Giant Gluten Free Cinnamon Chip Muffins

Cinnamon chips! Whoever invented them was a gosh darn genius. Thankfully, I got to incorporate that genius into these giant gluten free cinnamon chip muffins and the results are OUTstanding, folks. Cinnamon chips are tiny baby baking chips (they look like chocolate chips but they’re made out of cinnamon and some other stuff). I’ve found great deals on them from Olive Nation, though there are a number of companies that produce them. I’ve never seen them in grocery stores near me, so I’ve always ordered them online, so if you’re not into scanning grocery store shelves, I recommend taking a peak on the Olive Nation site or doing a general search for cinnamon chips. These are melt-in-your-mouth giant hunks of fluffy muffin studded with a million tiny cinnamon chips and topped with silky cream cheese frosting – what more could you want?

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, these giant lemon saffron muffins, these giant ube white chocolate muffins, and these giant chocolate orange muffins!

Tips for the Delicious Giant Cinnamon Chip 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 which will greatly help suspend the cinnamon chips floating in these muffins; 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 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: this glaze, if you will, is basically a looser cream cheese frosting that you can pipe into swirls or spread on top of your muffins. I recommend just using a spatula to mix together the ingredients but you’re welcome to use a hand mixer if you’d like! 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 Cinnamon Chip Muffins

These fluffy, ridiculously-easy cinnamon chip muffins are the perfect breakfast treat!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Resting time30 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: breakfast, cinnamon, cinnamon chip, cinnamon roll, costco muffins, cream cheese frosting, easy, giant, gluten free, muffins, simple

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 Cup white sugar
• 1/2 Cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 Cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 Cup salted butter
• 1/2 Cup sour cream
• 1 Cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix that contains xanthan gum (link below to the one we use)
• 1/2 Cup sweet rice flour
• 1/2 Cup packed blanched almond flour
• 1/4 Cup arrowroot starch
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 3/4 Cup mini cinnamon chips

For the cream cheese frosting:

• 4 oz cream cheese room temp
• 1/4 Cup salted butter room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 Cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp milk

Instructions

• First, make your browned butter! In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the 2/3 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. The browned milk solids will foam up in the center of the pan – once it does that- immediately take off the burner and let sit for a few minutes, then pour (scrape ALL of the brown bits – that's the flavor!) into a heat-proof small bowl and let it cool to just above room temp (still liquid).
• Once your browned butter is cooled but still liquid, make your muffin batter! It will need to rest for 30 minutes before baking. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar (white and brown), oil, melted cooled browned butter (you'll end up with about 1/2 cup of browned butter), sour cream, milk, and vanilla. Then carefully stir in the gluten free 1-1 flour mix, almond flour, sweet rice flour, arrowroot starch, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and the mini cinnamon chips until just combined. Do not over-mix or your muffins won't rise. Let the batter sit at room temp for 30 minutes.
• 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 immediately turn down the oven temp (WITHOUT opening the oven door!) to 350° F and continue to bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean (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 your cream cheese frosting/glaze! In a medium-small bowl, use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix together the room temp cream cheese and butter until smooth (this will take some working). Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar and mix together until thicker and smooth, then add in the milk to get an easily-spreadable/pipeable mixture.
• Then use a butter knife to spread the frosting on the muffins, or scoop into a piping back and cut a 1/4 inch hole to pipe onto the muffins, and serve! These keep in the fridge or freezer for up to a week in an air-tight container. 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