Outrageous Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins
Perfectly tender and incredibly addicting! These gluten-free blueberry muffins have a sparkly sugar crust on top and are moist on the inside, just bursting with fresh blueberries!
Not a dry crumb in sight!
These gluten-free blueberry muffins are now a go-to recipe around here. I’ve made these more times than I can count on one hand and, AND, AND I’ve made them with regular all-purpose flour too. Just to be sure that this recipe works for those of us that may not necessarily be on a gluten-free diet.
With our trip to Italy right around the corner, it seems like it’s getting harder and harder to fit everything we need to get done before leaving. Lately, I’ve had super packed days where I’m rushing from the time my alarm clock goes off in the morning to the time I rest my head back down on the pillow at night. For all the crazy mornings, I’m starting to put together things like these gluten-free blueberry muffins and my breakfast croissant boats that make breakfast a grab-and-go affair.
Husband calls these blueberry muffins his breakfast dessert. I call myself lucky if I can get something in my system before lunchtime.
The BEST homemade gluten-free blueberry muffins:
In the past, I’ve shared a variety of muffin recipes with you guys like my healthy carrot cake muffin. But to be honest, this is the first time I’ve dabbled in a gluten-free blueberry muffin recipe. Of course, you can easily swap out the blueberries for raspberries or even blackberries if you prefer those more. This recipe works well with a simple swap.
As a child, my favorite thing to pick out when we made a trip to Sam’s Club were those freakishly huge muffins from the bakery section. Have you ever had them? They’re so good! They came in a sampler pack with banana nut, blueberry, and chocolate with chocolate chip. Though I haven’t had them since I was a teenager, I distinctly remember always gravitating towards the chocolate variety. It wasn’t until the chocolate muffins ran out that I’d make my way over to the fruit kind.
Funny how things work out. It’s quite the opposite now. I’ll take a blueberry muffin over chocolate chip any day!
The baking mix we use in our gluten-free blueberry muffins
First off, you’ll need gluten-free flour. Sometimes it’s sold as a gluten-free all-purpose baking mix. For those that aren’t too familiar with this type of baking mix, it’s usually a combination of brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, and white rice flour. This doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll contain all these ingredients, but most gluten-free baking mixes contain some or all of these ingredients in various proportions. The bag or box will also list it as a ‘1 to 1 baking mix.’ That means that you can directly replace the all-purpose flour with the gluten-free mix and achieve similar results. You can also find it online in case your grocery store doesn’t carry it.
Everything else you need to make gluten-free blueberry muffins:
- leavening agent
- softened butter
- sugar
- ground cinnamon/nutmeg
- vanilla/almond extract
- eggs
- buttermilk
- blueberries
Though this recipe is pretty similar to most gluten-free blueberry muffin recipes out there, I feel it has one thing that takes the muffins over the top. Almond extract is an ingredient I often use when making blueberry muffins. Up until recently, I wasn’t a fan of the stuff. To tell you the truth, I still reserve it to use in a few, select muffin recipes. But there’s just something about blueberry muffins, and almond extract works well together. It elevates the flavor and makes it more of a bakery-style muffin. If you aren’t a huge fan, I urge you to still give it a try as you may change your mind, it’s only a ¼ teaspoon!
One more thing I wanted to talk about, buttermilk. Buttermilk gives these gluten-free blueberry muffins the most distinctive, slightly tangy flavor. It tends to work well in recipes that contain berries. The acid in buttermilk also helps these muffins rise nice and high.
How to make the best gluten-free blueberry muffins:
The method is pretty simple. We’ll combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and set that aside. Then, cream the butter and the sugar together and add the eggs one at a time before adding in the extracts and finally alternate the buttermilk and the flour until everything is combined. Just be sure not overmix the batter.
One thing I like to do before folding the blueberries into the batter is wash them, and toss them in a tablespoon of flour. This helps keep the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffin.
TIP: If you want your muffins to be more visually appealing, save a few of the blueberries and top the batter with them once you’ve portioned them out into a paper-lined muffin pan. They burst, and the juices run down the side, and the muffins are gaw-geous.
Then just sprinkle the remaining two tablespoons of sugar on your muffins and let them bake. Trying not to eat them while they’re hot out of the oven is the hardest thing! The sugar on top gives these muffins the most distinct crunch. These muffins are addicting!
How long will these last?
My experience with gluten-free muffins in the summer is that they don’t really hold up more than two days. Especially not in the Texas heat! So usually, I’ll bake a batch and send some to family or friends and keep a few for us. Or I’ll do option number two below.
Can you freeze gluten-free blueberry muffins?
The answer is, yes, you can! You can bake these muffins off, allow them to come to room temperature, then pop them into a zip-top bag and freeze them for up to 2 months. Just let them defrost in the refrigerator overnight, and they’re ready to go in the morning.
Smear them with a little butter while they’re still warm and eat them over the sink. It’s so much more satisfying this way. I hope these gluten-free blueberry muffins become a Sunday morning staple at your place too!
Outrageous Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins
Perfectly tender and incredibly addicting! These gluten-free blueberry muffins have a sparkly sugar crust on top and are moist on the inside, just bursting with fresh blueberries!
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten-free baking mix or all-purpose flour (plus more)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon EACH: almond extract (optional) AND ground nutmeg (optional)
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
- 1 cup and 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 heaping cup blueberries
Instructions
- PREP: Preheat the oven to 425F; line muffin pan with paper baking liners and set aside.
- DRY INGREDIENTS: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside. In another bowl, toss the washed berries with 1 tablespoon of flour.
- MAKE: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter for 1 minute. Then, add 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of sugar and cream together for roughly 1-2 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stop and scrape down the sides. With the mixer on the stir setting, add the eggs one at a time and waiting until each is mixed in well before adding the next. Add the vanilla and almond extract. Add half of the prepared flour mixture, followed by all the buttermilk, and then finally the remaining flour until it is well blended, but make sure you don’t overmix. Fold the floured berries into the batter until *just combined* Overmixing will result is a blue/green muffin once they’re baked.
- BAKE: Divide the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle the muffins with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the muffin pan in the oven and immediately drop the oven temperature to 375ºF. Bake the muffins for 26-32 minutes or until the muffins are cooked through. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- If you have unsalted butter, just up the salt to ½ teaspoon total.
- Leftover muffins can be stored in an airtight container for 2 days and kept at room temperature. You can also pop these into a zip top bag and freeze them for later.
Would light (reduced fat) buttermilk work just as well in this recipe?
I did. These are delicious!
Hey Peggy!! I’m so excited to try your receipe! Quick question, if I use Bob’s Red Mill GF all purpose baking flour, do I need to adf xantham gum to the mix? It says to on the back so I’m confused. Any thoughts? Thank you!
Oh my goodness! These were perfect! Thank you so much! My daughter and I loved them and it replaces many tried recipes. Wonderful!
I am a novice cook/baker and made these today. They were so simple and so very yummy. I did have to substitute sour cream for buttermilk but the muffins looked and tasted perfect. I am definitely going to make these again and again.
Yes I made the muffins using almond flour. Except for them not raising they were delicious.(My baking powder must be old)
Hey Barbara-
Have you tried making again with almond flour?
Can I make the batter the night before and bake in the morning?
Hi Carolyn! Unfortunately I don’t think the muffins will turn out if you prepare the batter ahead of time. For best results, I suggest mixing and baking immediately.
Fabulous! I added flax seed and hemp seed and a little lemon juice, So good.
The first time I made receipe they were delicious, but sunk in the middle. Served them anyway and folks liked them.
I bought new baking soda and just made them again. They dipped in middle again, worse than first time and ran over side .
I used almond milk and lemon juice and almond flour.
Any suggestions?
Hi Barbara! Sorry to hear the recipe didn’t turn out for you. I think the culprit is the almond flour. Unfortunately, it’s not a 1:1 substitute for the GF baking mix in this recipe. GF baking mix usually contains ingredients like rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, and xanthan gum. For best results, I suggest trying the recipe with a homemade (there are tons of recipes available online) or a store-bought baking mix instead of almond flour. Hope that helps!
The Muffins were amazing one of the best I have made yet
These were the tastiest and most beautiful muffins I’ve ever made. I’ve been making GF food for about 10 years for my celiac daughter, so I’ve tried a lot of recipes. I used a xanthan gum free flour, so I added 3/4 tsp. of xanthan gum and I used Egg Beaters for the eggs because my husband can’t have egg yolks. Other than that, I made the recipe as written, with the optional ingredients (almond extract & nutmeg). I’m making them for a 2nd time this week with my fresh blueberries!
Fabulous muffins! I have tried to make blueberry muffins countless times but they never turn out right, these ones are truly outrageously good!!v
What sorcery is this?! GF muffins that brown? Amazing! Substitutes: dairy free butter and sour cream. Also put a few walnuts on top. My only complaint is that these muffins are addictive! Thank you for sharing this phenomenal recipe!
This is the best muffin recipe I’ve ever made. My sister couldn’t even tell it was gluten-free. Thank you!
I have made this recipe twice, exactly as directed, and these muffins are awesome!!! Even my non-gluten-free husband and kids loved them. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you so much for sharing it.
This recipe is so good! My kids have requested them 3 times in one week!
Made these for my 6 year old gluten-free granddaughter – absolutely loves loves loves them! I’m the best Grammy ever, she says! I’d say they are a hit!
These were so dang good. Followed the recipe exactly. Used nutmeg and almond extract. I’m not GF but these were like bakery quality good. They cooked a little fast in my oven but they were perfect.
THE BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFIN EVER! I added the almond extract and nutmeg and I think it just added to the flavor. I used King Arthur glutenfree all purpose baking mix. I also used 3 eggs as the ones I had were small- to make up for 2 large as recipe calls for. Very moist, especially for gluten free and tons of flavor. I will definitely be making these again and again.
This recipe looks really good and most like made ones made with white flour. Have you ever substituted oat flour?
Thanks
These are wonderfully awesome! I rate at 5 STARS… posted on Instagram today #littlespicejar
Made these gluten free muffins for the first time today & 3 of us ate most of them straight from the oven yum yum !!!!!
I’m made these muffins with a berry and apple mix of fruit and they were delicious. My fruit was quite moist even after tossing in flour so the centers were still slightly underdone but not enough to deter from eating as is. I used 1 c rice flour, 1/2 c almond flour, 1/2 tapioca flour plus 1 tsp xanthan … instead of an all purpose flour. I also used almond milk with lemon juice instead of buttermilk.. I will make these again for sure!! Great recipe!!!
I just made these outrageous blueberry muffins and they are simply delicious. My first gluten-free dish using oatmeal flour and almond flour. Loved the spices.
Thanks for the recipe.
We are at 5000ft, and this recipe is very easy to adjust (kind arthur high altitude chart). It’s now our go-to muffin base for a variety of flavors. We’ve experimented swapping the buttermilk for sour cream, whole milk, and almond milk, all producing similar results. Thank you for sharing this gem!
These are absolutely incredible! You can’t tell they are gluten free at all! Thank you!
These were AMAZING. I did add the almond extract but not the nutmeg. Way better then trying a box mix.
These are the most delicious, tender blueberry muffins. The recipe is versatile and accommodating. I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten free mix, Lakanto monk fruit 1:1 classic sweetener for sugar, almond milk with lemon juice for my buttermilk, and Earth Balance for my butter. I used the recommended Almond extract and nutmeg. These were so delicious, and I can’t wait to try other fruits, chips, nuts, etc to vary the recipe!
Thank you for a terrific recipe!
Made these for the first time, so good and super easy to make. Thank you
Thank you for the recipe!
As a rating: these are sweeter than I like for a breakfast muffin, and that’s even after cutting the sugar back a little. Almost cake like.
That said, they are fluffy, flavorful, moist, and don’t taste “gluten free”. Really delicious, great quality muffins.
This is a perfect recipe! My first blueberry muffins and just great!