These gluten free chocolate muffins are tender and chocolatey, but clearly muffins and not cupcakes, so enjoy them first thing in the morning, guilt-free! Since they're made without butter, they're also easily made dairy free, too.
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What makes these gluten free chocolate muffins special?
Between the melted dark chocolate in the batter, and the mixture of a neutral oil and rich cocoa powder, these gluten free chocolate muffins are super moist, tender, and richly satisfying. These are not the sort of muffins you want to offer to someone who doesn't love chocolate, though!
But assuming you have an audience of chocolate fans, these muffins will not disappoint. They're made easily by mixing together all the wet ingredients, from melted chocolate through to buttermilk, first, then mixing them into the few dry ingredients until just combined.
We start the baking with some extra heat to coax that chocolate batter up into a craggy dome with lots of muffin-top texture, then reduce it almost right away so nothing burns. Since these muffins are so dark and rich, you wouldn't know your muffins were burning in a too-hot oven until it was too late to save them!
Notes on gluten free chocolate muffin ingredients
- Baking chocolate – The baking chocolate that is melted and mixed into this chocolate muffin batter can be dark (which usually contains between 50% and 90% cocoa solids, in addition to cocoa butter and sugar) or semi-sweet (a type of dark chocolate, one that is usually toward the lower end of cocoa solids and less sugar than milk chocolate). Whatever type you choose, be sure to melt it gently in a double boiler or in a microwave at reduced power so it doesn't burn or seize.
- Neutral oil – Rather than baking with butter, like we do in our classic mix-in gluten free muffin recipe, we are using oil as fat here since it has less moisture and keeps the muffins more moist. You can use any plain oil with a neutral flavor, like canola, vegetable, grapeseed, or peanut oil, so you add tenderness and mouth feel, but not flavor.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – Adding the cocoa powder to the melted chocolate and oil mixture, while the melted chocolate is still warm, helps to bloom the cocoa powder, which brings out its rich chocolate flavor. I use Rodelle brand Dutch-processed cocoa powder for its extra richness, but natural cocoa powder works fine here, too.
- Sugars – Using half granulated sugar and half light brown sugar adds tenderness, extra moisture, and of course sweetness.
- Egg – Using one single egg helps keep these muffins moist and tender without the dryness that too much egg white in the batter can create.
- Buttermilk – Commercial buttermilk has thickness and richness that helps tenderize and moisten this chocolate muffin batter. Don't replace it with plain milk that's been soured with a little lemon juice or vinegar, which won't do the same for your muffins.
- Gluten free flour blend – I usually use Better Batter's classic blend here, which is a really well-balanced, smooth, reliable gluten free flour blend. It already contains xanthan gum, so definitely don't add more if you use Better Batter or another of my recommended all purpose gluten free flour blends that already contains it.
- Baking powder – Baking powder is double-acting, which means that it is activated when it gets hydrated by being adding to liquid in the recipe, and again in the oven. It provides rise and lift in these muffins.
- Baking soda – Baking soda also provides some lift, but it's also responsible for helping to brown your muffins in the oven. Plus, if you are using natural cocoa powder, it will neutralize the additional acid in your cocoa.
- Salt – Salt helps balance sweetness, and brings out the chocolate flavor of these bakery-style chocolate muffins.
- Chocolate chips – I like to use semi-sweet chocolate chips, but if you know that you're serving your muffins who can only abide the darkest of chocolate, try using dark chocolate chips. Or switch it up and use white chocolate chips or even peanut butter or butterscotch chips (just make sure they're gluten free, though, since some are not!).
How to make gluten free chocolate muffins
The batter for these chocolate muffins is thick, but soft. It isn't the sort of batter that you're going to pour into the wells of a muffin tin. Instead, you'll scoop it and shake it into an even layer, then bake it.
First combine the wet ingredients, plus the cocoa powder:
- Melt chopped chocolate over a double boiler. You can also melt it in the microwave, but take care not to burn it.
- Add cooking oil to the melted chocolate
- Whisk in cocoa powder. Cocoa powder tends to resist combining with any sort of liquid, so whisk slowly or the powder will scatter outside the mixing bowl.
- Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to these wet ingredients.
- Whisk in an egg and then buttermilk and vanilla.
Next, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients:
- All purpose gluten free flour (with xanthan gum)
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
Add the wet chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix to combine. The batter will be thick and soft. Mix in the chocolate chips, then transfer the batter to a muffin tin. The wells should be almost completely full of batter.
Bake at 375°F for 5 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350°F for the rest of the baking time (about 14 minutes). Starting at a higher baking temperature will help create a beautiful bakery-style dome on your muffins, and lowering the temperature afterward means the ovens will bake fully without burning.
Tips for making the best gluten free chocolate muffins
Keep your melted chocolate warm
Bring out the richest flavor of your unsweetened cocoa powder by mixing the oil and then cocoa powder into your melted chocolate before it's cooled down. That will help bloom the cocoa powder, which enhances its chocolate flavor.
Use an oven thermometer during baking
Most ovens drift out of calibration, and rather than paying to have them calibrated regularly, just use a simple, inexpensive analog oven thermometer to gauge your oven's temperature. If your oven runs hot here, these muffins are so dark in color that you won't know they're beginning to burn until it's too late.
Turn the oven temperature down after the first 5 minutes
The reason to start baking at 375°F, which is higher than the usual cake-baking temperature of 350°F, is to encourage your muffins to rise quickly at the start. That's how you get a nice, round dome on top. After those first 5 minutes, though, turn the temperature down 25°F to 350°F to finish baking or your muffins may burn.
Fill those muffin wells all the way
All muffin tin wells have different sizes and even shapes. There's just no way to know for sure exactly how much batter you'll need to fill your muffin wells unless we're all using my same basic Wilton 12-cup standard muffin tin.
So be sure to fill your wells all the way, and if your muffin tin is larger than most and you can't make a full 12 muffins, it's worth making fewer muffins to get those big, beautiful bakery-style gf chocolate muffins!
Popular ingredient substitution suggestions
Dairy free
The dairy in these muffins is in the form of buttermilk, and possibly chocolate. Most dark or even semi-sweet baking chocolate will be dairy-free and gluten-free, but check labels and make phone calls if necessary to be sure.
In place of buttermilk, you can use half non-dairy plain yogurt or sour cream and half unsweetened nondairy milk. You can also use that combination with dairy if you can have dairy, but don't happen to have buttermilk on hand.
Egg free
In place of the egg, try using one “chia eggs.” One “chia egg” is made by combining 1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds with 1 tablespoon lukewarm water. Mix in a small bowl and allow the mixture to sit until it gels.
FAQs
Muffins and cupcakes are all baked in muffin tins, so you're naturally going to compare them to one another! These are muffins, not cupcakes, though, since they have a more dense, somewhat tighter crumb with an irregular top with lots more texture than a smooth, gluten free chocolate cupcake top that's ready for frosting. Muffins are usually less sweet than cupcakes, since they're for breakfast after all!
No! You can use a cooking oil spray to grease the wells of your muffin tin instead of using liners. I usually prefer to use greaseproof liners, though, since no muffin tin is perfect, and especially as they age, they tend to have spots to which the batter will stick no matter how well you grease the tin. And that can lead to a muffin that's stuck to the tin and simply can't be removed without breaking it into pieces.
Yes! You can leave out the chips entirely, replace them with another flavor of chips like gluten free peanut butter chips, or replace them with an equal amount, by weight, of chopped soft nuts. Raw walnuts or pecans would be great!
Since these muffins are dark in color, it can be more difficult to tell when they're done baking, and they can burn if you're not careful. We start out baking at a higher temperature to get the muffins to rise high into a dome like muffins from a bakery. Then, we continue to bake at a lower temperature until the top of the center muffin feels firm and a toothpick inserted in the center has no more than a few moist crumbs attached.
Gluten Free Chocolate Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 ounces dark or semi-sweet baking chocolate chopped
- 6 tablespoons (84 g) neutral oil canola, grapeseed, vegetable, peanut oils all work
- ½ cup (40 g) unsweetened cocoa powder I prefer Dutch-processed, but natural cocoa powder works, too
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (109 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 (50 g (weighed out of shell)) egg at room temperature
- 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) buttermilk at warm room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups (245 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Grease or line a standard 12-cup muffin tin, and set it aside.
- In a medium-size, heat-safe bowl, place the chopped chocolate and place over a small pot of simmering water, making sure the water in the pot doesn’t touch the bowl. Melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally, until smooth.
- Remove the melted chocolate from the heat, and add the oil, then the cocoa powder, whisking until smooth after each addition.
- To the chocolate mixture, add the granulated sugar, then the brown sugar, whisking to combine after each addition. Break up any lumps in the brown sugar.
- Crack the egg open into the chocolate mixture, and whisk the egg into the mixture until smooth.
- Next, add the buttermilk and vanilla, and whisk again until smooth. The mixture will be thick but very soft.
- In a separate large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and whisk to combine well.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the entire chocolate mixture, and mix until just combined. The batter will be thick but should be relatively shiny and soft.
- Mix in the chocolate chips. You can reserving a few chips to scatter on top of the muffin batter in the wells of the muffin tin, if you prefer.
- Fill the prepared wells of the muffin tin almost completely with muffin batter. Shake the tin vigorously from side to side to help distribute the batter evenly in each well. Top with any reserved chocolate chips.
- Place the tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F, and continue to bake for about 14 minutes, or until the muffin tops are firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center of the middle muffin comes out with no more than a few moist crumbs attached. Do not overbake or the muffins may burn.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
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Thanks for stopping by!
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!
IVANA says
Hi, I came acros your page a few days ago and right now I am eating choc and lemon muffins made by your recipie. I have to say I am really pleasantly surprised how well they came out. Thanks for the good work!
Nicole Hunn says
I’m so glad you’re feeling encouraged, Ivana! Thanks so much for letting me know.
Elaine Lyon says
This is exactly the gluten free and light recipient I have been looking for! I’m so excited to try making this!
Mary C. says
Question, I have an egg allergy. Can I substitute eggs with applesauce or banana?
Nicole Hunn says
I haven’t tested this recipe with an egg substitute, but if you’d like to try I do not recommend using applesauce or banana, which don’t provide structure, only moisture. I always recommend a “chia egg,” (just google that phrase). Here, I’d try using 2 chia eggs (using ground, not whole, chia seeds). Good luck!
Marcia Kimpland says
Hi Nicole, I prefer using almond flour for baking – just prefer the taste and texture. Do you know how I can adapt this recipe using almond flour? Thanks!!
Nicole Hunn says
I’m afraid you can’t simply replace all purpose gluten free flour with almond flour, like you can’t replace conventional all purpose gluten free flour with almond flour and have the recipe turn out. Almond flour requires recipes formulated specifically to be made with it. I recommend that you try my Paleo recipes. You should find something you like there. But I’d also try this recipe as written. These muffins are so good!
GF Baker in AZ says
I made these yesterday, and they were fabulous! I had to use vanilla yogurt instead of buttermilk (none in the fridge), and they came out perfect. The texture was great, and the taste was nice and chocolatey without being too sweet. Thanks for a great recipe!
GF Baker in AZ says
PS – I am really enjoying the lighter recipes, too. Life is about balance, I believe there is a place for both richer and lighter recipes. Thanks for adding these to your offerings.
Chris Stephan says
Can I use Better Batter for this recipe?
Cindy says
Lighter is a thousand time better than lowfat or nofat,,, in which they replace the fat with sugar. I love a lighter fare. Why not! And hurray for you for not fussing about your weight to your kids. I’m not even close to being thin but I figure this is the way God made me. Although I do watch, I try not to fuss. These look so great. I often buy Udi’s muffins for a quick breakfast on the run. I usually feel guilty about eating them but now I can make these and think about you instead!!!! Thank you Nicole for all you do!
~ Cindy
Nicole Hunn says
Good for you, Cindy! And thanks so much for the kind words. :)
Marilyn McLeod says
These look so tasty. I’m glad you’re offer some “lighter” fares, as I can’t eat very much sugar. I tried making some oatmeal raisin cookies the other day with NO sugar (just some agave) and they turned out like little hockey pucks! Things just need a little sugar for the texture I guess! I will definitely try these and the blueberry muffins, as I love love love blueberry muffins! Thanks for all of your wonderful recipes.
Nicole Hunn says
Agave is a sugar, Marilyn, but there are so many variables in a recipe so who knows why you got hockey pucks! I am building up to making lighter cookies. That’s actually completely different in terms of low fat/low sugar, so it’s been bumpy, but I’ll get there eventually! So glad you’re enjoying this type of recipe. Thanks for the kind words. They’re much appreciated!
Samantha says
Thank you!!! I am so excited about these lighter recipes. I love to bake and I love sweets. I usually don’t go into baking thinking about the calories or fat content…maybe I should?! Once in a while it is really nice to bake something that is better for you…and still have great flavor. Thank you for these recipes…I love them! Keep them coming if you can:)
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Samantha, So glad you’re into them. Lighter baking is definitely its own challenge, and for me recipe development is all about new challenges! So you will definitely see some more lighter recipes from time to time on the blog. :)
Samantha says
Yay! You are the best Nicole:)
Sarah says
I love the lighter recipes! I am tired of blogs with tons of butter and bacon, etc. – it just isn’t realistic to eat that way and stay healthy. I will try these for sure
dgf says
Actually it is a great way to stay healthy. Fat does not make you fat and makes you eat less because you are satisfied. Sugar and an over indulgence of carbs make you fat, these need to be a treat once in awhile.
anna says
These look delicious! So dark and chocolatey. Mmm… I do have one question, though. What brand muffin/cupcake papers do you use? All of the ones that I have tried end up sticking to the baked goodie, and spraying them with a bit of baking spray makes them greasy. I absolutely dont mind going paper-less with baking anything in a muffin tin, but sometimes you just need that pop of color or print. Thank you!
Nicole Hunn says
I use If You Care brand muffin liners, Anna. I love them, and I get them in the regular grocery store. But if you want something prettier, just search the web for “greaseproof” liners. That’s what you need to make sure they don’t bleed, and don’t stick. There are tons of sources online for them these days!
anna says
That’s the brand parchment paper i use! I’ve never seen their muffin liners at my local grocery stores. I will have to order online. Thanks a bunch!
Michelle says
I am loving these lighter muffin recipes, not because they are lower in calories, (but really, why would I complain about that?) but because they have such a great texture. I loved the blueberry ones, and these will make a perfect 3pm snack. Thanks so much for the wonderful recipes!
Nicole Hunn says
You bet, Michelle! So glad you’re enjoying this type of recipe. :)
Sarah M. says
you could also try buying the little cartons of just egg whites :) I use these recipes as an excuse to buy a small one (same size as a small single serving milk carton) and then use whatever’s left to make a fluffy tasty low-calorie omelette :D
Mare Masterson says
Oh my goodness…I must have these! Going grocery shopping tonight…lowfat buttermilk just made the list. I have everything else in the pantry!
FYI Nicole, someone I know since the 70s in NJ has seen my bread and bagel pictures on FB and she posted this yesterday: “You have convinced me and I have ordered the book.” I also told her to come to your blog.
Nicole Hunn says
Mare, you’re the best GFOAS ambassador! Love it. Thank you!
I have to say that, although you can pretty easily sour your own milk and make “buttermilk,” and even though what you buy in the grocery store as buttermilk isn’t really true buttermilk, it’s really wonderful for baking, whatever it is!
Mare Masterson says
Having the “buttermilk” in the house gives me an excuse to make onion rings too! :) (like I need an excuse!)
Mary Garrard says
I agree about wasting food, even if it’s something relatively small like an egg yolk. So, I usually use two eggs instead of one whole egg and two whites, and haven’t found any difference in the outcome.
Linda says
I made them yesterday with two whole eggs instead of the 1 whole/2 whites in the recipe and they turned out great! I was just running a little short on my farm fresh eggs and that’s why I made the change.
Jennifer S. says
Thank you for this – really – I’m all over “lighter” stuff but not fat free – blech! I love baking but end up eating so much of it myself, so this is perfect. I’m so glad that there are options….
Nicole Hunn says
I agree about the options, Jennifer! Always good to have. Different strokes for different folks and all that. ;)