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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.
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.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Maybe it’s not the recipe’s fault but that I just now saw NOT to make buttermilk replacement with soured milk. I weighed everything, used Pillsbury GF flour, Baker’s bittersweet chocolate, Ghiradelli dutch process cocoa (even though I had a note attached to it not to use in recipes that have baking soda), and although they of course taste wonderful, they are crumbly and hard to swallow, clinging to the roof of the mouth. They were not overbaked. Do you think it was the buttermilk replacement?
It’s the buttermilk replacement, and your flour blend, Beth. Please see the all purpose gluten free flour blends page that is linked in this recipe and every recipe that calls for that as an ingredient for full information on flour blends. Pillsbury has some strange ingredients, including “pea fiber,” and gritty rice flour. It will not work in my recipes.
Thanks. I guess I can pulverize them and use them for a crust filled with pudding.
excellent
Can I use plain Greek yogurt for the buttermilk? Low fat or full fat?
I bless you every day for sharing your recipes with us!
Please see the Ingredients and substitutions section for information on replacing buttermilk if you don’t have any on hand, Marg. And always full fat!
I am a little confused. The recipe calls for two eggs but then you say :”In place of the 2 egg whites, use 1 whole egg for a total of 2 whole eggs”. Does the regular version of the recipe take whole eggs or egg whites?
Thanks!
You’re right, Connie! That was confusing. So sorry about that. I’ve fixed it to read (for the lighter recipe): In place of the 2 eggs, use 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites.
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!
I’m so glad you’re feeling encouraged, Ivana! Thanks so much for letting me know.
This is exactly the gluten free and light recipient I have been looking for! I’m so excited to try making this!
Question, I have an egg allergy. Can I substitute eggs with applesauce or banana?
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!
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!!
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!
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!
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.
Can I use Better Batter for this recipe?