These classic gluten free blueberry muffins are crisp on the outside, soft and tender inside. So easy to make, and they taste just like they came from your favorite bakery!
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What makes these gluten free blueberry muffins special?
These buttery gluten-free blueberry muffins are the perfect sweet treat for any occasion. They're light and fluffy, with a burst of moisture and flavor from the blueberries.
For extra texture, each muffin is topped with crunchy sugar that adds just enough sweetness to make them irresistible. The combination of sweet-tart berries and light yet fluffy muffin batter creates an incredible flavor combination. The incredibly tender texture and perfectly craggy top are the best part.
Resist the urge to add more blueberries, or they'll take over the whole muffin, add too much moisture and your muffins may even sink and become dense as they cool. You want to taste that sweet, moist muffin crumb.
Key ingredients
- Buttermilk: For tanginess and tenderness, you need buttermilk here, but you can always substitute half plain yogurt/half milk for buttermilk whenever you run out
- Butter: Butter adds richness and tenderness; it's melted to make it easier to mix the muffin batter
- Lemon juice: Adds a bit more tang and some brightness; lemon flavor goes so well with blueberries
- Eggs: Act as a binder and help the muffins rise
- Gluten free flours: The recipe calls for an all purpose gluten free flour blend plus some cornstarch to lighten it up. But if your flour blend is Cup4Cup, instead of adding cornstarch, add another 1/4 cup of Cup4Cup
- Baking powder & baking soda: Make sure they're fresh, because these chemical leaveners are responsible for your muffins rising in the oven
- Salt: Balances other flavors
- Sugar: For sweetness, but also for a tender crumb.
- Blueberries: The main event, you can use fresh or frozen blueberries. If you use frozen, don't deforst them first or they'll turn your muffins blue!
How to make gluten free blueberry muffins
To make the best blueberry muffins, we want a thick muffin batter that will hold the blueberries in the batter as the muffins bake, but it should never be stiff. The batter should be soft enough to allow you to mix in the blueberries without breaking them.
Combine wet, then dry ingredients
- Whisk together melted & cooled butter, buttermilk, lemon juice, and eggs.
- Whisk the gf flours, baking powder & soda, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl.
- Toss the blueberries in some flour, then add the wet ingredients to the dry.
Mix the batter, add the berries, and bake
- Mix the wet and dry ingredients, fold in the berries, and fill the prepared wells of a muffin tin all the way full.
- Brush with melted butter, sprinkle some extra sugar, and bake at 400°F for 10 minutes, then 350°F until done.
Let cool, and enjoy!
- Let your blueberry muffins cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes or less.
- Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy them warm!
Recipe tips & tricks
This recipe for gluten free muffins is simple. Even if you're a total newbie to gluten free recipes. But these tips will help you get perfect, delicious blueberry muffins every time.
Begin baking your muffins at 400°F
Baking your muffins for a few minutes of their baking time at a higher temperature activates the baking powder quickly, and helps your muffins rise into a high dome. Be sure to lower the oven temperature after the first few minutes, or they'll burn on the bottom, though.
Don't defrost frozen blueberries
Adding frozen blueberries to muffin batter is much better than defrosting them first. The cold berries help keep the muffins from becoming over-mixed, which can lead to a dense and gummy texture. Frozen blueberries also retain their natural juices, which helps keep the muffins moist and light.
Plus, your batter will be beautifully flecked with specks of blueberry color. Just add the frozen berries straight from the freezer to the muffin batter when the recipe calls for it for perfectly delicious gluten free blueberry muffins!
Keep frozen berries from bleeding
Keep them in the freezer until right before you're ready to add them to the muffins. Working quickly, toss the still-frozen berries in some of the dry ingredients and add them to the prepared batter as directed.
Finally, fold the frozen berries into the soft gf blueberry muffin batter. Treat them like you would whipped cream or egg whites that get folded in to batter like we do in our gluten free angel food cake.
Stop the berries from sinking
If you toss the blueberries in the dry ingredients before adding them to the batter, the berries are more likely to stay spread evenly throughout the muffins.
Second, be careful about how you scoop your muffin batter into the wells of the tin. The top of the scoop becomes the bottom of the muffin, so avoid having lots of berries down there! You can even try lining the well of each muffin tin with some plain batter before scooping the rest in, berries and all.
Choose the right gluten free flour blend
Admittedly there are a lot of gluten free flour blends to choose from. But they're not all great. This recipe calls for an all-purpose gluten free flour blend, based on superfine rice flour.
I used Better Batter gluten free flour (the classic blend), as it's my preferred choice for this type of baking because of its consistent performance and texture. You can also make your own gluten free flour blend that will work perfectly in this and many other recipes
Replace blueberries with other fruit
If you don't have blueberries, but you do have raspberries, you can make these into gluten free raspberry muffins. If your raspberries are fresh, follow the recipe as written, only substituting that one ingredient.
If your raspberries are frozen, follow the instructions above for frozen blueberries. You might be able to make this recipe with fresh strawberries if you slice them into chunks about the size of a blueberry.
You cannot make them with frozen strawberries. They can't be sliced into proper chunks without defrosting them first, and they will add way too much moisture to the raw batter.
Ingredient substitution suggestions
While my recipe for gluten free muffins is perfect and one of my absolute favorites in its current state, there may be times when you need to make additional changes to cater to dietary needs and preferences other than just being gluten free.
Dairy free blueberry muffins
For a dairy-free buttermilk substitute, mix together half plain dairy free yogurt and half unsweetened almond milk. Or, if you don't like almond milk, then use your favorite dairy free milk as long as it's not nonfat and is unsweetened and unflavored.
If you need to replace the butter in the recipe, Melt and Miyoko's Kitchen vegan butter are great options. With these easy swaps, your gluten-free and dairy-free blueberry muffins will be delicious!
Egg free blueberry muffins
To make this gluten free blueberry muffin recipe egg-free, you can use a “chia egg” in place of each of the two eggs called for.
To prepare a chia egg, mix 1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds with 1 tablespoon lukewarm water in a small bowl and allow it to sit until it thickens and forms a gel-like consistency.
With these simple substitutions your muffins will be delicious and free from eggs! You may also be able to use pre-packaged egg replacer, usually aquafaba, although I've never tried.
Corn free blueberry muffins
This recipe calls for an all purpose gluten free flour blend, specifically Better Batter, that's lightened by adding cornstarch. If you can't have corn, try using arrowroot or potato starch.
If you're using a high-starch all purpose gluten free flour blend like Cup4Cup, use an extra 36 grams Cup4Cup in place of cornstarch.
Frequently asked questions
No. Real buttermilk is thicker and creamier than milk that's simply had some lemon juice added to it.
If you don't have buttermilk in the house, you can use half unsweetened milk and half sour cream or plain yogurt by volume. You can also use plain kefir in place of buttermilk without any other adjustments.
Lemon juice helps to balance the sweetness of the sugar and berries and enhance the blueberry flavor.
You can replace the lemon juice with pure vanilla extract. Just use half the amount.
Yes! Once the muffins have cooled completely, place them on a baking tray in the freezer until frozen and then move them to an airtight freezer-safe container or zip-top bag.
To refresh a frozen muffin, microwave it for 30 to 45 seconds at 50% power or until even the berries are defrosted. For that just-baked texture, sprinkle lightly with some tap water, and bake at 250°F in a toaster oven for 5 to 10 minutes.
Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
For the muffin batter
- ¾ cup (6 fluid ounces) buttermilk at room temperature
- 10 tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 2 tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature
- 2 ½ cups (350 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; click link for details on appropriate blends)
- 1 ¼ teaspoons xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- ¼ cup (36 g) cornstarch See Recipe Notes
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ cups (250 g) fresh or frozen blueberries (See Recipe Notes)
For the optional topping
- 1 tablespoon (14 g) unsalted butter melted
- Coarse sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
Make the muffin batter
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Grease or line a standard 12-cup muffin tin that is light in color, and set it aside.
- In a medium-size bowl or measuring cup, place buttermilk, melted butter, lemon juice, and eggs, and whisk to combine well. Set the mixture aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well.
- Transfer 1 tablespoon of the dry ingredients to a small bowl, add the blueberries and toss to coat. Set the berries aside.
- If using frozen berries, set the tablespoon of dry ingredients aside to use after the rest of the batter has been prepared.
- Create well in center of large bowl of dry ingredients and add the wet mixture. Mix until just combined. The batter will be quite thick, but soft.
- Add the blueberries and reserved dry ingredients, and gently fold the berries into the batter just until they are evenly distributed throughout.
- If you’re using frozen berries, remove them from the freezer, rinse them quickly and toss in the reserved dry ingredients. Fold them carefully into the batter, working quickly.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 12 prepared muffin wells, filling the wells almost completely. Smooth the tops with wet fingers.
Add the optional topping
- Brush the tops lightly with the optional melted butter, and sprinkle the tops lightly with the optional coarse sugar.
Bake the muffins
- Place the muffin tin on the top rack of the preheated 400°F oven, and bake until the muffins are beginning to dome (8 to 10 minutes). Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.
- Finish baking the muffins at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in the center (and not in a blueberry) comes out with no more than a few moist crumbs attached (10 to 12 minutes more).
- Remove the muffins from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutritional information is approximate, and does not include the optional butter and coarse sugar topping.
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!
joey says
They are gorgeous! I used egg replacer, turned out great. I have most of your cookbooks, but really appreciate the website with the substitution suggestions. It used to be just this was gluten free, now I have discovered a bunch more intolerances.
Nicole Hunn says
I’m so glad the substitution suggestions are useful to you, Joey!
Lara Chung says
I used sweet potato flour istead of potato flour.
The muffin was nothing to write home about for the all the effort. I had to make the mock bake better flour.
Nicole Hunn says
I’m afraid that sweet potato flour is not an appropriate substitute for potato flour, Lara. I recommend you try the mock Cup4Cup if you don’t want to buy potato flour.
Elaine says
Love your recipes. They always turn out.
Nicole Hunn says
Thank you so much, Elaine. That means a lot to me!
Shirlene says
If I use 200 grams of eggs, that would 4 large eggs. Is that correct?
Nicole Hunn says
Yes, Shirlene!
Dusty says
It’s a good recipe to make my all time favorite muffins
Ashley says
Can you substitute arrowroot powder for the corn starch?
Nicole Hunn says
That should work, Ashley!
Sandi says
You’ve changed my life! Finally, finally a delicious, moist, gluten free muffin with that cakey chewy texture. Absolutely fantastic! (Admit I did substitute for the buttermilk and they still came out perfect)
Nicole Hunn says
I’m so glad you have blueberry muffins you love back in your life, Sandi! Thank you for sharing your experience.
Stephanie Grace Pepper says
I had a box freezer quit on me so I have a bag of frozen blueberries that have already been thawed. Is it unreasonable to think I might be able to make a decent batch of blueberry muffins with them? Do you have any other ideas for a recipe that would work with thawed frozen blueberries?
Nicole Hunn says
You definitely cannot make this recipe with defrosted blueberries. You can make these blueberry swirl muffins, actually, though.