These gluten free cranberry muffins are big and fluffy with a mild tartness from the fresh cranberries, and a thick cinnamon streusel topping. They are made with simple ingredients, and there is also a dairy-free option. These delicious muffins make a wonderful addition with breakfast or brunch.
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❤️ Sandi’s Recipe Summary
The Quick Bite: These homemade gluten free cranberry muffins are light and fluffy. This muffin batter makes a great muffin base, and you can use other types of fruit, which is helpful since cranberries are not available all year long.
I am really proud of how this gluten free cranberry muffin recipe turned out. I spent several weeks perfecting it so they turn out light and fluffy every time. I have tested the recipe with fresh and frozen cranberries, and both have just the right cranberry flavor. They taste as if they came from a fancy bakery. Nobody will know these muffins are gluten free!
If your family loves these muffins, try making a batch of these Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins and these Gluten Free Blueberry Oat Muffins next. These muffins would be a great addition to breakfast or brunch!
I made these this weekend to take along for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning when I we are staying out of town with family. No one would ever know they are gluten free. They are nice and moist and flavorful and streusel puts them over the top! They are delicious and I can’t wait for Thanksgiving so I can have another!”
kim s., blog comment
Ingredient Notes:
For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.
- Gluten-Free Flour Blend – I tested this recipe using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 and King Arthur Measure. Other blends will work, but you may need to tweak the moisture levels because every gluten free flour blend has a different starch-to-grain ratio. Read Why Gluten-Free Flour Blends Vary to learn more about this.
- Almond Flour – I don’t recommend using almond meal, because it will change the texture of these muffins. I prefer Anthony’s Almond Flour because they batch test to ensure it is gluten free.
- Baking Powder – Use aluminum-free baking powder
- Eggs – Use size large.
- Coconut Oil – You can also use another light oil or unsalted butter.
- Butter – I use butter in the crumb topping because it works better than oil. You can also use Earth Balance if you are dairy-free. It worked almost as well as real butter.
- Fresh Cranberries – If it isn’t fall, you can swap blueberries or raspberries for the cranberries. You can use dried cranberries or switch them up with fresh fruits. If you use dried cranberries, I recommend that you rehydrate them with hot water to make them softer.
- White Chocolate Chips – Optional, but so good with the tart cranberries.
How to Make Cranberry Muffins (Step-By-Step)
Step 1: Add the gluten free flour, almond flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk to blend.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, add the oil (if using coconut oil, warm it to liquefy it), eggs, vanilla extract, and water, and mix well.
Step 3: Add the wet ingredients and fresh cranberries to the dry ingredients. Mix lightly. The secret to delicious, light, and fluffy muffins is not to over-mix the batter!
If you are using frozen cranberries, be sure to thaw them and drain the juices first!
📢 Sandi says: Evaluate the muffin batter. It should be a little thicker than pancake batter. You can see the consistency in the photo below. If your muffin
Step 4: Add the muffin batter to parchment paper muffin liners.I love using these, so the muffins don’t stick to the paper! Fill each cup 3/4 full of muffin batter.
Step 5: Add the streusel topping ingredients to a bowl. Make sure the butter is very cold.
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Step 6: Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour and sugars. Put parchment paper muffin liners into each muffin pan section.
Step 6: Add some streusel topping to each muffin cup. I add about 1 tablespoon, then when I cover all the muffins, I sprinkle any extra streusel on top.
For regular tops: Bake at 350º F for 25-30 minutes, depending on how much batter you fill each section.
Dome top instructions:
If you prefer a big dome top, fill each muffin section to the top of the muffin paper. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Bake the muffins at this temperature for 5-6 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350ºF and bake for 20 more minutes.
Remove the muffins from the oven and insert a toothpick into them to test doneness. If there is nothing on the toothpick, they are finished baking. If you see batter or crumbs, they need to be baked a bit longer.
Store extra muffins in an airtight container. They will keep fresh for up to 3 days. I recommend freezing extras because gluten free tends to spoil more quickly. To freeze, pop cooled muffins into a freezer-safe container or zipper bag. They thaw in 25 seconds in the microwave.
You may also love these Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones and Gluten Free Cranberry Coffee Cake recipes.
I made this last weekend and have them in the freezer for Thanksgiving morning. Did test one before freezing and they are fantastic!!”
Kim S., Facebook comment
More Gluten Free Muffin Recipes:
If you love muffins as much as we do, you will want to try all of my best gluten free muffins recipes.
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. Please include which flour blend you used. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Gluten Free Cranberry Streusel Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups gluten free flour blend * see note
- 1 cup almond flour * see note
- ¾ cup cane sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder aluminum-free
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup warm water
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup fresh cranberries * see note
- 1 tablespoon optional: lime zest
For Streusel
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup cane sugar
- 3 tablespoons gluten free flour blend
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter cold
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F. See notes below if you would like your muffins to have a dome top.
- In a large mixing bowl, add 1 1/4 cups gluten free flour blend, 1 cup almond flour, 3/4 cup cane sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/8 teaspoon salt and whisk to blend.
- In a smaller bowl, add 2 large eggs, 3/4 cup warm water, melted 6 tablespoons unsalted butter and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Add the 1 tablespoon optional: lime zest. Make sure the melted butter is not too hot or it will cook your eggs!
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add 1 cup fresh cranberries, and mix until "just barely mixed".
- Let the batter sit while you mix up the gluten free streusel topping.
- In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup brown sugar,1/4 cup cane sugar, 3 tablespoons gluten free flour blend, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, and 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, except the butter. Mix well.
- Use a pastry blender to cut in the cold butter until your mixture is crumbly.
- Put muffin liners into a muffin tin and fill each 3/4 full with the muffin batter.
- Spoon some of the streusel topping over each muffin.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until done. Actual baking time may vary depending on the size and depth of the muffin tin you use.
Notes
- I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure and Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF. Other blends will work, but you may need to tweak the moisture level by adding more flour or water to the batter to get the right consistency. It should be spoonable, slightly thicker than pancake batter.
- If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
- To make this recipe dairy-free, substitute the butter with vegan butter.
- I don’t recommend using dried cranberries. It won’t give the same flavor.
- I highly recommend using almond flour rather than almond meal. Almond meal is coarser and will make your muffins grainy.
- To make this recipe nut-free, omit the almond flour and substitute an additional 1/2 gluten free flour blend.
- If you want your muffins to have a domed style top, bake at 425º F for the first 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350º F.
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SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, my rule of thumb is to add more flour if your dough or batter is wet and add more liquid if the dough or batter is too dry!
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
(*This recipe was updated from a 12/2016 post.)
I truly hope you enjoy this recipe. I have been testing and creating gluten-free recipes for over 15 years. Creating gluten-free recipes that do not taste gluten-free is my goal for every recipe. Sometimes I only have to test a new recipe a couple of times, and others it takes multiple times. I do this so you get reliable, delicious results every time!
Hi
So if I omit almond flour would it be 1.5 cups gf flour
Ty
Hi Phyllis, that isn’t correct. If you omit the almond flour, it should be 1 3/4 cups of flour. I hope this helps, Sandi
These are fabulous! I added cardamom to the batter and oats to the strudel, but otherwise followed the recipe. Delicious.
Hi Jo, I love cardamom and I can’t wait to try adding some to this recipe. Thank you for the yummy suggestion.
Would frozen cranberries work if they were thawed first?
Hi Jenny, yes, frozen cranberries work. Please thaw them and drain the extra liquid.
They look good! Would Oat flour work as well?
Hi Susan, I haven’t tested this recipe with oat flour, so I can’t advise how it would work. If you try it, please do let me know how it works out.
I made these this weekend to take along for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning when I we are staying out of town with family. No one would ever know they are gluten free. They are nice and moist and flavorful and streusel puts them over the top! They are delicious and I can’t wait for Thanksgiving so I can have another!
I love these muffins, too! Thank you so much for coming back to leave a review.
Wow! I opted to simplify by just making this as a loaf of bread, and the family was absolutely enamored with the outcome. Thanks for a great recipe! One change I made to the streusel topping was instead of GF flour just used almond flour. This probably made the texture a bit crunchier, but it was a huge hit. Thanks for a great recipe!
BTW of anyone interested, I had to bake it for 50 min, and I added just a little more almond flour, as the dough seemed a bit too runny without it.
Your edits sound really great. I love you used more almond flour!!
The best ever! I added a tiny bit of orange extract and turned out so yummy. Great recipe
Hi Jenna, thank you so much for coming to let me know you loved these muffins. They are one of my favorites too :-).
Can canned Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce be substituted for the fresh cranberries?
Hi Linda, I do not think canned cranberry will work. You would be adding too much liquid and it will throw off the texture and balance. You could sub in blueberries if you can’t find fresh cranberries.