Coffee Cake Muffins - gluten free, paleo option

These fluffy gluten free coffee cake muffins make an excellent afternoon snack with tea or coffee. They are incredibly fluffy with a spiced cinnamon streusel that everyone will love.

How to Make These Muffins

The process of making this coffee cake muffin recipe is very similar to other muffins with little prep time. One difference is that you start by making a streusel topping after lining your muffin tin, though. Streusel is a rich and crumbly topping that frequently adorns cake-like pastries like these muffins. It is often a mixture of white granulated sugar, butter, and all-purpose flour. However, this one includes coconut sugar in place of granulated sugar and coconut flour instead of white flour. You can even use coconut oil rather than butter if you are dairy-free.

After you make the streusel, you whisk together your wet ingredients including eggs, sour cream, butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. The batter involves just one large bowl, so you can simply stir your dry ingredients including coconut flour, tapioca, leavening agents, and salt directly into the wet mixture until you achieve a smooth batter.

The assembly of these muffins is a little different from other muffin recipes in that you layer the batter with the streusel mixture. You start by filling the muffin cups halfway with the batter followed by dividing two-thirds of the streusel mixture between them. Next, you top with the remaining batter and streusel before baking in the oven.

The total time for these muffins to bake should only be about 18 to 20 minutes. Definitely don't extend the cook time as you want the cakes to remain fluffy. To test the doneness of your muffins, simply insert them with a wooden skewer to see if it pulls out any wet batter or gummy crumbs. If it comes out clean, it is a good sign that your muffins are ready.

What Makes these Muffins Like Coffee Cake?

There are plenty of variations of coffee cake around the world. At its most basic, it is simply cake that one should eat while drinking coffee. In North America, these cakes often include a favourite dessert spice, ground cinnamon. Additionally, these cakes are often in a bundt cake or loaf form.

These muffins are great with coffee because they are fluffy and slightly sweetened with deep maple syrup. Additionally, they have a crunchy cinnamon streusel layer in the middle as on the top for garnish.

What Makes these Muffins Gluten Free?

While many muffin recipes utilize all-purpose flour, many bakers are turning to alternatives for reasons pertaining to both taste and health. These muffins include coconut flour and tapioca starch for the flour components. Coconut flour is widely available these days via local grocery stores, bulk food stores, and online shops. If you have a hard time finding them at your grocery store, check wherever it tends to keep natural and gluten-free food items.

Coconut flour is usually sold in small bags, which is wonderful because a little goes a long way in home baking and it doesn't stay fresh as long as regular flour. For that reason, you can store it in the freezer in between uses. Once it is frozen, it won't need very much time to thaw out before you can use it again.

Coconut flour is basically a by-product of making coconut milk. After blending coconut meat and water, the mixture is filtered to obtain smooth coconut milk. The remaining coconut pulp gets dried and ground up, resulting in a powdery and extremely absorptive flour. In fact, it can take on so much water that you only need between ¼ and ⅓ cup of flour to replace 1 cup of all-purpose flour.

I have a full tutorial about making coconut milk and coconut flour right here.

Tapioca starch derives from the cassava plant's roots. Like coconut flour, it thickens foods very well which is why it is great for baking. The bonus of tapioca starch in this recipe is also that it makes them a little lighter and fluffier with a finer crumb texture, which is essential in gluten-free baking.

Can I Make these Muffins Dairy Free?

Absolutely! I have provided the option of using either dairy ingredients or dairy free replacements to them. The muffin mixture includes sour cream because it adds some richness and fat to the muffin batter. If desired, though, you could include your favourite dairy-free yogurt. This could include something like a coconut yogurt which would only add to the taste of these muffins.

Additionally, you could use coconut oil rather than melted butter. Since the butter is melted rather than used in solid form, it is interchangeable with coconut oil here.

What Type of Liners Should I Use?

Parchment liners will work perfectly for this muffin recipe. Unlike paper liners, they release the muffins easily and completely. If desired, though, reusable silicone muffin liners also work well. Definitely don't try adding the batter straight to the muffin tin as it may be difficult to get the cakes out of the muffin tin cleanly.

Can You Freeze These Gluten Free Muffins?

Yes, you can! In fact, these gluten free muffins freeze extremely well, as well as other ones that I make like these paleo sweet potato muffins. To ensure that they stay fresh, place the muffins in a sealable, airtight container. When you are ready to enjoy them, you can just pull them from the freezer to thaw before devouring.

These muffins should keep fresh for a few months in the freezer, but as with anything else, their flavour and texture will deteriorate the longer they stay in there.

If you plan on enjoying your baked muffins right away or within a few days, you can set aside the muffins in the refrigerator instead. These gluten free muffins will keep at room temperature for a day but may dry out if left out for longer.

Other Muffin Recipes You'll Love:

• Coconut Flour Paleo Pumpkin Muffins
• Strawberry Chia Seed Muffins
• Beet Chocolate Muffins
• Kale Quinoa Muffins
• Chocolate Banana Muffins
• Pina Colada Muffins

Recipe

Pin for later?

Random Questions