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These Pumpkin Banana Muffins are the perfect autumn bake! Sweet and fluffy gluten free muffins, filled with warming Fall spices. They are great for lunchboxes and packed with pumpkin puree and ripe bananas. Plus an optional maple cinnamon glaze.
I’ve been really enjoying baking with pumpkin and these Pumpkin Banana Muffins might be one of my greatest triumphs to date!
They are deliciously moist and fluffy, with a warming pumpkin spice and an optional maple syrup and cinnamon glaze which finishes them off perfectly.
Of course they’re gluten free, but also dairy free and so simple to make. Simply mix the wet and dry ingredients for these easy, one bowl muffins.
Gluten free banana pumpkin muffins are perfect for lunchboxes or an on-the-go breakfast idea. They’re also a great way to use overripe bananas and leftover canned pumpkin puree.
So if you’ve made a gluten free pumpkin pie, my baked pumpkin spice donuts or even my pumpkin spice latte cake, here’s how to use up the pumpkin leftovers!
And of course, if you’ve got extra leftover bananas you can also use them to make my gluten free vegan banana bread or my Nutella and banana muffins.
Ingredients
There’s a printable recipe card for these gluten free pumpkin muffins with banana below. But for the shopping list you will need…
- Bananas: You want bananas that are ripe – bright yellow and starting to develop brown spots. Overripe (black) bananas can work, but green ones will not.
- Tinned Pumpkin Puree: Canned pumpkin puree is becoming a lot easier to find in the UK (try the world food aisles) and easy to source in the US. Make sure you use pumpkin puree and not a pumpkin pie filling as this will already be sweetened.
- Light Brown Sugar: This adds a lovely treacly taste to this pumpkin bread.
- Vegetable Oil: Using a neutral oil like vegetable oil makes this pumpkin bread super moist – and also accidentally dairy free!
- Vanilla Extract
- Eggs: In the US you’ll need XL eggs as I use UK large eggs.
- Milk: I use a normal, full-fat milk but you can use a dairy free milk if needed.
- Plain Gluten Free Flour: I use the FREEE flour which is a blend of rice, potato and buckwheat flour. You want a gluten free plain or all purpose gluten free flour blend.
- Baking Powder: Or baking soda in the US. Always check to make sure you use gluten free baking powder as some brands contain wheat.
- Xanthan Gum: A little goes a long way and this helps hold the muffins together without them becoming crumbly. Omit this if you flour blend contains in.
- Bicarbonate of Soda: This helps to give the muffins their lovely rise.
For the homemade pumpkin spice mix:
To make your own pumpkin spice mix for these pumpkin and banana muffins, I use the following spices:
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Ginger
- Cloves
- Allspice
The recipe card below has the quantities you need, or you can whip up a big batch and use it in your own homemade pumpkins spice lattes or even as a pumpkin pie spice.
If you do make a big batch, you’ll need to add 3 teaspoons of the mixture to your cake batter instead of the individual spice measurements in the recipe card.
For the maple cinnamon glaze:
If you want to make an easy maple glaze for your pumpkin and banana muffins, you will also need:
- Maple Syrup
- Icing Sugar: Or superfine / confectioner’s sugar in the US.
- Cinnamon
How to make pumpkin banana muffins
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method, but here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy these pumpkin and banana muffins are:
Preheat the oven to 200C / Fan 180C / 400F / Gas Mark 6. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with 12 large muffin cases.
Add the mashed banana, pumpkin puree, sugar, oil, milk, vanilla extract and egg to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until combined.
Pour in the gluten free flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, bicarb and spices. Beat again until combined – do not over-mix.
Spoon the batter evenly between the muffin cases. Try not to overfill them – you want them about 3/4 full so they don’t spill out when they rise in the oven.
Bake the muffins for 5 minutes. Then, without opening the oven door, turn the temperature down to 180C / Fan 160C / 350F / Gas Mark 4.
Bake for a further 15-18 minutes until well risen and a skewer in the centre comes out clean.
Cool the muffins on a rack. While doing so, mix together the glaze ingredients until you have a thin paste. Pour or drizzle this over the muffins and leave to set before tucking in!
Storing and Freezing
Once you’ve made your homemade pumpkin banana muffins, here’s how to keep them:
To Store: Cool the muffins to room temperature and then keep in an airtight container. You do not need to keep gluten free cakes in the fridge – this will cause them to go stale quicker.
To Freeze: Freeze the muffins on a board before decanting into a tub or bag. Defrost at room temperature whenever you fancy a treat!
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about this pumpkin banana muffins recipe. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
This gluten free muffin recipe can easily be made dairy free too with one simple swap. Just use dairy free milk – such as almond milk or soya milk – in the muffin batter. Otherwise, the recipe is dairy free.
Yes! Simply add 100g milk chocolate chips (or dark chocolate chips / dairy free as required) to your muffin mixture at the same time as the other dry ingredients. Pop a few extra choc chips on top for good measure before baking. I’ve tested this out and it’s absolutely delicious!
I suppose that depends on what your definition of ‘healthy’ is. Are these healthy pumpkin banana muffins? They’re packed with pumpkin and banana and made with simple ingredients, so in my eyes that makes them perhaps ‘healthier’ than some muffins. But they also do contain sugar, oil and flour, so it depends what your standards of healthy are. I think if they bring you joy, that’s all that matters.
If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.
Pumpkin Banana Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 small, ripe bananas, (mashed)
- 200 g canned pumpkin puree
- 200 g light brown sugar
- 120 ml vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 60 ml milk, (dairy free if needed)
- 250 g plain gluten free flour
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the pumpkin spice:
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
For the maple cinnamon frosting:
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 50 g icing sugar
- 2 tsp cold water
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C / Fan 180C / 400F / Gas Mark 6. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with 12 large muffin cases.
- Add the mashed banana, pumpkin puree, sugar, oil, milk, vanilla extract and egg to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until combined.
- Pour in the gluten free flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, bicarb and spices. Beat again until combined – do not over-mix.
- Spoon the batter evenly between the muffin cases. Try not to overfill them – you want them about 3/4 full so they don’t spill out when they rise in the oven. If needed, you may get an extra couple of muffins out of the mix!
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes. Then, without opening the oven door, turn the temperature down to 180C / Fan 160C / 350F / Gas Mark 4. Bake for a further 15-18 minutes until well risen and a skewer in the centre comes out clean.
- Cool the muffins on a rack. While doing so, mix together the glaze ingredients until you have a thin paste. Pour or drizzle this over the muffins and leave to set before tucking in!
Notes
- Weighing Scales vs Cups: You can toggle this recipe card to convert the ingredients into cups. However, I always recommend using weighing scales – these are cheap to buy and much more accurate. And in gluten free baking, a tiny variation can make a huge difference!
- Step-by-Step Photos: Check out the blog post above for step-by-step photos to guide you through how this pumpkin banana muffins recipe should look at each stage.
- Storing: Check out the post above this recipe card for more information on storing and freezing these pumpkin banana muffins.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and tell all your gluten free friends about these Gluten Free Pumpkin Banana Muffins!
Nutrition
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Hello Sarah, I really would like to try this recipe, however I am in Australia and cannot buy pumpkin purée. Would cooking up pumpkin and puréeing it be an appropriate substitute?
Also I have diabetes and can I sub the sugar for xylitol? I realise the taste will be slightly different to the light brown sugar but just wondering.
Thank you for your interesting recipe.