Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins
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Light, fluffy and moist, these delicious gluten free chocolate chip muffins are easy to make and can be whipped up in under 40 minutes.
When it comes to home baking, you really can’t go past the joy of muffins. They’re so easy to make, for experienced and novice bakers alike, and they give you a lot of bang-for-your-buck.
Fluffy, moist and sweet, they’re the perfect morning or afternoon tea treat warm from the oven, or warmed up the next day for an easy breakfast.
Gluten-free muffins can be a bit hit-or-miss, but I’ve spent a long time tweaking this recipe, to make sure they’re the best gluten free chocolate chip muffins. It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it.
Most muffin recipes call for the cold ingredients to be brought to room temperature for best results. But for this gluten free chocolate chip muffins, there’s no need to do that, which means they’re even faster to make.
I do like to rest the muffin batter for 10 minutes, which adds a little bit of time, but makes the texture even more amazing, so is well worth it in my opinion. It also thickens the batter, so the chocolate chips don’t sink to the bottom of the muffins. If you’re in a super hurry though, you can definitely skip that step.
Adding a bit of yoghurt and oil makes them even more moist, while still having that buttery muffin flavour.
What you’ll love about this Recipe:
Scroll down to the recipe card for the full gluten free muffin recipe including ingredient amounts, or keep reading for an overview of the ingredients and step-by-step photos.
Ingredients
Gluten Free Flour – I use my favourite homemade gluten free flour blend, but you can use a store-bought all-purpose gluten-free flour blend if you prefer. Keep in mind that different gluten free flours absorb liquid differently, so if you use a different flour than I did, your results may vary from mine.
Xanthan Gum – This helps stop the muffins from crumbling. If you use a store-bought gluten free flour blend that contains a gum ingredient, you can omit the xanthan gum from the recipe.
Baking Powder – Make sure it’s gluten free as some are not.
Sugar – I like to use a combination of white granulated sugar and soft brown sugar, but you can use all white sugar if you prefer.
Butter – Either salted or unsalted butter is fine.
Plain Yoghurt – Any kind of sweetened or unsweetened plain yoghurt will work. I use unsweetened Greek-style yoghurt. Buttermilk or sour cream will probably also work in place of the yoghurt, but I haven’t tested those variations.
Oil – This helps keep the muffins moist for longer. Any kind of neutral-flavoured vegetable oil or cooking oil will work. I used rice bran oil. If you don’t want to use oil, add an extra 25g of butter.
Egg – Use a large egg for this recipe.
Vanilla Extract – Or vanilla bean paste.
Chocolate Chips – I have used a combination of regular-sized dark and milk chocolate chips for these muffins, but there are a lot of options you should choose, so here are some ideas:
- Dark chocolate chips, or semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Milk chocolate chips
- White chocolate chips
- Mini chocolate chips in any flavour
- Other flavoured baking chips (butterscotch, caramel, peanut butter chips, etc. – just make sure they’re gluten free.)
- Chopped chocolate from a block (dark, milk or white)
How to Make Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins
Sift the gluten free flour, xanthan gum and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add in the white sugar and brown sugar, and whisk it all together to combine everything well, and break up any lumps of brown sugar.
Chop the butter into cubes, then add it to the milk in a microwave safe jug or bowl (you could also do this in a small saucepan on the stove, if you prefer). Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir, and microwave again in 15-second increments until the butter is mostly melted. Stir until it melts completely. The mixture should be warm but not super hot. If it’s hot, give it a minute or two to cool.
Add the yoghurt, oil and vanilla, then whisk in the egg until well combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the combined dry ingredients, and stir until *almost* combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Rest the muffin batter for 5-10 minutes at room temperature. This step is optional, but it gives the flour time to absorb the moisture from the wet ingredients makes for a much fluffier, moister muffin. I use this time to clear the kitchen bench and prepare the muffin tins.
Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper liners, or spray with cooking oil spray.
Because these muffins are lovely and soft, they do have a tendency to stick to the muffin cases if you try to unwrap them while they’re still hot. If you know you will want to shove the freshly baked muffins in your mouth while they’re still very warm, skip the muffin papers and just bake them in the greased muffin tin instead.
Once the batter has rested, give it a few gentle stirs, to make sure the chocolate chips are still well-distributed, then divide the muffin batter between the muffin cups.
Bake the muffins until they’re lightly golden on top, and a skewer inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tins, then gently remove them from the tin and place onto a wire rack to cool.
Storing the Muffins
Like all muffins, these are at their best the day they’re made, however, they keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Warm them gently in the microwave to freshen them up if needed.
They can also be frozen. Wrap them in plastic wrap (individually or in pairs) and pop them into an airtight container before freezing for up to 2 months.
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins
This recipe should make around 36 mini muffins. The baking time will need to be adjusted, I suggest baking at 190℃ (375℉) and checking after 8-10 minutes.
Why are the ingredients in this recipe measured by weight? Because cup measurements are really inaccurate, and the “standard” cup size varies in different countries. For baking (gluten free baking especially!), accurate ingredient measurements are crucial to success. I want you to have success with these recipes, and for us to be able to troubleshoot if you have any problems. Knowing that the ingredient amounts you used are correct is vital to that. You can buy a set of inexpensive kitchen scales online, or in most homewares stores and even some grocery stores.
More Gluten-Free baking Recipes
If you enjoy this gluten free chocolate chip muffin recipe, you’ll definitely want to also try my gluten free apple muffins, studded with apple chunks and flavoured with cinnamon.
Or if you want to get a bit fancy and make cupcakes instead, these gluten free carrot cake cupcakes are a real favourite of mine.
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 300 g gluten free flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder make sure it's gluten free
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your flour blend contains a gum ingredient
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 50 g soft brown sugar
- 125 g butter
- 190 ml milk (¾ cup)
- 60 g plain yoghurt (¼ cup)
- 2 tablespoons oil choose a neutral-flavoured oil such as rice bran or canola oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 large egg
- 120 g chocolate chips (¾ cup)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 200℃ (390℉).
- Sift the gluten free flour, xanthan gum and baking powder into a large bowl. Add in the white sugar and brown sugar, and mix until well combined, breaking up any lumps of brown sugar.
- Chop the butter into cubes, then add it to the milk in a microwave-safe jug or bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, then microwave again in 15-second bursts until the butter is mostly melted. Stir until completely melted. The mixture should be warm but not super hot. If it’s hot, give it a minute or two to cool.
- Add the yoghurt, oil and vanilla extract or paste, then whisk in the egg.Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until *almost* combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Rest the muffin batter for 5-10 minutes at room temperature. This step is optional, but makes for a much fluffier, moister muffin. I use this time to clear the kitchen bench and prepare the muffin tins.Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper liners, or spray with cooking oil spray.
- Once the batter has rested, give it a couple of gentle stirs to make sure the chocolate chips are still well-distributed, then divide the muffin batter between the 12 muffin cups.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until lightly golden on top, and a skewer inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tins, then gently remove from the tin and transfer to a cooling rack
Storing the Muffins
- Store the cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Warm them gently in the microwave to freshen them up if needed.
Freezing the Muffins
- They can also be frozen. Wrap the muffins in plastic wrap (individually or in pairs) and pop them into an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer: Any nutritional info provided is a computer generated estimate and is intended as a guide only.
Happy baking!