Brown Butter Cardamom Muffins
Gluten-free brown butter cardamom muffins are oh-so-tender and fragrant from the addition of one of my very favorite spices: cardamom.
A good gluten-free muffin is a thing of beauty that should not underestimated! Forget gummy or dry muffins – this recipe for gluten-free brown butter cardamom muffins is the exact opposite! These are simple, tender muffins kissed with cardamom, one of my favorite spices, with a deep flavor undertone from the brown butter.
A simple blend of almond, oat and tapioca make these muffins both delicate and hearty. You could use the flour base for other muffins and reduce the cardamom — or swap it for cinnamon, say, and throw in a cup of blueberries or raspberries. They are lovely at any time of day and especially with a second cup of coffee mid-morning.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe for Gluten-Free Brown Butter Cardamom Muffins
Flavor. These muffins are loaded with flavor from the browned butter and cardamom. Browning butter is a great way to bring a caramelized, almost nutty note to baked goods.
Simple gluten-free flour blend. Just three naturally gluten-free flours are needed for these muffins: Oat, almond, and tapioca. See the substitution options lower down if you need to make adjustments. More about gluten-free flours.
Versatile. As mentioned, you can use this muffin recipe as a base for other flavors of muffins. I love throwing in some fresh or frozen raspberries to the batter as well.
What You’ll Need
- Unsalted butter
- Almond flour: Almond flour brings structure and moistness to gluten-free baked good.
- Oat flour: Oat flour is a wonderful gluten-free baking flour that performs similarly to whole wheat flour.
- Tapioca flour: Brings binding and lightness to gluten-free baking.
- Baking powder and soda
- Ground spices: Cardamom, ginger, and nutmeg
- Fine sea salt
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Pure vanilla extract
- Whole milk
How to Make Brown Butter Cardamom Muffins
Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card at the end of this post for the full instructions.
- Brown the butter. Heat the butter until it melts, then continue to cook until it becomes a bit crackly and fragrant, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool.
- Whisk flours. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs, then add the vanilla and milk. Stir in the cooled butter.
- Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until well combined.
- Prepare tin. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners. Fill with the batter.
- Rest batter. For best results, let the batter rest for about 15 minutes so the flours can hydrate.
- Bake muffins. Bake the muffins at 375 F for about 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before serving.
Substitutions
Almond flour – Try tiger nut or another nut flour for the almond flour.
Oat flour – Swap sorghum flour.
Tapioca flour – Use arrowroot.
To make refined sugar-free – use maple sugar.
To make dairy-free – use your favorite non-dairy butter of choice and your non-dairy milk of choice.
Serving and Storage
These muffins are so good slightly warm. When you remove them from the oven, let them cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes so the crumb can set. But go ahead and eat while they are still a bit warm. Of course they are also delicious at room temperature!
Store muffins in the fridge in an air-tight container for 5 days. To serve, bring to room temperature or reheat gently in the microwave or oven.
Gluten-Free Brown Butter Cardamom Spice Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup/120 g almond flour
- ¾ cup/80 g gluten-free oat flour
- ¾ cup/80 g tapioca flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ¾ cup sugar can use or 1/2 cup for less sweet muffins
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole milk
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the butter until it melts, then continue to cook until it becomes a bit crackly and fragrant, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from stove to cool.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs, then add the vanilla and milk. Stir in the butter.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until well combined. Let batter rest for about 15 minutes.
- While batter is resting, heat oven to 375 F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
- Bake the muffins for about 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and place tin on a rack; cool for 5 minutes, then turn muffins out to cool completely. Muffins will keep in an air-tight container for 3 days.
Wow, Nicole, these are so great! I made them in three mini loaf pans, and while I’ve been making and loving your recipes for years, these are one of the best you’ve created. Just perfect!
I have these in the oven now, but I was puzzled by the weights of the oat and tapioca flours. 80 gm is closer to one cup for each of those (especially the oat flour), so I’m hoping the weight was the correct part. I figured it must be, given the whole tablespoon of baking powder. We’ll see, I’m hoping I didn’t have waaaaaay too much flour!