blueberry crumb muffins
/Winter has finally hit Ft. Collins.
I know you’re probably thinking, but you post all of those photos snowboarding and snowshoeing in knee deep snow! Very true. However, we have much milder winters than where we play in the mounatians, which is about 2 hours West. And this winter in particular has been unusually warm and dry.
It has been pretty fabulous to hop on my road bike 6 weekends in a row during the middle of “winter,” but I’m not looking forward to a higher probability of summer fires.
Anyway. This snowy weather has been making me crave warm and cozy comfort foods all week long!
Muffins definitely equal comfort in my mind, and I just realized I have zero blueberry muffin recipes. I have blueberry pecan cornbread and blueberry breakfast cakes but no muffins. This is absurd. I adore blueberry muffins and they seem like such a go-to breakfast/snack/dessert that it’s about time I add them to the recipe lineup.
My favorite gluten-free flours for quick breads and muffins are: buckwheat flour, oat flour, almond meal, and a little ground flax.
For whatever reason this combination has proved itself time + time again. Far better than any whole wheat treat I ever made in years past.
This combination results in a tender, dense but not heavy, perfectly moist muffin.
Studded with blueberries and lightly sweetened with honey and sucanat.
And, ohhhh that crumb topping.
The icing on the cake.
Blueberry Crumb Muffins
gluten-free, dairy-free // yields 12-14 standard muffins
adapted from: banana bread
for the crumb topping: be sure to make this first
- 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup sucanat, or coconut sugar/brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons oat flour
- 3 tablespoons softened coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- Place all ingredients in a bowl and mash together with a fork or your fingers until fully combined and crumbly. Set aside.
for the muffins:
recipe slightly adapted 3/12/13
- 1 cup gluten-free oat flour
- 3/4 cup raw buckwheat flour
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 3 tablespoons sucanat, or coconut sugar/brown sugar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons ground flax meal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- zest of 1 lemon or 1 orange, optional
- 1/4 cup unrefined coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 1/4cup blueberries
- Preheat your oven to 350* F and line a muffin tin with liners.
- Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix well.
- Whisk the eggs in separate bowl and then whisk in the applesauce, milk, honey, and vanilla until fully combined and smooth. Whisk in lemon or orange zest if using.
- Vigorously whisk in the coconut oil and immediately pour the wet mixture into the dry, to avoid the coconut oil from ceasing.
- Stir with a large spoon until just combined. Do not over stir.
- Fold in the blueberries with minimal stirring.
- Promptly spoon the mixture into the muffin liners about 2/3 the way full.
- Sprinkle the crumb topping on each muffin and bake for about 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. The tops will turn golden brown.
- Let completely cool before peeling the liner off. Muffins hold together fully once cooled.
notes/subs: For altitude around 5,000’ increase your oven to 370* and use 3/4 tsp baking powder. Melted butter can be subbed for coconut oil. Raw buckwheat flour can easily be ground to a fine flour in a blender, magic bullet, or coffee grinder. Be sure to use raw groats, which are a light yellow/green color. I do not advise using roasted buckwheat/kasha and do not recommend Arrowhead Mills buckwheat flour. Frozen or fresh blueberries will work.
If by some strange chance we can’t polish these off I have big dreams of turning them into a blueberry muffin bread pudding bake. We shall see…
Ashley
