gluten-free meyer lemon + bittersweet chocolate muffins

by Stephanie on February 11, 2013

Make way for my lovely guest poster, Natalie! I might be biased (she is my sister in law, after all) but Natalie makes some of the most amazingly delicious gluten-free baked goods I’ve ever tasted in my life. MY LIFE. Being that I’m a very far cry from her level in the gluten-free baking world, I thought I’d hand over the reigns to her to share a sweet GF treat for my gluten intolerant readers… and for anyone who drools over the thought of Meyer lemon and chocolate muffins (drooling, party of one right here). Enjoy!

Hello Girl Versus Dough friends! My name is Natalie and I write over at Good Girl Style. Stephanie is my lovely sister-in-law (she married my awesome brother), so she’s awesome by association. Well, she’s awesome by herself, too, so she’s doubly awesome. We are both bakers, but for the past three years I have had to follow a strictly gluten-free diet. For a lifelong baker, this was a heartbreaking realization, and I hung up my apron for a good two years. After two years of wasting money on terrible gluten-free baked products, I decided to pick up my wooden spoon and get back in the kitchen.

These intoxicatingly aromatic and delicious muffins combine the assertive floral-citrus of Meyer lemon with the boldness of bittersweet chocolate, all folded into the tender embrace of an almond-flecked muffin.

Meyer lemons are much oranger, smoother-skinned, florally, and more citrus-y than regular lemons. In short, they really pack a punch. I think it’s worth the effort to find them. Mine were actually in the regular bin with the lemons, but their color (and their sticker) gave them away as Meyer. Unfortunately, so does their price, but I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

These paper baking cups were a gift, and aren’t they darling? The sour cream in these muffins helps combat the dryness that plagues a lot of gluten-free recipes. These muffins are tender and moist.

Look at that beautiful zest! A great little baking tip: always toss your small, heavy ingredients such as chocolate chips with a Tablespoon or so of the flour mixture before adding to the batter. This helps them “stick” in the batter all the way through instead of sinking to the bottom. We want that chocolate in every bite!

For these cups, I opted to only fill them half full so the pretty scallop edge would show. These are smaller than normal baking cups, so I ended up with about twenty four smaller (not quite mini) muffins instead of twelve regular size.

Twenty four delicious little muffins to share or not to share. Up to you, I won’t judge, I promise, considering I ate about three a day for a week. And now I must go work out!

Meyer Lemon & Bittersweet Chocolate Muffins (Gluten-Free)
Recipe by Good Girl Style

1 stick butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
2 cups gluten-free flour blend (I used Pamela’s Baking Mix because it incorporates almond flour, but I also love Bob’s Red Mill and King Arthur Flour GF flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sour cream
zest of 2 Meyer lemons
1/4 cup Meyer lemon juice
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cacao is my favorite)

Preheat the oven to 375 and set your paper liners in muffin tins. Cream the butter and sugar well. Add the eggs ones at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. This is where you can take out a Tablespoon or so and mix it with the chocolate chips if you wish. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour.

Gently stir in the zest, lemon juice, and chocolate chips, being careful not to overmix. Fill muffin cups 1/2 to 2/3 full and let sit for 10 minutes.

Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes for small muffins, longer for regular muffins, about 20 minutes.

I made a quick glaze with some leftover chocolate chips melted with about a half teaspoon of coconut oil and drizzled that on top of the cooled muffins.

Tagged as: chocolate, gluten free, lemon, Meyer lemon, muffins

{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }

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Heather (Heather's Dish) February 11, 2013 at 9:13 am

Girlfriend. These sound heavenly!

Stephanie February 11, 2013 at 9:31 am: Heather — I agree!

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Meghan {For the Love of Dessert} February 11, 2013 at 10:55 am

I LOVE your baking cups Natalie! It must be tough being a baker and having to eat gluten-free, but this recipe really doesn’t make it look TOO bad! It looks delic!

Good share! Make that drooling, party of two. Thanks.

Stephanie February 11, 2013 at 11:20 am: Meghan — Aren’t they adorable? Glad I have a drooling partner!

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a farmer in the dell February 11, 2013 at 11:32 am

These are SO stinking cute! Recipe sounds amazing!

Stephanie February 11, 2013 at 1:29 pm: a farmer in the dell — Thanks so much! I think it sounds pretty amazing, too

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Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking February 11, 2013 at 1:15 pm

These are such beautiful little muffins, Stephanie – great flavors! I love your blog and look forward to visiting again soon!

Stephanie February 11, 2013 at 1:28 pm: Georgia — Thank you so much!

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Natalie at Good Girl Style February 11, 2013 at 2:02 pm

Heather, Meghan, a farmer in the dell, Georgia, and Steph: Thanks for all of the kind words, everyone! I had such fun creating these little pretties–and I’m totally smitten with this flavor combination

Laura (Tutti Dolci) February 11, 2013 at 6:31 pm

Pretty muffins! I’m obsessed with Meyers (and fortunate to have my own tree ). Love those liners!

Stephanie February 11, 2013 at 8:48 pm: Laura — What, your own Meyer lemon tree?? Girl, you are lucky!

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Joanne February 12, 2013 at 6:03 am

I always love having gluten-free recipes in my repertoire because you never know who will be coming over for dinner! These muffins sound absolutely amazing! Meyer lemons are magical things.

Stephanie February 12, 2013 at 7:08 am: Joanne — Me too! And these are good muffins to have in that repertoire.

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Caroline @ chocolate & carrots February 12, 2013 at 6:20 am

What a great guest post…these look delicious!

Stephanie February 12, 2013 at 7:08 am: Caroline — Thanks!

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Kelli @ The Corner Kitchen February 12, 2013 at 2:09 pm

Agghh…I *knew* I was going to kick myself for not buying that bag of meyer lemons at the grocery store the other day.

These look so good and I love those wrappers!!

Stephanie February 12, 2013 at 2:14 pm: Kelli — Girl, I did the SAME thing the other day. Never again!

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ashley - baker by nature February 12, 2013 at 9:35 pm

Oh these muffins are fabulous!

Stephanie February 12, 2013 at 9:56 pm: Ashley — I agree! Thank ya, lady!

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Julia {The Roasted Root} February 12, 2013 at 11:38 pm

How adorable is your sister! I feel for her about the crappy gluten free products. Thankfully, they’re getting better and as she’s already found out, the store bought gluten-free all purpose flours are pretty killer! These muffins are pretty and look delicious! Chocolate and lemon together may be one of the best combos known to man (second only to peanut butter and chocolate