Blueberry Muffins

Michael Eisenwasser

Print Recipe

Soft, bakery-style blueberry muffins made with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend, lactose-free milk, and a measured scoop of fresh blueberries per muffin.

Prep 15 min

Cook 22 min

Serves 12

Gluten-free

Ingredients

• 2 cups (280 g) low-FODMAP gluten-free 1:1 flour blend
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (or 1/2 cup neutral oil)
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) lactose-free milk or unsweetened almond milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional but recommended)
• 1 cup (140 g) fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

Prep

1. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease each cup well.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour blend, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Mix the Batter

1. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together for about a minute, until pale and slightly thickened.
2. Whisk in the melted butter, milk, vanilla, and lemon zest until smooth.
3. Add the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain. The batter will be thick; do not overmix.
4. Toss the blueberries with a teaspoon of the flour blend (pulled from your measured total, or an extra pinch) to keep them from sinking, then fold them in with two or three gentle strokes.

Bake

1. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups; they will be nearly full. Each muffin should end up with about 5 to 8 blueberries.
2. Sprinkle the tops with the extra tablespoon of sugar if you want a crackly top.
3. Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs (not wet batter).
4. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer the muffins to a rack. They firm up as they cool; the centers finish setting in the first 10 minutes out of the oven.

Tips & Substitutions

• Stick to fresh blueberries at the listed serving size. Monash lists fresh blueberries as low at 20 berries (about 40 g) per serving. A full cup (140 g) split across 12 muffins works out to roughly 5 to 8 berries per muffin, well under that limit. Keep the blueberries measured so the fruit per muffin stays low, especially if you plan to eat more than one in a sitting.
• Frozen blueberries work. Fold them in straight from the freezer without thawing, and add 2 to 3 minutes to the bake time. The batter may streak blue; the flavor is the same.
• Milk choices. Lactose-free cow's milk, unsweetened almond milk (up to 1 cup / 250 ml), macadamia, hemp, or rice milk all work. Skip oat milk unless the carton is certified at your serving size.
• Commercial flour blends. Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 (blue bag) and King Arthur Measure for Measure both work here. Skip the red-bag Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose; it contains garbanzo and fava bean flour. Also skip blends that list inulin or chicory root fiber, which can bother some people with IBS even in small amounts.
• Sweetener swaps. Granulated sugar is low-FODMAP in typical amounts. You can swap half the sugar for pure maple syrup (reduce the milk by 2 tablespoons), but skip honey and agave.
• Dairy-free. Use melted coconut oil or a neutral oil in place of the butter, and a plant milk from the list above.
• Egg-free. Replace each egg with 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed whisked into 3 tablespoons of water; let it gel for 5 minutes. The crumb will be a touch denser but still tender.

Why This Works

A 1:1 gluten-free blend carries the structure. Rice flour plus tapioca and potato starch (with a little xanthan) gives a crumb close to wheat flour without adding any fermentable carbs. That is why a blend works here where a single flour like almond or coconut would not; those have their own serve-size limits and would change the texture.

Blueberries stay under the limit based on the amounts here. One cup of fresh blueberries divided across 12 muffins puts each muffin at about 5 to 8 berries, roughly 12 g of fruit. Monash tests 20 berries (about 40 g) as low per serving, so even two muffins from this batch sit comfortably under the limit.

Lactose-free milk keeps the dairy low. Regular cow's milk brings lactose; lactose-free and most nut milks are low-FODMAP at a full cup or more, so 3/4 cup across the whole batch works out fine per muffin.

Butter and sugar are usually fine on a low-FODMAP diet. Butter is nearly lactose-free by weight and tests low at standard serves. Granulated sugar (sucrose) is a 1:1 glucose-fructose match, so it is not the same as honey or agave.

Storage

Store cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 days at 40°F (4°C) or below. To freeze, cool completely, wrap individually, and bag for up to 2 months. Reheat from frozen in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or microwave for 30 to 45 seconds. Gluten-free baked goods stale faster than wheat; if you are not eating them within 2 days, freeze the extras right away and they will taste fresh on reheat.

Not sure about an ingredient? FODMAP Tracker includes a database of 1,000+ foods with FODMAP ratings to help you cook with confidence.