Vegan Gluten-Free Cinnamon Coffee Chocolate Chip Muffins are SO RICH in flavor and incredibly moist with the most delicious, robust flavor. These muffins are just 8 ingredients, dairy-free, oil-free and ready in 30 minutes!
Does that photo and reading that title get you as excited as it does me? Yes? Good. I don’t know why it has taken me so long to combine these 2 flavors. After all, cinnamon is my #1 flavor of all time and coffee is my favorite all-time ice cream flavor. It was time to bring them together into a baked good. I no longer drink coffee (very seldom) but I LOVE the flavor of coffee in desserts. Typically, coffee is combined in chocolate desserts to enrich the chocolate flavor, but dang, it really enhances cinnamon as well!
If you didn’t know cinnamon goes well with coffee, now you know! These ARE my new favorite vegan muffins. They are simply incredible. The flavors are so strong, robust, perfectly sweet and addictively moist.
The combo of almond flour and tapioca starch makes these beauties sooooo moist that there is no need for oil! Who needs oil?? Nobody. I prefer to use whole foods like nuts/seeds, coconut, applesauce for moisture content. Not only do they lend a better flavor, but they contain other vitamins and nutrients, whereas oil is 100% fat extracted from a whole food. Oils make me feel sick and were extremely dangerous for my hubby’s gout. Not to mention, 1 tablespoon of oil is 14 g of fat, whereas 1 tablespoon of almond butter is 8 g, so it’s nearly half the fat. Those calories and fat add up very quickly. I’m not a fat-free recipe creator (obviously, haha) but I am an oil-free recipe creator. I lost weight that way and my health improved.
Do you think it’s possible to overdose on cinnamon? Because as much as I consume it, I’ve wondered, haha.
Gah, get in my mouth you glorious cinnamon coffee muffins. These flavors are so good together, you will be excited to share with your friends…or maybe not. I left out the vanilla, which I always tend to use in my baked goods, but I really wanted the cinnamon and coffee to be front and center and honestly, they are so strong, vanilla is not needed…you won’t even notice! Make sure to use a quality strong cinnamon…not that cheap, bland stuff. I use Saigon cinnamon for all my recipes. It is super strong, sweet and absolutely amazing in flavor. It is like no other cinnamon out there. Do yourself a favor and get some, you will thank me later, I promise.
I mean, come on, Gluten-free Cinnamon Coffee Chocolate Chip Muffins that are just 8 ingredients and ready in 30 minutes! I can’t wait to hear what you think of these. Be sure to leave your review and star rate the recipe below!
Vegan Cinnamon Coffee Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (140g) superfine blanched almond flour (see NOTES)
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (80g) superfine oat flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
- 1/4 cup (32g) tapioca starch
- 4 teaspoons cinnamon (use half for a milder cinnamon flavor)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup (96g-144g) coconut sugar (depending on how sweet you want them, note that using coffee makes things more bitter so if using the coffee I always use 3/4 cup)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (90g) dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life brand)
- 3/4 cup (180g) strong brewed coffee that has been COOLED (the stronger it is, the stronger the muffins, sub with a light plant-based milk such as almond or rice milk if you don't want to use coffee and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract)
NOTE
- I always recommend a scale for baking for complete accurate results, as we all measure with cups differently. This will help prevent fails. This means you ONLY need a bowl and the scale, you will not need to measure with cups and compare them to weights. That is unnecessary as my recipes are tested using strictly the weights and this is how you will get accurate results. Additionally, even different measuring cups vary, so your weights would be differently likely anyways. Just add the bowl to the scale, hit zero and add the ingredients, hitting zero before each ingredient addition.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and place 8 liners in a muffin pan. I always use Reynolds Stay-Brite interior foil lined because they never stick and perform perfect every time.
- Brew your coffee. Place in the fridge or let it come to room temperature before making the muffins or it will melt the chocolate chips.
- Add the almond flour, oat flour, tapioca starch, cinnamon, coconut sugar, baking powder and salt to a large bowl and whisk together until there are no lumps remaining. When measuring the almond flour, make sure to use a scale for accurate weight measurements. Otherwise, using a measuring cup, scoop out the almond flour with it and lightly pat down and then level off with your finger. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Pour the coffee (or plant milk if not using coffee) into the dry ingredients and stir until it is well mixed and smooth.
- Pour the batter evenly among 8 liners, they should be basically full. Top with a few extra chocolate chips on the tops for presentation, if desired. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and the tops are firm to the touch, slightly cracked and a toothpick is completely clean. Let them cool 15-20 minutes before eating, as they will finish cooking and firming up. These are just as incredible the next day too. I keep them stored in a tight container at room temperature so they stay soft.
Notes
- ALMOND FLOUR: For the almond flour, make sure to use a superfine one or the muffins will be more gritty/dense and verging on too moist. I recommend King Arthur, Honeyville, Wellbees or the HEB brands.
- Adapted from my popular Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins
I love your recipes!
Two of my favourite things in the world are in this menu – coffee and cinnamon – the perfect pairing. And I love that red mug! 🙂
Thanks so much my sweet friend! You would LOVE these girl! They are seriously my favorite muffin now…the flavor is intense and robust and just flipping amazing! You have to try them! xo
These muffins are insanely delish! Thanks for another awesome recipe (the chocolate molasses granola is seriously good too) Can’t believe that these are gluten-free. They have perfect texture, loads of flavor and are super easy to make. Even better, because they are so rich and yummy I was actually able to stop eating at two… and have a few left for later.
Thank you so much for the awesome feedback Claire! I’m soooo happy to hear you loved these so much! SO glad you loved the texture as well because that’s one thing I love as well, they are soooo moist and have the best muffin texture, not too dense and not a cupcake either! Thank you again!
I’m not even a coffee person, but they sound so good! I am a huge cinnamon lover though! I even switched to using ceylon cinnamon (even though it’s not as potent), so my poor liver wouldn’t have to deal with all the coumarin in the cassia cinnamon as I really consume it every day! 😀
I know, I absolutely love cinnamon SO much! It’s my favorite flavor ever and I couldn’t get over how great the combo with coffee turned out. Thank you Kat!
No matter what, COFFEE ALWAYS WINS! Love this, love anything with chocolate in it. Amazing stuff Brandi!
Thank you so much Levan! Coffee is the bomb in desserts, yum!
Hi Brandi! Wow, these brownies are hypnotizing, literally! I was staring at the photos for quite a while before scrolling down, amazing!
Aww thanks so much Howie, they are muffins though, not brownies, lol! So I guess the photos really did hypnotize you if you thought they were brownies, haha! 🙂
Just baked it!!!! They are amazing!!!! So much moisture, so much rich in taste 🙂 only the problem I have is how to stop eating them 😀 they are so simple and fast to make them :))))
I’m so happy to hear you loved these so much Marija! They are truly my favorite muffins! So glad you enjoyed them and thank you very much for leaving feedback, appreciate it!
Oh wow, you really did it again with this recipe, Brandi! I made these on Sunday and the smell when they were baking was divine! They turned out perfect and I had to sub almond milk instead of the coffee since I was baking them for my boyfriend who doesn’t like coffee flavored food (that crazy guy!). I made them in my jumbo muffin pan and just baked them a few minutes longer. They are the perfect moistness which is really important to me since I can’t stand dry muffins! This is an awesome recipe that I’ll definitely be making again (the real coffee version next time!). I’m getting ready to eat the last one right now with my afternoon tea. These muffins didn’t last long in this house!
Thank you so much for this amazing feedback and your gorgeous picture on Instagram Nicole!! I’m so happy you loved these muffins so much. They really are my favorite muffins. I am with you too, I can’t stand dry muffins, which is why I don’t like fat-free baked goods…they tend to be so dry. Thanks again for the wonderful feedback!
wow! I just made these in muffin top pans and they are crazy delicious!
I inadvertently made mine double chocolate because I added my coffee in hot and all the chocolate chips melted (um, duh!) and it didn’t seem right to me to not have them still there (in non melted format) so I added in more.
Swoon! I’ll be making these regularly.
Haha this made me laugh! I’m just picturing all that amazing chocolate melting in them, omg! I want to try that now! So glad you loved these! Thank you for the feedback!
Is it possible to use coconut flour to sub the oat flour? can you use cornflour to sub the tapioca? (Have plenty of those around but no the oat or tapioca.
Thanks!
Hi Lee! Unfortunately, neither of those will work. Gluten-free baking is very tricky and each flour produces an extremely different result. Coconut flour is VERY absorbent and would make these extremely dry and dense and crumbly. Corn flour is also very absorbent and is not similar in any way to tapioca. Tapioca is what helps these muffins to bind well and give a lot of moisture. The only suggestion you can try is subbing the oat flour and tapioca with all-purpose flour instead if you have that. I have NOT tried it though so I can only vouch results for the above recipe as written. Changing flours in a recipe with such few ingredients really can alter the result. Try this, instead of 1/2 cup oat flour and 1/4 cup tapioca, just use 6 tablespoons total of all purpose flour. Mix everything together as instructed, the batter should be a smooth consistency, not overly thick, if it’s VERY watery, add another tablespoon or so of flour until it’s smooth and pourable. Let me know if you try it!
Thank you once again for a fantastic recipe! LOVE those muffins!
I’m so happy you loved these Carmen! They are definitely my favorite muffin!! Thank you for the feedback!
Just tried this wonderful recipe,… they smell so good its hard to wait those 15 min 😀
thanks for sharing !!!
Omg! They came out of the oven, I let them sit for 15 minutes, and then tried one. They were perfect! So moist and cinnamon-y. I am NOT a fan of gluten free baked goods, so I was floored with how much I adored these. Thank you! Very fufilling breakfast!!
Yay! SO happy to hear you loved these so much Cindy! I thank you for making them and leaving feedback!
These are the bomb.com
The batter smelled so delicious! Good thing I doubled the recipe….lol…
Awesome, I’m so happy you loved these so much and I loved your beautiful pic you shared on Facebook! Thank you so much for making them!
Brandi, you did it again!!! This one is a keeper. An amazing recipe. I just made them and the house smells divine! These muffins are moist, fragrant, wholesome and delicious! Thank you!!!!!!
Wonderful Lana! I’m so happy to hear you loved these so much! I agree, the smell is intoxicating, right!? Thank you so much for the feedback!
I stumbled across your site. What can I use instead of almond flour ? Thanks so much Judy.
Hi Judy! Are you allergic? Because almond flour is the main ingredient and is pretty important to the taste and texture and it is what makes these muffins so moist, since there is no oil. Only other thing you could try would be to grind up some raw sunflower kernels into a “flour” and measure the same amount of weight as the almond flour. The muffins will not get as fluffy as the almond flour though, fyi. Also, it will leave a sunflower taste. That really is the only other sub you could try.
I couldn’t find my muffin pan, so I made it in a glass pan for brownies. I dont know how it’s possible, but the cake seemed to get more and more moist everyday it lasted (only lasted 2 days 😉 ). Great recipe can’t wait to try more 🙂
Wonderful to hear! I need to try them like that! So glad you loved them!
These are the BEST muffins I’ve ever baked. It’s crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. PERFECT!! I’m not gluten-intolerant but I’m beginning to love all these gluten-free recipes!
Thank you very much Brandi!
Thank you so much Nora! I’m so ecstatic that these are the best muffins you’ve ever had, they are my favorite too, thank you so much for the feedback!
Hi Brandi!
I recently came across your site and I was so excited to try all your recipes because – NO OIL, almond flour, and oat flour are your most commonly used recipes (I’m assuming, from all the recipes I bookmarked!). I made this bread yesterday night and it turned out quite grainy (as in when I ate it, it wasn’t light and fluffy unlike other non-vegan cakes I’ve tried). The flavor was there, but the texture wasn’t! I substituted coconut sugar with maple syrup, but most of the time I never had a problem with that substitution in my other baking. I’m retrying this recipe with the swapped ratio of oat flour and almond flour, because I believe my almond flour may be the culprit of the graininess I’m experiencing! So, in other words – not your fault that my bread didn’t come out too great! Maybe my almond flour brand isn’t so great :/ I’ll let you know how my new bread turns out though (and if it doesn’t turn out well, I’ll redo it with an equal ratio of oat and almond flour haha). I swear, I’m not giving up!!
Hi Cindy! Yes, please understand if you make substitutions, you will get different results. I test my recipes multiple times to ensure they work out well and this is actually one of my most popular recipes, as you can see from the comments above! 🙂 Also, since I only use 8 ingredients, changing one of those will likely fail the recipe. When you say grainy, do you mean bits of almond throughout? What type of almond flour did you buy? Also, part of your issue is the fact that you subbed the dry sugar for the syrup, that is giving the batter a 1/2 cup more liquid, that will make the muffins MUCH less light and fluffy…which you even stated. All that extra liquid will produce the opposite of light and fluffy. That is the biggest issue, not your almond flour, so I wouldn’t suggest swapping out the oat flour and almond flour ratios, or you will get a drier, more dense muffin. With that said, I’d make sure you are using a blanched almond flour (as noted), blanched yields lighter results. Bob’s Red Mill works great, but there are several brands that should work. This is what I almost always use in baking. Please make the recipe as is and you will see the results are much better! No need to try and switch around the ingredients, just make it as listed, the recipe WORKS. I hope that helps!
Just made these and WOW! Hubby ate one and came back right away for another. I would take a pic but it was my first time using tapioca starch and let’s just say the kitchen (and myself) are a mess! Ha! Another winner!
Haha, no problem! Thank you so much Linda! I’m so happy to hear these were such a hit! They are my absolute favorite muffin!
Hi, what a fantastically delicious looking recipe! I am a chocolate muffin addict so I am seriously looking forward to giving it a go! But I am just curious, besides the excellent binding qualities of tapioca starch, was else exactly amongst the other ingredients that makes it all cling together so well. For example, in most other similar recipes, egg-replacer, or ground chia seed, flax seed or pureed banana have been included. Not trying to pick apart your awesome creation, just keen on knowing how the magic happens lol 🙂
Oh, and do you think I would successfully be able to substitute the oat flour for brown rice flour? Thanks 🙂
Hi Shelli! Thank you! I hardly ever use chia seed or flaxseed and never banana for binding, as I almost always use tapioca or aquafaba (chickpea brine) for binding. Tapioca is better than chia or flax in binding when the right amount is used. I rarely use flax or chia, as I don’t like the flavor of them, as it can stand out. Sometimes I will use it, but not often and it just depends on the recipe. Oat flour helps tremendously as well with binding. Also, the fat content in these from the almond flour also contributes to binding, since fat is a great source for binding too. All of these combined helped them stay together. Hope that helps 🙂
The oat flour helps a ton with both the taste and texture of these muffins and brown rice flour will make them much more dense and flatter, so I wouldn’t suggest it. I haven’t tested it either, so it’s hard to say you’d be successful, but usually brown rice flour leaves somewhat of a sandy texture. I guess you could try it and let me know how they turn out! But if you can use the oat, that will be best.
Thanks so much for replying so quickly Brandi. Now I have a bit more understanding of the binding qualities of some of the ingredients. I can also understand your reluctance to incorporate chia or flaxseed, they do add a slightly unusual flavour to most recipes and are a somewhat aquired taste. I would really love to use oat flour but I seem to be intolerant to it, hence why I was looking for an alternative. I am also wheat intolerant and sensitive to corn.. (Yes, a bit of a problem child haha) Anyway, thanks again for your advice and knowledge. I will continue to experiment, taste and create. Happy cooking 🙂
Oh ok, I see! Ok, then I would go ahead and try the rice flour, but do you have white rice flour? That will yield a softer, fluffier result and no gritty texture the way brown rice flour can. Instead of oat flour, I would maybe try 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons instead, since it’s much more finely ground than oat flour. Let me know if you try it. That would be my best guess at this point!