Gluten Free Banana Cream Cheese Muffins

Well, it is now Week 4,376 of the Lockdown (just kidding, though, it sure feels that way). Baking projects have been keeping Kyle and myself sane(ish) during the Stay-At-Home mandate, so it seems like a good as time as any to talk about them. Since one of the most popular baked goods being made right now is either homemade sourdough or banana bread, we figured we would throw our hat into the ring.

While delving into the creation of a gluten free sourdough would be a fun experiment, sourdough starters involve a lot of patience and waste, as you have to discard and re-feed half of your sourdough starter each day. That is a whole lot of gluten free flour being thrown away, and for that matter, a lot of money going down the drain (or in the trashcan).  Banana bread allows instant gratification, plus a chance to use up those overripe bananas purchased while food hoarding, oops!, panic buying, no, I mean grocery shopping.

For the past several years, Kyle has used the same mothership recipe for all his fruit-based quick breads. He just swaps in the main ingredient and adjusts for the complementary flavor components – there is Pumpkin Spice Bread, Chocolate Zucchini Bread, and Banana Bread with Nutella and Peanut Butter. The recipe yields delicious quick breads/muffins with great flavor and texture. They actually bake up and stay, wait for it – *MOIST* (sorry, but it had to be written). This can be hard to achieve in gluten free baking, so this is a quite an accomplishment.

There was some cream cheese in the fridge, so, Kyle decided to create a cheesecake layer right in the middle of the banana muffins. If you wanted to take this a step further, you could merge this with our Banana Muffin Recipe, making Cheesecake-Nutella-Filled and Peanut-Butter-Topped Banana Bread Muffins. That is a mouthful to say, but a delicious mouthful. Mind = blown.

The base recipe calls for vegetable oil as the main source of fat, which sadly, was not on hand when it came to use up the overripe bananas. In the interest of using up what was on hand, Kyle melted a stick of butter, and replaced the rest of the fat with more mashed bananas. This is also a technique that pops up in many recipes for reducing the fat content of banana muffins while preserving their moisture.

By reducing the fat and increasing the fruit content of these muffins you allow them to leap from the “dessert category” straight into the “acceptable breakfast food” arena. But no matter the fat content, honestly, during this stay-at-home time period eat the muffins for breakfast anyway – there is plenty of time to add in a workout or walk/run a bit.

Instead of making muffins, you can bake this recipe into two full-sized banana bread loaves, just increase your baking time to 50 to 60 minutes. Either way, the cream cheesiness of this recipe will definitely up your banana bread game.

As you sit home either completing your work-at-home projects, reading a book, tinkering with your to-do list, or just binge-watching Netflix shows, this delightful, scrumptious treat will add comfort to these strange times. Stay safe and bake!

Gluten Free Banana Cream Cheese Muffins

 

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Ingredients

• 16.25 ounces (3 ¼ cup) All-Purpose Gluten Free flour blend
• 1 ½ tsp. xanthan gum (if your flour blend does not already contain this)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. salt
• 4 overripe large bananas (about 18 ounces by weight- will be about 2 cups by volume when mashed)
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 14 oz. (2 cups) white sugar
• 5.25 ounces (¾ cup packed) dark brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ⅔ cup warm water
• For the Cinnamon Swirl:
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• For the Cream Cheese Filling
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• Pinch salt
• 1 large egg
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line two muffin pans with muffin liners.
2. To make the muffin batter, combine flour blend, xanthan gum,cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together bananas and vegetable oil. Whisk in sugars. Add eggs one at a time, then whisk in vanilla and water. Fold dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
3. To make the cinnamon swirl, mix together the cinnamon and white in a small bowl.
4. To make the cream cheese filling, beat the cream cheese, granulated sugar, and salt on low speed with a stand mixer or electric mixer until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla, and mix to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed.
5. Fill the muffin liners about halfway with the banana bread batter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of each half-filled muffin, then add about a tablespoon of cream cheese filling to each muffin. Add the rest of the batter to the pans.
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before diving in.

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