Gluten/Dairy Free banana muffins

Monkey Muffins – Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Banana Bread Using No Refined Sugar or Oil

Ingredients

DRY MIXTURE:

• 1/2 cups Flour (you can use any combination of flour – I used 1 cup Gluten free all purpose flour (it's all I had left) then added 1/2 cup coconut flour) 
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/2 cup Ground Flax Meal (I grind mine fresh, which is preferable) this substitutes the oil...as it's baked the flax oil mixes in
• 2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Himalayan Salt

WET MIXTURE:

• 3 Ripe Bananas (the riper they are, the better & sweeter they will be)
• 1/3 cup Honey (1/2 cup if you prefer them a little sweeter)
• 1 Cup Almond Milk
• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract (I made my own, which was wonderful)
• 1 Large organic Egg

OPTIONAL TOPPINGS / INGREDIENTS

• Dehydrated ‘Shredded’ Coconut (all natural – no sugar) 
• Chopped Nuts (I added chopped almonds and walnuts to some)
• Chocolate chunks (dairy free is an option...preferably dark)
• Raisins
• Shredded Carrots

Recipe:

1. Pre-Heat Oven to 350 degrees.
2. In medium sized bowl, combine dry ingredients.
3. In small bowl (or Blender), beat wet ingredients until smooth and well pureed.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk together until smooth.
5. Fold in any optional ingredients.
6. Pour mixture into greased (preferably with coconut oil) or papered muffin pans.
7. Garnish with optional toppings before baking.
8. Bake for approximately 15 – 25 minutes until tops brown and toothpick comes out clean. Mine took 25 minutes because of the coconut flour I added that I find tends to take longer to bake.
9. Let muffins cool completely before storing.
10. Store muffins in refrigerator for up to 4-5 days (they will get moist) or in freezer for up to 2 months.

Yield: about 18 Large or 24 Mini Muffins
Preparation & Cooking Time: Approx. 25-35 minutes

 All Ingredients

 Mix all dry ingredients - grind flax and add

 Mix all wet ingredients...bananas look overripe...but they were prefect

 Blend all wet ingredients with an electric mixer

 Dry and wet ingredients

 Blend all ingredients

 Either grease muffin tray or use paper cups...my little helper in the background

 Decide what toppings you want- I added almonds to some, walnuts to others, coconut shavings to a few and left some plain

 Ready to pop in the oven 350

 My little helper ready for a taste...but not quite ready yet...although have a wonderful banana aroma

 I decided to make the remaining batter a little more of a treat and added 2 tsp of raw cacao powder and chopped up dark chocolate

 Wasn't ready after 15 minutes, so I put them in for 5 more, then another 5 more- total 25 minutes until they were done in my oven

 Surprisingly they were still super moist as banana bread should be...even without the oil.  The sweetness was very subtle (which I think was great!) but if you want them sweeter you could drizzle some raw honey on top:)

 The chocolate ones turned out wonderfully...also not too sweet since I used very dark chocolate.

 Nice and gooey and cholatey...as I dove in before they fully cooled. To have them come off the paper cupcake cups, wait until they are fully cooled, and they will peal off effortlessly.