When making muffins with almond flour, it can be difficult to achieve a light, fluffy tender texture…until now! Say goodbye to the dense and heavy baking blues with these gluten-free almond flour blueberry muffins. After testing many variations, I found the secret to making grain-free muffins impossibly fluffy. I’ll show you how.

a blueberry muffin half sitting on slices of lemon.
In my opinion, almond flour muffins tend to be dense, heavy, and grainy. I have an easy fix for that with these easy blueberry muffins!

Want to Save This Recipe?

Enter your email below & we'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get affordable and easy gluten-free recipes delivered each week!

Easy, Homemade Almond Flour Blueberry Muffin Recipe

A lot of gluten-free bakers shy away from using almond flour in recipes because, well, it can be a bit of a bummer. Since it contains a lot of moisture from the oils, baked goods like muffins, scones, or breads have a tendency to have a thicker, compressed texture.

When biting into an almond flour blueberry muffin, that’s not exactly vision we’re going for. After years of developing almond flour baking recipes, though, I discovered there are few important mistakes to avoid.

First, blueberry and almond flour muffins must have an accurate wet to dry ingredient ratio and fat content. When creating tons of bakery-style gluten-free muffin recipes I realized that the natural fat in the almonds means less butter or oil should be added. This prevents a greasy, heavy lemon blueberry muffin.

Also, I like to replace some of the almond flour with a less dense starch, which was an easy backing trick used when creating this 5-star lemon almond flour cake. Two naturally gluten-free options are either cornstarch or tapioca starch. They may be used interchangeably in a one-to-one ratio.

Lastly, you can’t have perfect bakery-style gluten-free blueberry muffins without great flavor. When it comes to creating lemony recipes, the citrus flavor really needs to shine through. So these lemon blueberry almond flour muffins use a dose of zest along with lemon extract. Of course if you want to drizzle on lemon glaze frosting, I won’t stop you!

These are DIVINE!! You have absolutely nailed the texture with your wet and dry ratio and addition of cornstarch/tapioca! As someone who is now gluten free – the texture of gluten free cakes and muffins has always been a disappointment. These are superb in the look texture and quality. I like that they are not too sweet.

—Riz

Let’s Make This Together!

(Below shows step-by-step photos and modified instructions. For the complete recipe, along with ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.)

Dry ingredients with blueberries + measuring almond flour tip

In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, tapioca starch (or substitute), baking powder, and salt. At this point I like to gently stir in the blueberries and lemon zest so they don’t risk getting smushed incorporating them into a thicker batter later.

To measure the almond flour I use the method of scooping the measuring cup into the bag and leveling off. This yields a measurement of about 92 grams per cup. If you use a spoon in and level method I suggest measuring by weight to make sure the amounts are accurate.

the dry ingredients in a bowl with fresh berries and lemon zest.

Add wet and combine

In a small bowl whisk together the eggs, oil, honey and lemon extract. Pour and fold into the dry mixture until all the ingredients are combined and no flour pockets remain.

a muffin batter with blueberries mixed in.

Divide and bake

Use a large trigger scoop or ice cream scoop to distribute the batter between the muffin pan or fill each cup about ⅔ full. If desired, sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar. This enhances the sweet taste with a light crackly muffin top. Bake for 20 minutes in a 350ºF oven.

the batter divided between the mufin tins.

Bonus Variations

When making homemade gluten-free muffins, once you have a consistent, no fail batter, it’s easy to swap out the mix-ins for gobs of muffin-poolooza possibilities.

For all these variations, you may leave out the lemon zest and replace the extract with vanilla extract. Although if you’re feeling it, the lemon can be left in too. When adding mix-ins, I recommend not adding more than 1 ½ cups.

  • Berries – Swap out the 1 cup of blueberries with chopped strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries. While you can use fresh or frozen berries, I prefer the fresh because it doesn’t add extra moisture to the muffin batter.
  • Chocolate chip – I like to use a mixture of semi-sweet, miniature chips, and milk chocolate.
  • White chocolate raspberry – White chocolate chips and fresh raspberries
  • Banana nut – Chop one large banana and stir in with 1/2 cup nuts, such as pecans or walnuts.
  • For a straight up blueberry muffin recipe, leave the lemon out. For maximum lemon flavor use both the zest and lemon extract. If you’d like to make a quick lemon glaze, reserve the zested lemons and combine 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice with a cup of powdered sugar.
blueberry muffin on a marble surface with lemon slices and blueberries
The muffin batter is a great base for many other versions. Throw in any preferred berries, nuts, coconut, or chocolate chips. Welcome to your new go-to recipe!

Save this recipe to your pinterest board!

Pin Now, Bake Later!

Let’s be friends on Pinterest! I’m always sharing great recipes!

Did you make this recipe? I love hearing from you! Leave a star rating and comment below the recipe card. It helps others when searching for recipes and I appreciate feedback from our community. You will always hear back from me! -Melissa

a blueberry muffin half sitting on slices of lemon.
5 stars (8 ratings)

Impossibly Fluffy Almond Flour Blueberry Muffins

Melissa Erdelac of MamaGourmand headshot in patterned dress.Melissa Erdelac
Yield: 9
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
When making muffins with almond flour, it can be difficult to achieve a light, fluffy tender texture…until now! Say goodbye to the dense and heavy baking blues with these gluten-free almond flour blueberry muffins. After testing many variations, I found the secret to making grain-free muffins impossibly fluffy. I'll show you how.
Print Pin Rate Remove Ads

Ingredients
 

Equipment

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line standard-size muffin cups with 9 paper liners or grease with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, tapioca starch (or substitute), baking powder, and salt. Gently stir in the blueberries and lemon zest.
    2 cups blanched almond flour, ½ cup tapioca starch, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 cup fresh blueberries, 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • In a small bowl whisk together the eggs, oil, honey and extract. Stir gently into the dry mixture until all the ingredients are combined and no flour pockets remain.
    2 large eggs, ¼ cup oil, ¼ cup honey, 1 teaspoon lemon extract, optional coarse turbinado sugar
  • Use a large trigger scoopto distribute the batter between the muffin cups or fill each cup about ¾ full. If desired, sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar.
  • Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The muffins are done with the middles gently bounce back and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

 
Storing and Freezing
Store cooled muffins in an airtight container up to 3 days. For longer storage, freeze up to 2 months. Wrap individually in plastic wrap and transfer to ziplock freezer bag.
Calories: 271kcal, Carbohydrates: 22g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 20g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.03g, Cholesterol: 36mg, Sodium: 80mg, Potassium: 123mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 62IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 99mg, Iron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review below. It helps others when searching for recipes and I LOVE feedback!