Here is a gluten free berry muffins recipe that is healthy but also packed with flavour!
Why should all the gluten-eating people get all the fun? You can have these gluten free berry muffins for breakfast, as a snack or even as a dessert. They are very easy to pack in a lunchbox and take with you to work, school or picnics. These gluten free berry muffins are a healthy alternative to a higher calorie, higher fat snack and includes some of our favourite frozen fruits.
You can use frozen fruits or fresh fruits for these gluten-free mixed berry muffins. Both should work really well. Since there isn’t a difference between the quality of the muffins by using fresh or frozen, we went for the more convenient option and used the Asiago frozen Frutti di Bosco pack we got from Whatsinstore.
We will save our fresh fruit for recipes where the freshness can be truly appreciated. Apart from this, frozen mixed berries (provided you do not wait for them to thaw first) fold well in muffin batter. If you don’t have any frozen berries on hand, you can flash freeze some fresh berries instead for the same effect.
Frozen fruits retain their full nutritional value as at the date of being frozen.It is recommended that you store frozen fruits for up to 9 months to retain the best quality. This still gives you plenty of time to come up with great ways to use them. With frozen Frutti di Bosco (forest fruit), you get a lot more time compared to fresh produce. Careful not to leave the berries outside for too long before use, since they tend to get mushy and this would ruin the texture and appearance of the muffins.
We rather like the effect the mixed berries give these gluten free berry muffins as we can see shades of red and purple which are quite pleasant. Asiago’s Frutti di Bosco packs have a great selection of currents, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. We avoid the use of strawberries in muffins because they can be rather large. You can adjust the values of the frozen fruit and add more if you would like the muffins to be more heavy on the berry to muffin ratio.
Our version of these gluten free berry muffins is neither lactose-free nor vegan, due to the inclusion of cow’s milk and eggs. The mixture will work just as fine if you replace dairy milk with coconut milk. As for the use of eggs, we have not yet tried this recipe with an egg substitute. If you do try this alternative, we would love to hear your thoughts!
Feel free to lower the amount of sugar you use in this gluten free berry muffins recipe. Considering frozen fruits already have a level of sweetness, you could remove the sugar from the recipe altogether. In the end it is a question of personal taste and whether you feel you get enough sweetness from the frozen fruit or not is totally up to you. You can also add a selection of crushed nuts to the batter for some extra crunch. We love the addition of the lime zest. We feel that it truly brings out the sweet berry flavour from the muffins.
Ingredients:
250g frozen fruit
200g shredded coconuts
200ml milk
120g almond flour
100g light brown sugar (feel free to use less as desired)
80g gluten-free rolled oats
4 large eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp vanilla essence
Zest from one lime
Pinch of salt
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Toast the shredded coconut in a large skillet. Stir until golden brown.
- In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
- In another bowl, mix together wet ingredients and mix with the dry mixture.
- Fold in the berries
- Fill a silicone muffin tray with the batter
- Bake around golden brown, which should take around 20-25 minutes.
You should be able to make 12 muffins from this batter. For this muffin recipe, you can use muffin liners or, my preferred way, a silicone tray. A silicone tray requires no greasing and they can be easily removed. These muffins are really easy to make and can keep for around 4 days in an airtight container.
Check out our other recipes using frozen fruits here.
