Bakery style gluten-free blueberry muffins! The lemon sugar topping gives them a bright, crisp muffin top, and the interior is tender and bursting with blueberry flavour. Pair with a cup of coffee for the perfect lazy weekend morning!
Thanks to the addition of blueberry jam, these bakery style gluten-free blueberry muffins are bursting with blueberry goodness! They’re easy to whip up, and have a moist, tender crumb that no one will guess is gluten free. The lemon sugar topping gives these muffins a bright, crunchy muffin top that’s absolutely delicious!
Since gluten-free baked goods don’t keep as long as their traditional wheat-based counterparts, this is a small-batch recipe, making just 6 muffins. But if you’re baking for a crowd, or want to have extra to freeze for later, you can easily double the recipe to make 12.
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Ingredients
- granulated sugar
- gluten-free flour, all-purpose blend
- almond flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- egg
- vegetable or canola oil
- greek yogurt
- milk
- vanilla extract
- lemon, juice and zest
- blueberries
- blueberry fruit spread or jam
See recipe card for quantities.
Ingredient Notes
Gluten-free all-purpose flour blend: Use a blend that contains xanthan gum, so the muffins have enough structure and stability. Make sure your blend doesn’t contain any ingredients with strong flavours, such as bean flour. Refer to baking with gluten-free flour for more information.
Almond flour: Improves the overall texture of the muffins and also adds a richness in flavour.
Greek yogurt: I use low-fat Greek yogurt. Gluten free bakes generally require more moisture than wheat-based alternatives. The yogurt provides the needed additional moisture, added structure and depth of flavour.
Blueberries: Use fresh or frozen berries. If using frozen berries, don’t thaw before adding.
Blueberry fruit spread/jam: I find blueberry muffins made with the blueberries available at grocery stores year-round, often lack a real depth of blueberry flavour. And since locally grown blueberries are only available for such a short period of time here in Ontario, I wanted a way to be able to pump up the blueberry flavour year-round. I find adding a little bit of blueberry fruit spread or jam to the muffins really enhances the overall flavour. I prefer to use a lower-sugar fruit spread, such as Crofter’s Wild Blueberry Premium Spread, so that the overall muffin isn’t too sweet.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a muffin tin with 6 paper liners or grease with vegetable oil.
- In large bowl, combine ½ cup of the sugar, gluten-free flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, milk, vanilla and lemon juice. Combine the egg mixture with the flour mixture and stir until combined.
- Spoon one tablespoon of batter into the bottom of each muffin cup.
- Stir ½ cup of the blueberries into the blueberry jam, coating the blueberries in the jam.
- Gently fold the coated blueberries into the muffin batter. Do not over mix, otherwise the batter will turn purple. Divide the batter equally among the 6 muffin cups. Top each muffin with the remaining blueberries.
- Mix the remaining 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar with the lemon zest. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with the lemon sugar.
- Bake for about 25 – 28 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool slightly in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Top Tips for Perfect Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins
- Mix well – if you’re used to making muffins with wheat flour, you probably fear over mixing your muffin batter. But with gluten-free muffins, you don’t have to worry about over mixing the same way. If anything, the real risk is under mixing. Gluten-free flours don’t absorb liquids as quickly as wheat flour, so you need to give your batter a really good stir to make sure everything is really incorporated. And since there’s no gluten, you don’t have to worry about overworking the gluten strands which is what can make traditional muffins tough. If anything, gluten-free muffins benefit from the added structure well-mixed batter provides. Just don’t over mix after you’ve added the blueberries, or else you’ll end up with purple muffins!
- Serve warm – I find these muffins are best served warm. To retain a crisp muffin top, reheat in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes.
Substitutions
- Swap out the blueberries for other berries to switch things up. Raspberries or blackberries, or a combination of mixed berries, will all work well.
Storage
- Baked muffins: 2 – 3 days in an air-tight container at room temperature. Reheat in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes.
- Freeze: the baked muffins also freeze well – store well wrapped in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 1 month. To serve, thaw in a microwave for 20 seconds on high, and then warm in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes.
Recipe Card
Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for topping
- 1 cup gluten-free flour, all-purpose blend (see note)
- ½ cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, extra-large
- ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
- ¼ cup greek yogurt
- ¼ cup milk, see note
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- ¾ cup blueberries
- 2 tablespoon blueberry fruit spread or jam
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a muffin tin with 6 paper liners or grease with vegetable oil.
- In large bowl, combine ½ cup of the sugar, gluten-free flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, milk, vanilla and lemon juice. Combine the egg mixture with the flour mixture and stir until combined.
- Spoon one tablespoon of batter into the bottom of each muffin cup.
- Stir ½ cup of the blueberries into the blueberry jam, coating the blueberries in the jam.
- Gently fold the coated blueberries into the muffin batter. Do not over mix, otherwise the batter will turn purple. Divide the batter equally among the 6 muffin cups. Top each muffin with the remaining blueberries.
- Mix the remaining 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar with the lemon zest. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with the lemon sugar.
- Bake for about 25 – 28 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool slightly in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Mix well – if you’re used to making muffins with wheat flour, you probably fear over mixing your muffin batter. But with gluten-free muffins, you don’t have to worry about over mixing the same way. If anything, the real risk is under mixing. Gluten-free flours don’t absorb liquids as quickly as wheat flour, so you need to give your batter a really good stir to make sure everything is really incorporated. And since there’s no gluten, you don’t have to worry about overworking the gluten strands which is what can make traditional muffins tough. If anything, gluten-free muffins benefit from the added structure well-mixed batter provides. Just don’t over mix after you’ve added the blueberries, or else you’ll end up with purple muffins!
- Serve warm – I find these muffins are best served warm. To retain a crisp muffin top, reheat in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes.
- Swap out the blueberries for other berries to switch things up. Raspberries or blackberries, or a combination of mixed berries, will all work well in these.
- Baked muffins: 2 – 3 days in an air-tight container at room temperature. Reheat in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes.
- Freeze: the baked muffins also freeze well – store well wrapped in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 1 month. To serve, thaw in a microwave for 20 seconds on high, and then warm in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutritional information shown is an estimate only.
See full disclaimer here.
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