Soft Oat Flour Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins

Easy gluten-free blueberry muffins loaded with jammy blueberries! Almond and oat flours create a soft tender crumb that pairs with the crisp bakery-style sugary muffin dome. 

When faced with any other blueberry muffin recipe, gluten-free or not, these are AMAZING.

The honey-sweetened crumb gets a wholesome flavor from almond flour and oat flour, with bursts of bright blueberries and a crisp sugary muffin top. 

The tops are domed and crisp, the blueberries evenly distributed, and the flavor *chef's kiss*. It’s the perfect breakfast muffin. And snack muffin. And post-dinner muffin. Really, they’re just the perfect muffin.

It's not all about the top though, the muffin underneath is equally as satisfying.

The base of these muffins came from my poppy seed almond flour muffins, using a combination of oat and almond flour. Here I've subbed in butter and added in some sweet rice flour to give the muffins even more richness and chew. 

Super-fine almond flour adds moisture to the muffin. The flavor of almonds doesn't overwhelm the crumb, instead offering a subtly sweet nuttiness, just like in my super moist Gluten-Free Lemon Drizzle Cake.

Gluten-free oat flour adds the softness and structure for a fluffy muffin crumb. It keeps the muffins super moist, but not dense. The flavor complements almond flour, adding warm, slightly nutty, wholesome notes.

Sweet rice flour creates the chewy texture. Sweet rice flour is distinctively different than white rice or brown rice flour. Rather it is the same flour used to make mochi, and as such, its stickiness helps to bind the crumb together, creating chewiness like a classic muffin recipe. 

Secret to Getting a Tall Muffin

The bakery-style crispy sugar domed-top of these blueberry muffins was inspired by Hummingbird High's Levain Bakery blueberry muffins - Michelle gave me the tip to let the batter rest before baking. 

I found the same thing was true for these gluten-free blueberry muffins. Resting allows the flours to better soak up the ingredients and will create more domed muffins with a better rise.

If you don't want to wait, though, you can bake them right away and they'll still be delicious, but will have flatter tops. I've tested both ways to be sure!

Here's a review from one of my neighbors:

"I’m lucky to try almost everything Sarah makes. Despite not being gluten-free myself, the past year has seen me amass quite the collection of gluten-free flours.

I’ve also collected a handful of recipes that I’ve dubbed “A+ I Will Ask for the Recipe Early” recipes. These are baked goodies that are so incredible I just can’t wait for the recipe to go live. These include cassava flour tortillas, maple pecan cookies, and gluten-free lemon drizzle cake.

Above all of these has been - you’ve probably guessed by now - this gluten-free blueberry muffin recipe. Sarah came up with it months ago and I pleaded and begged to get it early (read: texted once, Sarah’s very nice). I’ve made them at least 3 times a month for like half of quarantine."

Recipe

Moist Oat Flour Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins

yields: 12 muffins

prep time: 10 minutes mins

cook time: 45 minutes mins

Bake Time: 20 minutes mins

total time: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

These easy and moist gluten-free blueberry muffins are loaded with jammy blueberries! Almond and oat flours create a soft tender crumb that pairs with the crisp bakery-style sugary muffin dome. 

5 from 12 reviews

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Ingredients

• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon more for brushing the pan
• ▢ ¼ cup whole milk
• ▢ 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ▢ 1¾ cups (about 9 ounces) fresh or frozen blueberries, divided, see note for using frozen
• ▢ 122 g (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) gluten-free oat flour, plus 1 tablespoon for tossing with blueberries
• ▢ 100 g (½ cup + 2 tablespoons) sweet rice flour, also called mochiko. Different from "white rice flour" or "brown rice flour"
• ▢ 95 g (½ cup + 2 tablespoons) super-fine blanched almond flour
• ▢ ½ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¼ cup honey
• ▢ 2 large eggs, room temperature
• ▢ 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 3 tablespoons coarse sugar such as turbinado, for sprinkling

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INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 400°F and grease a non-stick muffin pan generously with melted butter, brushing the bottom, sides and top.
• In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine milk and lemon juice and set aside for 5-10 minutes.
• Reserve ¼ cup of blueberries for putting on top then toss the remaining blueberries with the 1 extra tablespoon of oat flour - this will help prevent them from sinking.
• Combine oat flour, sweet rice flour, almond flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
• Whisk the eggs and vanilla extract into the milk and add it to the dry ingredients along with the melted butter and honey. Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined, but lumps still remain.
• Fold in the blueberries. For optimal muffin domes, let the batter rest for 45-60 minutes before scooping into the muffin cups. This allows the flours to better soak up the ingredients and will create more domed muffins with a better rise. If you don't want to wait, you can bake them right away and they'll still be delicious, but will have flatter tops.
• Scoop ¼ cup of batter into each muffin cup. Top muffins with remaining blueberries and sprinkle generously with coarse sugar.
• Bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375°F and bake for another 10-12 minutes, until the edges are dark golden brown and crisp and a toothpick in the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.
• Serve immediately or store on the counter for up to 2 days (if you put them in an airtight container, they will lose their crispiness. If I do this, I warm the muffin slightly before eating. Alternatively, I store mine on a plate on the counter).

Notes

Frozen Blueberries: If using frozen blueberries, do not defrost the berries before adding them to the batter. Toss them in oat flour and keep them in the freezer until ready to fold them into the batter.