These gluten-free mini chocolate chip muffins are made with wholesome ingredients and are much healthier than store bought. Soft, fluffy and seriously delicious... perfect for an afternoon treat or adding in kids' lunches. Easy and ready in less than 30 minutes!
These easy gluten-free mini chocolate chip muffins are on constant rotation in our house. They might even be my girls' favorite muffin/baked good I make.
The prepackaged mini muffins (not naming names here😜 ) you can get at the grocery store are loaded with unnecessary ingredients and additives. They have upwards of 35 ingredients in them… say what!? Most of which you wouldn't be able to buy yourself. My cleaned up version of these gluten-free mini muffins are made with simple, better-for-you ingredients.
Some of our other favorite clean eating baked goods include gluten-free pumpkin chocolate chip bread, almond flour blackberry muffins, banana protein muffins, and gluten-free banana oat muffins. We love having muffins for lunch or breakfast and if that's the case, we add in some fruits/veggies and a protein on the side.
Why You'll Love These
- PERFECTLY SOFT AND FLUFFY TEXTURE - I use a combination of gluten-free flour, almond flour, and oat flour to get the perfect texture for these gluten-free mini muffins. They almost have more of a cake-like texture... delish!
- KID FRIENDLY - These are devoured by kids! My kids would eat all 24 muffins in one sitting if I'd let them.
- BETTER-FOR-YOU - These taste just like store-bought mini muffins, but are SO much healthier - lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup and made with simple wholesome ingredients.
- GLUTEN FREE & DAIRY FREE - made with ingredients that are both gluten and dairy free. There is an option to sub the dairy-free milk if you're not dairy free.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below. Here are some specific call-outs, and when needed, some tips on keeping the ingredients clean.
GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR BLEND - Any 1:1 blend should work in this recipe as long as it contains xanthan gum. I have found that Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour and King Arthur Measure for Measure work well, but really any 1:1 gluten-free blend should work due to the addition of the almond flour and oat flour.
OAT FLOUR - Make sure you are using certified gluten-free oat flour to ensure these are gluten free. You can buy oat flour, or I highly recommend making your own oat flour (it's so easy and much cheaper).
ALMOND FLOUR - Use almond flour and not almond meal.
COCONUT OIL - You can use melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil.
Clean food tip: You can buy either refined or unrefined coconut oil. I typically opt for unrefined (think less processing), however, there are some refined that are clean/good for you too!
MAPLE SYRUP - To keep these on the healthier side, be sure to use pure maple syrup.
MINI CHOCOLATE CHIPS - I find that mini chips work the best, but if you're in a pinch you can use regular chocolate chips.
Clean food tip: Look for chocolate chips that have minimal ingredients. Ingredients in chocolate should just be chocolate liquor/chocolate/cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and cane sugar (and maybe some vanilla). Most still have refined sugar, but the less ingredients the better.
How to Make
STEP 1: Mix together flours, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
STEP 2: Make a well in the flour mix and add in maple syrup, oil, vanilla, milk, and egg. Whisk egg with the wet ingredients.
STEP 3: Mix wet ingredients in with the flour mixture.
STEP 4: Fold in the chocolate chips.
STEP 5: Divide batter evenly between 24 mini muffins and bake at 350 degrees F for 15-17 minutes.
Allow to slightly cool before removing muffins from the muffin tin. Now go enjoy these better-for-you gluten-free chocolate chip mini muffins!
Expert Tips & Notes
Swap out the chocolate chips for blueberries! These are just as good if you use blueberries instead of chocolate chips (cuts down on the added sugar, too). Replace chocolate chips with ½ cup sliced fresh blueberries.
Store in an airtight container. These gluten-free chocolate chip muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days, or you can store them in the fridge to extend freshness. They can also be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
FAQs
Yes, you can. I have not made them myself into regular muffins but it should work. Fill your regular sized muffin cups ¾ full with batter (you may only get 9 muffins as opposed to all 12). Increase baking time to 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.
This muffin batter is pretty thin (compared to most muffin batters), so you may run into your chocolate chips sinking to the bottom of the batter.
To avoid this, you can either toss your chocolate chips with 1 tbsp. of gluten-free flour before adding to your batter - and then lightly fold in chips. OR you can place about 1 tbsp. of batter (BEFORE adding the chocolate chips) to the bottom of each muffin cup. Then add chocolate chips to batter and fill cups.
I have not tried replacing the gluten-free flour for regular flour, but since the gluten-free flour I use acts like regular flour, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to use regular flour. I recommend white whole wheat flour to keep in on the cleaner side.
More For You To Try!
I Love Hearing From You!
Gluten-free Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins (dairy free)
Save This Recipe For Later!
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later. Plus, enjoy weekly clean eating recipes as a bonus.
Equipment
- 1 Mixing bowl
- 1 24 cup mini muffin tin
Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten-free 1:1 flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- ¼ cup gluten-free oat flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. fine sea salt
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup (room temp)
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk of choice (room temp)
- 2 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- â…“ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 24 cup mini muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the remaining ingredients, with exception of chocolate chips. Whisk the wet ingredients together first and then mix fully with the dry ingredients.
- Lightly fold in the chocolate chips.
- Evenly divide the batter between the 24 mini muffin cups (each muffin cup should be about ¾ full).
- Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden brown.
- Allow to cool slightly before removing from muffin tin. Enjoy!
Notes
- Oat flour is naturally gluten free, but can become cross contaminated during processing. Use certified gluten-free oat flour if you need to guarantee no gluten is present.Â
- Using room temp maple syrup and milk will help the coconut oil from solidifying again when it's mixed in with the other ingredients.Â
- We've used blueberries instead of chocolate chips and it's just as good. Sub ½ cup sliced blueberries for the chocolate chips.
Nutrition
Save This Recipe For Later!
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later. Plus, enjoy weekly clean eating recipes as a bonus.
Kay says
Why the different flours? Can I use all of the same?
Sara says
Hi! Great question - the mixture of flours helps with the overall texture of the muffins and I like the added nutrients from the almond flour (healthy fats) and oat flour (whole grain). That said, I think it should be fine to use all gluten-free 1:1 flour. I wouldn't use just almond flour or just oat flour though.
Sarah says
My kids are polishing these off with gusto!
Sara says
Love hearing that.... they don't last long in our house either 🙂
Emily says
Hi! Unsweetened or sweetened dairy free milk?
Thanks
Sara says
Hi! I recommend using unsweetened dairy-free milk, but either will work.
Ann Newlander says
Looks delicious!!! So proud of you!!