Gluten Free Coffee Breakfast Muffins

Sorry for the terrible photo! Photographing food is obviously not a talent of mine.

This recipe is oh so delicious! I perfected the basic muffin recipe so I could modify it any way to make many different varieties of muffins. I will note how to change the recipe at the bottom of the post with several ideas.

There are many muffin recipes online for gluten free bakers, but none of them really tasted quite right to me. I found a basic recipe (and if you have ever used gluten free flour to back, you know that basic recipe is fairly similar-brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, etc.) and added some touches that I feel really improve the taste and texture overall. First, I added a dough conditioner, white vinegar. The muffin dough bakes up so much softer and lighter with the addition of the vinegar. Second, I used buttermilk in lieu of milk. I swear by buttermilk for baked goods. For breads I find that the powdered buttermilk is fine, but for a muffin, you want to buy the real deal. The thick old fashioned buttermilk you can find near the half and half and heavy cream in the grocery refrigerator section.

Remember, start with the gluten free flour mix I posted previously. To refresh, whisk together 6 cups of brown rice flour, 2 cups of potato starch, and 1 cup of tapioca flour. I use Bob's Red Mill brand.

Dry ingredients:

2 cups plus 4T gluten free flour mix
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum

Mix all together in the bowl of a stand mixture and set aside.

Add to dry ingredients:

1 tsp white vinegar

Mix again until combined. In a separate bowl...

Wet ingredients:

1/2 cup melted butter
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk

Whisk all wet ingredients together and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine:

1 tsp GF vanilla extract
1 (2g) packet instant coffee (I use Taster's Choice Decaf House Blend)

Also, measure out and set aside:

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Also, you will want to have some crumb topping prepared. I normally make a large amount and store it in the freezer so I can take it out and use it easily for each batch.

Crumb topping:

1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup GF oatmeal
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until crumbs form.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Slowly add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in a stand mixture. Mix at medium speed until combined (30 seconds).

Stir in vanilla/coffee mixture and chocolate chips. I like swirls so I don't mix too much.

Line a cupcake pan with paper or foil muffin cups (recipe makes 12 muffins). Fill cups with mixture until almost full. Cover with crumb mixture. A sprinkle of cinnamon on the top of each muffin is optional.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Remove to a rack to cool.

Enjoy!

Variations:

Blueberry Lemon Muffins
3/4-1 cup frozen or fresh berries (add the vanilla to the wet mixture and add nutmeg and cinnamon to the dry mix). Glaze top with lemon curd before adding the crumb and baking.

Orange and Chocolate Muffins
Use orange extract and/or orange zest in place of vanilla extract. Add 3/4 cups chocolate chips.