Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Muffins
gluten-free | dairy-free option | tree nut free | refined sugar free
by Alexa Lehr | The Pioneer Chicks | November 2, 2023
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My favorite muffins are chocolate chip muffins, and I love how these gluten-free chocolate chips muffins meet my muffin standards perfectly! They are delicious, have an amazing texture, and are totally muffin-like! I dare say they are even bakery-style chocolate chip muffins. These gluten-free chocolate muffins are the perfect low-inflammation snack, make a sweet addition to an egg breakfast, and are an amazing side to a soup or salad. They are super easy to make, loaded with chocolate chips, and my whole family loves them!

Modern Pioneer Recipe

These gluten-free chocolate chip muffins are the perfect modern pioneer recipe. While the traditional muffins that we now enjoy would not have been something the earlier pioneers made (for lack of muffin tins), they still made breads, biscuits, rolls, and other traditional bread products that may have been very similar to a muffin.

I think these modern pioneer muffins are as close to a pioneer recipe as they can get. They are made with a natural whole grain (oats) and contain wholesome ingredients that are simple and heritage. Natural sweeteners, like coconut sugar and maple syrup, give the muffins a perfectly sweet taste without making them unhealthy.

To make the chocolate chips of this recipe a little more pioneer-friendly, you can make your own chocolate chips or make a chocolate bar and crush it into chocolate chunks. Making these muffins completely from scratch is so much fun! Most of the ingredients in this recipe should be ones you have on hand in your homestead pantry on a regular basis, so they are a great last-minute recipe to whip up quickly.

Not only are they made with wholesome, natural ingredients, but they are also made using allergy-friendly ingredients. These chocolate chip muffins are….

• gluten-free
• nut free
• corn free
• refined sugar free
• dairy-free option

For another delicious ‘bakery-style’ muffin to try, check out these jumbo grain-free chocolate chip muffins!

My Muffin Story

One food that I really missed when I went on a grain-free diet was muffins. I love all kinds of muffins: blueberry, chocolate chip, chocolate, cornmeal, and most other flavors. My mom would make muffins all the time prior to us going on an anti-inflammatory diet, and I have many fond memories of the delicious muffins she would serve as a side to a meal.

While I love most muffin flavors, my favorite is probably chocolate chip. I have tried to make several grain-free muffin recipes but none of them turned how I envisioned a ‘real’ muffin to taste like. Some of them were too spongy, to moist, tasted too much like coconut, or didn’t rise up nice and pretty. I finally created the perfect grain-free chocolate chip muffin recipe that you can find here!

After being grain-free for a few years, our health was good enough that we could incorporate gluten-free oats into our diet. Oats are naturally anti-inflammatory so they fit into our anti-inflammatory diet perfectly. These muffins are made using gluten-free oats and low inflammation, grain-free flour (tapioca flour).

I originally adapted this gluten-free muffin recipe from my mom’s gluten-free cookbook. It used barley flour and oat flour, baking powder, and 1/2 cup of honey in the original recipe. I substituted out the barley flour for more oat flour and tapioca flour and I also decreased the sugars to a 1/4 cup of coconut sugar and maple syrup. For the baking powder, I substituted baking soda and apple cider vinegar. To me, the muffins are perfectly sweet and taste great! By messing around with the different flours I had to decrease the amount of water that was called for in the original recipe too.

Other Muffins to Try:

To try some other muffin flavors, make sure you check out these recipes!

• gluten-free gingerbread muffins
• gluten-free blueberry flax muffins
• grain-free banana chocolate chip muffins
• grain-free chocolate chip muffins

Serving & Storing Muffins

What’s nice about muffins is that they are super easy to store and make a great food for packing on day-trips, overnight camping trips, or long road trips. One tradition that my family has for the first breakfast of our annual family vacation is having homemade egg omelet muffins with chocolate chip muffins. Both of which are easy to pack and eat in the vehicle when we leave early in the morning. Maybe that’s one reason why I have such a fondness for chocolate chip muffins!

Anyways, these gluten-free muffins can be stored at room temperature, kept in the fridge, or can even be frozen for later. Make sure the muffins are completely cool before moving them to an airtight container for storage. In an airtight container at room temperature, the muffins will stay fresh for 3-4 days. Kept in the fridge, the muffins will be good for 5-6 days. For long term storage, these muffins can easily be frozen!

For me, muffins go with just about anything! Especially chocolate chip muffins. Add chocolate chip muffins to any meal and it immediately makes the meal that much better. I love having these muffins for breakfast with a bowl of homemade granola or fried eggs. They are also one of my favorite bread products to make as a side when I serve soups like this grain-free turkey and rice soup or this grain-free chicken noodle soup.

I also love snacking on these muffins and having them at any time when I’m feeling like something sweet but healthy!

Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe Tips

These muffins are super easy to make and you can literally whip them up in a few minutes. I frequently find myself resorting to this recipe when I need something quick to make to serve with a meal. You can easily do some prep ahead of time to make the recipe come together even quicker!

How to Make Homemade Oat Flour:

I use homemade oat flour in these muffins. I make my own oat flour by blending gluten-free rolled oats in my Vitamix until they reach a flour-like consistency. This can be done ahead of time and the oat flour can be stored in your pantry or the fridge.

This recipe calls for the oats to be measured out, then ground into oat flour. However, you can also use pre-ground oat flour. Keep in mind that different brands of oat flour or homemade oat flour may vary slightly in absorbency. If the batter seems too thick, add a little more water until a thick muffin-batter consistency is achieved. You should not have to spread the batter into the muffin holes. It will be thick, but should still be pourable.

Recipe Tips:

• ACV– Don’t omit the apple cider vinegar in this recipe! The apple cider vinegar helps activate the baking soda to make the muffins rise nicely.
• Flour Subs– You can substitute arrowroot flour/powder for the tapioca flour in these muffins.
• Dairy-free– I used organic, grass-fed butter in my muffins, but you can use coconut oil instead to make them dairy-free.
• Moisture– Be careful when adding additional water to the muffin batter to thin out the batter. Too much water will cause the batter to be too moist. Your muffins will rise up in the center but have a flat rim around the outside. They will still taste delicious, but just don’t look as pretty.
• Chocolate Chips– I use either Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips or Lily’s sugar-free chocolate chips in my muffins.
• Stoneware– I baked my muffins in a stoneware muffin pan. If you are not using stoneware, be aware that your baking time may be different. Start off in short increments, then add more time as needed. The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Muffin Liners– I like to use parchment paper muffin liners when I am baking in non-stick pans to keep any of the non-stick coating from leaching into my baked goods. When using my stoneware pans, I just use coconut oil in the muffin holes to keep the muffins from sticking.

I am so happy with how this gluten-free chocolate chip muffin recipe turned out and now I can’t wait to share it with you! The oat flour gives the muffins a great texture and, of course, the chocolate chips are what makes the muffins!

Where to Find the Ingredients:

• Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free oats
• Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
• Anthony’s organic coconut sugar
• Enjoy Life chocolate chips
• Lily’s Sweets sugar-free chocolate chips
• Simply Organic vanilla extract
• Braggs apple cider vinegar
• Supplies: Vitamix, large muffin tin pan, parchment paper muffin liners

Gluten-free chocolate chip muffins are a delicious accompaniment to a fried egg for breakfast, a salad for lunch, or a soup for dinner! Really, you could pair these muffins with anything and they would still be good! Not to mention they would make a great energy-rich snack for a mid-morning or afternoon pick-me-up before homestead chores. Their texture is amazing and the taste is perfect. Plus, they are made with wholesome, low inflammation ingredients. So go ahead, enjoy these modern pioneer muffins! They are one of my favorite recipes on the blog!

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