Special enough for a birthday cupcake and healthy enough as a breakfast muffin, these almond flour banana cupcakes are gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free and absolutely delicious! Frost with cream cheese frosting, or serve plain as a healthy banana muffin for breakfast.
What dessert can you make for a birthday celebration that has no gluten and is sugar-free, but seems a little special? Almond flour banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting!
Creating recipes that are both sugar-free and gluten-free can be a challenge. Luckily there are lots of choices, especially now that I've discovered that natural monkfruit sweetener works just like granulated sugar in many recipes.
These sugar-free, gluten-free banana cupcakes make a delicious substitute for a birthday cake. Cupcakes are often a good alternative to a full-sized cake if you're serving a small group. Enjoy a few and freeze the rest for another day!
Let's get started!
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🛒 Ingredients
Here are a few notes about the ingredients you'll need.
Banana Cupcakes
- 3 medium bananas: overripe and spotty are the best for this recipe
- granulated sweetener: your choice of Monkfruit, coconut sugar, or granulated sugar
- butter or coconut oil: melted
- eggs: large
- pure vanilla extract
- almond flour: finely ground
- tapioca starch: also called tapioca flour
- baking powder: gluten-free if necessary
- sea salt
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- cream cheese: at room temperature so it will combine smoothly without lumps.
- salted butter: at room temperature
- maple syrup: pure, not pancake syrup
- pure vanilla extract
🔪 Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. and line 12 muffin cups with paper or silicone liners. Gluten-free baked goods tend to stick, so either use liners or grease the pan VERY well.
- In a medium bowl, mash the bananas until no lumps remain, then whisk in the sweetener, melted butter or oil, eggs and vanilla extract.
- In a large bowl, whisk the almond flour, tapioca starch, baking powder and salt.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, using a spatula to combine until no traces of flour remain.
- Transfer the batter to the muffin cups, dividing evenly.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, or almost clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. Let them cool completely before frosting with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.
👍🏼 Helpful Tips
Be sure to line your muffin tin with paper or silicone liners, as gluten-free baked goods often stick to the pan.
Wondering what other recipes you can make with overripe bananas? Try these ones, too!
- Gluten-free Banana Bread Chocolate Chip Cookies (these taste like a slice of banana bread!
- Grain-Free Blueberry Banana Bread (moist, tender and so delicious!)
- Grain-Free Banana Coffee Cake with Maple Walnut Streusel (tender cake with a crunchy streusel topping!)
🔁 Possible Variations
You have lots of choices to vary this banana cupcake recipe! This recipe can be both a muffin recipe and a cupcake recipe.
Make chocolate chip banana muffins! Omit the frosting and add ¾ to 1 cup of chocolate chips to the batter.
Make banana blueberry muffins! Gently fold in 1 cup of fresh blueberries to the batter before filling the muffin cups.
Make banana streusel muffins! Omit the frosting and add a streusel topping instead. Combine the following in a small bowl and divide evenly, gently pressing the streusel mixture into the muffins/cupcakes before baking.
- ¼ cup almond flour
- ground cinnamon
- ½ cup walnuts, finely chopped
- pinch sea salt
- 1 tbsp granulated sweetener, your choice of Monkfruit, coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
🥶Storage Instructions
Store frosted cupcakes in the fridge for up to 5 days. These cupcakes/muffins freeze well, too. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Thaw at room temperature or in the fridge overnight.
🍽 Serving suggestions
These almond flour banana cupcakes can be enjoyed as a muffin with morning coffee or as cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for a special dessert!
If you like sprinkles, add a few just for fun.
🗒More gluten-free cupcake recipes you might like
📖 Recipe
Recipe: Almond Flour Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Banana Cupcakes
- 3 medium bananas, overripe
- ¼ cup Monkfruit granulated sweetener, or coconut sugar, or granulated sugar
- ¼ cup butter or coconut oil, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups almond flour, fine
- ½ cup tapioca starch, also called tapioca flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder, gluten-free
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- ¼ cup salted butter, at room temperature
- ¼ cup maple syrup, or up to ⅓ cup, depending on your taste.
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. and line 12 muffin cups with paper or silicone liners.
- In a medium bowl, mash the bananas until no lumps remain, then whisk in the sweetener, melted butter or oil, eggs and vanilla extract.
- In a large bowl, whisk the almond flour, tapioca starch, baking powder and salt.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, using a spatula to combine until no traces of flour remain.
- Transfer the batter to the muffin cups, dividing evenly.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, or almost clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. Let them cool completely before frosting with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.
- To make the frosting, be sure your cream cheese and butter are at room temperature to avoid lumps! Combine all frosting ingredients in a small bowl, either stirring by hand or with an electric mixer.
Susan
These are really tasty! Even without the frosting. But ... that frosting is delicious!
Elaine
Thanks! Happy to hear you loved these, both ways! Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Anne
Yum! I've been switching over to using Monkfruit in a lot of my baking lately. These cupcakes got devoured! That touch of maple in the frosting goes really well with the banana flavor. Have you tried the Lacanto maple-flavoured syrup?
Flavour & Savour
Hi Anne,
Happy to hear you liked these cupcakes! Yes, I've tried the Lacanto syrup and really like it, but it has been hard to get lately. Hopefully that will change soon! Thanks for commenting!