Banana Muffins with Oat & Almond Flour (Gluten-Free)

These moist, flavor-packed gluten-free banana muffins have beautifully domed tops and tender, floofy middles. They're made entirely from scratch using a magical blend of gluten-free flours: almond, sweet rice, oat (or sorghum), and tapioca.

Best of all, they take only 15 minutes of active time to mix up plus 25 minutes to bake. Add chocolate or keep them simple.

How ripe should the bananas be?

People on the internet have strong opinions about this (shocking, I know!) While a thousand Redditors would disagree, I actually prefer the bananas *not* to be fully black. This tastes overly ripe to me in a way I dislike.

My ideal banana for banana muffins is yellow with lots of dark brown freckles, about half yellow and half spotted. They should be slightly soft when you give them a squeeze and they should mash easily with a fork.

Flour Power: The blend behind the muffins

You know I like my bespoke blends of alternative flours – and I even wrote a cookbook about baking with gluten-free flours! So instead of leaning on a bland store-bought all-purpose mix, I built this recipe around a combination of flavor-packed flours. Together, they create muffins with a crumb so soft and floofy, you'd never guess they're gluten-free.

• Blanched almond flour, for moisture. I love the richness and tenderness almond flour adds, which is why it's one of my go-to flours for gluten-free baking. If you need a swap, another nut or seed flour will work, or try tiger nut flour (which is actually a tuber, not a nut) for a nut-free version with a similar vibe.
• Oat flour (or sorghum flour), for lightness. Oat flour gives these muffins a soft, comforting texture. But if oats are off the table, sorghum flour is a tested and lovely alternative. In fact, these photos show the sorghum version—sneaky, right? It bakes up a bit loftier, while the oat flour version is slightly more dense and moist. I’ve tested both, and you can’t go wrong.
• Sweet rice flour, for chew. Some gluten-free quickbreads can have a mush-in-your-mouth consistency, but sweet rice flour keeps the texture bouncy and satisfying. Koda Farms Mochiko is my favorite because it's ultra-fine and soft. If you don't have sweet rice flour, gluten-free all-purpose flour such as Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 will do in a pinch.
• Tapioca starch, for floof. Just a touch gives these muffins their signature lift and lightness. Arrowroot works too, if that’s what you’ve got on hand—I’ve tested both with great results.

Oil, not butter

Although butter is usually better (like just generally, in life), using oil here makes the muffins extra pillowy and moist and lets the flavors sing. Adding 2 tablespoons of milk (plant or dairy – you pick!) mimics the water and milk solid content of butter, giving the muffins better lift.

I like using La Tourangelle's Suncoco oil, but any neutral oil will work here, even olive oil.

Brown sugar, how come you taste so good?

Brown sugar adds rich molasses notes that complement the bananas beautifully. I tested this recipe with both light and dark brown sugar and found that light brown gives the muffins a mellow sweetness that lets the other flavors shine, while dark brown brings a deeper, almost caramelly vibe – both are delicious. I like using organic brown sugar for its slightly coarser texture and extra-flavorful finish. Coconut sugar also works well by weight if that’s what you have on hand – it lends a more subtle, earthy sweetness.

How the Muffin Magic Happens

Muffins are smol quickbreads, and these GF banana muffins are indeed quick and easy to make, no special equipment needed. Whip up a dozen majestic muffins like so:

Aaaaand here's a little video I made showing you how easy and satisfying these are to make (and to eat!)

Bojon appétit, my sweets! If you make this, I’d love to know. Please leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.

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Banana Muffins with Oat & Almond Flour (Gluten-Free)

These moist gluten-free banana muffins have domed tops and tender middles. Made with almond and oat flours in 15 minutes of active time.

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Muffins, Quickbread

Cuisine American

Diet Gluten Free, Low Lactose

Keyword almond flour banana muffins, gluten free banana muffins, oat flour banana muffins

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Chilling Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Author Alanna Taylor-Tobin

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 1 cup (112 g) blanched almond flour
• 1 cup (105 g) gluten-free oat flour (or ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons [105 g] sorghum flour)
• ¾ cup (115 g) sweet rice flour
• 3 tablespoons (23 g) tapioca flour/starch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Wet Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups (14 ounces / 400g out of peel) mashed, ripe banana (from about 3.5 large bananas – yellow with lots of brown spots)
• ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar (or dark, you do you!)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons (30 g) milk or plant milk
• ½ cup (110 g) neutral oil (such as sunflower oil)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For chocolate chip muffins (optional but encouraged!)

• 1 cup (170 g) chopped bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips

Instructions

Batter

• Line 12 standard-sized muffin cups with paper liners.
• Sift or whisk together the almond, oat/sorghum, sweet rice, and tapioca flours with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add back any bits left behind in the sifter to the bowl.
• Peel the bananas into a large bowl. Mash with a fork until mostly smooth with some small lumps and starting to liquify.
• Whisk in the brown sugar, eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla.
• Add the flour mixture and stir until the batter is smooth and thick. Stir in the chocolate, if using.
• Divide the batter between the muffin cups, filling them to the top and mounding the batter slightly.
• For the best rise and texture, pop the filled muffin tin in the fridge for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven. This allows the flours to absorb some moisture giving the muffins a smoother texture and higher rise.

Bake

• While the batter chills, position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 375ºF (190ºC) (if using a convection fan oven, lower by 25ºF).
• Bake the muffins for 22-27 minutes, rotating once halfway through for even baking. The muffins are done when their tops are golden and a tester inserted near the center comes out with a few most crumbs.
• Let the muffins cool for 10 minutes, then remove them from the pan to a wire rack to cool to warm or room temperature. Enjoy your majestic muffins!

Storage

• These keep beautifully covered at room temperature for up to 2 days or refrigerated for up to a week. Freeze for longer storage. For maximum deliciousness, warm leftover muffins before nomming.

Notes

• I'm indecisive (like, ridiculously so), so sometimes I divide the batter roughly in half (about 500 grams and 600 grams) and add 3 ounces chopped chocolate to the smaller half to make 6 plain and 6 chocolate chip muffins. 
• Other tasty add-ins are:
  • 1 cup toasted chopped pecans or walnuts – I especially love sprinkling some nuts on top. They stay crisp and provide nice contrast to the moist muffin middles
  • 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats – when I tested this, the oats soaked up a bit of moisture and turned out heartier muffins
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg – ultra-cozy and complex! I especially enjoy the spicy version during the cooler months
• Ingredient subs:
  • for almond flour, sub by weight another nut or seed flour, or tiger nut flour for nut-free
  • for sweet rice flour, sub by weight gluten-free all purpose flour such as Bob's 1 to 1
  • for tapioca flour, sub by weight arrowroot
  • for brown sugar, sub by weight coconut sugar