Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins (2023)

FAQs

Why did my gluten free muffins not rise? ›

YOUR CAKE IS SINKING IN THE MIDDLE OR NOT RISING

You may not have used enough raising agents. I do recommend experimenting with double action baking powders. Otherwise try using 25 percent more chemical raising agents (baking soda or baking powder) if you're converting a recipe to gluten free.

Stir in banana or pumpkin purée to add flavor and density.

If you like your muffins dense and hearty, a fruit purée is a great additive. Try adding 1 mashed banana or a spoonful of pumpkin purée to the batter and mixing it in thoroughly.

Gluten-free baked goods often benefit from extra liquid to hydrate the flour blends, eliminate grittiness, and achieve a less dense or dry texture. However, it's very important to drive off this extra moisture during baking, or you'll wind up with a gummy texture. The best way to do this? Longer baking times.

If you are going to add bananas, we recommend adding no more than 2 mashed bananas and omitting the water, since the banana will add moisture.

Add an acid: Try adding 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to your cake batter. It will react with the bicarbonate of soda to create extra rise and a more tender cake crumb. Add an egg: You could even add an extra egg which will help the cake to rise.

Lightly cover the loaf pan with a damp towel and place in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until the dough rises to the top of the loaf pan. This method really does speed up the time it takes for gluten-free bread to rise.

Eggs are responsible for giving baked goods structure, which means the amount you use directly affects the resulting texture. Using too few eggs will make your desserts dense, but using too many will make them rubbery. The explanation for this lies in the fact that eggs are made up of protein.

Water will do in a pinch, but it may not give you the same texture or even the same taste as milk, which is why you should choose other types of milk instead.

We don't recommend using milk instead of water because the milk can make holes in the paper liners or the sides of the muffins.

What is the best gluten-free flour to bake muffins with? ›

Best Overall: Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.

Again, adding too much air before the cake bakes will lead to collapse as it cools. Unless a recipe specifically calls for it, don't let the batter sit around for very long before baking. Sitting 20 to 25 minutes while the first batch bakes is fine; a few hours is not.

As a general rule, the thinner the batter, the lighter the muffins will be when baked. But don't be afraid to bake thick, gloppy batter.

Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom of 8x4- or 9x5-inch loaf pan. 2. Stir Muffin Mix, water, oil, eggs and banana in medium bowl just until blended (batter will be lumpy).

Realize that overmixing can cause muffins to be tough, bake unevenly, create elongated holes (or tunnels) and/or form peaked tops.

2 teaspoons of baking powder per cup of gluten-free flour is necessary to ensure proper leavening.

To replace gluten, you'll need to use a different thickening agent like xanthan gum or guar gum in your baking. For each cup of gluten-free flour mix, add at least 1 teaspoon of gluten substitute.

Because gluten-free batters contain more liquid than traditional versions, they typically take longer to bake. If you remove them from the oven too soon, you may develop a gummy, mushy texture.

Binding agents like Xanthan gum, psyllium husk powder, and guar gum are often used in gluten-free baking. Xanthan gum, psyllium husk powder, and guar gum are binding agents and are frequently called for in gluten-free recipes and serve the same general purpose as thickeners and binding agents.

Garbanzo Flour

This is only if it used as the main flour in the mix. When used correctly, garbanzo flour will add fantastic bite in pretty much any baked good, with no discernible taste. It is also one of the best gluten free flours for proper rising and browning.

What can I add to gluten-free flour to rise? ›

For a good rise to occur in your gluten-free dough, the right ingredients need to be used. The ingredients that most impact the rise of gluten-free bread include yeast, sugar, xanthan gum, baking soda, and/or baking powder, depending on your recipe and type of bread being made.

Beating the eggs before adding them to the batter is very important. This step is often skipped though because many people think it is a waste of time. They just crack the eggs right into the batter and go about mixing.

Yogurt or buttermilk

You can use 1/4 cup (60 grams) of yogurt or buttermilk for each egg that needs to be replaced. This substitution works best for muffins, cakes, and cupcakes. You can use 1/4 cup (60 grams) of plain yogurt or buttermilk to replace 1 egg. These substitutions work especially well in muffins and cakes.

Use 1 cup of water and 1-1/2 teaspoons of butter for every 1 cup of milk called for in the recipe. The extra butter will help your baked goods stay moist.

Bake your muffins at 400°F for the first 5 minutes, then drop the temperature to the more standard 350°F for the remainder of the bake time. This method sparks the leavening agents (especially baking powder) in the batter to react quicker, creating that gorgeously risen top.

Special Considerations. If the the recipe calls for more milk, add a tablespoon of melted butter per cup of water so the fat content stays similar.

Regular dairy milk performed the best – with higher rising, a moister muffin, and a better blank slate for flavor additions. Results are probably due to protein levels 8 times higher than other beverages. Almond milk added a slightly nutty flavor to the muffins which would be a pleasant addition to many baked goods.

While evaporated milk is most commonly used as a substitute for cream, it can also work as a substitute for milk in muffin recipes even though it is thicker, denser, and creamier than regular milk and it tends to have a slightly caramelized flavor to it.

What to avoid for gluten-free baking? ›

The flour with the lowest amount of gluten in it is cake flour containing only 7-9% gluten. It is of course used in cake, but also muffins and delicate cookies. All-purpose flour has 8-11% gluten in it. It can be used to make things like waffles, pie crusts, pastries, and cookies.

Cassava Flour

This flour is gluten-, grain- and nut-free. It's most similar to white flour and can easily be used in recipes calling for all-purpose flour.

rice flour is a very popular flour. Actually, it is the most common flour used in gluten-free baking. This is because the texture is extremely light, fine, and slightly gritty. Rice flour has a very mild taste, which allows for other flours to be mixed in to create a perfect gluten-free baked product.

While visual cues like the toothpick test and pressing the top of the cake will still help, the best way to determine if your baked goods are perfectly done is with a timer and oven thermometer. This is because gluten-free treats often look underdone and slightly wet inside after baking.

Gluten-free baking can often be dry so it is important to add moisture. This can be achieved by increasing the amount of vegan butter or oil, adding fruit such as applesauce or pumpkin puree or using brown sugar rather than white sugar.

Xanthan gum or guar gum will prevent crumbling in breads, cakes, muffins, biscuits, and many other recipes. If a recipe turns out too crumbly the first time, add a pinch more xanthan gum.

To store muffins up to 4 days, line an airtight container or zip-lock bag with paper towel and store the muffins in a single layer. Place another layer of paper towel on top of the muffins as well. They can be stored in a container without paper towel, but are more likely to become soggy the longer they're in there.

Should you let muffin batter rest? ›

Let your muffin batter rest

According to Kitchn, letting muffin batter rest overnight before baking it the next morning is standard practice in many pro kitchens. Why? As the batter rests, the starches in the flour slowly absorb the liquid in the batter, which causes them to swell, creating a thicker batter.

You measure flour the wrong way.

Moisture is key when it comes to banana bread, and the ratio of flour to banana makes all the difference. If you use too much flour, you'll end up with dry bread. If you don't use enough, your bread will be too wet.

If they smell off, that's another good indicator that they are no longer okay to use. Rotten bananas will often have a fermented or alcohol-like smell. While it's okay if the banana peel is dark brown or even black, if the inside is too, then the fruit is beyond ripe and now on its way to rotten.

For baking, you need the sweetness that comes from an overripe banana – this means it will be very yellow with a few brown spots and feel soft.

Cupcake recipes generally have more sugar and fat (butter, oil, or dairy) than muffins and may include ingredients like whipped eggs or even mayo for texture. And yes, cupcakes almost always include frosting.

Eggs are responsible for giving baked goods structure, which means the amount you use directly affects the resulting texture. Using too few eggs will make your desserts dense, but using too many will make them rubbery. The explanation for this lies in the fact that eggs are made up of protein.

After mixing your batter, simply cover and chill in the fridge overnight before baking. No need to bring to room temperature before scooping into your muffin tin and baking. I prefer to rest the batter in one bowl instead of portioning out the batter into the muffin tin, then chilling.

If the batter is overmixed, tunnels develop inside the muffins during baking and the texture changes from that of bread to cake. Top crusts turn out smooth and peaked.

Flat or sunken muffins are common problems if the muffin batter is overmixed. Another cause is using too much leavening agent (baking powder or baking soda).

More often than not, if your gluten-free bread isn't rising, it boils down to a few reasons: You're using old yeast that is no longer active. The temperature, either ambient or of the ingredients you're using, might be an issue. You're substituting or omitting ingredients.

How do you fix muffins that are not rising? ›

Gluten free baking of any kind can take a while to get used to so be sure to take it lightly and have a good time. Below is our gluten free, dairy free bread recipe. Give it a whirl to try out your new skills! Pour mixture into a bread pan and let rise until dough is just above the top of the pan (30-40 minutes).

Since there is no gluten to stretch and trap the gas as in gluten-containing bread, the yeast has to work harder, so use more of it. If you are experimenting with your own recipes, start by increasing the amount of yeast by 25 percent.

It is often said that gluten-free yeast dough should only be allowed to rise once. This is what I also believed for a long time, but it is not true. There are enough recipes in which the dough is successfully risen twice. I could go on and on for hours about gluten-free yeast dough.

Too Much Flour. This is one of the most common reason why muffins do not rise. When you add too much flour, you are changing the ratio of liquid to leavening ingredients to flour which means you are changing the texture, how long the muffins will bake, and how high they will rise.

Bake your muffins at 400°F for the first 5 minutes, then drop the temperature to the more standard 350°F for the remainder of the bake time. This method sparks the leavening agents (especially baking powder) in the batter to react quicker, creating that gorgeously risen top.

Baking soda, aka sodium bicarbonate, is a commonly known food additive and baking ingredient. While there are many uses of baking soda, it is commonly found in recipes as a leavening agent to help baked goods rise.

Too much leavening – If there is too much baking soda or powder in the batter, muffins will rise temporarily, then collapse. This causes them to become dense. For every cup of flour, you only need 1 teaspoon of baking powder or 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.

Unless you have no other option, you really should use a leavening substitute. Other baked goods that rely more on rising — like cakes, muffins, and breads — cannot be made without baking soda or an acceptable alternative.