A friend recently gifted me a bag of feijoas. I have absolutely loved the fruit ever since trying it in New Zealand, but I have never cooked with it before. I decided to try something simple – gluten free feijoa muffins. My feijoas were a little on the tart side (which I love) so I paired them with white chocolate and a tiny hint of almond extract. Oooof! A delicious and easy result that is my new favourite way to eat feijoas.
Gluten free feijoa muffins
As the post suggests, these muffins are xanthan gum free. They are made with a simple mix of white rice flour, tapioca flour and almond meal for the perfect soft crumb. I amp up the almond flavour with a little almond extract, although this is absolutely optional.
I love using a combination of butter and oil in my muffin recipes, so this is what I have done here. Butter has that classic baked good flavour, but it tends to stale quite quickly. Oil is a very neutral (some might say bland) addition, but it is fantastic at keeping baked goods moist for days. Combining the two is the ideal to get the best of both worlds.
The remaining ingredients are simple – caster/white sugar for sweetness and eggs for binding, browning and flavour. Milk (of your choice) to bring everything together, and a small amount of both baking powder and soda for the perfect rise.
These muffins are sweet yet have a perfect acidic hit from the feijoa.
Dietary notes
First off the bat: feijoas are not a low fructose or low FODMAP ingredient. I developed this recipe for gluten free diners who have a glut of feijoas they need to use. If you need a low FODMAP and gluten free muffin, feijoas are not for you (nor is white chocolate). You could use one of the muffin recipes below instead.
I haven’t tested these muffins with dairy free butter, without the egg or with an alternative sugar. If you need a muffin that addresses these dietary requirements, see below.
- Egg free gluten free: banana carrot muffins, pumpkin muffins, carrot muffins, vegan blueberry muffins (these can all be vegan with the right yoghurt)
- Vegan: vegan blueberry muffins (you can make these any flavour you like)
Substitution options
There aren’t many substitutions that I have tested in this recipe. With that said, I will give as many as I can.
First, you can use any sort of neutral oil you like. Although I haven’t tried it, olive oil might lend a nice herbaceous note.
Similarly, any milk works here. I used lactose free full fat milk as that’s what I had on hand.
I have used light brown sugar as the sugar in my gluten free raspberry muffins (this batter is based off that recipe). In that recipe, I have also tested a combination of both caster and light brown sugar, so you can play around with flavour profiles. I have not tested any sugars other than these two.
For a lower lactose option, you could likely use vegan white chocolate chips. I haven’t tried using plant based butter for a dairy free muffin, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work.
If you want a nut free recipe, use this gluten free choc chip muffin recipe. Simply add the feijoa to the batter at the end and use white chocolate chips.
Feijoa notes
Although many people peel feijoas, I like to use them with the skin on. The skin has a bitter and tart sort of flavour that I feel contrasts really well with the sweet muffin and white chocolate. It’s almost like a hit of lemon acidity or sour candy that I adore.
I haven’t tried these muffins with peeled feijoa, although I’d say it would be fine. The muffin recipe itself is inspired by my gluten free raspberry muffin batter, so using a sweeter fruit (aka: peeled feijoa) shouldn’t make the muffins too sweet.
More gluten free baked goods without xanthan gum
- Gluten free dairy free chocolate cake
- Gluten free brownie cookies
- 100% buckwheat flour muffins
- Gluten free vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream
- A roundup of all of my gluten free mug cake recipes
Gluten free feijoa muffins
Ingredients
- 160 g (1 cup)* fine white rice flour
- 30 g (1/4 cup)* tapioca flour
- 50 g (1/2 cup)* almond meal (see notes)
- 1g (1/4 teaspoon) baking powder
- 1.5g (1/4 teaspoon) baking soda
- 1g (1/4 teaspoon) fine salt
- 100 ml (1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon)* neutral oil of choice
- 50 g room temperature butter salted or unsalted
- 1 extra large egg (45-55g, weighed out of shell)
- 150 g caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (optional)
- 125 ml (1/2 cup)* milk of choice
- 125 g chopped feijoas reserve a few for garnish I leave the skins on for a sour/bitter contrast
- 100 g white chocolate chips reserve a few for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/356F. Either grease or line your muffin tin with 8-10 liners.
- Combine the flours, almond meal, baking powder and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil, butter, sugar 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 chopped feijoa and white chocolate chips to the batter and stir gently to just combine. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin holes, then garnish with the reserved feijoa and white chocolate chips.
- 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
- See notes in the body of the post for dietary substitutions and ingredient substitutions.
- For a nut free version, I recommend using this gluten free chocolate chip muffin recipe, adding the feijoas as per this recipe and using white chocolate chips instead of milk/dark chocolate chips.
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