Gluten Free Almond Flour Cornbread Muffins
Dried Fruit & Fennel Almond Flour Cornbread Muffins | GF Corn Muffins
Gluten Free Cornbread Recipe with Almond Flour and Cornmeal!
These almond flour cornbread muffins are perfect for Thanksgiving, or any Fall time dinner! With fragrant fennel seeds and sweet dried fruit mixed into the batter, they’re a bite sized, lower carb and gluten free cornbread option that’s sure to satisfy.
A traditional sweet cornbread recipe is made with refined flour and a hearty helping of honey and/or sugar. So, to keep things cleaner and lower carb, I decided to make a gluten free cornbread using almond flour instead, with just a tad of honey.
The result is deliciously moist almond flour cornbread muffins with some crave-able seasonal flare! Not only does the almond flour make this a GF cornbread recipe, but it has a hint of nuttiness that pairs so beautifully with the fragrant crushed fennel seeds.
Plus, almond flour is key for a low carb cornbread option, along with cutting down on the added sugar. Don’t worry, your almond flour cornbread muffins will be just sweet enough, with the comforting flavor of a classic honey cornbread recipe. But, each of these mini corn muffins has just 4g of sugar!
Is Cornbread Gluten Free Naturally?
A gluten free cornbread recipe might seem redundant at first glance. After all, how do you make cornbread or corn muffins from scratch? With cornmeal—which IS naturally gluten free! So, is cornbread gluten free too?
Unfortunately, NO!
Whether it’s a sweet cornbread or honey cornbread muffins or just a classic southern cornbread recipe, most traditional recipes use a combination of cornmeal and refined flour. (Usually all-purpose flour or a baking flour.) So, you could make GF cornbread muffins with a simple swap: use a refined gluten free baking flour instead.
But, if you’re after truly healthy cornbread muffins (or at least clean/healthIER), that refined flour still isn’t doing our bodies any favors besides the fact that it’s free of gluten. Refined flours are like other refined and ultra-processed foods—they lack nutrients, spike our blood sugar, and promote cravings.
Instead, designing a gluten free cornbread recipe with almond flour allows me to pack in more nutrients that my body can appreciate! Plus, I still made these almond flour cornbread muffins with cornmeal, so I don’t have to sacrifice the comforting flavor that I crave.
Almond Flour Cornbread Muffins are Gluten Free & LOWER CARB!
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a classic sweet cornbread recipe in all of its refined goodness. But, I also like serving these gluten free cornbread muffins as a cleaner option throughout the holiday season. Especially because they’re so tasty, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on the traditional honey cornbread that I love!
Whether you’re after a lightened-up healthy cornbread muffins for Thanksgiving or just a gluten free cornbread option, this recipe is a WIN in my book. Fluffy, moist, flavorful, and perfectly sweet! And, the other upside of almond flour cornbread muffins is they’re lower carb.
Simply swapping out the traditional flour for a gluten free flour won’t make your GF cornbread muffins any lower in carbs. But, almond flour on the other hand is a naturally lower carb option, rich in dietary fats and loads of fiber.
Making gluten free cornbread muffins using almond flour not only results in cleaner, more nutritious muffins, but it also makes them more satisfying. Both dietary fat and fiber help to satiate our hunger and keep us feeling full. And, since they’re lower in carbs, these GF corn muffins won’t send our blood sugar skyrocketing or set off a carb-craving spiral!
How to Make Gluten Free Cornbread using Almond Flour and Cornmeal
First things first, prepare your almond flour corn bread muffins batter by whisking the dry and wet ingredients separately, and then combining them.
In one bowl, whisk together your almond flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. For this gluten free cornbread recipe, I recommend using a super-fine almond flour for the best texture. “Super-fine” just means it’s finely ground into smaller pieces (and sifted, if using homemade almond flour)—which makes these mini cornbread muffins more perfectly fluffy!
In a separate bowl, whisk together applesauce, milk of choice, eggs, and honey. Applesauce adds some natural sweetness to your GF corn muffins AND serves as a fat substitute for the typical butter. Use the non dairy milk of your choice, and it’s easy to make this a gluten free DAIRY FREE cornbread recipe too!
Once your dry mixture and wet mixture are ready, you can combine the two and mix well to integrate. All that’s left to do is add in some tasty seasonal flare and mix-ins!
How to Make Cornbread Muffins for Thanksgiving with some Fall-Time Fennel Flare
Since I wanted to make these almond flour cornbread muffins for Thanksgiving with some seasonal flare, I added some crushed fennel seeds to the recipe! Fennel seeds have a deliciously fragrant and aromatic flavor that’s SO comforting and just feels like Fall time.
Simply take a tablespoon of dried fennels seeds and crush with a mortar and pestle. They don’t need to be pulverized—just crush them a bit to help release their tasty flavor!
Then, add the crushed fennel to your gluten free cornbread batter along with some chopped dried fruit. You can use whatever you like, but I went with Sunsweet® Amaz!n™ Diced Prunes and Dried Cherries! I love the boost of sweetness they give to these healthy cornbread muffins and the chewy goodness they add to every bite.
Once you’ve added you mix-ins, allow the GF cornbread muffins batter to sit for about 5 minutes to infuse the fennel flavor. Then, you can distribute the batter into mini muffin tins (or regular muffin tins, or a loaf pan) and bake!
I baked these mini cornbread muffins at 350°F (180°C) for 16-18 minutes, until they were lightly browned. You will likely need to bake a bit longer for regular-sized muffins or a loaf pan, so monitor it as you go to find the right bake time. Finally, allow your gluten free cornbread muffins to cool completely before removing from the tins and enjoying!
Gluten Free Almond Flour Cornbread Muffins
Ingredients
Almond Flour Cornbread Muffins Batter:
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients:
- ½ cup applesauce
- ¾ cup almond milk
- 3 eggs
- 3 Tbsp honey
GF Cornbread Batter Mix-Ins:
- ½ cup Sunsweet® Amaz!n™ Diced Prunes
- ½ cup Sunsweet® Dried Cherries, chopped
- 1 Tbsp dried fennel seeds, coarsely crushed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Whisk dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. Combine the two, mixing to integrate.
- Crush fennel seeds with a mortar and pestle. (They won’t crush up much, but this will help to release the flavor!) Stir into batter with dried fruit and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Divide batter into sprayed mini muffin tins (or regular muffin tins).
- Bake 16-18 minutes for mini muffins, until lightly browned. (For regular sized muffin tins, bake 20-24 minutes.)
- Cool completely before removing from muffin tins and enjoying.
Watch on YouTube: Healthy FALL Recipes | Gluten Free Cornbread, Quinoa Kale Salad & Roasted Acorn Squash
14 Comments on “Gluten Free Almond Flour Cornbread Muffins”
Sooo Good! I added a 1/4 cup of black chia seeds and that added a nice crunchy texture (not too much). Thank you!
Hi Heather, chia seeds sound like a wonderful addition to this almond flour cornbread muffins recipe! That crunchy texture would be such a tasty way to change things up 🙂 So glad you enjoyed the recipe, and thank you for giving it a try and sharing your tasty tip here with the Mind Over Munch community!
Dear Ms Sheikh,
Thank you for this wonderful, tasty, healthy, gluten free recipe.
My neighbor and friend lost her husband 4 weeks ago and is having a really hard time. When I checked on her last week, she told me that she hasn’t had the strength and enthusiasm to cook and as a result she wasn’t eating. She also confided that she has celiac disease. This seemed to be a downward spiral. The less she ate, the less energy she had to cook and eat. I bought some protein drinks and yogurt, but I’m not familiar at all with gluten free food. I searched for a recipe that was simple to make, easy to eat, very healthy and, very importantly, appealing enough for her to want to eat it.
Your recipe met all those needs and I made a batch for her yesterday. Her texted comment was, “Wow, the muffins were amazing.” Thank you for making someone’s life a tiny bit better at a difficult time.
Hello Ernest, thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful comment.
We are so happy to hear that this gluten-free cornbread muffin recipe has served you well, and that you were able to share it with a neighbor – what a kind and compassionate gesture! Thank you for trying out the recipe and sharing your experience with us. You’ve brightened our day and warmed our hearts 🙂 Happy to have you here!
Dear Ms Sheikh,
I used your recipe again, but I didn’t have applesauce, I didn’t have honey, and I wanted to try blueberries. So, I substituted organic pumpkin that I’d previously prepared from a fresh pumpkin and frozen, coconut sugar (1 for 1 substitute for the honey), a teaspoon of canola oil, and dried blueberries. Your basic recipe is so robust that it tolerated my changes and the muffins were great and healthy. I took some to neighbors, who are not gluten intolerant, and they were delighted. Thank you again for a quick, simple, healthy, and tasty recipe.
Ernest, this is such fantastic feedback! We love that you embraced what you had in the kitchen and got creative with these almond flour cornbread muffins 🙂 It’s wonderful to know that the base recipe is flexible enough to work with substitutions like pumpkin puree for the applesauce (YUM!) and coconut sugar for the honey. Also, what a delicious idea to add dried blueberries into the mix!
Thank you so much for giving the recipe a go and for sharing your tasty ideas with the community here 🙂 happy to hear that you and your neighbors all enjoyed the muffins!
Made these today and for the cornmeal, I used half regular cornmeal and half blue cornmeal, since that’s what I had. I also skipped the add-ins. Turned out great! The batter definitely benefitted from sitting for 5 minutes to “set” before pouring into the muffin tins.
That’s fantastic, so great that you used what you had on hand! Glad to hear that your muffins turned out well, and we appreciate you sharing what worked for you in the process of making them. Thanks so much for trying the recipe! 🙂
Wonderful recipe! I’ve made these at least 5 times now and they are a favorite! Easy and carb free, I make them in regular sized muffin tins 🙂
Yay! So happy to hear you’re enjoying these tasty muffins 🙂 thanks for giving the recipe a try and for letting us know how it turned out!
yum!
🙂 🙂
I substituted egg replacer. Cooked for 22min in a regular size muffin pan. Tasted warm from the oven. Soft and delicious. I put in more honey than the recipe called for and it turned out like honey cornbread. So good. Thank you for supplying a delicious gluten free option.
That’s fantastic to know the recipe works with egg replacer and baked into standard muffin tins! Thanks so much for trying out the recipe 🙂 glad that you enjoyed!