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These warmly spiced gluten free apple muffins are made with 2 whole diced apples, so every bite has plenty of tender apple chunks. They’re soft, moist, and full of apple flavor without being overly sweet.
Why this recipe works
Diced apples release moisture as they bake, while sour cream adds richness and tenderness. Together, they keep the muffins soft without making them heavy.
The generous amount of diced apple gives the muffins plenty of fresh fruit flavor, and a touch of cinnamon adds warmth that gives a hint of extra sweetness without any more sugar.
Once the apples are peeled and diced, the rest comes together in just 1 bowl. All that moisture from the apples also helps the muffins stay fresh at room temperature for a few days.
Recipe ingredients
Here's what you need to make this recipe, including some information on the role that each ingredient plays in making the perfect apple muffins:
- Gluten free flour blend: Provides most of the structure for the muffins. I recommend a properly balanced blend based on superfine rice flour like Better Batter's original blend (without more xanthan gum added), Nicole's Best multipurpose (with 3/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum), and Vitacost's Multipurpose gluten free flour blend (also with 3/4 teaspoon gum). If you're using Bob's Red Mill's 1-to-1 blend, add an additional 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum, since that blend contains some binder but not enough.
- 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 warm, woodsy aroma of cinnamon helps balance the crisp-fresh flavor of the apples and makes them seem sweeter. Nutmeg, also woodsy, adds some extra subtle depth.
- Granulated sugar: Adds sweetness but also helps keep the muffins tender by locking in moisture.
- Apples: Provide moisture, tart-sweet flavor, some fiber and pectin which help hold the muffins together. 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.
- Butter: Adds buttery flavor, and helps keep the muffins tender with added fat and moisture.
- 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.
- Eggs: Help the muffins rise, add texture and structure so they don't sink as they cool.
- Vanilla: Adds depth of flavor and enhances all the other flavors, too.
How to make gluten free apple muffins (step by step photos)
Combine dry ingredients
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.
Prep the apples
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 chopped apple mixture with the dry ingredients, and reserve the rest for the top so the muffins. That allows us to include more apple pieces that the batter itself can hold, and creates a nice visual presentation, too.
Finish making the batter
Toss the apple chunks together with the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl to ensure every piece is well-coated. 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.
Fill the muffin tin wells
The batter is thick enough to trap the bubbles released by the leaveners in the oven and still hold all those apples. Filling the wells of a muffin tin full encourages the muffins to grow tall. 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.
Bake
Bake the muffins first at the higher-than-normal oven temperature of 375°F. This will encourage the quick release of bubbles and the tops of the muffins to get slightly crispy so they hold their rise. 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 before they're baked all the way through.
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.
Ingredient substitutions
If you need to avoid other allergens that are present in this recipe, here are my educated suggestions:
Dairy free
Try replacing butter with block-style vegan butter (Miyoko's or Melt brand is great) or virgin coconut oil (the kind that's solid at cool room temperature). Replace the yogurt with your favorite dairy free sour cream alternative or nondairy Greek yogurt. Make sure your flour blend is dairy free, unlike Nicole's Best.
Egg free
In place of 2 eggs, try using 2 “chia eggs” (2 tablespoons ground white chia seeds + 2 tablespoons water, mixed and allowed to gel). You can also try Bob's Red Mill egg replacer or Just Egg plant-based eggs (from the refrigerated section of the grocery store).
Cornstarch
If you can't have corn, try potato starch or arrowroot, and avoid Nicole's Best, which has cornstarch as an ingredient.
Apples
Most other fruit is too tender to use in place of apples, and would turn to mush rather than hold its shape like apples. Bosc pears should work instead of apples, 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.
Storage instructions
These extra tender muffins should stay fresh for 2 to 3 days in a sealed container at room temperature.
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.
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 total (another 17 minutes more). 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.
FAQs
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.
Unbelievably delicious! Also, they freeze beautifully and are almost even better after defrosting-the spices are distinctly tasty! I can’t say enough for this recipe.
So happy to hear it, Anne! Thank you so much for sharing.
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! ;)