The Best Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins

Muffins. If it’s one of the first words out of my little one’s mouth when she is asked what she wants for breakfast. I feel as if I’m the crazy muffin lady around here lately. I’ve created so many muffin recipes in the last year, it’s a bit nuts! If I had a bit more time, I’d have them all up on the blog here, but for now, I’ll start with my most frequently baked: The [almost famous] gluten-free pumpkin muffins (with a just a few chocolate chips added in for some fun). 

Muffins Can Be Healthy

Typically, muffins are filled with bad fats, unhealthy carbohydrates and lots of sugar… most you could classify as a dessert… but not these ones! I solemnly swear: no muffin that comes out of my kitchen will be filled with anything I’m not proud to serve to my little ones. So rest assured that these muffins are not only a healthy snack/breakfast option, but are also delicious, delectable and perfect for kids and parents, alike.

Taste: Like Fall in a bite! Warm spices mix with pumpkin and chocolate just perfectly. 

Texture: The most tender muffin you’ve ever had your hands on, yet firm enough to not fall apart. Perfectly crumbly, moist and velvety.

Pros: Gluten-free, dairy-free, lower grain content,  and healthier than most muffins: lower (natural) sugar, higher protein and you’re incorporating produce into breakfast and snacks. Easy and little clean-up. 

Cons: You will need to make another batch… by tomorrow. (So just double it now!)

Critical Ingredients

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Real Pumpkin

I use organic canned pumpkin, (typically from Trader Joe’s). 

Real Raw Honey

Honey is a real living food and has been used for it’s medicinal effects for years. The ingredients of honey have been reported to exert antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antimetastatic effects. For me, using honey as a sweetner is a no brainer! So when someone suggests that all sweetners are the same, you can know that is certainly not the case.

And fun fact, the Glycemic Index of honey varies among species because the carbohydrate content varies dependent on ripening. (Glycemic Index measures how quickly your blood sugar rises.) Citrus, thyme and chestnut honey have been found to have the lowest GI values.

Let’s Talk Flour

I will make most any baked good with 100% blanched almond flour if I can. But there are often times that I will need to add some sort of other flour to make the product a bit more firm. That’s the case with these muffins. Most of the “flour” consists of blanched almonds; I’ve added in just enough gluten-free flour blend (King Arthur’s 1:1) to give the muffin the perfect texture. If you’re unfamiliar with almond flour, you’ve just got to get on this bandwagon!

Almond flour yields incredible tenderness in any baked good.

Replacing some of your traditional flour of choice in any cookie, cake, cobbler, etc. with almond flour, makes an insane difference in the tenderness! There is a great article explaining how to begin to use it at King Arthur Flour. 

Chocolate Chips

So my [not so new] LOVE in the baking world, other than almond flour, are these chocolate chips by Enjoy Life. They contain minimal ingredients, are dairy-free and are my favorite tasting chocolate chip! You can get them at most health food stores, like Sprout’s. I’ll never go back!

Critical Preparation Notes

Be certain to read (and follow) how to bake the muffins. They are cooked at two different temps to yield one amazing muffin.

Let’s Talk Muffin Pans

Silicone has changed the way I operate in the kitchen. Never again will I go back to using conventional muffin tins! Silicone muffin tins are SO much easier to work with. They are mostly non-stick, especially when sprayed, and you can pop the muffins out just by pressing up from the bottom, even while still hot. They can also go into the dishwasher! This is my go-to muffin pan. The $13 is more than worth it!

Now on to the recipe!

The Best Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins

2018-09-22 09:29:31

Yields 12

A delectable, yet healthy, Fall muffin.

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

35 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

25 min

Total Time

35 min

Ingredients

1. ¾ cup Pumpkin, canned
2. 2 Bananas (over ripe), mashed
3. 2 Eggs
4. ¼ cup Avocado oil (or other flavorless oil)
5. ¼ Honey
6. 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
7. 1 ¼ cup Almond flour, superfine and blanched
8. ½ cup Gluten-free flour blend (I use Bob’s 1:1)
9. 2 teaspoons Pumpkin Spice
10. 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
11. 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
12. ½ teaspoon Salt
13. ¼ cup Chocolate Chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Thoroughly mash ripe bananas in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add pumpkin, eggs, oil, honey and vanilla. Mix with a hand mixer.
4. Into the same bowl add the almond flour, gluten-free flour, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Mix.
5. Lastly, add the chocolate chips and mix in just until combined.
6. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
7. Divide batter between the 12 cups (each will have roughly 3T).
8. Bake at 425F for 5 minutes.
9. After 5 minutes, change oven temperature to 350F and cook for additional 20 minutes or until center comes out clean.
10. Let cool and enjoy! Muffins can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. They can also be frozen and thawed to enjoy at any time!

Special Tools

1. Muffin Pan

Nutrition Info (1 each)

1. Kcal 224 | Fat 13g | Sat Fat 2g | Chol 31mg | Sodium 215mg | Carb 25g | Fiber 4g | Sugar 14g | Protein 5g

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