EASY Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins – Bakery Style!

I can’t tell you how happy I am that I’ve finally nailed this Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe!

I used to LOVEEEE bakery style muffins. They differ from a cupcake in that they slightly crunchier top & larger crumb. They’re less delicate, don’t need decorating, often bigger in size and just mean business haha 🙂

Its been a mission of mine for quite some time to replicate the same chunky deliciousness of a Starbucks muffins and we are there!!!!!!!

Ingredients

One of my fave things about this Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe is the ingredients. Lots of recipes online use all sorts of funny things – different oils, very specific yoghurts, various spices etc. I’ve tried to keep this super simple. It’s all stuff you can pick up from any supermarket, big or small.

DAIRY FREE? Me too! This recipe is perfect either way. Just replace the buttermilk for

1. “Full fat” soya milk i.e. not the ones that say “light”, “no sugar” etc. I use Alpro long life.
2. Vinegar – either cider vinegar or white wine vinegar work perfectly.

How to stop your chocolate chips from sinking

One of my biggest challenges with these Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins was the saga of the sinking chocolate chips. After hours (yes, hours) of searching online and recipe testing, these are my 3 top tips that actually worked.

1. Your melted butter needs to be cool before adding to the muffin mix.
2. Don’t whisk the batter until smooth – a few lumps of flour are fine.
3. Toss the choc chips in a bit of flour and add at the very end

You know you’ve hit the jackpot when you add the choc chips to the muffin mix and they sit ontop, rather than instantly sinking to the bottom of the mix. Its honestly the BEST feeling and surprisingly easy to achieve!!!!

Pin Recipe

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins – Bakery Style!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time18 minutes mins

Servings: 6 large muffins

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 170 grams gluten free plain flour
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• Sprinkle of salt

Rest of the Ingredients

• 55 grams butter/spread - I use a tub of Flora
• 100 grams caster/granulated
• 1 egg
• 125 ml buttermilk OR - if you're using dairy free, use full fat soya and 7.5ml of cider/white wine vinegar
• Dash of vanilla extract - optional but gooood!
• 100-125g choc chips

Instructions

Prep

• Pre-heat your oven to 220oC.
• Line a cupcake tray with muffin cases.
  

Make the Muffin Mix

• BOWL 1: Add the butter to a pan and melt. Pour into a mixing bowl and leave to cool for at least 15 mins.

  >If you don't leave the butter to cool, the choc chips could sink in your muffins!
• BOWL 2: Add all of the dry ingredients to a *separate bowl* and mix (with a spoon/fork/balloon whisk… anything you like).
• BOWL 3: Place your choc chips into a *separate bowl* and add 2 tbsp of the dry mix to it. Mix together so the choc chips are coated in flour.

  >This is also to prevent your choc chips from sinking.
• Add the sugar to the melted butter. Whisk together until its fully incorporated.

  > Takes 10 seconds with a ballon whisk (just a normal hand whisk – not electric)
  
• Add the egg, buttermilk (or milk and vinegar if you're dairy free) and vanilla to the butter/sugar. Whisk until its fully incorporated.

  >Takes another 10 seconds with a balloon whisk.
  
• Tip the wet mix into the dry mix and whisk until JUST incorporated.

  >Make sure you whisk right to the bottom of the bowl but do not over whisk at this stage as your choc chips will sink. A few lumps in the mix is better than overwhisking! Takes about 5 seconds to whisk.
  
• Scatter the choc chips over the top of the muffin mix. Fold/stir through very carefully.

  >I only do 2/3 circles with a hand whisk.

  >If you've nailed it, the choc chips will sit ontop of the muffin mix when you scatter them over the top – they shouldn't sink straight to the bottom (NB: if they do sink, dont worry your muffins will still be delicious, you'll just have a plain muffin with a chunky choc base ;))
• Scoop your muffin mix into the muffin cases.

  >It is runnier than a regular cupcake mix so I find its easier to do this with an ice cream scoop!

  >Try not to be too heavy handed with it so you don't take the air out of it.

  >You want to fill the cases to a minimum of 2/3rds full so you get nice big muffins!!

Cooking

• Place into the centre of your oven for 5 mins. Then turn down the heat to 180oC and leave to cook for another 13 mins, until the tops are browning and springy to touch.
  
• Leave for 5-10 mins to firm up a little and then eat!! They taste DELICIOUS whilst warm!!

Notes

*HOW LONG THEY’LL KEEP: These muffins are best eaten on the same day/day after you cook them. If you want them to last a little longer, keep in a tightly sealed container and warm them up for 15 seconds in the microwave before eating. 

*THINKING OF MAKING MORE THAN 6 MUFFINS? If you’re new to muffins, stick to making 6 as per the recipe to start with so you get the hang of it before attempting to scale it up. It gets a little harder to stop the choc chips from sinking the more batter your working with (need longer time to cool the butter, need to be more careful whisking the dry and wet mix together etc). 

 

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