first time making anything gluten-free, so I was literally starting from scratch. It wasn’t exactly a cheap trip to the health food store (I may have put it on my credit card so my husband wouldn’t see it) but now I am ready for my next kitchen nightmare bake-up. Thankfully the girl in the Natural Food Pantry was lovely and didn’t laugh too hard when I asked where to find the “goo-ar gum.”

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MUSHY MONKEY BANANA MUFFINS

Easy, moist & yummy gluten-free, vegan banana muffins

Author Sweet Debbie's Organic Treats

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 2 teaspoons sodium-free baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon guar gum
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¼ cup grapeseed oil
• ¼ cup coconut nectar
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 3/8 teaspoon stevia powder
• 1 cup mashed banana about 2 large bananas
• ¾ cup unsweetened plain rice milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper baking cups.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, guar gum and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle.
3. Add the grapeseed oil, coconut nectar, turmeric powder and stevia and stir to combine. Add the mashed banana and rice milk, and stir until the liquid is absorbed and the batter is smooth.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin, dividing it evenly. Each cup should be about three-quarters full.
5. Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, or until they are a light golden brown and bounce back slightly to the touch. Rotate the muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking.
6. Transfer the muffin tin from the oven to a wire rack and let sit for 10 minutes before removing the muffins to cool completely.

Recipe Notes

Keep muffins in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

I have to say – I’m pretty impressed that I accomplished my first gluten-free mission with something that is actually edible. I’m considering going for my Red Seal after creating these masterpieces. They came out looking like those in the cookbook picture, so I was pretty pleased.

I’m shocked that these muffins are gluten-free and vegan. And also? They were delicious. They are definitely going into my baking roster. Yep, after making these muffins, I’m building a roster.

Interested in Sweet Debbie’s Organic Treats cookbook? You can order a soft-copy or kindle version from Amazon. There are lots of other recipes of Debbie’s that I can’t wait to try, starting with the cupcakes for my hubs’ birthday that was 2 weeks ago.