These easy gluten free muffins are perfect for adding mix-ins like chocolate chips or topping with a simple crumble. They freeze beautifully, and will impress your guests!
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What makes these easy gluten free muffins so special
There are quite a few gluten free muffins recipes here on the blog. But none of them is a truly “basic” gluten free muffin recipe like this one mix-in muffin mix recipe.
This basic mix-in muffin recipe, though, isn't the only gluten free muffin recipe you'll ever need. It's perfect for mix-ins that hold their shape and don't add moisture, like chocolate chips or miniature dried fruit like raisins. And let's be honest—that's most muffins you'll make.
This recipe also gives you that big, bakery-style muffin top that everyone loves. Whether you want muffins covered in a simple brown sugar crumble, plain vanilla, or studded with mix-ins, this is the classic gluten free muffin recipe you'll reach for again and again!
How to make gluten free muffins with your favorite mix-ins
How to make the crumble (it’s optional)
- In a small mixing bowl, place melted unsalted butter, brown sugar, one of my recommended gluten free flour blends (including xanthan gum, and salt, and mix to combine. The mixture will be thick and clumpy.
- You’ll have to make the crumble mixture first, since it’s made with melted butter and you have to chill it while you make the muffin batter so it becomes solid.
How to make the muffin batter.
- Place eggs, buttermilk, melted (and cooled) butter, and pure vanilla extract in a medium-size mixing bowl, and mix to combine. These are your wet ingredients.
- In a large mixing bowl, place the dry ingredients, which include: one of my recommended gluten free flour blends (including xanthan gum), baking powder, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Whisk to combine the dry ingredients well, and use the back of your mixing spoon to break up any lumps in your brown sugar. Brown sugar always has lumps!
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients in the large mixing bowl, and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.
- If you’d like to add any simple dry mix-in pieces like chocolate chips, add them now, and mix until they’re distributed throughout the muffin batter.
How to finish the muffins.
- Using a large spring-loaded ice cream scoop or a mixing spoon, scoop the batter into greased and/or lined wells of a standard 12-cup muffin tin. The batter is too thick to pour.
- The muffins wells should be nearly full with batter. If you were using the crumble topping, remove it from the refrigerator now and break the mixture into clumps using the tines of a fork.
- A handful at a time, scatter the crumble pieces evenly across the tops of all of the wells of the muffin tin, and press down gently to help the crumble stick to the muffin batter.
- Bake at 350°F until the top of the center muffin springs back when pressed gently in the center. That will take about 20 minutes if you haven’t used the crumble topping, and about 22 minutes if you have.
- As soon as you can handle them safely, transfer the muffins from the tin to a wire rack to cool completely. We don’t want them to keep cooking in the hot muffin tin, and the outside tends to steam and get chewy if you don’t transfer the muffins quickly enough.
Can you add blueberries to to these muffins?
This isn't the right recipe for adding fresh (or frozen) blueberries. For that, you'll need my bakery-style gluten free blueberry muffin recipe. Blueberries burst in the oven and add moisture to the surrounding batter. Chocolate chips don't!
If you'd like to add strawberries, try our recipe for gluten free strawberry muffins, which have a lot more moisture than even blueberries do, so even they need their own recipe!
This is the perfect recipe if you'd like a “plain” muffin, a chocolate chip muffin, or a muffin with pistachio or other chopped nuts mixed in. It's also perfect if you'd like to keep the batter plain, but add a crumble on top. Oh, a crumble topping is just the best, isn't it?
How to choose the best tin for your gluten free muffins
Whenever I share a gluten free muffin recipe, the instructions state to grease or line the wells of a standard 12-cup muffin tin (or a standard 24-cup miniature muffin tin, if they're for miniatures). But the truth is that, like volume measurements for ingredient amounts, there's no real standardization in muffin well sizes and shapes.
Some muffin wells are larger than others. That means that if you divide the batter among the wells you might be filling them all the way full, and I might be filling mine 3/4 of the way full.
Some muffin wells have straight sides, and others have angled sides. That can also affect the capacity of each well. Some muffin tins are dark, others are more neutral. Dark colored muffin tins and other pans will bake the outside of baked goods faster than neutral-colored ones.
Since I want my recipes to be as flexible as possible, I don't like to specify a particular muffin tin. You should use what you have. But you may have to make certain adjustments, depending upon the size, shape and color of your pans.
How to make good gluten free muffins in dark colored muffin tins
If your muffin tins (or really any baking pans) are dark, you'll need to adjust the baking time and sometimes even the baking temperature. For that reason, I generally advise against using any dark colored tins and pans for baking.
But if avoiding dark pans isn't an option, try reducing the oven temperature by about 25°F. That should allow the outside of the muffins to bake more slowly and not burn before the inside is fully baked.
Otherwise, the muffins may rise too quickly and then fall as they cool. That's also the same fate your baked goods will suffer if your oven runs hot, so be sure you're using an oven thermometer, as most ovens are improperly calibrated (including mine!), so they run hot.
Tips for making gluten free muffins in smaller muffin tins
If your muffin tins don't seem to be as large as mine, if you can tell from the photos, it probably won't matter. My recipes always specify whether you're going to divide the batter among the wells of the tin, or fill them only 2/3 or 3/4 of the way full. Here's how I decide.
When we're looking to bake muffins or cupcakes with a flat top, like in a recipe for gluten free cupcakes, the recipe will generally be one that isn't written to rise too high. And I will also specify to fill the wells, for example, only 2/3 of the way full.
In this recipe for easy gluten free muffins, like in my recipe for gluten free blueberry muffins, we're making bakery-style muffins that rise high into a dome. The recipe specifies dividing the batter evenly among the wells of the muffin tin. If your muffin tin is slightly smaller than mine, it won't matter.
Easy gluten free muffins ingredients and substitution suggestions
Since there are a few other major allergens in this muffin recipe, I'm providing my best educated guesses about how to eliminate them with substitutions. Please understand, though, that this recipe is only guaranteed to work when made exactly as written! Each substitution takes you further away from the recipe as written.
How to make gluten free dairy free muffins
I've made these simple gluten free muffins dairy-free very easily. I replaced the butter with my favorite vegan butter replacement, which for me is either Melt brand or Miyoko's Kitchen brand.
There is more moisture in those butter replacements than there is in the “real” thing, so I found that I only needed 2/3 cup of liquid, rather than 3/4 cup. Instead of buttermilk, I used a mixture of half unsweetened nondairy milk and half nondairy plain yogurt.
For the crumble, I recommend using shortening in place of butter, and about 1 tablespoon less gluten free flour. If you're making chocolate chip muffins, just be sure you're using dairy free chocolate chips. Your dairy-free muffins won't brown as much as your muffins made with dairy, and that's fine. They'll still taste great.
Can you make make gluten free, egg-free mix-in muffins?
Since there are 3 full eggs in this recipe, it would be a challenge to make it egg-free. You can try using a “chia egg” in place of each egg, but I'm afraid I'm not too optimistic. I make a chia egg by mixing 1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds with 1 tablespoon of water.
Can you make gluten free muffins without sugar?
These are sweet muffins, in all their different varieties. If you're looking to eliminate all the refined sugar, try our recipe for gluten free savory muffins. You'll love it!
FAQs
Yes! Just prepare a mini muffin tin and fill the wells full of batter. Add the optional crumble topping in the same way, and bake at 350°F. The baking time will be less, so start checking for doneness at about 13 minutes.
Since these muffins don't have any wet pieces inside, you can test doneness in the easiest way possible. Press down gently with your fingers on the center of a muffin toward the center of the muffin tin. If it springs back, they're done.
Check to see if your baking powder fresh was fresh? Was your oven running cool, so there wasn't any oven spring when the muffins first went into the oven?
When baked goods rise in the oven and then fall as they cool, they're not baked all the way through. That can be due to a too-hot oven that will burn the outside before the inside can support the structure as the steam escapes.
If your muffins didn't rise, the baking powder and/or baking soda were probably not fresh. In addition, if the oven wasn't hot enough, your muffins won't rise. Always check oven temperature with a standalone oven thermometer since most ovens drift out of calibration (including mine, so I use an oven thermometer that I replace often).
If you used a poorly balanced gluten free flour blend, it may require more moisture and your muffins may be dry.
Did you use a high quality all purpose gluten free flour blend with xanthan gum? Without xanthan gum or an equivalent, your muffins won't bind properly.
No, making baked goods chocolate flavored is more than just adding cocoa powder to another recipe. If you're craving chocolate, who could blame you, but you'll need our recipe for gluten free chocolate muffins!
Easy Gluten Free Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
For the (optional) gf crumble
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup (109 g) packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup (70 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
For the gf muffins
- 3 (150 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
- ¾ cup (6 fluid ounces) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (280 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (55 g) packed light brown sugar
- Up to 1 cup of mix-in pieces chocolate chips, raisins, chopped nuts or crumble topping (see below)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease or line the wells of a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside.
If making the (optional) crumble.
- If you’d like to add the crumble to the tops of your muffins, make the crumble now. Place all the (optional) crumble ingredients in a small bowl and mix to combine fully.
- Place the crumble mixture in the refrigerator to chill while you make the muffin batter.
To make the muffin batter.
- In a medium-size bowl, place the eggs, buttermilk, butter and vanilla, and mix until well-combined. Set the wet ingredients aside briefly.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Whisk to combine and break up any lumps in the brown sugar.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the egg and buttermilk mixture. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Don’t overmix.
- If adding any simple mix-ins like chocolate chips, add them to the batter now and mix just until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Fill the prepared wells of the muffin tin with batter, and smooth the tops with wet fingers. You should get 12 muffins, but if your wells are deeper than mine you'll get less and more shallow you'll get more.
- If you’re adding the crumble, remove the bowl from the refrigerator and break up the crumble into irregular pieces (none too large) with the tines of a fork.
- Sprinkle the crumble generously on the top of the muffin batter in the wells, and press to adhere the mixture to the muffin batter.
- Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the top of the center muffin springs back when pressed gently in the center, about 20 minutes.
- If you’ve added the crumble, those muffins may take another minute or so to bake fully. Remove from the oven and allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
