A bakery style gluten-free oatmeal chocolate chip muffin with a crunchy muffin top, tender interior, hint of warm cinnamon, and loaded with chocolate chips! They’re absolutely delicious!
These bakery style gluten-free oatmeal chocolate chip muffins are super easy to whip up and taste great! They have a moist, tender crumb that no one will ever guess is gluten free and a crisp domed muffin top that I believe is truly key to a great muffin.
As a quick grab-and-go breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up, these are one of my all-time favourite treats. Fortunately, they also freeze really well, so I always try keep a few stashed in the freezer for whenever a craving strikes, and fully recommend you to do the same!
With a few simple swaps, you can also make these muffins dairy fee. See below for dairy-free option.
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Ingredients
- quick oats, certified gluten free
- gluten-free flour, all-purpose blend
- almond flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- cinnamon
- buttermilk
- brown sugar
- eggs
- vegetable or canola oil
- vanilla extract
- chocolate chips
See recipe card for quantities.
Ingredient Notes
Quick oats: Make sure to use quick oats and not old-fashioned rolled oats in order to get a nice, tender texture to your muffins. If you want your muffins to be gluten free, make sure your oats are certified gluten free. During processing, oats are often contaminated with gluten-containing grains (wheat, barley, rye); therefore, it’s important to make sure you’re only using certified gluten-free oats. Certified gluten-free oats are harvested, stored, transported and processed in dedicated gluten-free facilities and tested for purity. For more information on adding oats to your gluten-free diet, please refer to the Canadian Celiac Association's Oats Statement.
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.
Buttermilk: Real buttermilk is best, but if you don’t have any on hand you can add 1 ½ tablespoons of white or apple cider vinegar to a liquid measuring cup and then add enough milk to measure 1 ½ cups. Stir and let stand for 5 minutes before using.
Chocolate chips: I prefer to use mini chocolate chips in these muffins. I think it more evenly distributes the chocolate throughout every bite. However, feel free to use regular sized chips too. It's really whatever you prefer.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners or grease with vegetable oil. In large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: quick oats, gluten-free flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: buttermilk, brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
- Mix in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter equally among the 12 muffin cups. Optional: Top each muffin with a few additional chocolate chips.
- Bake for about 18 – 20 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 Oatmeal Chocolate Chip 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.
- 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
Make it dairy free: replace the buttermilk with a non-dairy buttermilk substitute and use dairy-free chocolate chips. For a non-dairy buttermilk substitute, stir together 1 cup of plain non-dairy yogurt, ½ cup of non-dairy milk and ½ teaspoon of white or apple cider vinegar, and let sit for 5 minutes before using. I've had good success using plain coconut milk yogurt and almond milk.
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 Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 1½ cups quick oats, certified gluten free
- 1 cup gluten-free flour, all-purpose blend (see note)
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1½ cups buttermilk, see note
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable or canola oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup chocolate chips, plus more for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners or grease with vegetable oil. In large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: quick oats, gluten-free flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: buttermilk, brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
- Mix in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter equally among the 12 muffin cups. Optional: Top each muffin with a few additional chocolate chips.
- Bake for about 18 – 20 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 a well-mixed batter provides.
- 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.
- Make it dairy free: replace the buttermilk with a non-dairy buttermilk substitute and use dairy-free chocolate chips. For a non-dairy buttermilk substitute, stir together 1 cup of plain non-dairy yogurt, ½ cup of non-dairy milk and ½ teaspoon of white or apple cider vinegar, and let sit for 5 minutes before using. I've had good success using plain coconut milk yogurt and almond milk.
- 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.
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