I originally shared these muffins on June 26th 2008. Ever since, they have been one of my favorite recipes to make each summer as local blueberries appear at the Piggly Wiggly.
Muffins are one of the easiest baked goods to make gluten free. Gluten isn't needed in muffins. Gluten actually makes baked goods tough, and the more you stir gluten the "tougher" it becomes. Which is the reason it works so well in traditional yeast breads. Gluten creates a stretchy structure that holds bread together and makes a pizza crust so chewy. But you see.. .you don't need that in a muffin.
Muffins are supposed to be soft, a bit delicate, and have a tender crumb... unless, of course, you want a whole grain bran muffin which is a whole different story. But in either case... your muffins don't need gluten.
This is only one aspect of gluten free baking that I love! With a simple blueberry muffin recipe you learn how ingredients work together. How whisking the dry ingredients incorporates air into the batter and gives you a light & fluffy end product. How beating egg whites until they are fluffy and folding them in the batter helps your baked goods rise beautifully. How using oil instead of butter will create a baked good that retains it's moisture and therefore has a longer "shelf" life. All of this... just from a batch of muffins!
Blueberry muffins are a summer favorite. I definitely recommend using fresh, local blueberries if you can find them. Although you can also use frozen berries if you need too. Sometimes frozen blueberries can be bitter, so you may need to adjust the amount of sugar in your recipe if that's the case. If you use frozen berries, make sure to use them frozen. Do not defrost them. Otherwise, you'll have purple batter, as I found out here.
Streusel-Topped Fresh Blueberry Muffins
free of gluten, casien/dairy, and soy
created by Carrie Forbes, author of Gingerlemongirl.com
printer-friendly recipe
If you are new to gluten free baking, please read my article on Gluten Free Flours & Baking Ingredients 101.
Dry Ingredients:
2/3 cup arrowroot starch
2/3 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum (used as a thickening agent, you can leave this out if you'd like)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients:
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup applesauce
3/4 cup non-dairy (or dairy) milk
1/4 cup canola oil, coconut oil, butter, or margarine
Streusel Topping:
3 tablespoons brown rice flour
2 tablespoons gluten free rolled oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vegan margarine
Glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1-3 teaspoons orange juice
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, applesauce, rice milk, canola oil (or melted butter), and sugar. Add the flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture and fold just until combined. Fold in blueberries. In another bowl whip egg whites until stiff. SLOWLY fold the whipped egg whites into the muffin batter. (If you still see streaks or clumps of egg white that is OKAY, it does NOT have to be completely incorporated!) Spoon batter into a greased or paper-lined muffin tins (makes 10-11 large/ bakery-sized muffins or 24 mini-muffins). In a small bowl, mix together streusel topping ingredients. Sprinkle over unbaked muffins. Bake for 18-25 minutes. Depending on the temperature of your oven, you may have to bake muffins longer. They are done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. If you hit a blueberry while testing it will stain your toothpick purple! As long as additional crumbs are not sticking to the toothpick the muffins are done!! Cool muffins on a wire rack. Mix glaze ingredients together. Only add enough orange juice to give the glaze the consistency you desire. Drizzled on completely cooled muffins.
Enjoy!
A few more of my favorite gluten free muffin recipes:
