Food can be a small, or a big, comfort. There’s something about warm bread or flavors of childhood favorites or family recipes that envelope us in something akin to a culinary hug – holding us in the realm of blurry nostalgia or in a space where no harm can befall us. There are so many families hurting right now – from the effects of police brutality or the unrelenting COVID or other loss, or just day to day struggles. To any and all of you who are hurting now, we send our support and love, and hope that tomorrow feels a little lighter, or holds you a bit tighter than today did. We wish we could send all of you a comfort food package, though that differs per person. What would you wish for in a comfort food care package?
These cupcakes are part comfort food, part fancy twist – with warm, rounded browned butter and topped with silky blueberry lemon buttercream. Even the humblest of baked goods – the blueberry muffin – can get dressed up for an evening and make a stunning second impression. If you’re looking for a fun baking project, taking one of your simplest, favorite desserts and finding a way of dolling it up a little can be surprisingly fun. Browned butter is a great addition to so many baked goods (we used quite a bit of it in our browned butter pecan shortbread, and our millionaire shortbread). It’s easier to make than it sounds, and it has marvelously toasty, caramelly notes to it beyond just the buttery goodness of, well, plain butter.
These are, without a doubt, still some of the simplest cupcakes we have on the site – a bit less work than the banoffee pie cupcakes or the chocolate truffle cupcakes (still worth every minute for those ones though). But, sometimes simple is best and the most comforting. So, if you’re already a fan of blueberry pancakes or blueberry muffins, you’re sure to find a grown up comfort food favorite in these gluten free browned butter blueberry cupcakes. Let us know what you think if you try them out yourself, and post a note at the bottom if you have other comfort food treats that you want to see gluten free versions of! Here’s to sharing comfort food with all the ones we love, and checking in with each other as we all weather these storms.
Gluten Free Browned Butter Blueberry Cupcakes
Equipment
- Cupcake pans
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 1/4 Cup gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum in it (if your mix does not contain xanthan gum, add 1 teaspoon of it now)
- 3/4 Cup blanched almond flour/meal
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1 Cup white sugar
- 1/4 Cup packed brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 Cup sour cream
- 1 Cup melted browned salted butter instructions below for how to brown your butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 Cup fresh blueberries
For the buttercream:
- 2 Cups salted butter room temperature
- 5 Cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 Cup pureed fresh blueberries
- 1/4 Cup powdered freeze dried blueberries instructions below
- 1 Tbsp blueberry jam optional
Instructions
- First, brown the butter. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the 1 cup of salted butter and stir constantly until melted and simmering. Continue to simmer, on medium heat, for at least a few minutes, until the popping and hissing sounds have completely subsided (this is the water in the butter burning off – you’ll know once it’s silent). Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the butter reaches a deep amber color and smells nutty or caramelly. The butter may foam, so keep stirring/lifting up spoonfuls of the butter to see the color. Once it reaches that color, immediately take off the burner and let sit until cool but not solid.
- Next, make the cupcakes. Preheat the oven to 350° F and line two 12-cupcake pans with paper cupcake cups. In a medium bowl, sift together all of the dry cupcake ingredients (flour, almond flour/meal, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg), and whisk to combine, then set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, cooled browned butter, white and brown sugars, and vanilla extract until fully blended and creamy. Once combined, add in the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Add in the fresh blueberries and use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir together carefully. Pour batter into the cupcake pans (each one should be about 2/3-3/4 full) and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool.
- While the cupcakes are cooling, make the buttercream! In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the room temp butter until creamy. Add in the vanilla extract and the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and beat on low until combined. Separately, using a food processor or nutribullet, blitz up the freeze dried blueberries until they're a fine powder. Dump this powder through a sieve or sifter into the buttercream and beat to combine. Then, using the same food processor or nutribullet, puree the last of the fresh blueberries and add about 1/2 cup of puree to the buttercream. Beat to combine – if the buttercream is too soupy, add more powdered sugar 1 cup at a time – if it's too stiff, add a bit more blueberry puree. The buttercream should be firm but smooth enough to pipe. Spoon the frosting into a piping bag and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Then serve!
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cupcakes!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
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