Giant Gluten Free Toasted Almond Muffins

Almond is a flavor I’ve fallen in love with in the last five or so years. With the discovery of marzipan on trips to Austria and Germany, I discovered a whole world of ethereal flavor that I had been missing for ages, and now I’m a fan of it in nearly everything. These giant gluten free toasted almond muffins are no exception: they’re fluffy, filled with that incredible almond flavor, and packed with toasted sliced almonds for extra almondy goodness and an added crunch. I highly recommend making a batch or two of these for your morning routine or afternoon snacks, and freezing a few for a rainy day (it’s about to start raining regularly here in Oxford so these are on my list to bake!). Speaking of which, I’m now a UK resident! For those of you just now joining, I moved to the UK just last week to begin a PhD program in the department of Education at the University of Oxford, which is just as magical and Harry-Potter-esque as it sounds. I have three lovely new roommates, am settling into my new space, and will be starting the academic term in just two weeks. Just yesterday, I got to try a gluten free bakewell tart – another heavily-almond pastry – and LOVED it. 10/10 would recommend.

For those of you just joining the muffin craze we have on our blog, we started creating GIANT muffin recipes about 7 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, these giant chocolate orange muffins, these giant cinnamon chip muffins, these giant pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, and these giant yuzu muffins!

Tips for the Heavenly Toasted Almond 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!
• Get that flavor! Almond extract is one of my favorite flavorings – so easy to toss in and it adds a dreamy, intense almondy flavor. Mixing that with toasted sliced almonds does even more – and toasted almonds are so easy too! I’ve now decided I’ll toast every almond I use in day to day life lol – toss some sliced ones in a pan and push them around and voila!
• 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.

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Giant Gluten Free Toasted Almond Muffins

These amazingly-fluffy giant muffins are packed with almond flavor and toasted sliced almonds for the perfect breakfast treat

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Resting time30 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: almond, almond cake, breakfast, costco muffins, easy, gluten free, muffins, simple, toasted almonds

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

• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 Cups white sugar
• 1 Cup vegetable oil
• 1 Cup milk
• 1/2 Cup sour cream
• 3 tsp almond extract
• 2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum in it (link below to the one we use)
• 1/2 Cup sweet rice flour
• 3/4 Cup packed blanched almond flour
• 2 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 Cup toasted sliced almonds instructions for toasting below

Instructions

• First, toast your almonds! In a large frying pan, pour all of your raw sliced almonds. Heat over medium and stir frequently until the almonds begin to turn slightly golden and smell nutty (this will take a few minutes). Do not let the almonds turn brown – they'll taste burnt if they do. Once golden, remove from heat and pour all of the toasted almonds into a heat proof bowl and let cool to room temp.
• Once the almonds are coo, 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, sour cream, milk, and almond extract until thicker and smooth. 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 over-mix). Finally, fold in 1 cup of the toasted almonds. 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). Sprinkle the remaining toasted almonds on top of the muffins before baking. 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.
• 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