Chunky Monkey Muffins (Gluten Free)

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My Gluten Free Chunky Monkey Muffins are flavored with chopped walnuts and dark chocolate chips. Make ahead for a great tasting grab and go breakfast.

Gluten Free Chunky Monkey Muffins

My Gluten Free Chunky Monkey Muffins Recipe uses gluten free oats as a base and incorporates tons of flavor with banana chunks, walnuts and dark chocolate chips. You can also use regular oats if you do not require a Gluten Free Diet.

These Healthy Chunky Monkey Muffins are sweetened with banana and honey so are refined sugar free. The dark chocolate chips add chocolate flavor without the sweetness you get from milk chocolate.

Chunky Monkey Banana Muffins are a real hit with my kids who love them for breakfast, or any other time of the day!

These Chunky Monkey Muffins are quick to prepare. So make the batter the night before then whip up a batch of muffins in the morning. Fresh baked muffins, warm from the oven, what a great way to start the day.

Overripe bananas make the best banana bread muffins!

If you are going to make banana bread or banana muffins, then I recommend always using the most overripe bananas in your fruit basket. Overripe bananas, the brown speckled ones, are the best for baking and make a really superior flavored bake.

How to make Gluten Free Chunky Monkey Muffins:

To make Gluten Free Chunky Monkey Muffins ensure that the oats you are using are gluten free rolled oats. Also check the baking powder and the chocolate chips to ensure they are gluten free too. Then just follow the recipe below.

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Use cooking spray to grease a muffin pan or add cupcake liners and set aside.
• Look out all your ingredients ready to start.
• Pulse 2 cups of rolled oats in a food processor until it reaches a flour consistency.

• Place all the dry ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl: oat flour, rolled oats, flaxseed, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine and set aside. 

• In a large mixing bowl, add 3 bananas and mash with a fork until smooth.
• Add the peanut butter, 1 egg, vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar and mix well to combine. 

• Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well to incorporate. 

• Chop the unused banana into small chunks. 
• Add the dark chocolate chips, chopped walnut and banana chunks (reserve about 1/4 for garnish) to the mixture and stir to combine. 

• Fill the muffin cups until almost full.
• Add extra chocolate chips, chopped walnuts and banana chunks to the tops of the muffins for presentation.

• Bake in preheated oven for 25-28 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Remove the muffins from the tin and set on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Chunky Monkey Muffins Ingredients:

• ROLLED OATS: I used certified gluten-free rolled oats to make these muffins. However, you can replace with regular rolled oats if you don’t need to make gluten free muffins.
• FLAXSEEDS: ground flaxseeds are good for you and add great texture to the finished muffin.
• BAKING POWDER: if making gluten free muffins ensure the baking powder you are using is gluten free. Most are, but it is always advisable to check the label.
• BANANAS: I use 4 bananas to make these muffins, 3 are mashed up and combined into the muffin batter and one further banana is chopped up and added through. Always use overripe bananas as they make the sweetest cakes.
• PEANUT BUTTER: I use natural creamy peanut butter for adding flavor to the muffins.
• EGG: 1 egg is added to the muffin batter to help them rise in the oven.
• HONEY: I use ¼ cup of honey along with VANILLA EXTRACT to sweeten the muffin batter. You could also use maple syrup in place of the honey.
• VINEGAR: 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar is added to the batter and helps activate the baking powder.
• CHOCOLATE CHIPS: I use ¼ cup dark chocolate chips + extra for garnish.
• WALNUTS: chopped walnuts add great flavor and texture to the muffins.

Additional flavor variations:

These muffins are really adaptable so you can experiment with other flavours:

• CHOCOLATE CHIPS: add any flavor of chocolate chips, dark milk or white. Or swap chocolate chips for peanut butter chips instead.
• NUTS: I have used chopped walnuts but you can use any variety of nut: pecan, almonds, brazil nuts would all work in this muffin recipe.
• DRIED FRUITS: try adding some dried fruits, like dried apricot, cherries, blueberries or raisins.

Can Chunky Monkey Banana Muffins be made ahead:

Yes, they store really well, so make them the day before (see below for more information).

Alternatively make the muffin batter the night before and place into a piping bag. Then store the muffin batter in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake the muffins.

Next morning just fill the muffin tin with the muffin batter, top with the chopped banana, chocolate chips and walnuts and bake in the oven. Warm muffins fresh from the oven make a great breakfast any morning of the week!

How long can you store muffins?

Once baked and cooled, store these muffins in an airtight container on the counter top for 3-4 days (not that they ever last that long in my kitchen).

Can I freeze muffins?

Yes, these muffins freeze really well. Once baked and cooled, place the muffins into an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

When ready to eat, remove the muffins from the freezer and defrost at room temperature before enjoying.

Recipe tips:

• You can easily grease the muffin tray with oil, but I prefer to use paper or silicone muffin liners. This makes getting the muffins out of the tray a whole lot easier.
• As these muffins are so simple to bake, why not prepare one batch to enjoy now and make a second batch to cool and freeze for another day.

Don’t miss these other great muffin recipes here at When is Dinner:

• Butter Pecan Ice Cream Muffins
• Neapolitan Ice Cream Muffins
• Healthy Apple Oatmeal Muffins
• Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
• Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Strawberry Muffins
• Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Muffins
• Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Peanut Butter Banana Oat Muffins

These are a few items I find helpful in my own kitchen when preparing this Chunky Monkey Muffins Recipe:

Rachael Ray 54075 Yum-o 12-cup Muffin Pan, Orange GripsAmazonBasics Reusable Silicone Baking Cups, Muffin and Cupcake, Pack of 12Hamilton Beach (70730) Food Processor & Vegetable Chopper with Bowl Scraper, 10 Cup, ElectricOXO Good Grips Batter BowlWilton 2103-1112 Scoop-It Batter Spoons, Set of 3OXO Good Grips Flexible ScoopMuffin Fresh Container – 6 Fresh Muffins Keeper & Airtight StorageThe Ultimate Muffin Book: More Than 600 Recipes for Sweet and Savory Muffins (Ultimate Cookbooks)101 Quick & Easy Cupcake and Muffin Recipes