Gluten-Free Blueberry Granola Muffins (Oat Free)

The recipe for Day 8 of March Muffin Madness (MMM) is Gluten-Free Blueberry Granola Muffins (Oat Free) from Cinde of Everyday Gluten-Free Gourmet.

Gluten-Free Blueberry Granola Muffins (Oat Free) from Everyday Gluten-Free Gourmet

You may remember Cinde from the last MMM event when she shared Gluten-Free Muffins That Taste Like Donuts (they even taste like the gluten-full donuts you remember!). Those muffins are in the Top 10 most popular MMM recipes of all time and that was Cinde’s first time participating!

Everyone—including me—wanted both those divine mini muffins and Cinde’s coffee mug that was shown in her photos!

Cinde is one of our terrific gluten-free bloggers in Canada. She lives in Calgary, in the beautiful province of Alberta.

Cinde Little of Everyday Gluten-Free Gourmet

Her husband Jim created her website and has a very important partnership role at EGFG. That’s why you’ll hear her say “we” when talking about her site and recipes.

Learn more about how Cinde came to gluten-free blogging and Jim’s important role here.

In addition to tasty muffins, you’ll find a variety of recipes on Everyday Gluten-Free Gourmet. I have appreciated all of them and enjoyed many of them.

With Easter coming up, this recipe for what many of us call Bird’s Nest Cookies caught my eye. But usually, it’s Cinde’s non-sweet recipes such as Beef Rouladen, Pancake Bake, Pizza Cheese Buns, and Cornbread Sausage Stuffing Balls, that draw my attention first.

You’ll want to check them all out and follow Cinde on her blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Now back to today’s Gluten-Free Blueberry Granola Muffins! Again, oat-free Gluten-Free Blueberry Granola Muffins.

When Cinde and I were discussing the muffin recipe that she would be creating for MMM, using granola was on her mind. Initially, she was thinking of granola that included gluten-free oats.

We ended up discussing which brands of oat products that are labeled gluten free are actually safe for the gluten-free community.

UPDATE: On April 4, 2023, Gluten-Free Watchdog issued a new statement, Gluten-Free Watchdog Cannot Recommend Any Brand of Gluten-Free Oats. Read the full statement here. This statement was followed by details on recent testing results of gluten-free products that contain oats., which showed 30% of the labeled gluten-free oat products tested contained quantifiable gluten.

This statement was followed by details on recent testing results of gluten-free products that contain oats, which showed 30% of the labeled gluten-free oat products tested contained quantifiable gluten. I’m not eating any oats and I urge all of my readers who eat gluten free for medical reasons to also abstain.

Two brands of oats sold in Canada that are both certified gluten free and grown, harvest, processed, and packaged using the purity protocol are Avena Oats and Only Oats. They are included in the list of truly safe oat providers on Gluten-Free Watchdog’s site here.

Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free oats are also sold in Canada, as well as in the U.S. It’s important to note that Bob’s Red Mill oats are neither certified gluten free nor are they purity protocol oats.

Bob’s Red Mill does their own testing for gluten content. They do not use a third-party certification agency (such as Gluten-Free Certification Organization, aka GFCO, or Gluten-Free Certification Program, aka GFCP).

You can also see Bob’s Red Mill’s statement about its oats to GFW from November 12, 2015 in the comments on this post discussing certification of oats labeled gluten free. Nothing has changed since Bob’s Red Mill made that statement. Again, you can read it on this page on Gluten-Free Watchdog’s site.

Although Cinde’s muffin recipe does not include any oat products in the ingredients, she does suggest experimenting with different gluten-free flours in muffin recipes and mentions oat flour. I wanted to take the opportunity to remind you all to use safe oats, which equates to oats that are both certified gluten free and follow the purity protocol; specifically, any of the oats on this list. 

Temporarily, you can find specific testing results of several oat products labeled gluten free on the left side of the Gluten-Free Watchdog home page. Here’s a screenshot shown below. Spoiler alert: These products showed gluten content at 20 ppm and well above 20 ppm. 

While Gluten-Free Watchdog usually only shares its testing results with paid subscribers, these results are shared in the best interest of the gluten-free community. As you can see, the oat products listed there are from Gluten-Free Harvest (more than one of its products), Trader Joe’s, and Safe & Fair Food Co. Note that testing of oat products labeled gluten free by Gluten-Free Watchdog is still in progress.

Click on the individual links (“View the full product report”) to see the actual gluten content for each once you’re on Gluten-Free Watchdog’s home page (be sure to scroll down to the bottom left). This information will not be available on Gluten-Free Watchdog for the long term so, if you’re interested and you are not a current GFW subscriber, you’ll want to take a look now.

I also recommend a monthly subscription to Gluten-Free Watchdog. Every month gluten testing results for numerous products are shared with subscribers plus, other very helpful info. Subscribers can also request that specific products be tested.

Please stay safe, folks. Personally, I’m passing on oats these days but still love granola so I definitely appreciate Cinde’s oat-free Gluten-Free Blueberry Granola Muffins.

Don’t they look delicious? With just the right amount of crunch!

Cinde says: “When I decided to make these muffins oat free, I wanted the streusel topping to have the crunch as well as the typical flavours of granola. I took my usual streusel recipe and included ingredients that I use in my homemade ‘oat’ granola.

Use any combination of crunchy ingredients you have to measure a total of ¼ cup. I knew coconut and pumpkin seeds would stand out in the photo and I had chia seeds and hemp seeds on hand.

Consider sunflower, sesame or flax seeds as well as any nuts you have. I always say, perfect the recipe to your liking or make it different every time.”

Gluten-Free Blueberry Granola Muffins (Oat-Free) Recipe

Yield: 14 muffins

Gluten-Free Blueberry Granola Muffins (Oat Free)

Print

Cinde says: “I made these muffins oat free using nuts, seeds and coconut to give the familiar taste and crunch of granola. I topped them with a granola streusel for the extra sweetness.”

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Additional Time 15 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

Batter Ingredients

• 1½ cups EGFG gluten-free flour blend (see notes)
• ½ cup blanched almond flour (see notes)
• ⅔ cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp xanthan gum
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk (or yogurt)
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg

Add-In Ingredients:

• ¾ cup blueberries
• ¼ cup chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts or pecans)
• ¼ cup shredded coconut

Topping Ingredients

• Blueberries
• Granola streusel

Granola Streusel Ingredients

• ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 Tbsp melted butter
• 1 Tbsp chopped walnuts
• 1 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
• 1 Tbsp shredded coconut
• 1 ½ tsp chia seeds
• 1 ½ tsp hemp seeds
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.
2. Combine all granola streusel ingredients and set aside.
3. In a large bowl combine flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, xanthan gum and salt. Whisk to combine.
4. In a small bowl, mix buttermilk, oil and egg. Add to dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
5. Fold in nuts, coconut and blueberries.
6. Fill a paper-lined muffin pan using a portion scoop.
7. Divide granola streusel evenly among muffins. Add a few blueberries on top of each muffin if desired.
8. Bake muffins for 25-27 minutes until nicely browned.
9. Cool on baking rack for 2 minutes and then transfer muffins to the rack and cool completely.
   
   

Notes

My EGFG flour blend recipe is 300g sweet rice flour, 300g potato starch, 200g sorghum flour, and 200g millet flour, which makes about 8 cups.

Muffin recipes are the easiest and best place for gluten-free bakers to experiment. Use a flour blend you know and like, then substitute different flours for a small portion of the flour called for in the recipe. I wrote this recipe so you can easily do that. Almond flour, oat flour (made from certified gluten-free purity protocol oats) and coconut flour are all good choices as granola typically contains nuts, oats
and coconut. I hope you have fun with this recipe!

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

~ Today’s MMM Prizes

All giveaways are now closed. Thanks to all who participated!

~ Cooking Classes

~ Virtual Gluten-Free Cooking Classes (3 winners; sponsored by Cinde of Everyday Gluten-Free Gourmet)

One of Cinde’s most instrumental roles in the gluten-free community is teaching folks how to cook and bake gluten free. She teaches both adults and children. You can see some of her future classes here but she’s always adding new ones. Here she is teaching a class on making delicious gluten-free pizza!

Cinde is offering gift certificates (no expiration/expiry date) to attend one of her virtual gluten-free cooking classes to three readers. Maybe you want to win for yourself or maybe you want to win for someone you love. If you’re one of the winners, you can coordinate registering for the gluten-free cooking class of your choice with Cinde.

~ Baking Supplies

~ Jumbo Silicone Baking Cups (13 Reusable Non-Stick Standalone Cupcake Liners, BPA Free, 6 Designer Colors) (1 winner; sponsored by gfe)

~ Regular-Sized Silicone Baking Cups (24 Reusable Non-Stick Cupcake Liners, BPA Free, 6 Rainbow Colors) (1 winner; sponsored by gfe)

Grand Prize Giveaway

All giveaways are now closed. Thanks to all who participated!

Originally published March 21, 2023; updated May 1, 2023.

Free Email Updates to gfe Please enter all required fields Correct invalid entries