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.

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Easy, Homemade Blueberry Muffins with Almond Flour

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 gluten-free almond flour 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 tender, homemade almond flour zucchini loaf, 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 a fabulously perfect bakery-style muffin 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.)

Mix dry ingredients with blueberries

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.

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.

Ingredients Tid Bits

  • Almond Flour – To make these muffins use blanched fine almond flour, not almond meal. If making your own homemade almond flour (easy option!), sift it before measuring to get rid of any larger, unprocessed pieces.
  • Tapioca Starch –  I tested the recipe using cornstarch and tapioca starch and both work well. I wouldn’t recommend coconut flour because it absorbs liquids differently and has a different weight.
  • Sweetener – I used honey but this ingredient is flexible, as long as it is in liquid form and not granulated, which would throw off the texture. These muffins aren’t overly sweet, but using pure maple syrup would also reduce the level of sweetness.
  • Oil – Use any preferred oil, even melted coconut oil. However, if using coconut oil make sure all the ingredients are room temperature or it will resolidify when it’s mixed with cold wet ingredients. Using oil instead of butter also makes these muffins dairy-free as well!
  • Lemon – For a straight up blueberry muffin recipe, this may be left out. For maximum lemon flave 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.
  • Blueberries – While you can use fresh or frozen blueberries, I prefer the fresh berries because it doesn’t add extra moisture to the muffin batter.

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
  • 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.

Note About Measuring 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.

Also, be sure to use blanched almond flour and not almond meal or a gluten-free flour blend for this recipe. The almond meal will give a coarser texture and using a different flour all together will not have good results.

blueberry muffin on a marble surface with lemon slices and blueberries

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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: 10
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.
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Ingredients
 

Equipment

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line standard-size muffin cups with 10 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 ⅔ 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: 246kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.03g, Cholesterol: 37mg, Sodium: 74mg, Potassium: 113mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 62IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 90mg, Iron: 1mg
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