Giant Gluten Free Ube White Chocolate Muffins

Ube is one of those flavors I’m thankful to have been introduced to in the last five years. It’s a very popular one in Filipino cuisine – and I highly recommend seeking out Filipino bloggers and pastry shops who will have tons of glorious ube bakes and treats for you to try. There’s one in particular here in the Bay Area that I’m so glad I found out about last year: Meryienda Bake Shop! They’re actually based in New York but recently started sharing their incredible bakes here in the Bay Area which is how I got to know them. I ended up ordering a bunch of their ube white chocolate bars, cassava bars, and so many other treats last October because, spoiler alert, they’re ALL gluten free!! If you’re in New York or the Bay Area (she delivers anywhere here in the Bay!), I highly recommend placing an order. Check her out here on Instagram as well. These muffins are an homage to the Meryienda ube bars with white chocolate, so if you’re out of range and can’t get ahold of her amazing Filipino treats, you can make something similar at home!

For those of you just joining, we started creating GIANT muffin recipes about 4.5 months ago after reminiscing over the giant Costco muffins we used to eat (read: devour) as kids prior to getting diagnosed with Celiac. This giant muffin saga has now consumed our every free moment (not really but it’s exciting) and we continue to create new flavors with gusto. Back to the rest of the giant muffins! So far we’ve made these giant poppyseed muffins, giant blueberry muffins, giant chocolate chip muffins, giant double chocolate muffins, giant banana nut muffins, giant strawberry rhubarb muffins, giant apple streusel muffins, these giant lemon raspberry muffins, giant cherry chocolate chip muffins, these giant coffee walnut muffins, these giant pistachio apricot muffins, these giant orange marmalade muffins, these giant zucchini muffins, these giant mango muffins, these giant peach muffins, these giant chocolate zucchini muffins, these giant lavender earl grey muffins, and these giant lemon saffron muffins!

Tips for the Delicious Giant Lemon Saffron Muffins:

A few tips for getting these to turn out perfectly:

• Use the right-size of pan! Apparently, Costco keeps their giant muffin pans as a trade secret because we can’t find them ANYWHERE on the internet and you can find EVERYTHING on the internet. Bravo, Costco, for a secret well-kept. However, we’ve found a way to crack the code and gone ahead and just used these brilliant 4-inch cake pans because, after careful inspection, we’ve discovered that Costco muffins are exactly 4-inches in diameter! HA! Take that, Costco-bakery-lords. I never thought I’d be regularly using 4-inch cake pans but here we are. I’ll just need to make a bunch of tiny cake recipes next!
• Let your batter REST, per the recipe, for at least 30 minutes. For two reasons: 1) the batter thickens as it rests; and 2) something somewhere said that baking powder needs a bit more time to “activate.” Don’t quote me on this, who knows if it’s actually true.
• Don’t over-mix your batter! Muffins need a lot of lift, especially these giant ones, and if you over-mix your batter, you’ll end up with flat or sunken muffins which is no fun.
• Use a good 1-1 gluten free flour mix! We use the Bob’s Red Mill one (the baking mix), though we’ve heard good things about Cup-4-Cup. We’ve only tested this recipe with this one so if you want them to turn out exactly like ours, we recommend snagging a bag of that specific 1-1 gluten free flour.
• Do NOT open the oven door during baking time. Tape it shut if you have to! You can certainly turn on the oven light and peek and the gloriousness that is a set of rising muffins nearly-ready to be devoured, but do not open that door! Opening the door will immediately lower the oven temp and prohibit your muffins from rising correctly. If you’re in the last few minutes of baking and need to test to see if they’re done, open the oven just a tiny bit and reach in and just tap the top of one – if it springs back it’s done, if it presses in like a foam mattress topper, it’s not and needs a couple more minutes!
• These will keep in an airtight container (or in ziplock baggies) for a week or so – and they freeze REALLY well! So if you want to make a batch and save a bunch, put them in a sturdy plastic container or a freezer plastic bag and pop them in there. Then microwave for about 30-45 seconds (from frozen) before eating! I even like popping mine in the microwave for 10-15 seconds from room temp to get them all warm and floofy again before eating.
• GLAZE: glazes are a super easy way to elevate your muffin game. The glazes we use are essentially just powdered sugar and a liquid – in this case, milk and lemon extract. The key with glazes is getting the consistency right – you want to be able to drizzle or pour the glaze, so it needs to be able to move a bit, but you don’t want it to just pour off your muffins completely. You want to get to a thicker consistency (it should be thick when you stir it), that slowly pours when you lift up your stirring spoon. This will ensure that your glaze stays mostly on top of the muffin and that it stays opaque and doesn’t run off in a giant puddle. If your glaze seems to thin and runny, just add more powdered sugar! Vice versa if it seems waaaay too thick and you can’t even get it to pour, add a touch more milk.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Giant Gluten Free Ube White Chocolate Muffins

These muffins are gloriously rich with ube (purple yam) and cozy white chocolate chips

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Resting time30 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: breakfast, costco muffins, easy, gluten free, muffins, purple yam, simple, ube, white chocolate

Servings: 6 Giant muffins

Calories: 500kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

• Six 4-inch round cake pans (link below to the ones we use)
• Cookie sheet

Ingredients

For the muffins:

• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/3 Cup white sugar
• 1/2 Cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1/2 Cup melted salted butter
• 1/2 Cup sour cream
• 1 Cup milk
• 3 tsp ube extract link below to the one we use
• 2 1/4 Cup gluten free 1-1 flour mix that contains xanthan gum (link below to the one we use)
• 1/2 Cup sweet rice flour
• 1/4 Cup arrowroot starch
• 2 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 Cups white chocolate chips

For the glaze:

• 1 1/4 Cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2-1 tsp ube extract
• 2-3 Tbsp milk
• pinch salt

Instructions

• Make the muffin batter! It will need to rest at room temp for 30 minutes before baking. First, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil, melted butter, sour cream, milk, and ube extract until thicker and smooth. Add in the gluten free 1-1 flour, sweet rice flour, arrowroot starch, baking powder, and salt and stir until just combined (do not overmix). Finally, fold in the white chocolate chips. Then let the batter sit either on the counter for at least 30 minutes before baking (you can let it rest in the fridge for longer if you want).
• Once the batter has rested preheat the oven to 425° Fahrenheit and place your six 4-inch cake pans on a cookie sheet. Grease each pan with cooking spray, then spoon batter into each one evenly (they should be about 3/4-5/6 full). Bake for 5 minutes and then turn down the temperature to 350° (without opening the oven door!! Keep it closed) and continue 25-30 minutes until the tops spring back with touched (do NOT open the oven while baking or the muffins will not rise fully, only open the oven a tiny bit to check if done). Let cool nearly-completely before turning out and glazing.
• While the muffins are cooling, make the glaze! In a medium cereal bowl, stir together all of the glaze ingredients, starting with 1 tbsp of milk and adding more as needed, until fully combined and very smooth (this may take some working). Check the consistency of the glaze: you're looking for a glaze that can drizzle over the muffins, but doesn't flow too quickly or it will simply run off and not hold on top of the muffins. Add more powdered sugar if it seems too thin/runny.
• Then use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the muffins, and serve! You can let the glazed muffins sit at room temp for 30-45 minutes for the glaze to harden, then put into zip-top bags and keep in the fridge or freezer for up to a week. Best-served slightly warm, so pop them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds from room temp!

Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your muffins!

Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber