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These perfectly spiced gluten free apple muffins have two whole diced apples inside, and they're made extra tender with sour cream in the batter. Each bite is packed with warm spices and juicy apple chunks, creating a muffin so soft and flavorful you'll completely forget that it's gluten-free.
This is one of those recipes that the gluten eaters tend to ask if they can make with “regular flour”!
Why this recipe works
This special recipe is different from other gluten free apple muffins you'll find. The muffins are more tender, have more flavor, and the recipe is still quick and easy.
The apple chunks in the batter release some moisture during baking; sour cream in the batter adds fat and acid for added tenderness. Nearly 2 whole apples in the batter and on top add lots of apple flavor without being overly sweet; a touch of cinnamon adds more flavor and aroma.
Even though there's no escaping peeling, coring and dicing the apples, you only prepare 2 apples, and the rest of the recipe calls for only 1 mixing bowl. And with all that moisture in the muffins, they stay fresh at room temperature for a few days.
Key ingredients explained
- Gluten free flour blend: Make sure you use a well-balanced, superfine blend of flours with rice flour as the base to provide the proper structure and moisture balance. I love Nicole's Best multipurpose, Better Batter's classic blend, and Vitacost's Multipurpose gluten free flour blend. Be sure to add xanthan gum if your blend doesn't contain it, and if you're using Bob's Red Mill's 1-to-1 blend, add an additional 1/2 teaspoon, since that blend doesn't contain enough binder.
- Baking powder/baking soda: Help the muffins rise and help them brown lightly in the oven.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and brings out the other flavors.
- Cinnamon (and maybe nutmeg): The classic spice to pair with apples; if you have it, add some freshly grated nutmeg, too.
- Granulated sugar: Adds sweetness but also helps keep the muffins tender by locking in moisture.
- Apples: The best apples for baking are usually Granny Smith, since they're sweet, tart, and have a nice firm texture that never gets mushy during baking. Braeburn, Cortland, Empire or Pink Lady apples also work well.
- Cornstarch: We toss the diced apples with a bit of starch to absorb some moisture and avoid mushiness. If you can't have cornstarch, try potato starch or arrowroot.
- Butter: Adds flavor, and helps keep the muffins tender. If you're dairy free, replace with vegan butter (Miyoko's Creamery brand is my favorite) or virgin coconut oil.
- Sour cream: Adds richness and makes for a really tender crumb without too much added moisture that could create a too-thin batter and muffins that sink as they cool. You can use Greek-style plain yogurt in its place. If you're dairy free, replace with your favorite dairy free sour cream alternative or nondairy Greek yogurt.
- Eggs: Help the muffins rise, add texture and structure so they don't sink as they cool. If you're egg-free, try using 2 “chia eggs” (2 tablespoons ground white chia seeds + 2 tablespoons water, mixed and allowed to gel).
- Vanilla: Adds depth of flavor and enhances all the other flavors, too.
How to make gluten free apple muffins
1. Prep dry ingredients and apples
In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (gluten free flour blend, xanthan gum, baking powder and soda, salt, sugar, cinnamon). This distributes the leaveners evenly throughout the flour.
To flavor the apples and keep them from leaking too much moisture as they bake, toss the diced apples with cornstarch, cinnamon, and sugar. Mix 2/3 of the apple mixture to the dry ingredients for apple in every bite, reserving the rest for the top of the muffins.
2. Finish the batter
Toss the apple mixture in the dry ingredients. Mix in the melted butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla for a cohesive, thick batter that will hold the apple pieces suspended, so they don't fall to the bottom of the muffins during baking.
3. Fill the muffin tin wells
Fill the wells of a muffin tin full with the thick batter for tall muffins. Add the rest of the diced apple mixture on top to decorate the tops of the muffins, and to experience their texture in every bite.
4. Bake and serve
Bake the muffins first at 375°F to give the muffins a boost, and then finish baking at 350°F to keep anything from burning on the outside before the inside is fully baked.
Expert tips
Start with a hotter oven
Give your muffins a head start on rising by preheating your oven to 375°F. After 5 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350°F until done. The temperature won't fall right away, of course, but will slowly fall to 350°F for the remainder of the baking time, so your muffins don't burn on the bottom.
Check doneness properly
It's best to bake these muffins until they're mostly firm to the touch. The muffins are so tender inside that the “toothpick in the center” test for doneness can be misleading here.
Use a light-colored muffin tin
Light-colored aluminum muffin tins are the best for muffins that bake evenly and fully. Dark muffin tins bake the outside very quickly, so if your tin is dark-colored line the wells with cupcake liners rather than greasing them and bake at a little lower than 350°F.
Gluten Free Apple Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (See Recipe Notes)
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, optional
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups (200 g) peeled, cored, and diced apples , (about 2 medium-size apples; Granny Smith are best, Braeburn and Cortland are great, too)
- 2 teaspoons (6 g) cornstarch
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup (240 g) sour cream, at room temperature (or plain Greek yogurt)
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature, beaten
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Grease or line the wells of a standard 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour blend, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, optional nutmeg and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Whisk to combine well.
- In a separate, medium-size bowl, place the diced apples and toss with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and the cornstarch. Toss to combine.
- Add about 2/3 of the apple mixture to the large bowl of dry ingredients, and toss to coat.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the butter, sour cream, eggs and vanilla, and mix to combine. The batter will be thick.
- Fill the prepared wells of the muffin tin all the way with the batter, and smooth the tops with wet fingers.
- Scatter the tops with a few pieces of the remaining apple mixture each, and press gently to help the apples adhere.
- Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F for the remainder of the baking time.
- Bake until lightly golden brown on the edges and mostly firm to the touch, about 22 minutes. The moisture in the apples baked into the top of the muffins keep these muffins very tender on top, so don't expect even browning.
- Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store any leftovers in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 2 days; freeze for longer storage.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Storage & refreshing instructions
If you store these extra tender muffins in a sealed container at room temperature, they will stay moist and tender for at least 2, if not 3 days. For longer storage, freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet, and then pile them into a freeze-safe zip-top bag for up to 3 months.
Avoid freezer burn by squeezing as much air out of the bag as possible. To refresh frozen muffins, let defrost at room temperature, or microwave at 50% power for about 25 seconds. For a fresh-baked feeling, sprinkle defrosted muffins lightly with some lukewarm water and reheat in a 300°F toaster oven until warm.
Troubleshooting your muffin results
Muffins sticking to liners
Did you use greaseproof muffin liners? I like “If You Care” brand paper liners because they never stick to my muffins and cupcakes. If you're not sure if your muffin liners are greaseproof, spray the inside of each liner lightly with cooking oil spray before filling and baking. And always let your muffins cool before you try to remove the liner, or they will usually stick.
Muffins rose then sunk as they cooled
Baked goods that rise in the oven and then sink as they cool are usually underbaked in the center. This usually happens when the oven temperature is too high, overbaking the outside before the muffin has baked all the way through. Try using a standalone oven thermometer and replacing it often, as most ovens run hot.
Batter is too thick/too thin
If your batter seems much thinner than mine, make sure you've either added xanthan gum if your blend doesn't contain it, or added 1/2 teaspoon extra to Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 blend. You can also let the batter rest, giving the flours a chance to absorb liquids. If it seems too thick, make sure your ingredients were at room temperature or allow the batter to rest or nest the mixing bowl in a larger bowl with some very warm water to increase the temperature gently.
FAQs
Try replacing the butter with Miyoko's Kitchen vegan butter and the sour cream with your favorite dairy free alternative. You can also use dairy free plain Greek-syle yogurt in place of sour cream.
Most other fruit is too tender to use in these muffins. You may be able to use Bosc pears, since they're very firm. Just be sure they're not too ripe or they'll fall apart in the oven. If you'd like to use berries, try our gluten free blueberry muffins recipe instead.
I haven't tried this as a loaf, but muffin batter usually requires the extra structure of individual muffins wells to hold its shape. Try our gluten free apple bread instead.
No, you must use chopped apples. Applesauce has a lot more available moisture and the muffins won't hold their shape during baking.
Yes! Use a 12-cup mini muffin tin and begin checking for doneness around 13 minutes.
I’ve made these several times and they are always so delicious and don’t taste ‘gluten free’ at all. I usually use yogurt rather than sour cream as that’s what I tend to have in the fridge, and it turns out perfect. I also add a little ginger spice.
So glad to hear it, Moll! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Hi Nicole! My flour contains guar gum, would that be enough as a substitute for Xanthan? We don’t get xanthan in Austria and guar seems to be an okay-ish alternative :)).
Hi, Romy, guar gum is a substitute for xanthan gum, but it’s not as effective as xanthan gum in heated applications like baking muffins. I can’t promise excellent results with any flour blends other than the ones that I specifically recommend, so I do want to caution you about that since I don’t know the flour blend you’re using.
I tried it with the flour mix with guar gum and it came out great!
I’m so happy to hear that, Romy. Thanks for reporting back!
Delish! Would make them again!
Thank you, Nancy!
So delicious! Not too sweet and perfect with coffee. I was out of baking powder so I added more sour cream and baking soda. Still great.
Hi Nicole:
Could I bake 6 jumbo muffins instead of the 12 muffins stated in the recipe?
How would this affect the temperature of the oven and the baking time?
Thank you.
Hi, Alex, I haven’t tried that so I don’t know for sure how long the baking time would be, but I would suggest you start to check at 25 minutes. I’m afraid you’ll have to experiment, though, as ovens and baking times really do vary.
Hi Nicole:
Can I use 2 teaspoons of tapioca starch instead of 2 teaspoons of cornstarch?
Thank you.
That should work fine, Alexandra.
i have a friend who is severely diabetic as well as gluten free. What can I substitute for the sugar?
I’m afraid I don’t really know how you’d use a sugar alternative in this recipe, Shrly, since I haven’t tried it and sugar substitutes tend to be very drying in baking. You could try Lankato brand monkfruit granulated sugar substitute, but you’d almost certainly have to add some additional moisture, maybe some lukewarm water, to compensate for the drying effect. Pay close attention to the images of the raw batter to try to approximate it.
love love love any recipe you give us! I happen to have lots of apples at the moment, sothis is what I am doing..it’s like an adventure in my NEW upgraded kitchen <3 thank you for sharing always!
You’re so welcome, Marietta. Good luck and have fun in your new kitchen!!
Michelle Beck, thank you so much for preserving the recipe! Nicole, thank you so much for tweaking it slightly! I am drooling here at my desk at work! As you can tell, I am having a very hard time being grain free!
Oh, yeah, my Small Bites book is on its way to me! Woo Hoo!
I am in Michelle’s debt for sure, Mare! ;)