If you’re a big mocha fan, these gluten free chocolate espresso muffins are for you! Rich and chocolatey muffins with a deep chocolate flavor. Perfect for breakfast, snacks, or dessert!
One thing is for sure: chocolate and espresso were meant to be together.
If you’re a fan of chocolate muffins, you’ve got to try this recipe for Gluten Free Double Chocolate Espresso Muffins.
Now, these muffins don’t exactly taste like coffee. If you are one that can detect the slightest bit of coffee flavor in baked goods, then these muffins may have a slight mocha taste to them. If not, you’ll get a rich, deep chocolate flavor. That’s because the espresso powder intensifies the cocoa when mixed together. Either way, you’re in for some intense chocolatey goodness.
These muffins are exactly how muffins should be. Moist in the middle, slightly dense…not light and fluffy like cupcakes are… and have lovely crackly muffin tops. I think the muffin tops might just be my favorite feature…they have that slight crunch to them, and it compliments the moist muffin center so well. I also added a dusting of powdered sugar, which gives these gluten free double chocolate espresso muffins an extra little sweetness you can’t miss out on.
This recipe was originally adapted from the double chocolate espresso muffins recipe on Browned Butter Blondie. I just fell in love with that recipe when I saw it, and was inspired to re-create them to be gluten free so I could enjoy them too. Her blog is full of delicious baking recipes and inspiring photos, and she even has a few gluten free recipes as well!
Since I adapted this recipe, I thought I’d walk through quickly how I did it. Hopefully, these techniques will help you become more confident when adapting your favorite family or cookbook recipes!
Main Adaptions:
- Flour: I kept the 1 ½ cups the same, because I intended to add some additional moisture to the recipe. However, you should note that 1 ½ cups of gluten free flour doesn’t always weigh the same as regular wheat flour. My Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free baking flour may also weigh slightly different than another brand of 1:1 gluten free flour. The weight of your flour could also vary based on how you scoop or measure it out that day. That’s why it’s so important to measure and weigh out your flour before baking with it! I used 215g of Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free baking flour for this recipe, spooned and leveled before weighing.
- Sugar: The addition of brown sugar helps add additional moisture to gluten free baked goods. Some gluten free flours absorb more moisture than regular flour, and I find that recipes I try to make with a 1:1 switch and no additional moisture turn out dry.
- Leavening: Gluten free muffins, cakes, and cupcakes can benefit from additional leavening, since many gluten free flours can be heavy and need additional lift. For this recipe, I cut down the baking soda (we still need some because of the acidity of the cocoa powder and yogurt), and doubled the amount of baking powder.
- Additional Moisture: Aside from the brown sugar, I also added additional moisture by using yogurt in place of most of the milk. Since the original recipe called for buttermilk, which is already acidic, It was an easy swap.
- Other adjustments: I swapped oil for the melted butter (it seems to retain moisture better in gluten free baked goods), added more chocolate chips, and used espresso powder in place of the brewed espresso.
- Oven temperature: I increased the oven temperature by 25 degrees to help the muffins achieve a little more lift.
That’s it! Have a favorite family recipe that you’ve been wanting to make gluten free, but don’t know where to start? I share a lot of my conversion baking tips in these baking adaptation posts! Check out my Monthly Cookbook Adaption Recipes for some more insights, and hopefully you will be confident to finally tackle an adapted recipe of you’re own!
Other Muffin Recipes:
Blueberry Oat Muffins (refined sugar free)
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Love Chocolate? Try These Chocolate Recipes!
Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
Chocolate Cupcakes with Espresso Ganache
Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Frosting
Gluten Free Double Chocolate Espresso Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (215g) Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free baking flour
- ½ cup (43g) unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp instant espresso powder
- ½ cup oil
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup plain yogurt
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 ½ tsp gluten free vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375℉. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with liners. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder. Add the chocolate chips and mix to combine and evenly coat with the flour mixture. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix well until totally combined. The batter will be very thick.
- Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin liners, filling each all the way to the top.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before enjoying.
- To dust with powdered sugar, allow to cool completely on a wire cooling rack first
Notes
- Ingredient swaps: you can use dark chocolate chips in place of semi-sweet. You can also try using dairy-free yogurt and milk if needed.
- I only use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free baking flour, which already contains xanthan gum, so I cannot guarantee that your muffins will turn out the same if using a different flour mixture. Not all gluten free flour mixes absorb moisture the same way, and they all have different proportions of ingredients used. If using a gluten free all purpose flour mix, I recommend using a 1:1 mix that contains xanthan gum and measure by weight.
- Always spoon and level your flour into your measuring cups! Scooping out your flour with the measuring cup can lead to using too much.
Recipe adapted from Browned Butter Blondie
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I tried your recipe, and the muffins turn out to be absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
I also made some adjustments: use walnut oil; replace milk with soymilk; skip granulated sugar, and just use 2g of instant coffee.