These gluten free white choc raspberry muffins are awesome to make as a sweet baking treat. Juicy tart raspberries combined with sweet white chocolate chips, enclosed in a soft and spongy gluten free muffin base. To finish it all off, these muffins are topped with a delicious almond crumble.
White choc and raspberry muffins are my favourite flavour. I used to buy them before work some mornings, but at $6 (nzd) that definitely adds up over time. So, I set out to make my own – and these are so delicious!
Key Ingredients
Batter
- Gluten free flour is of course a significant ingredient when it comes to baking. In this recipe I am using plain gluten free flour, not self raising as we will be adding baking powder later.
- Xanthan gum plays a role in supporting the gluten free flour. Unfortunately, as many of us know, when baking gluten free treats they tend to not hold their structure well. Xanthan gum provides additional thickness – ensuring the muffins are not going to crumble and fall apart. If your gluten free flour already has xanthan gum in it, you should not need to add any more.
- Sugars in these white choc raspberry muffins are a combination of white and brown. White sugar plays a role in the structure of the muffins, then the brown sugar brings another depth of flavour and moisture.
- Baking powder is used to elevate the muffins when baking. Adding baking powder keeps the muffins soft and spongy. Ensuring they are the perfect texture.
- Vanilla paste compliments the other flavours in the muffins, and adds a delicious aromatic note, elevating the overall taste of the muffins.
- Yoghurt helps keep the white choc raspberry muffins moist and tender. In this recipe you are going to want to use a natural yoghurt.
- Butter in this stage is melted and then cooled. Oil is a popular choice instead, but butter is not as heavy as oil.
- Eggs are an important kind of binding ingredient. They’re thicker in texture, and hold the other ingredients together when baking. Eggs stabilise and build volume.
- Raspberries are one of the two stars! Raspberries compliment the sweetness of the white chocolate so well with their light tartness. I use frozen raspberries – with a 125g pack of fresh raspberries typically ranging from $6 – $12 NZD during in-season, I’m going to opt for the frozen ones haha!
- White chocolate melts into the batter when it’s cooking, bringing little pockets of absolute goodness in each bite. Typically, I’m not one to pick white chocolate first, but in baking I actually prefer it to milk chocolate a lot of the time.
Crumble topping
- Gluten free flour same as above, simple standard plain flour.
- Sugar brings a nice little sweetness to the crumble.
- Ground almonds not only contribute a nice texture, but also add a nice and subtle nutty flavour that compliments the raspberries and white chocolate nicely.
- Butter in the crumble is kept cold and cubed – not melted. The butter is squished into the dry ingredients, not fully combined, and creates the clumps that form the crumble.
- Salt is one of my favourite things to add to my baking. It brings a balance of sweet and salty. You will only want to add a little bit, just so you can taste it in the background.
How to make these gorgeous white choc raspberry muffins
Preparation.
Preheat your oven to 200℃. Add muffin wrappers to the muffin tray, or grease with olive or butter.
Combine the dry ingredients.
Start making the muffins by combining the flour, xanthan gum, sugar and baking powder. Stir until fully integrated.
Form the batter.
Add the natural yoghurt and butter to the dry mix. Stir until a smooth batter is formed, and there are no lumps (or minimal lumps).
Add the white chocolate and raspberry.
To the batter, fold in the white chocolate chips and the raspberries. If you are using frozen raspberries (I did), make sure you add them freshly frozen, so they are less likely to blend into the batter when mixed. I accidentally let mine defrost too much and they essentially melted into the batter – we want to avoid that!
Place the white choc raspberry muffins batter into the tray.
Use an ice cream scoop, or just a large spoon, to add the muffin batter to the muffin tray. Fill the cups most of the way, but allow a little room for the muffins to rise without overflowing.
Make the almond crumble topping.
Make the crumble topping by mixing together the gluten free flour, sugar and salt. Add the cubed butter in, use your fingers to mush into the dry ingredients – not completely. This should form a nice crumbly texture. Sprinkle the crumble topping over each muffin, try not to completely cover.
Bake the white choc raspberry muffins.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Use a skewer to poke inside the muffin; if it comes out clean then the muffins are cooked, if it comes out with batter then bake for a further 5 minutes – or until the skewer comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. They are best served while still warm.
Storage
Once completely cooled, place the muffins in an airtight container. These can be kept at room temperature for a couple days; however, I recommend keeping them in the fridge so they can last longer. In the fridge they should keep for upto 4 days. The way I store them is with a paper towel on the bottom, then a layer of muffins, then another paper towel, and finally another layer of muffins. This helps keep them fresher for longer, and prevents any squishing.
Variations
If white choc raspberry muffins aren’t quite your buzz, or you want to try another variation, this muffin base is great for adaptability. You could swap to milk or dark chocolate, blueberries, strawberries… the list goes on.
Important note: if you are using frozen raspberries, please make sure they are still frozen when adding them to the batter. I made the mistake of not realising how much my raspberries had defrosted… let’s just say they turned into mush in the batter. Still delicious, but not the texture I wanted for the white choc raspberry muffins. Another thing you could do is dust the frozen raspberries with a bit of extra flour before adding them to the batter, this can prevent bleeding – if you’re worried about that. Alternatively, of course fresh raspberries are always delicious as well!
More for your sweet tooth:
Alrighty, you should now know everything you need to make and bake these delicious gluten free white choc raspberry muffins. Come on, grab those ingredients and let’s get to baking!
White Choc Raspberry Muffins (GF)
Ingredients
Muffins
- 1 ¼ cup gluten free flour
- ¼ tsp xanthan gum leave out if in gf flour mix already
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 130 g natural yoghurt
- 120 g butter melted and cooled
- 2 eggs
- 300 g raspberries fresh or frozen
- 150 g white chocolate chips
Crumble Topping
- 100 g gluten free flour
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 70 g ground almonds
- 60 g butter cold + cubed
- Salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200℃. Add muffin wrappers to the muffin tray, or grease with olive or butter.
- Start making the muffins by combining the flour, xanthan gum, sugar and baking powder.
- Add the natural yoghurt and butter to the dry mix. Stir until a smooth batter is formed, and there are no lumps (or minimal lumps).
- To the batter, fold in the white chocolate chips and the raspberries. If you are using frozen raspberries (I did), then add a light dusting of flour to them beforehand, so they are less likely to bleed through the mix when cooked.
- Use an ice cream scoop, or just a large spoon, to add the muffin batter to the muffin tray. Fill the cups most of the way, but allow a little room for the muffins to rise without overflowing.
- Make the crumble topping by mixing together the gluten free flour, sugar and salt. Add the cubed butter in, use your fingers to mush into the dry ingredients – not completely. This should form a nice crumbly texture.
- Sprinkle the crumble topping over each muffin, try not to completely cover.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Use a skewer to poke inside the muffin; if it comes out clean then the muffins are cooked, if it comes out with batter then bake for a further 5 minutes – or until the skewer comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. They are best served while still warm.
