Healthy gluten-free pumpkin oat muffins! These bakery style pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip muffins are both gluten free and dairy free. They have a crunchy muffin top, tender interior, a delicate pumpkin flavour, and most importantly, plenty of warming spices, giving them that pumpkin spice taste!
As the fall season rolls around, it seems like everyone starts to crave a little of that pumpkin spice flavour. These bakery style gluten-free pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip muffins are my answer to any pumpkin spice cravings. They have a moist, tender crumb that no one will ever guess is both gluten free and dairy free, a crisp domed muffin top that I believe is truly key to a great muffin, and most importantly, plenty of warming spices.
Super easy to whip up. Try as a quick breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up, whenever that pumpkin spice craving hits you next!
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Ingredients
- quick oats, certified gluten free
- gluten-free flour, all-purpose blend
- almond flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- cinnamon
- cloves
- allspice
- ginger
- pumpkin puree
- almond milk
- brown sugar
- eggs
- vegetable or canola oil
- apple cider vinegar
- 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.
Pumpkin puree: Make sure to use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. The ingredients of your puree should be 100% pumpkin.
Chocolate chips: I prefer to use mini chocolate chips in these muffins. I think it more evenly distributes the chocolate throughout every bite. However, you can also use regular sized chips too. It’s really whatever you prefer. If you require the muffins to be dairy free, ensure you’re using dairy free chocolate chips.
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, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and ginger.
- In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, almond milk, brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, apple cider vinegar and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
- 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 Pumpkin Oat 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 a well-mixed batter provides.
- Serve warm – I find these muffins are best served warm. Reheat in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes.
Variations
Instead of adding chocolate chips, try adding chocolate hazelnut spread. Spoon a tablespoon of batter into the bottom of each muffin cup, then add a teaspoon of chocolate hazelnut spread. Spoon the rest of the batter on top, filling each muffin cup. Then add an additional teaspoon of chocolate hazelnut spread to the top of each muffin, and using a knife, gently swirl it in. Bake as normal.
If you require your muffins to be dairy free, ensure you use a dairy-free spread.
Substitutions
If you don’t require the muffins to be dairy free, you can replace the almond milk with regular dairy milk (skim, 1% or 2% will all work).
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 Pumpkin Oat Muffins (Dairy Free)
Ingredients
- 1½ cups quick oats, certified gluten free
- ¾ cup gluten-free flour, all-purpose blend (see note)
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- 1¼ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup almond milk, see note
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup chocolate chips, dairy free (if required), 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, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and ginger.
- In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, almond milk, brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, apple cider vinegar and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
- 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. Reheat in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes.
- If you don’t require the muffins to be dairy free, you can replace the almond milk with regular dairy milk (skim, 1% or 2% will all work).
- 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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