Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins
These gluten free chocolate chip muffins are light, fluffy and taste like they’re fresh from a bakery! They’re dairy free, made from scratch in just one bowl and perfect for a mid-afternoon snack!
These gluten free chocolate chip muffins truly tick all of the boxes. They’re fluffy, buttery, with a beautifully domed top and studded with chocolate chips.
They’e also dairy free, made in one bowl and can even be made refined sugar free! And trust me, you cannot even tell these are gluten free! The flavor and texture are both identical to a classic muffin.
They have a rich flavor from brown sugar and vanilla, plus a slight nutty flavor from blanched almond flour, which also works to keep them really moist.
Somehow almond flour also makes muffins have a bit of a buttery flavor, so if you opt to use coconut oil instead of butter, you’ll still get that rich flavor!
Thanks to the eggs and generous amount of baking powder, these muffins are very light, fluffy and not at all dense. The yogurt and apple sauce keep them very moist without weighing down the batter. Try my protein muffins or gluten free zucchini bread next!
Before we get started…
- I opted to line two muffin trays with 6 liners so they are spaced apart. This helps them rise a bit taller! If you don’t have two trays, just bake them all in one.
- I like using mini chocolate chips for this recipe, but regular also works. I suggest semi-sweet either way!
How to make gluten free chocolate chip muffins
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tray with 12 liners and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients until smooth. It really helps to use all room temperature ingredients so they don’t cause the melted butter to harden.
Add in all dry ingredients aside from the chocolate and whisk until smooth.
As far as the all purpose flour goes, I like Bob’s Red Mill. If you use another blend, just make sure it has xanthan gum. The batter will be fairly thick.
Fold in the chocolate chips. Scoop the batter into the lined muffin tray and fill to the top. Filling to the top helps ensure those big round muffin tops!
Top each with a few additional chocolate chips. Bake for five minutes at 425, then decrease to 350 and bake for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tray and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
Key ingredients
EGGS. Two eggs help make these muffins super tall and fluffy and bind all ingredients together.
SUGAR. I used light brown sugar because it adds more of a rich flavor than white sugar, but really any kind of granulated sugar will work here!
BUTTER. A bit of butter helps add a lot of moisture to these gluten free muffins and gives them a nice fresh from a bakery like flavor!
GREEK YOGURT. I love using greek yogurt in baking because it adds moisture and the high protein content gives a fluffy texture.
MILK. I used almond milk because that’s what I have on hand, but any kind of milk, either dairy or non-dairy will work here.
FLOUR. A mix of gluten free all purpose flour and almond flour create a fluffy and traditional muffin texture. If you want a nut free version, you can sub the almond flour for an additional 1/2 cup of the gluten free all purpose flour.
BAKING POWDER & SODA. A generous serving of baking powder and then a bit of baking soda helps these muffins rise nice and tall.
Tips for round muffin tops
Keep the batter thick. The batter for these gluten free chocolate chip muffins should be quite thick. This will help the tops stay nice and round. When you scoop the batter into the muffin tray, it should hold it shape and stay rounded on top and not spread out.
Fill the muffins to the top. Most recipes will tell you to fill cupcakes/muffins about 3/4 of the way up, but with this recipe, you want to fill it all the way to the brim.
Start at a higher temperature. One trick that I like to use with muffins is to bake at a higher temperature for about 5 minutes, then lower to 350 for the remaining time.
For this recipe, I would suggest baking at 400 Fahrenheit for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 and bake an additional 15 or so minutes.
This allows the muffins to rise quickly as soon as they hit the oven. As always, avoid opening the oven while baking! This will lower the temperature and can cause a recipe to sink or deflate.
How to store and freeze
Store these gluten free chocolate chip muffins are room temperature in a sealed container. I like to microwave them for a few seconds before eating if they’ve been sitting around for a bit. They should keep for about 3 days.
You can also freeze these! Just let them cool completely, then transfer to a freezer safe bag. Freeze for up to 2 months, then reheat in the oven until warm through the center.
Can I make them vegan or dairy free?
You can sub the two eggs for two flax eggs or apple sauce, but the muffins will not rise as well and the texture won’t be quite as fluffy.
You can make these muffins dairy free by using a dairy free greek yogurt and dairy free butter like Earth Balance and then a non-dairy milk.
How do I keep chocolate chips from sinking?
Because the batter is so thick, you shouldn’t have any issues with the chocolate chips sinking, so you don’t need to do anything special with this recipe!
Some recipes will have you toss the chocolate chips with flour before adding to the batter, but I don’t think that’s necessary here.
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Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins
by: claire cary
These gluten free chocolate chip muffins are light, fluffy and taste like they’re fresh from a bakery! They’re dairy free friendly, made in one bowl and perfect for a mid-afternoon snack!
/ /Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tray with 12 liners and set aside. I opted to line two muffin trays with 6 liners so they are spaced apart. This helps them rise a bit taller!
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients until smooth. It really helps to use all room temperature ingredients so they don’t cause the coconut oil to harden.
Add in all dry ingredients aside from the chocolate and whisk until smooth. The batter will be thick.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Scoop the batter into the lined muffin tray and fill to the top. Filling to the top helps ensure those big round muffin tops!
Top each with a few additional chocolate chips.
Bake for 5 minutes at 425, then decrease the temperature to 350 and bake an additional 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the tray and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!
Notes
Serving: 1muffin / Calories: 312kcal / Carbohydrates: 44g / Protein: 6g / Fat: 12g / Sodium: 260mg / Fiber: 3g / Sugar: 26g