Healthier grain-free and gluten-free lemon muffins with an amazing pound cake-like texture!
Here’s one for our gluten-free friends. I feel like I’ve been neglecting you lately and for that, I’m sorry!
Gluten-free and especially grain-free baking is always an adventure and this one ended up as pound cake muffins. Yup, the texture is pretty similar to pound cake. They aren’t fluffy but have this slightly dense, yet pleasant, thing going on.
With all the snow and gray depressing skies, I wanted to make something bright and cheery. And all lemony things qualify as cheery, right?! Other people are talking about the first signs of spring and well, I’m just going to pretend with these muffins.
Baking with almond flour is pretty cool sometimes. Not only did it result in bright yellow muffins (whole wheat would have made them look pretty drab, I think) but it lets the lemon flavor really shine through. I suppose you could also use almond meal in them, but then don’t blame me when they have little brown specks. Brown specks just don’t belong in my cheery muffins. ;)
And one more thing. The lemon glaze isn’t optional! It makes the lemon flavor pop even more so don’t leave it out. The muffins aren’t that sweet so the glaze helps them achieve that “naughty muffin” taste. I rarely use powdered sugar but I haven’t found a way around it in glazes. Anyone have an idea how to make a processed sugar free lemon glaze?
I only made these yesterday but they’re just as good today as they were out of the oven. Another plus for almond flour!
Want a paleo version? Try these easy paleo lemon chia seed muffins. And for keto, try this Keto Lemon Cake.
Grain- / Gluten-free Lemon Muffins
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 8 muffins
Ingredients
- 96 grams (~1 cup but please weigh!) almond flour
- 2 tablespoons (16 grams) coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (56 grams) coconut oil or butter, melted
- 3 eggs
- 3 tablespoons (60 grams) honey
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon milk, any kind
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract or vanilla extract
- up to 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- up to 1 cup powdered sugar
Muffins:
Lemon glaze:
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a muffin pan with 8 muffin liners.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (almond flour through salt) and set this aside.
- In a separate medium bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients.
- Add the dry mix to the wet and stir just until combined. Do not over mix! That will result in a bad texture.
- Bake for 15 - 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and the muffins are firm to the touch. Let them cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then turn the muffins out onto a wire rack to cool.
- For the glaze, put 1 teaspoon of lemon juice in a bowl and stir in enough powdered sugar to get the glaze the consistency you want (you'll probably use 1/2 cup powdered sugar). Add more lemon juice, if needed. It should be thick but still easy to drizzle. Drizzle over the muffins and store in an air-tight container.
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100 comments on “Lemon Muffins (Grain-free, gluten-free)” — Add one!
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I've been on such a lemon kick lately, and these muffins look like they need to be next in my citrus adventures!
Citrus adventures. I like that! I think I'll join you. :)
I'm definitely craving those bright citrus flavours at the moment – these look perfect!
Thanks! And yes, bright citrusy stuff! It's all I can think about lately…
I'm gluten free and these look delicious! I keep meaning to try using almond flour as it seems like a brilliant substitute! x
You're gluten-free but haven't tried almond flour?! Whaaat? You need to get on that! Really! :D
oh i love lemon flavor so…haven't tried cooking with almond flour but the pound cake look and texture of these really makes me want too!
I hope you'll try it some time. Pick some up the next time you find it on sale! It's pretty expensive in the US (or so I'm told) so a sale is a good thing. :)
I haven't tried baking with almond flour yet, but these look incredible, you made me excited to try it!
I hope you'll like it! It can take a little time to get used to but I think this is a good recipe to start with. :)
Almond flour is one of my favorite flours to use! Oh and that drizzle – it's totally drawing me in!
Oh, really?! You should post more recipes with almond flour!
This looks so good and moist. love that you used coconut oil.
Thanks! :)
These look so refreshing and lovely. Totally sunshine on a plate. In fact, I love pound cake texture better than muffins, so I'll definitely try these out. :) I think my GF friends would love to try these out too.
Ooh, sunshine on a plate! Love that. :) I hope you and your gluten-free friends will enjoy them!
I LOVE these! I cant wait to make some of them. I really like using almond meal (even though its expensive). They are definitely making me long for spring and sunshine haha! Love these Erin!!!
I'm terrified of how expensive almond flour must be in the US! And Canada. ;) Here, where everything is so expensive, almond flour and other nut flours are pretty cheap. It's actually as cheap as whole almonds! I hope you'll like them if you try them.
So, were you in my head? I was at the store yesterday and thought to myself "oh, I better grab almond and coconut flour". These are two ingredients I've literally never purchased in my life, and I more than impulse bought them, I felt COMPELLED to buy them. Hmmm.
Lemon is in my top 3 favorite fruit flavors. Something about them reminds me of spring, which is great when it's snowing about an inch every second outside. I'll dream of these and also of not getting snowed in at work :-D
Hahaha. YES! I made these, absolutely, with you in mind! ;) I love it when random stuff like that happens. And I love lemon too! It's just so darned… happy seeming. It sounds ridiculous but you know it's true. :)
These muffins do look cheery indeed! And from the looks I can't even tell they are grain free.
Ha! So glad I tricked you. ;)
SO pretty! I'd devour these. And of course the glaze isn't optional. I'd drink it with a straw…
Haha. Well isn't a straw the BEST way to consume glaze? ;)
These look incredible for a gluten free treat. I'll give them a try. Thanks!
I hope you'll like them! Remember not to expect normal muffin texture. :) Let me know how they come out!
These look so light and fluffy! Not easy to accomplish with almond flour but you did it beautifully!
Well, they're not fluffy. They're more like pound cake! They're still good, though. Promise!
Ohhhh man, these look delicious. I am usually not a big fan of lemon or citrus flavored baked goods but for some reason I can already taste these lemon muffins and I'm liking the flavor (in my head at least) maybe my tastes are changing? Love it! Pinned!
Thanks for pinning! And I'm happy to have changed your mind momentarily about lemon stuff. :)
Aww such sunshiny muffins :) It's been windy hear, which makes it cold, which makes me unhappy. I would much rather it be regular cold instead of windchill cold.
I love the contrast of the lines and the muffins by the way. :)
Happy almost Friday!
Thank you! And windy is much worse than just cold. Booo weather.
Happy Friday to you! :)
can these be made without the greek yogart? My kids and I are GF/DF
Thanks
Dawn Martin
Hmm. I haven't tried it but how about using 3 tablespoons of homemade soy buttermilk instead of Greek yogurt + milk? I hope that'll work! Let me know if you try them. :)
Wow, I would never guess that these are gluten free. They look perfectly moist. I love lemon baked treats!
Thanks, Cassie! And I'm happy you like the lemon goodies. I'm planning on a lot more. :)
Yum! I love a good lemon treat to make the winter blues go away!
Haha. Yeah, especially when you feel like the winter blues last for half the year! Hooray for lemons. :)
I'm on a grain-free muffin quest. I love these! I'm going to try them for sure. My kids think I'm the coolest mom ever when I make muffins. :)
I hope you and your kids will like them! Of the grain-free muffins I've tried, these have the most pleasant / least funky texture. :) Let me know how you all liked them!