Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Mini Muffins

Recently my son has noticed he is sensitive to gluten. Whenever he eats muffins, bread, or pasta, even though we use healthy whole grain versions, he seems to get a stomach ache. Even though he tested negative for celiac, we think he might have a gluten sensitivity, so we are trying to experiment with more gluten free recipes. We are going to take some typical gluten free recipes and try and make them healthier. This recipe is one of our first experiments. We were suppose to use two different types of flour, but by accident my 5 year old daughter put in 2 cups of teff flour- so we only used teff flour. We will let you know the results of this recipe, if you have any great gluten-free cooking tips we would love to hear them!




Ingredients

2 cups teff flour

1/2 cup agave nectar or maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons high-quality, unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 very ripe bananas
6 oz plain yogurt (make sure it's gluten free if desired)
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons melted butter, applesauce, or coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Tip: According to my daughter, if you don't have an ingredient in the house, try something else! We did not have applesauce, so we are substituting in coconut oil.

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350° degrees. Move the rack to a position in the lower half of the oven to prevent the crust of the bread from burning. Grease the pan you intend to use with coconut oil.
2. Stir together all the dry ingredients, making sure to tame the lumps of cocoa powder with a fork. Set aside.
3. With a standing mixer or hand mixer, beat the eggs lightly. Then, add the yogurt, vanilla extract, and melted butter. 

4. When the wet ingredients are completely mixed, gently add in the dry mixture.

5. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredients until they are just mixed.
6. Scrape the batter into your the muffin pan. Pat down the top to make a flat surface. 

7. Place into the oven and bake for about forty minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. 

8. Let the muffins sit in the pan for five to ten minutes, then add chocolate chips on top, eat and enjoy!

Gluten Free Flour Substitutes
If you care for your recipes to be gluten free, you can try oat flour, which we love. We make our own by putting oats in the blender but you can also buy oat flour; its a great healthy alternative!

Another great gluten free flour is almond flour, which you can also make yourself by blending the almonds until it turns into a powder. Almond flour is low in carbohydrates and a great source of protein. It is an excellent substitute for regular flour. It's all natural, loaded with nutrients, in particular, vitamin E and magnesium and it's low in carbohydrates (about 24 net carbs per cup for fine-ground and blanched as opposed to 92 per cup of wheat flour), making a very good choice for low carb flour.

Coconut flour is another great flour to use. It has fewer digestible net carbs than other flours, and it even has fewer digestible carbs than some vegetables! With as much protein as wheat flour, coconut flour has none of the specific protein in wheat called "gluten." This is an advantage for a growing percentage of the population who have allergies to gluten or a wheat sensitivity.

You can also substitute up to 1/4 cup Teff Flour per cup of wheat flour in your recipes. Teff is packed with nutrition. It is higher in protein than wheat and has a high concentration of a wide variety of nutrients, including calcium, thiamin and iron. The iron from teff is easily absorbed by the body.