Sometimes in life, we just need a blueberry muffin. Really, is there anything better than a warm, from the oven blueberry muffin smothered in ghee, coconut oil, or maybe some cashew cheese? Blueberry muffins were one of the first muffin recipes I ever attempted to healthify. I am a muffin fan. Getting a fail-proof gluten-free muffin that is also egg-free and processed sugar-free required some serious testing. And I was happy to do so.
I have been tweaking this recipe for nearly a decade and I think I now have it just right.
About once a month or so, I bake a batch of muffins to enjoy one a week with my hot elixir. It is the best thing in the whole world. There is something just so homey and comforting about slicing open a fresh-baked blueberry muffin, slathering it in your favourite spread and taking a big steamy bite with the little bursts of fruity sweetness.
Can You Modify Baking Recipes?
Now isn’t that a popular question? It’s become a bit of a joke among recipe writers and bloggers that no matter what we post, we get a gazillion questions about substituting this for that. In most cases, I’m happy to say, YES! Go forth and update, modify, switch around. But when it comes to baking, that my friends, is an adventure you have to take on your own. Baking is fussy, finicky and can be tedious.
Though I am all for making something your own – I even teach this as one type of recipe creation technique in the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program – when it comes to baking, that adventure is your own. Changing a flour or two, swapping one sweetener for another, replacing chia for eggs, these are all wonderful options and a great way to be able to work with your particular preferences, sensitivities or just what’s in your pantry. But in most cases, if you ask me, I’ll tell you that I have no idea how it will turn out.
To ensure a recipe is successful, I’ll develop it, test it, rewrite it, and test it again.
So as I have said before and will say time and time again when you ask: Please know that I can only comment or support your cooking adventures when the recipe is followed as I’ve created it. I encourage creativity and experiments, but I can’t guarantee what your results will be.
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Best Ever Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
A delicious gluten-free blueberry muffin recipe.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 Tbsp ground chia
- 2/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
- 2 cups wild blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tin with liners.
- Sift together brown rice flour, chickpea flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir in sea salt.
- In a separate bowl or blender, combine ground chia, maple syrup, apple sauce, water, cider vinegar, vanilla extract, and coconut oil.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry and combine until well mixed. Add blueberries and stir in.
- Using a spoon, scoop batter into lined muffin tins and put in the oven.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven, let sit for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: Baked Good
If you try a variation of this recipe with amazing results, to benefit the whole community, please share the details in the comments below.
21 responses to “Best Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffin Recipe”
Just wanted to add that I made the muffins this evening. I couldn’t find my muffin tins so I just greased a cake pan with coconut oil and put the batter in that instead. It cooked a little longer than 30 minutes (40, maybe?) but was excellently satisfying and so delicious. It was comfort food to me for sure.
Thanks again for sharing. :)
Can you use anything else besides maple syrup to cut the sugar content?
thanks!
Use less :) Or honey.
I just made these but used chickpea flour instead of the buckwheat since it’s what I had on hand. Delicious!
Just wanted to pop buy and say that I finally got around to making these and they are just fantastic! I reduced the maple syrup to ½ cup and still had excellent results.
I was just thinking I needed to make some yummy muffins as a first week of school treat for the kids! I have some cherries in the freezer I’ll sub in for the blueberries this time around though …
Sounds delicious!
What can I use instead of the applesauce?
I find any brown rice flour I buy has a grit to it. Is there a particular brand you use. I bake a lot, that is the only drawback for me I always feel the grit when eating what I have made. Your muffins look amazing.
Eva
Hi Meghan
Made these yesterday in NZ and they were stunning and just the sort of healthy muffin recipe I have been after!
Like some others I reduced the maple syrup by half and used butter instead of coconut oil – they looked amazing and tasted even better. Thanks for the work developing the recipe.
★★★★★
Amazing! I concur – these muffins really are the greatest.
These muffins are great! I didn’t have any apple sauce on hand, but I had just made Megan’s Sweet Rhubarb Butter the other day, so I used that instead. Since the Rhubarb had honey in it as sweetener I cut back on the amount of maple syrup I added to the muffins. They turned out AMAZING!
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed them, and good to know this recipe works with the rhubarb butter too!
Made these and was blown away!! Did not have the brown rice flour but used buckwheat instead. Still turned out delicious! A hit with adults and kid in the house :)
So glad your family liked them! They are my absolute favourite. Good to know that buckwheat works just as well :)
Wow, I have a few other gluten free & vegan muffin recipes & this recipe is the best one. I used Maple Syrup as the sweetener. Delicious! Thank you for sharing this!
★★★★★
I tried this recipe and didn’t have brown rice flour, so subbed in arrowroot flour. The result was good but I felt the muffins were a tad too sweet and was missing the lemon tang I enjoy with blueberry muffins. So the second time, I added the rind of a lemon plus the juice of half a large lemon (about 2 tablespoons of juice), in place of the apple cider vinegar. I reduced the maple syrup to just over half a cup. I also used arrowroot powder again. The result was more to my liking and the crumb and texture was especially nice.
★★★★
Great! I’m glad you were able to tinker with this recipe and discover a version you loved.
I love this recipe and have been using it as a template for experimenting with other fruits quite a bit the past while, for example, chopped rhubarb and apple. Today I used cranberries instead of blueberries as they are now in season. I also used the juice of half a lemon, and its grated rind, instead of the apple cider vinegar. I cut back on the maple syrup (1/2 a cup instead of 3/4, then adding a bit more water if necessary) and had to cut back on the baking time as the lack of juiciness in cranberries seems to make the muffins bake more quickly. I think 18 minutes is probably plenty. Next time I think I’ll try adding chopped walnuts.
Can you use frozen blueberries? Just wondering if that would change the consistency and make them more liquidy?
Thanks!!
Hi Linda! Frozen blueberries will work too.