A few weeks back, I made a chocolate chip bakery-style muffin, and the follow-up emails were pretty clear. I had several requests for bakery-style low-carb blueberry muffins.
My friend Tracy over at Wildflowers and Wanderlust also has a “thing” for blueberries. I asked on Instagram what everyone’s favorite muffin was, and everyone was quite adamant that blueberry with lemon was a hands-down summer favorite, so I whipped up this recipe for her and for those readers who took the time to email. Thanks for the ideas!
Ok ok! You all love blueberries. I get it. More blueberry desserts! (I’ll try my best).
Homemade gluten-free almond flour blueberry muffins
Fresh out of the oven with a blob of butter? Yes. Yes, please.
Who doesn’t love a fresh blueberry muffin slathered in butter with a hot cup of tea or coffee? It’s like the ultimate comfort food.
Only this comfort food doesn’t come with extra sugar or gluten!
Imagine baking up this gluten-free blueberry muffin recipe and the scent of vanilla, blueberries, and lemon wafting through the house. Right? I have that warm, happy feeling when I smell blueberry muffins baking up in the oven.
If you love blueberries as much as I do you should check out a few of these popular recipes:
- Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
- Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
- Blueberry Quick Bread
- New York Style Blueberry Cheesecake
A bit about the blueberry keto muffin batter
These almond flour blueberry muffins have a beautiful crumb, not at all light and airy, but dense and muffiny (I just made up that word, it’s ok, I do it often).
But to get that perfect crumb, there are a few tricks.
- First, beat your eggs until they are light yellow and fluffy, this ensures a good batter. I’ve tried just adding my eggs and lightly beating them in, but it isn’t the same. Beating the egg yolks ensures the blueberry muffins bake up fluffy.
- The second trick is to fold the wet ingredients into the dry gently. You don’t want to overbeat here, as that will deflate the eggs, and will make the batter bake up heavy.
- You will also want to make sure you line your muffin tins. I find coconut and almond flour brown up quickly, and the muffin liner helps protect the bottoms of the muffins, so they do not overcook.
- Don’t skip the Xanthan gum. It acts as a binder and helps hold everything together. Since we are not baking with gluten, we need to replace the binder with something and in this recipe, we use Xanthan gum. Don’t have Xanthan gum on hand? Check out these possible replacements.
For more tips and tricks check out my full guide to baking with almond flour.
Are Blueberries Low Carb?
There are 10.5 net carbs in half a cup of blueberries. Although berries like raspberries and blackberries are ok for low carb diets, blueberries tend to be a bit higher on the carb scale.
Blueberries should be eaten in moderation. If you’re doing a keto diet, the recommendation is to eat them in small amounts only occasionally.
For our purposes in this recipe, the blueberries only add a few net carbs per muffin. I’d say if you were going to enjoy your berries, this is an excellent way to it!
A bit about the blueberry muffin flavor profile
For this low carb blueberry muffin, I did a lemon blueberry flavor profile. The lemon flavor does enhance flavor of the blueberries.
I also find that the lemon juice tends to mask or hide any aftertaste from sweeteners.
My only tip here is to use freshly squeezed lemon juice and fresh rind. I don’t particularly like bottled lemon juice as I find it far too bitter, sour, and it always seems to have an off-taste.
The lemon rind also adds a nice punch too, and you don’t want to omit it. As always, though, you can do whatever your heart desires.
You could go crazy and add vanilla instead of lemon (just as good).
Feel free to use fresh or frozen blueberries here. It doesn’t matter. Just make sure you save a few to dot the top of the muffins before they go into the oven.
What sweeteners are best to use for this low carb blueberry muffin recipe?
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Use your favorite 1:1 sugar substitute.
Powered is preferred over granular, as it blends better and has a more delicate texture. Erythritol and xylitol also tend to get grainy when cold, but I found the powdered versions to do it much less.
If you don’t have powdered erythritol or xylitol and only have granular, go ahead and give it a blast with a high-speed blender or food processor. My favorite powdered sweetener by far is So Nourished Monk Fruit Blend. I find it has almost no aftertaste at all.
Swerve and stevia will work perfectly fine here as well as does any powdered erythritol or xylitol brand.
Allulose will work great in this recipe. Just remember that it is 70% as sweet as sugar, so you will need to add a bit more to the recipe.
Just remember, xylitol is poisonous to dogs and cats, so if that’s your choice and you have little furry friends running around, be aware that it can be deadly for them.
Storage & Serving suggestions
You can keep these low carb blueberry muffins covered on the counter for up to three days. They keep for a bit longer in the fridge. I like them cold out of the refrigerator because the muffin tends to be a bit firmer. But they are as good after 10 seconds in the microwave and a dab of butter. (ok a smear of butter… ok a dollop of butter, don’t judge me!)
You can also freeze these low carb muffins for up to a month! They defrost well in the fridge. You could make a full batch and freeze a few for a quick out-the-door snack.
These blueberry muffins also come loaded with 9 grams of protein, and you might find they fill you up until after lunch.
Bakery Style Low Carb Blueberry Muffins (+Gluten Free and Keto Friendly)
A low carb bakery style blueberry muffin. These muffins are classic blueberry muffins, dense and crumbly, bursting with blueberry and lemon flavours. These gluten-free muffins are filled with protein and fibre and make a great on the go breakfast.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup erythritol (powdered)
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 6 large eggs
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon rind
- 3 cups finely ground almond flour
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 cup of blueberries
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp Xanthan gum powder
Instructions
- With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt and 3/4 cup of blueberries. Set aside.
- Add the eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer, or used a hand mixer and whip eggs until very light yellow and frothy. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter and erythritol until the mixture is creamy and blended. With the mixer at low speed, drizzle in the almond milk, vanilla and lemon juice. lemon rind and egg mixture.
- In small batches mix the dry ingredients into the egg batter and erythritol mixture. Do not over blend. Once blended spoon the batter into the prepared pans.
- Dot each muffin top with remaining blueberries.
- Bake for 15 minutes and then cover the tops of the muffins with a loose cover of tin foil. Continue to bake for 10-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 14 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 302Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 106mgSodium: 150mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 4gSugar: 4gProtein: 9g
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs (and sugar alcohols) are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fibre.
Janelle says
Your recipe ingredients don’t mention apple cider vinegar but the instructions do. Is there ACV in this recipe and if so how much? Thanks
Laura says
Hi Janelle, that was a mistake on my end, it should be the lemon juice. Usually, I use AVC as the acid, but as these were lemon blueberry muffins the lemon juice is adequate as the acid all on its own. Cheers! ( I made the fix, thanks for letting me know).
Judi says
Your baking instructions mention drizzling in the cream with the vanilla and lemon juice. I do not see any cream in the ingredients. I’m hoping there isn’t any because I can’t have dairy and I’m looking forward to making these muffins!
Laura says
Hi Judi, You can use almond milk or coconut milk or cream in this recipe, any of the three will work perfectly fine. Hope you enjoy them. I really like these muffins for a quick breakfast. Cheers! (I usually use almond milk in this recipe)
Jill Oreilly says
If you use vanilla instead of lemon should you add acv? Is an acid needed for the recipe? Do you cool them in the pan or on a rack? Thanks, Jill
Laura says
Hi Jill, if you use vanilla, yes I would pop the same amount of AVC just to ensure they rise well. Cool them in the pan and then remove, it gives them a bit of time to firm up before you pop them out. Hope you enjoy them! Cheers.
Renee says
So it’s not blueberry season and I tried flash frozen berries. Don’t waste your time with that. The muffin itself was very moist and had a great texture. I also read 1 tsp of xanthan gum as 1 tbsp but turned out fine nonetheless. Can’t wait to try this recipe with fresh berries and the right amount of xanthan gum. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
Laura says
Hi Renee, so glad you enjoyed them! You’re 100% right, these muffins are far better with fresh berries.
sharis says
Do we have to use coconut flour? can we just use more almond flour?
Laura says
Hey Sharis, this specific recipe was developed with coconut flour. There are two rules for replacing coconut flour with almond flour: Replace every 1/4 cup (1 ounce) of coconut flour with at least 1 cup of almond flour.
Decrease the amount of liquid in the recipe by using one less egg for every 1/4 cup of coconut flour that the recipe initially called for. And although this will work, it will drastically change the texture of the recipe. I have not tested removing the coconut flour in this recipe but those are the rules that I start with when I am adapting a recipe. Hope that helps!
Marna says
These are deeelicious! Thank you for the receipt 😘❣️
Laura says
Thanks so much, Marna, so glad you enjoyed them!
Angela D. says
HI, I haven never tried to make a low carb type of muffin before, and I’m wondering…My batter has more of a cookie dough consistency. Is that how it should be? The only thing I substituted was the xanthum gum, I used ground flax as you suggested in the link, with 1part flax:2 parts water. They also didn’t really ‘rise’ like I’m used to when making muffins. They are cooling now, and I’m just wondering.
Laura says
Hi Angela, the batter will be thick, but not like cookie dough, more like a brownie batter. There are a few tricks to getting gluten-free baked goods to rise properly we wrote an entire post about it. It could be anything from the type of almond flour you used (meal won’t work it has to be almond flour), it needs to be sifted, the eggs need to be whipped light and fluffy, the leavening agents need to be fresh, and you shouldn’t over mix the batter. The flax will work, I’ve used it in this recipe without fail, so that shouldn’t be the problem but it could be any of the things I mentioned. Now with all that said, gluten-free baked goods won’t rise like a regular muffin, but you should get a rise. They shouldn’t be flat pancakes, or super dense and heavy. Send me an email if you’re still having trouble and I can help you troubleshoot the recipe. I hope that helps!
Mj says
I made these today – the flavor of the dough was tasty, but the consistency was quite dense (there was no rise at all). I wasn’t surprised because whenever I’ve followed recipe using coconut flour it never produces a fluffy (or even close to fluffy) dessert. So I was a bit disappointed with the density of the finished product. Not sure if there is a way to remedy this, but I will try again and report if there is a different outcome.
Laura says
Hi Mj, there are a few tricks (mentioned in the post). You have to whip the eggs to make them light and fluffy, the flours need to be sifted to add air and break up clumps, and you need to make sure you add the binder (xanthan gum, etc) without the binder the muffins will not rise no matter how much leavening agents you add. If you followed all those steps and never got a rise, I would check your leavening agents to ensure they have not lost their potency. We make these muffins weekly and always get a decent rise, they look just like bakery-style muffins when they come out of the oven.