This classic Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins recipe features a moist muffin base, juicy blueberries, and a cinnamon sugar topping! They're loaded with flavor and can be made with fresh or frozen blueberries.
This recipe is easily made dairy-free and vegan. See the recipe notes for details.
Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins are the perfect year-round recipe since they can be made with fresh or frozen blueberries. We especially enjoy them in the Spring or Summer when we are thinking about all things berries. If you love blueberries as much as I do, you will also love my Classic Blueberry Crumble.
For more gluten-free muffins, check out my full collection of gluten-free muffin recipes or try favorites like my Gluten-Free Strawberry Muffins, Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins, and Gluten Free Double Chocolate Muffins.
And if you're new to a gluten-free diet, I have a great post on gluten free tips for beginners.
How to make it (with photos)
Ingredients Notes + Substitutions
These gluten-free blueberry muffins use just 10 ingredients. Check out the notes below the photos for ingredient substitutions.
Blueberries
You can use fresh or frozen blueberries in this gluten-free blueberry muffin recipe. I find smaller sized blueberries mix in best, but you can make this recipe with any size.
If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them ahead of time. I like using the small Maine blueberry variety when using frozen blueberries.
Gluten-Free Flour
I found that Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour is the best store-bought gluten-free flour blend for making muffins. Other 1-to-1 gluten-free flour varieties with xanthan gum or guar gum will work too.
Vinegar
Use apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar because they have the most neutral taste. To get a nice rise on gluten-free muffins, an acid like vinegar is needed to interact with the baking soda and baking powder to create extra bubbles. You can leave it out, but the muffins will be more dense.
Butter
Regular or dairy-free butter both work well in this recipe! I like butter instead of oil for the flavor and traditional muffin crumb. However, you can replace the butter with an equal amount of a neutral oil (like vegetable oil or avocado oil) if you like.
More Ingredient Notes
- milk - I use unsweetened almond milk when making this recipe. Dairy milk can be used too.
- sugar - Use regular white baking sugar for the most traditional gluten-free blueberry muffin taste and appearance. I also like to use coconut sugar because it is refined-sugar-free and has caramel notes that taste great with the cinnamon and blueberry flavor combination.
You also need baking powder, baking soda, salt, an egg, and cinnamon to make this recipe.
See the recipe card for a full list of ingredients with quantities.
Step-by-Step Instructions
This simple gluten-free blueberry muffins recipe takes only 30 minutes. You'll have muffins in no time.
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and grease or line 6 cups of a standard muffin pan.
- Buttermilk Mixture: Combine the milk and vinegar. I do this in a liquid measuring cup so the recipe only needs one mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt.
- Wet Ingredients: Add the melted butter, egg, and milk buttermilk mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until just combined but do not over mix - ideally you want there to still be some small flour lumps in the batter (about pea or blueberry-sized).
- Blueberries: Add the blueberries. Mix until just combined.
- Muffin Tin: Portion the batter evenly between the muffin cups. I like to use an ice cream scoop for this.
- Cinnamon Sugar: Mix 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar with cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the tops of the muffins.
- Bake: Bake on a middle oven rack at 425 degrees F for 7 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 400 degrees F. Bake at 400 degrees F for 8 minutes. At this point, the muffins should be perfectly cooked! But you can test for done-ness by inserting a toothpick in the center of a muffin to make sure it comes out dry, or with just a few moist crumbs.
- Cool: Cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan. Then gently remove the muffins from the pan and set them on a wire cooling rack for an additional 10 minutes to cool before eating.
Hint: If baking for yourself, it's easy to polish off a whole batch (6 muffins) by yourself in just a few days. If you're baking for family and friends, I definitely recommend doubling (or even tripling) the batch!
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the comments below. Thank you!
📖 Recipe
Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon milk of choice (133 ml, I used unsweetened almond milk)
- ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon all purpose gluten-free flour with xanthan gum (160 grams )
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar , divided (74 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons butter or vegan butter, melted but not hot
- 1 egg
- â…” cup blueberries , fresh or frozen, (110 grams, do not thaw if frozen)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and grease or line 6 cups of a standard muffin pan.
- Buttermilk Mixture: Combine the milk and vinegar. I do this in a liquid measuring cup so the recipe only needs one mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt.
- Wet Ingredients: Add the melted butter, egg, and milk buttermilk mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until just combined but do not over mix - ideally you want there to still be some small flour lumps in the batter (about pea or blueberry-sized).
- Blueberries: Add the blueberries. Mix until just combined.
- Muffin Tin: Portion the batter evenly between the muffin cups. I like to use an ice cream scoop for this.Â
- Cinnamon Sugar: Mix 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar with cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the tops of the muffins.
- Bake: Bake on a middle oven rack at 425 degrees F for 7 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 400 degrees F. Bake at 400 degrees F for 8 minutes. At this point, the muffins should be perfectly cooked! But you can test for done-ness by inserting a toothpick in the center of a muffin to make sure it comes out dry, or with just a few moist crumbs.
- Cool: Cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan. Then gently remove the muffins from the pan and set them on a wire cooling rack for an additional 10 minutes to cool before eating.
Notes
Nutrition
Expert Tips
Make amazing gluten-free blueberry muffins on the first try with these expert tips!
Vinegar improves rise in gluten-free muffins.
If using regular or plant-based milk, definitely don't skip it. You won't taste the vinegar in the final muffin. If you don't have white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar on hand, they will still taste great but may be a bit denser.
Start baking at a higher temperature for high fluffy muffin tops.
Wait for the oven to fully preheat before putting these gluten-free blueberry muffins in -- the first 5 minutes of baking are crucial for fluffiness. Lowering the temperature after the first 7 minutes prevents the muffins from drying out.
Recipe FAQs
Here I answered some frequently asked questions about this Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins recipe. Don't see your question? Leave it in the comments at the end of this post and I'll answer within two business days.
Store leftover gluten-free blueberry muffins in the refrigerator in an airtight container lined with paper towels (to absorb moisture and prevent sogginess) for up to 5 days. Replace the paper towels when they get moist. Freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight container.
Freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight container. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
To make light and fluffy gluten-free muffins, make sure to choose a trial-tested gluten-free recipe. Substituting gluten-free flour 1-for-1 in traditional recipes does not work. Apple cider vinegar helps to create a fluffy gluten-free muffin, as well as a rapid rise cycle where you start your muffins baking at a higher temperature for the first 5-7 minutes to encourage rise.
A gluten-free rice flour blend that includes xanthan gum or guar gum is closest to traditional all-purpose flour. For muffins, I find that Bob's Red Mill 1-for-1 gluten-free flour is the best.
More Gluten-Free Muffin Recipes
Looking for more gluten-free muffin recipes? Try these:
Kat says
I don’t know if I could taste the vegan buttermilk but I do think it made them fluffier. When I combined ingredients the baking soda bubbled a little before mixing. This will be our go-to recipe! The coconut sugar was really good in this too!
Jamie says
That's exactly right -- the buttermilk helps the muffins to stay nice and fluffy, not dense like some gluten-free baked goods. Thank you so much Kat!
Anya says
I love how fluffy these muffins are! The small batch was perfect and we gobbled them up in two days.
Jamie says
Thank you so much Anya!