These gluten-free breakfast muffins are a great grab and go breakfast that will keep you going until lunch. Veggies and protein mix-ins make a satisfying breakfast that can be made completely dairy-free. Three different versions of the mix-ins, including a vegetarian one, will please many tastes.
Be sure to check out more of my gluten-free breakfast recipes including my Spanish potato Frittata (Tortilla de Patata, Higher Protein Gluten-Free Granola and my Stovetop Crispy French Toast.
Three Flavors – Three Sizes
These muffins can be made in mini, standard or jumbo muffin size. The jumbos make for a filling and full meal that you can grab and take on the run. The minis are great for a little pick-me-up or a kid-friendly breakfast.
Three different recipes for mix-ins with, dairy-free, vegetarian and meat lovers options are sure to please many.
Muffin Ingredients
Gluten-free flour blend – For a store-bought blend, I like King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure flour. It works well in so many of my recipes and is the most affordable of the gluten-free flours I’ve tested. Be sure to check out my round-up of 12 recipes using King Arthur gluten-free flour. Pamela’s All Purpose Artisan Blend and Cup4Cup are similar options.
All three of these flours are certified gluten-free and contain binders like xanthan gum, guar gum and inulin, so no need to add any. If you use a flour blend does not contain one of those binders, add 3/4 tsp xanthan gum to the recipe.
These muffins are based on my very popular gluten-free cornbread. My recipe uses less cornmeal than your average cornbread. Cornmeal can make cornbread and muffins a bit heavy and gritty. Replacing it with and equal amount of flour lightens up the muffin and makes it delightfully fluffy. I highly recommend using an organic or non-GMO cornmeal. Arrowhead Mills is an excellent brand.
These muffins can easily be made dairy-free. Dairy-free is my preference but using milk-based options in the same amounts works perfectly and will get the muffins to brown a little better.
Adding wonderful moisture and richness to this recipe is yogurt. I use Kite Hill Vegan Almond Milk Yogurt. So Delicious Coconut Milk yogurt is a good nut-free option. Forager Cashew Milk yogurt is too thick for this recipe. Otherwise use either low-fat or whole milk regular yogurt (unsweetened). Greek yogurt is too thick and doesn’t have enough liquid content to it.
Either use unsalted butter or a vegan butter like Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks.
Muffin Mix-Ins
I have put three different mix-in recipes below, but feel free to be creative with the ingredients. It’s a great way to use up little bits of veggies, cheese and proteins that you’ve got in the fridge.
Be sure that all proteins are cooked before mixing them into the batter. Most veggies should get a quick sauté to soften them up before going into the batter. Very high water content items (like tomatoes) are not the greatest idea because they will make the muffins soggy.
My most favorite mix in, is Mexican chorizo, Monterey Jack cheese, green onion and cilantro. Chorizo is a Mexican pork sausage that has a slightly smoky and spicy chili flavor. There is also a Spanish chorizo which has a different flavor, so look specifically for the Mexican one. It gives its wonderful flavor to the muffin. A little cheese, a pop of green onion and some fresh cilantro make this muffin a flavor celebration.
A vegetarian option includes sauteed mushrooms, kale, thyme and parmigiano cheese. The mushrooms need to be sautéed first to cook them down and get them to release some of their liquid. The kale will get sautéed for just a minute or two to be sure that it is tender and wilted. The parmigiano cheese and thyme are classic and perfect flavor pairings with mushrooms. Reserve a little bit of the cheese to sprinkle on top before baking for a pretty presentation.
The dairy-free version of the mix-ins is a take on Italian sausage and peppers. It includes chopped sausage, sautéed red bell pepper and green onions. One bite into these muffins took me back to the little Italy festival we used to go to when I was a kid in New York City. Sausage and peppers on a bun was one of my favorite things to eat there.
Gluten-Free Savory Breakfast Muffins with Mix-ins
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Ingredients
Muffin Batter
- 1 c gluten-free flour blend*
- ¾ c cornmeal
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 2½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp baking soda
- ⅔ c milk or dairy-free milk substitute
- ½ c unsweetened whole milk or low fat yogurt (not non-fat) or vegan yogurt (not Greek yogurt)
- 2 large eggs
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter or vegan butter substitute
Sausage and Peppers Mix-Ins
- 5 oz Italian sausage or breakfast sausage
- ½ c small dice red bell pepper
- ¼ c chopped green onion (about 2 stalks)
Kale and Mushrooms Mix-Ins
- ½ c finely shredded kale (stems removed)
- 6 oz crimini mushrooms (aka baby bellas) diced
- ½ c tightly packed, finely grated parmesan cheese a microplane works best for grating
- 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves or ½ tsp dried thyme
Chorizo and Cheese Mix-ins
- 5 oz Mexican chorizo cut into small bite sized pieces
- ¾ c shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- ¼ c (about 2 stalks) chopped green onion
- a handful of chopped cilantro (about 2 Tbsps)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease the muffin tin(s) or use paper cupcake liners.
Prepare the Mix-Ins
Each mix-in recipe is enough for the entire muffin batter. If you want to make 2 flavors, cut the mix-in amounts in half.
Sausage and Peppers
- Cut a long shallow slit in the sausage and remove the casing. One brand of breakfast sausage I used had no casing, but most sausages do.
- If the sausage you are using is already cooked, no need to heat it. If it is raw, cut into small pieces and cook in a skillet for 3 minutes, then add the peppers and cook until the peppers are soft.
- Coat a small skillet with a very light coating of butter or oil. Use medium-high heat.
- Sauté the chopped bell pepper for 3-4 minutes or until softened.
- Place on a plate to cool.
- Have the other ingredients ready before you make the muffin batter.
Kale and Mushrooms
- Heat a medium sized skillet over medium high heat and coat lightly with butter or oil.
- Sauté the chopped mushrooms for 3-4 minutes.
- Add the kale and cook stirring constantly until the kale is soft and wilted – about 2 minutes.
- Place on a paper towel lined plate to cool.
- Have the other ingredients ready before you make the muffin batter.
Chorizo and Cheese
- Cut a long shallow slit in the chorizo and remove the casing.
- If it is raw, cut into small pieces and sauté in a pan until it is cooked through. Place on a paper towel lined plate to cool.
- Have the other ingredients ready before you make the muffin batter.
Make the Muffin Batter
- This batter can easily be mixed by hand with a whisk and rubber spatula.
- Melt the butter/vegan butter and set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
- Beat the eggs, milk and yogurt together in a small bowl.
- Pour the liquid ingredients and stir about 10 strokes.
- Add the melted butter and stir until the batter is smooth.
- If using the Kale and Mushrooms, or the Chorizo and cheese, reserve 1/3 of the cheese to sprinkle on top. Stir in the mix-ins.
- Divide the batter evenly in the muffin tin. This muffin batter is very stable when it rises, so each well of the muffin pan can be close to full with batter.
- Bake 20-24 minutes for jumbo muffins, 15-17 minutes for standard and 10-12 minutes for minis. They are done when the top is set and bounces back from a gentle tap.
- Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. OR serve them warm out of the oven!
- These muffins must be refrigerated or frozen. If not using within 2 days, I recommend freezing. To freeze, wrap individually in foil then place in a zip top bag.
- For best results, thaw frozen muffins overnight in the fridge, then re-heat in the oven or toaster oven.
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