Giant Gluten Free Lemon Saffron Muffins

Give us all the citrus! I recently returned from an absolutely wonderful vacation in France and Italy, and the final week was filled with incredible foods and citrus-centered dishes. I stayed with friends in Sicily, where lemons reign supreme and seafood is the freshest you’ll ever have. A few lemony stand outs: limone e sale, a typical Sicilian drink (especially on the east coast where we were) made of sparkling water, fresh lemon juice, and sea salt! Sounds weird, but it’s surprisingly refreshing – highly recommend. Another stellar find was an absolutely glorious scoop of lemon gelato at Caffè Sicilia (which, apparently, is a now a world-famous cafe thanks to an episode of Chef’s Table!). This wasn’t just any lemon gelato: it was the creamiest lemon, almond, and saffron gelato – all three flavors blended immaculately to create a smooth, dreamy blend of the essence of a Sicilian summer. It was one of the most magical frozen desserts I’ve tried, and upon returning home, I realized I absolutely had to attempt to recreate it in GIANT muffin form. This is what I’ve come up with, and I’m quite pleased with the result: these giant gluten free lemon saffron muffins!

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, and these giant lavender earl grey muffins!!

Tips for the Delicious Giant Lemon Saffron Muffins:

A few tips for getting these to turn out perfectly:

• Get that flavor! These muffins are full of gorgeous lemon and saffron. Saffron is definitely not the cheapest, but it’s worth the splurge! Be sure to follow the instructions for how to crush and soak your saffron to get all the flavor and color out of the strands before mixing them into your batter and glaze.
• 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 Lemon Saffron Muffins

These gloriously-golden muffins are heavenly with lemon and saffron, and so easy to make!

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Resting time30 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: breakfast, costco muffins, easy, giant, glaze, gluten free, lemon, muffins, saffron, simple

Servings: 6 Giant muffins

Calories: 500kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

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

Ingredients

For the muffins:

• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 Cups white sugar
• 1 Cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1/2 Cup milk
• 1/4-1/2 tsp saffron threads loosely placed in measuring spoon, not packed in
• 1/2 Cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 Cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp lemon extract
• 2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix link below to the one we use. Should contain xanthan gum
• 1/2 Cup sweet rice flour
• 1/2 Cup packed blanched almond flour
• 2 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt

For the glaze:

• 1 1/4 Cup sifted powdered sugar
• 2 tsp lemon extract
• 2-3 Tbsp milk
• 4-5 saffron threads

Instructions

• Make the muffin batter! It will need to rest at room temp for 30 minutes before baking. First, pour the milk into a small bowl and carefully crush all of the saffron threads between your fingers and into the milk. Stir and then let sit for at least 10 minutes for the color and flavor to develop. Then, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil, sour cream, vanilla extract, lemon juice/zest/and extract, and almond milk until thicker and smooth. Stir the saffron milk again and then pour into the batter (make sure to get all of the bits of saffron!) and stir.
• Add in the gluten free 1-1 flour, sweet rice flour, blanched almond flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until just combined (do not overmix). 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 350° 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 30-40 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! First, pour the milk into a small bowl and repeat what you did for the muffins: crush the saffron, stir it into the milk, and let sit for 10 minutes. Then, in a medium cereal bowl, stir together all of the glaze ingredients, including the now-rested saffron milk, 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