These gluten free chocolate chip muffins are the latest in my suite of muffin recipes. While I love a blueberry muffin or a raspberry muffin, sometimes a chocolate chip muffin is all you need.
Gluten free chocolate chip muffins
These choc chip muffins are gluten free (shocker!) and also nut free. They are low lactose, and can easily be made lactose free with a few quick swaps. They dome nicely and keep well on the counter thanks to a nifty trick: using butter and oil.
Butter has a great taste and mouthfeel and adds richness to baked goods. However, it is quicker to stale than oil based desserts, and can often be drier. Oil makes muffins that last for days on the bench, but lack that lovely butter flavour. The solution? Combine them!
Tips for your gluten free chocolate chip muffins
If you can, space the muffins out in your muffin tray. This will allow them to dome up and create lovely mountainous muffin tops.
Any chocolate chips should work here – dark, milk and white. I haven’t tried any coconut oil based chocolate chips.
Adding vanilla and salt to the batter really helps amplify the flavours and create a well rounded tasting muffin. I highly recommend using them.
Truly room temperature butter is important for quick and easy muffins.
Substitution notes for your gluten free chocolate chip muffins
You can use a good quality dairy free butter in place of traditional butter. If you also use a plant based milk and dairy free chocolate chips, you can make these muffins dairy free.
I don’t have any substitution for the rice flour or tapioca flour.
There is also not a substitute for the xanthan gum.
Personally, I like using vegetable oil in these applications. It’s inexpensive and accessible. You could use another neutral flavoured oil, if you prefer.
Is there an option to make these muffins vegan?
There isn’t, but you can use my gluten free vegan blueberry muffin recipe instead. Simply use a plain or vanilla yoghurt instead of blueberry, and your favourite plant based chocolate chips.
Do I really need to use xanthan gum?
I don’t include xanthan gum in my recipes unless they absolutely need it. There is generally another option (psyllium husk, fat, or a creamy dairy like yoghurt) for most baking applications. However, in the case of these chocolate chip muffins, there are a number of tangible benefits to using xanthan gum.
Firstly, the xanthan gum emulsifies the ingredients and brings them together to a creamy, thick batter. In practice, it makes batter taste more moist with less liquid, which is perfect here. We need a thick batter to hold the chocolate chips up, but a batter that isn’t too dry.
Secondly, it suspends the chocolate chips in the batter. This means that they don’t all sink to the bottom of the muffin as it bakes.
Thirdly, it stops the outer edges of the muffin (and indeed, the muffin itself) from being too crumbly. I have made this recipe without the xanthan gum and it did work, but the edges were just a bit too crumbly for my liking. Xanthan gum stops that from happening.
Finally, xanthan gum keeps baked goods fresh for longer. This means that these gluten free chocolate chip muffins will take longer to stale. So, for these reasons, I highly recommend using it here.
Can I make a double batch of these gluten free chocolate chip muffins?
As a single, child free person, I like to make smaller batch recipes because a lot of blogs cater to large families. I figure there are other people out there like me who don’t need 6-10 leftover muffins staling on the counter.
However, if you’d like to make a double batch of these muffins, I’m confident there would be no issue. You’ll need large mixing bowls, but other than that you should be golden.
More gluten free cookies and muffins
- Vegan gluten free blueberry muffins
- Vegan gluten free brownie cookies
- Gluten free raspberry muffins
- 3 ingredient tahini cookies
- Gluten free vanilla cupcakes
Gluten free chocolate chip muffins
Equipment
- hand beaters or stand mixer
- 12 hole muffin tin with 7cm (w) x 4cm (h) holes (roughly 80ml or 1/3 cup capacity)
Ingredients
- 160 g (1 cup)* fine white rice flour
- 90 g (3/4 cup)* tapioca flour
- 1 g (1/4 teaspoon) baking powder
- 1-2g (1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon) xanthan gum
- 1.5 g (1/4 teaspoon) baking soda
- 1.5 (1/4 teaspoon) fine salt
- 60 ml (1/4 cup)* vegetable or neutral flavoured oil
- 75 g room temperature butter salted or unsalted
- 1 extra large egg (45-55g weighed out of shell)
- 100 g caster sugar
- 50 g light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste optional
- 125 ml (1/2 cup)* milk of choice
- 50-75 g+ chocolate chips chopped (reserve 15-20 for garnish)
- Finishing sugar (sanding sugar) for the tops (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/356F. Either grease or line your muffin tin with 6-7 liners. For whatever reason, I find that muffin liners result in muffins with a more rounded muffin top that doesn't spill out so much, but both options work well.
- Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt in a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil, butter, sugars and egg.
- Use a hand beater or stand beater to beat the mixture for 1-2 minutes or until lighter and foamy. The butter should have incorporated completely into the mixture, with no chunks remaining.
- Turn the beaters to low and alternate between adding the flour mix and milk. Continue until you have used up all the flour and milk.
- Add the chocolate chips and vanilla bean paste (if you are using it) to the batter and stir gently to just combine. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin holes, then garnish with the reserved chocolate chips. I also like to finish mine with sanding sugar or finishing sugar for a crunchy top, but this is optional.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
- Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from the tin. Cool on a wire rack and serve.
Notes
- I highly recommend the xanthan gum in this recipe. If you’d prefer to make muffins without it, see this gluten free vegan muffin recipe.
- 1g (1/4 teaspoon) xanthan gum creates a soft muffin that is a tiny bit crumbly around the edges. 2g (1/2 teaspoon) creates a solid yet fluffy muffin with a slightly smoothed out muffin top. Choose whichever options works for your dietaries and preferences.
- To make these muffins dairy free, use a good quality plant based butter and a dairy free milk, as well as dairy free chocolate chips. If you need them to be nut free as well, make sure you use a non-nut based plant milk, and check the chocolate chips for nuts.
- The salt and vanilla go so such a long way in developing the flavour. I don’t recommend omitting them.
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