Gluten Free Banana Pecan Muffins

Gluten free baked goods seem to be getting more popular all the time. This means that there are more products out to help you bake gluten free things than there were, say, five or six years ago. For instance, you can now easily pick up a bag of gluten free flour, such as the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour I keep in my pantry, and use it in a variety of recipes much as you would use regular all purpose flour. This is exactly what I did with this recipe, adding gluten free flour to a recipe that can easily use regular flour.

These banana pecan muffins certainly did not suffer for being gluten free. Indeed, no one I served them to had a clue that there wasn’t a speck of gluten in them! The muffins are moist, soft and very tender. Some of that tenderness comes from the lack of gluten in the flour, but they were not crumbly or mushy (as some bad GF baked goods I’ve tried have been). They had a great mixture of spices that really complemented the bananas, and of course the pecans added a great crunchiness. I usually like to used roasted and salted pecans in my baked goods for that extra sweet-savory flavor, but regular toasted pecans are just fine, too.

These muffins taste great when they’re fresh, but are so moist that they keep well for a day or two when stored in an airtight container. They’re a great alternative to a banana bread, since muffins take so little time to bake, and make a great breakfast treat with a cup of coffee in the morning if you make them the night before.

Gluten Free Banana Pecan Muffins
1 3/4 cups gluten free all purpose flour mix (such as Bob’s Red Mill)
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
3/4 cup roasted pecans, coarsely chopped
extra sugar, for topping

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together gluten free flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices.
In a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, egg, vanilla and mashed bananas. Pour into flour mixture and stir until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Stir in pecans.
Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each just about to the top. Sprinkle muffins with sugar.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
Cool muffins on a wire rack before serving.

Makes 12.