Gluten-Free Blackberry Muffins

These impossibly tender and fluffy Gluten-Free Blackberry Muffins are loaded with ripe berries and topped with a pinch of sugar for the perfect bakery-style treat.

Jump to:

• What I Love about this Recipe
• Ingredient Notes & Possible Substitutions
• How to Make Gluten-Free Blackberry Muffins
• FAQ’s
• Recipe Variations 
• Storage 
• Recipe Tips
• Related Recipes
• Other Great Recipes
• Did you try these Gluten-Free Blackberry Muffins?
• 📖 Recipe

Did you go berry picking this summer and are looking for a unique and delicious gluten-free recipe to help use up your abundance of blackberries? Well, this is the one. These muffins are simple to make, the perfect texture, and full of sweet-tart berries. They make the perfect grab-and-go breakfast or snack for any time of the day.

Ingredient Notes & Possible Substitutions

Gluten-Free 1:1 All-Purpose Flour – All gluten-free flours are made from a combination of different flours and gums. Some work better than others. Be sure to use a GF flour that measures 1:1 with regular flour. I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour in this recipe, and using this brand will provide you with the most consistent results, but you welcome to use whatever you prefer but expect some slight variations in texture. I also tested Trader Joe's 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour, which worked fine.

Full Fat Sour Cream – You can use full fat sour cream, whole milk Greek yogurt or whole milk plain yogurt in this recipe. Non-fat plain Greek yogurt will also work, but the fat makes the muffins more moist and tender.

Butter – I used avocado oil in this recipe, but vegetable oil, olive oil or melted butter will all work.

Organic Granulated Sugar - Regular granulated sugar will work just fine. I do not recommend using raw cane sugar unless it is finely granulated (instead of coarse or large granules). Coarse sugar can be used for topping the muffins.

Eggs – No egg replacements were tested in this recipe. If you do try an egg replacement, please let me know how it works in the comments below. I think Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacement will work better than using "flax eggs" which tend to make gluten-free muffins dense and gummy.

Blackberries – Fresh berries are always nice and look beautiful, but they are not always available. If berry season has passed, try using frozen berries. Frozen berries should not be thawed. Just add them to the batter straight from the freezer.

Leavening - Baking powder and baking soda both are required for this recipe because the sour cream adds too much acid to the recipe for using baking powder alone.

How to Make Gluten-Free Blackberry Muffins

• Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a muffin tin with paper muffin liners. Set aside.
• Combine the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir together until the baking powder is evenly distributed.
• In a large mixing bowl, add the oil, sugar, sour cream, eggs and vanilla and whisk together until smooth.
• Dump the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until there are no streaks of flour, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Avoid over mixing.

• Fold the blackberries into the muffin batter to evenly distribute. I reserved some of the berries to halve and press into the tops of the muffins before baking (this is optional but looks nice).
• Use a 2-ounce cookie scoop or a large spoon to divide the batter evenly between the wells.
• If using, press the reserved berries into the tops of the muffins and sprinkle with coarse sugar (optional).
• Place the muffins in the preheated oven and bake for 18-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown (22 minutes was about perfect for my oven but this will depend on your elevation and oven type). Remove the muffins and cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before enjoying.

FAQ’s

Can I use frozen berries in this recipe?

Yes, frozen berries can be used in a pinch. Avoid thawing the berries first for best results. Simply fold in the frozen blackberries into the batter and resume the recipe as written. The muffins will take on more of a purplish color but will still taste great. 

Recipe Variations 

• Add 1 tablespoon of lemon zest and 1 teaspoon of lemon extract to the most perfect gluten-free lemon blackberry muffins.
• Substitute the blackberries for your favorite in-season fresh berries.
• Use ½ cup of berries + ½ cup of chocolate chips for tasty blackberry chocolate chip muffins.

Storage 

Allow the muffins to cool fully before plating them and loosely covering with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Consume within 5 days for best quality. Alternatively, you can store the muffins in a resealable bag or an airtight container, but note that gluten-free muffins tend to soften the longer they are stored in a sealed container.

For longer storage, you can freeze the muffins for up to 1 month. To freeze, place the muffins back in the muffin tin and pop the tin in the freezer uncovered for about 20 minutes. This partial freezing will help prevent the muffins from sticking together when bagged. Once partly frozen, place the muffins in a resealable freezer bag, seal, and place in the freezer. Remove from the bag and thaw at room temp for 1-2 hours.

Recipe Tips

• One substitution from the list of suggested subs will work but because gluten-free baking can be so finicky I don’t recommend veering too far from the original recipe. 
• Avoid overmixing the batter as this can make the muffins tough.
• Use fresh leavening agents. Older baking powder and baking soda can prevent the muffins from rising properly.
• Using a 2-ounce cookie scoop with a trigger release makes for easy and accurate measuring when scooping the batter into the muffin tin.
• When measuring flour, using the ‘spoon and level’ method can help yield the best results. Scooping the flour directly from the flour sack using a measuring cup can result in flour that is too densely packed. For more accurate measuring, try spooning flour from the sack into the measuring cup and then leveling if off with the back of a butter knife. A calibrated kitchen scale is another handy tool for accurate measuring while baking.
• Expect dark colored muffin tins to yield shorter cook times. Also consider your elevation when baking. I am at about 2,000 ft elevation and used a lighter color metal tin and a bake time of 25 minutes worked perfectly, but when I moved across town the muffins only needed about 22 minutes in my new oven.

Related Recipes

• Almond Flour Banana Muffins
• Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins
• Almond Butter Banana Bread (Paleo)
• Lemon Blueberry Overnight Oats

Other Great Recipes

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