Name: Sunflower Banana Muffins
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 22 min
Yield: 12 muffins
Ingredients: 1 cup all purpose gluten-free flour (see Notes); 1 cup oat flour (rolled oats ground into flour with blender); 2 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp cinnamon; 1/2 tsp nutmeg; 3/4 tsp xanthan gum; 1/2 tsp salt; 4 medium bananas (very ripe); 2 tsp vanilla extract; 1/2 cup + 2 TBS non-dairy milk; 1 chia "egg" (see step #2 below); 1/4 cup sunflower seed butter (Trader Joe's brand is yummy); 8 dates, pitted (see Notes); 2 TBS raw sunflower seeds

Sunflower Banana Muffins

I love the combination of banana and sunflower seeds/butter – yummy flavor. Since this recipe only calls for dates and bananas as the sweetening elements, the muffins are not overly sweet – I think they are just right! If you have an oat sensitivity, feel free to use all gluten-free flour blend mentioned in notes below.

CourseBaked Goods, Dessert, Muffins, Snack

Servings	Prep Time
12muffins	20minutes

Cook Time

22minutes

Servings	Prep Time
12muffins	20minutes

Cook Time

22minutes

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

1 cup all purpose gluten-free floursee Notes
1cup oat flourrolled oats ground into flour with blender
2tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
1tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp nutmeg
3/4tsp xanthan gum
1/2tsp salt

Wet Ingredients

4medium bananasvery ripe
2tsp vanilla extract
1/2cup + 2 TBS non-dairy milk
1 chia “egg”see step #2 below
1/4cup sunflower seed butterTrader Joe’s brand is yummy
8 dates, pittedsee Notes

Toppings

2TBS raw sunflower seeds

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly coat a 12-cup muffin tin with spray and set aside.
To make the chia “egg” mix together 1 TBS chia seeds with 3 TBS water and set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients.
Place wet ingredients, including chia “egg”, in food processor and blend about 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl and blend another 10-15 seconds.
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well; fill muffin tin. An ice cream scoop with a spring-action release lever works great for this.
Sprinkle sunflower seeds on tops of the muffins and bake for 22-24 minutes. Immediately remove from oven and carefully place each muffin a cooling rack.

Recipe Notes

I love making my own gluten-free flour blend using 1.5 cups brown rice flour, 1.5 cups sorghum flour, 3/4 cup potato starch (not flour), 3/4 cup arrowroot flour/starch (thanks to Cara Reed from www.forkandbeans.com for the recipe). I make a double batch of this to keep on hand. If you don’t want to go to the trouble, there are a variety of gluten-free blends at any grocery store. I haven’t tried Trader Joe’s brand in this recipe but have in others and it works well.
I used deglet noor dates here. If using the large, Medjool dates you will need fewer of them; about 6 I’d say. If your dates are really stiff and hard, you may want to soak them for a bit to soften, then drain before using the food processor. BE SURE YOUR DATES ARE PITTED. Food processors aren’t happy with pits – I know this from experience.
I’ve made these muffins using the blender for the wet ingredients as well as the food processor. For some reason I prefer the end result when using the food processor.