These Paleo Blueberry Muffins have classic flavor and texture plus the perfect crumb top – it’s downright addicting! Have one freshly baked or make them ahead of time and enjoy as a part of your breakfast or a grab-n-go snack. They’re grain free, dairy free, gluten-free and refined sugar free.
With as much baking as I’ve done/continue to do, I just didn’t feel like I had a blueberry muffin recipe that I was actually in love with. My simple blueberry muffins are definitely de-lish, but they use a lot of almond butter which I don’t always want to sacrifice on a batch of muffins.
There’s the crumb top issue, too. A truly uh-mazing blueberry muffin recipe sorta has to have a crumb top, don’t you think? It adds that certain nostalgia factor that make blueberry muffins feel really special. And yes, while I have a blueberry muffin recipe that involves a crumb topping, the recipe happens to be nut free and made only with coconut flour.
To be honest, my most FAVORITE muffins are typically made with at least SOME almond flour. It lends a lot to the flavor and texture of both the muffin itself and the topping, so I wanted to experiment with making truly classic tasting paleo blueberry muffins.
And, let’s just say what came next was a ridiculous amount of experimenting. To be exact, 4 batches of muffins in two days. This was to be expected though, since I was starting “from scratch”, with these muffins, meaning I wasn’t basing the recipe on anything that came before it, I was trying new ratios, ingredients, etc.
My biggest pet peeve with paleo baking is that while it’s pretty easy to get a great tasting muffin, the texture of the crumb and rise is difficult to get right. Especially when you’re combining flours, and especially when one of those flours is coconut flour.
Yes, I could’ve gone the easy and PRICY route of using, like, 2 and 1/2 cups of almond flour, plus more for the topping, but trust me. I know that great almond flour is a tough purchase to justify, and, while including it does wonders for the result, I wanted to use an amount that wouldn’t break the bank completely.
So, enter coconut flour – low in carbs and a whole lot lower in price, PLUS a little bit goes a long way, as in, for every cup of almond flour that I use in a recipe, just about 5-6 Tbsp of coconut flour is needed to do basically the same thing. The kicker – a little more or less, and you’re left with something too dry and chalky, or a result too moist with no rise.
I hope you were fully ready for my grain free baking rant, apologies if you just want to get to the eating part! Luckily, by the fourth time around, I was happy with the result – the muffins rose, the crumb topping didn’t melt into the muffins at all, and the crumb wasn’t too dry or moist. While the kids and Adam happily ate all the failed batches as well, they all agreed the final batch was just about perfect.
Plus, I was able to use all ingredients that I typically have on hand all the time – including almond milk from a carton rather than coconut milk from a can. Sometimes I just don’t feel like opening a can of coconut milk if I know I’ll only be using 1/4 cup, I’m guessing I can’t be the only one who feels that way!
One note on the sweetener I used for this recipe. I’ve been head over heels for maple sugar lately – which is very fine and lighter in color than coconut sugar. That said, it works exactly the same as coconut sugar does in most recipes, so you can easily sub it in if you don’t want to use maple sugar or don’t have it on hand. The resulting muffins will be significantly darker in color if you use coconut sugar, so keep that in mind!
If you don’t need these to be strictly paleo, organic cane sugar will sub in well too. I wouldn’t recommend using a liquid sweetener for these, though, since my attempts using honey led to a melty topping and a middle that wouldn’t rise.
Are you ready to get started? Let’s preheat our ovens – I’m craving one already!
Paleo Blueberry Muffins with Crumb Top {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}
Paleo Blueberry Muffins with Crumb Top {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}
Ingredients
For the Crumb Topping:
- 5 tbsp blanched almond flour
- 2 Tbsp refined coconut oil solid but soft***
- 3 Tbsp maple sugar or coconut sugar**
- 1 tsp cinnamon
For the Muffins:
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk or light coconut milk at room temperature
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice room temp
- 6 Tbsp maple sugar or coconut sugar**
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract optional
- 3 Tbsp coconut oil melted and cooled to almost room temp
- 1 1/4 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup fresh blueberries you can use frozen if you thaw and drain well beforehand
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F and line a 12 cup muffin pan with parchment liners.
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Prepare the crumb top first: Place all ingredients together in a medium bowl and combine well using a fork until a thick crumb forms (it will thicken while chilled). Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the muffin batter.
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Try to have all ingredients at room temperature before adding. In one bowl, combine the 3 flours, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs, almond milk, lemon juice, sugar, vanilla, almond extract and coconut oil. I typically add the coconut oil last so it doesn't have time to form solid pieces in the mixture.
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Once combined, add in the dry mixture and stir (don't vigorously mix or use a blender) until no flour spots can be seen. Lumpy batter is good for the texture and rise of the muffins. Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, gently fold in 3/4 of the blueberries.
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Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan approximately 3/4 of the way full. Top each one with remaining blueberries and a generous sprinkle of the crumb top (I made 12 muffins and used nearly all of the crumb topping)
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Bake in the preheated oven (375) for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Allow to cool in the muffin pan for a few minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*For this recipe I would not use full fat coconut milk because it would be too heavy and thick. Almond milk, cashew milk or light coconut milk would work.
**Using coconut sugar instead of maple sugar will make the color of the muffins significantly darker but should not alter the flavor.
***Palm oil shortening, grass fed butter or ghee are options as well.
Nutrition
What I Used To Make My Paleo Blueberry Muffins with Crumb Top:
Want more paleo muffin and quick bread recipes? Try one of these!
Hearty Paleo Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Paleo Orange Almond Poppy Seed Muffins
Paleo Blueberry Lemon Muffins {Nut Free}
Paleo Almond Butter Banana Muffins with Flaxseed
Paleo Sweet Potato Cinnamon Raisin Muffins
Tell Me!
What is your biggest grain-free/paleo baking pet peeve?
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I just made these muffins last night, and oh my god! I used stevia one place of the maple/coconut sugar, since I have sucrose intolerance, but the consistency of these muffins is exactly like wheat flour muffins.
The recipe itself was easier than it looks, too. This will DEFINITELY be a recipe I make regularly to have healthy pre-made foods on hand.
Thank you so much for making this recipe! <3
I’ve made these three times now. They are fantastic and I recommend them to anyone who needs a stellar GF muffin recipe.
I used sautéed cinnamon apples the first time and straight frozen blueberries the second time. Using frozen blueberries has worked wonderfully. Here’s what I did: halved the almond milk and baked for 22 mins. Perfect!
I used frozen blueberries that thawed on the counter for about 15 min. no draining, just folded in. Substituted Arrowroot for Tapioca (because I like the sweetness of arrowroot better) and used a mix of coconut sugar and maple (cause I ran out of the maple) and added a handful of choc. chips (because why not). Soooo Good!! I could eat the whole batch. will definately make again!
Delicious! The texture is insane for a paleo muffin. Made them and my boyfriend took one bite and told me to “save this recipe”. I used arrowroot instead of tapioca and they came out great!
These are really quite good. I have tried a number of paleo muffins recipes and they usually are either too moist, or too dense. These were reasonably light, and definitely tasty! I may try different fruits to see if they hold up. Also, I used grass-fed butter rather than coconut oil. A keeper, for sure!
This recipe came out delicious. What is the best way to store it? Would freezing it work if you allow to tholaw before eating or it’s best to refrigerate it?
These were delicious! Evryone loved them even the picky teenagers. I just love all of your recipes this one is my favorite muffin one so far.
I would like to use agave instead. Will this make a big difference.
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About to make this, and everything I’ve made of yours ROCKS. In fact, you are maybe my top rated recipe guru right now! Question: have you tried using date sugar in these? I have some, no maple (of course I have coconut)…but wondering…I’m sure I’ll make a choice for these now and let you know but wondering!