These almond flour muffins are just like the generous muffins you see in a bakery, but way lower carb and only lightly sweet. Make them with chocolate chips, whatever mix-in you like, or nothing at all!
My kids really, really love it when I bake with almond flour. They don’t know Paleo from Schmaleo. They just know what they like. And these almond flour muffins are a true favorite.
They like that these muffins are sweet, tender and filling. I like that they’re lightly sweet, packed with lots of healthy fats and low in simple carbs. I consider these a true breakfast food, and they also double as a great after-school snack.
Baking with almond flour
Almond flour mixed with tapioca starch/flour is my current favorite mixture for baking things like our recent almond flour cookies. Almond flour is already pretty versatile in baking, and adding tapioca lightens the fat which leads to more even baking and a lighter overall muffin or cookie.
These almond flour muffins are, in fact, compliant with the Paleo diet, but I find myself less and less concerned with labels like that. I’ve tried eating every which way (low carb, Mediterranean, Paleo, sugar-free grain-free, you name it), and I mostly feel best when I eat mostly plants, some protein and healthy fats.
I also eat plenty of beans, but if I were “Paleo” that wouldn’t be “legal.” Seriously, I just can’t be bothered with that sort of thing.
What to expect
The batter is relatively loose, and the muffins rise quite a bit and rather quickly. There’s not a lot of chemical leavener in these muffins, but there are 3 eggs in just 12 muffins and that helps a lot.
If you ask my children, all those eggs mean that it’s practically like eating scrambled eggs for breakfast. They know that I am all about brain food like eggs for breakfast. But they don’t need to campaign for these. I already feel quite good about them.
You can leave out the chocolate chips, or swap them for another mix-in, like chopped nuts or dried fruit. Just be careful not to mix in anything with too much moisture as that will change the entire balance.
Watch this < 1-minute how-to video of me making almond flour muffins
Just push play ▶ to watch, and then you try it yourself!
Ingredients and substitutions
Since these muffins are already compliant with the Paleo diet, they’re gluten free, grain free and dairy-free. Here are a few words about the other possible ingredients you might like to substitute in this recipe. Please keep in mind that these are my educated guesses, but I haven’t tried these substitutions so you’ll have to experiment!
Egg-free: Since this recipe has 3 whole eggs, it’s more difficult to replace them with a substitute. Generally, my go-to egg substitute is a “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground chia seeds + 1 tablespoon of lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel), but I’m not really sure it would work in this recipe. I do not recommend Ener-G egg replacer.
Virgin coconut oil: If you’d like to replace the virgin coconut oil, I recommend nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening. I do not recommend Earth Balance buttery sticks in this recipe, as they have way more moisture.
Applesauce: These muffins do not taste at all like applesauce, as it’s a relatively neutral flavor in baking. If you can’t have it, you can try replacing it with mashed bananas but the end result will taste like bananas.
Almond flour: You need finely ground blanched almond flour for this recipe. You cannot use almond meal, which is more coarsely ground and made with almonds that have their skins intact.
If you can’t have almonds, you can try cashew flour. It should work great. To avoid nuts and nut flours entirely, but still go grain-free, I recommend trying my Paleo Blueberry Muffins, as they’re made entirely with coconut flour.
Tapioca starch/flour: Generally, tapioca starch has no proper substitute as it’s unique in its behavior in baking (in all the best ways). But I have a sneaking suspicion (read: I have not tried this!) that arrowroot might work in its place here.
Maple syrup: Maple syrup is considerably thinner and less viscous than honey, so I don’t recommend using honey in its place here. But I bet agave syrup would work just fine.
HELLO! I’m Nicole! I make gluten-free food enjoyable & affordable. If they can make it with gluten, we can make it without. That’s a promise!
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Can’t wait to try these! Thanks
I just made this with dried cranberries and orange zest… amazing. I didn’t have blanched almond flour (bought the wrong thing at the store) but decided to give it a go anyway. Don’t know if it will make any difference in storage/freezing( like they are going to last that long.. haha) but they have a wonderful coarse and hearty texture. Will definitely make again.. and try with the blanched to see which I like best. Thanks Nicole.. it is a winner either way!!
I really recommend making the muffins with finely ground, blanched almond flour, Vickie! If you liked it made “wrong,” you’ll be amazed at what it’s like “right”!! :)
Hi Nicole, I made these last night and they are delicious! This was the first time I baked using weights rather than volume. You taught me well in you GF flour class. Thank you!
That’s so awesome, Jana!! I’m so glad you’re now comfortable baking by weight. There’s just too much potential for user error (from alllll of us, me included!) to bake by volume except for things like baking powder and baking soda, which are simply too light to measure by weight without a very sensitive scale. Thanks so much for letting us know. :)
Thank you for sharing your recipe and tips,I am going to try it soon with the Cashew flour. The recipe sounds very good
Thank you! Just made using fresh blueberries with a little lemon zest – DELICIOUS!
I make the mini muffins which is great for the WW’s in the crowd.
Oh, minis are a great idea, Carol Anne!! Did you calculate points for a mini? If you did, please share your findings. :)
Nicole, as always, your recipes are a hit! I’ve been trying to make my son tasty – but healthy – breakfasts, also with low sugar, and this recipe hits all the marks. I LOVE baking with almond flour because it adds protein and healthy fat and also a subtle sweetness, I think. I actually only had a little over a half a cup of arrowroot starch/flour, so I added cornstarch to fill it up to a cup. It came out great! Though I must say, seeing the batter swimming with eggs was a little concerning, but it all worked out perfectly in the end :)
Those are all the requirements I have for grab-and-go snacks and breakfasts for my kids, too, Dana!!
What is blanched almond flour?? I am only familiar with almond flour.
Thanks,
Sandra
Hi, Sandra,
I really should do a post all about almonds and nut flours! Blanched almond flour is finely ground flour milled from almonds that have been blanched, or boiled briefly to loosen the skins which are then removed.
These look delicious. Still too many net carbs for a low carb diet or kept diet.
oops!! Keto diet.
These are not designed for a keto diet, Charlotte, or any other diet specifically!
Love the ingredients on these muffins but do you have nutrition information on them? Trying to count my WW
points.
Hi, Patricia,
As I explained in response to another commenter, I plugged this recipe into the Weight Watchers recipe calculator, and it had so many points (9 SmartPoints!) that I didn’t bother to include any reference to that. Just too many points! I don’t have nutrition information, no, but feel free to plug the ingredients in yourself!
how many carb grams per muffin?
I’m not sure, Rhonda. Feel free to plug the recipe into an online nutrition calculator. That’s all I’d do!
When you say “mix,” do you mean to continue to whisk, or mix by spoon. …or does this mean with a mixer? I see this in many recipes, everywhere, and am never sure.
Mix means to mix with a spoon in recipes, Linda. If it’s with an electric mixer of any sort, it should say so.
Hello,
Do you have any idea how many weight watcher points there would be in a muffin?
Thank you!
I actually looked, Anna, and it’s not pretty! They’re large muffins, and near as I can tell each is 9 SmartPoints. 😳
My family is not crazy about muffins. Can I bake this in a pan and if so, what size pan should I use so they can be cut into squares or rectangles? The recipe sounds awesome and I love baking and cooking with almond flour.
Hi, Diane,
No I’m afraid I don’t recommend baking this as a cake. Please have a look at my other Paleo recipes. I’m sure you’ll find something you like.
Excellent Paleo baked good – the first that even the kids enjoyed. Since my wife is allergic to almonds, I used the ground cashews that recently arrived at our local Trader Joes using the same weight as the almond flour. We also used coconut milk (the drinkable kind). The batter came out less thick than described and needed 3 minutes longer in the oven. They also were slightly oily, so may reduce the shortening next time.
If they are available locally, Guittard Real Semisweet Chocolate baking chips are dairy (and grain) free and taste much better than the Enjoy Life chips.
These are soo yummy!! Kids love them too. I did reduce the honey to 100 grams.
Noooo Nicole! I’ve been trying not to hear the siren call of the half packet of choc chips lurking at the back of my pantry. In week 10 of no grains, no gluten, no dairy, no refined sugars and doing so well….and then you post this. Can I resist…?
Check out Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips for Grain/Dairy free!
That sounds like breakfast at my house, plus a glass of milk and a big glass of water. Oddly, the glass of water causes the most complaining. Really? You’re ruining my positive morning energy over water? Apparently it is something to do with the nasty school bathrooms and not enough time to go between classes. Whatever. You want me to make breakfast, you get the water. And the muffins. Sounds like a good deal to me! I have done a little with almond flour, but seems like it is time for me to embrace it fully. Almonds are really good for runners, and I have lots of those living here.
By the way, I pre-ordered! But you probably guessed that, if I haven’t already told you!
Anneke, you definitely need to embrace almond flour. The texture is so incredible. Never grainy, always light and fluffy. So. Good.
Yes girls – but what about the fat content? :(
Almonds are a good fat though. It is good for you!
That’s my thought. I feel like the fat and protein in the almonds are better than empty carbs. My 2 cents… ;)
Believe me, Jennifer, no worries about the fat content with these kids! Now, I am another story . . .
Oh, and I’ve heard that almond flour baked goods are good for people with diabetes, so that’s another reason for you to embrace it!
Very good point, Donia!
I look forward to making these! I LOVE almond flour. It’s pretty amazing what you can bake without a true “flour.”