Since I often experiment using almond and coconut flour in baked goods, it seems only fitting that I make cinnamon bun muffins using coconut flour, as an alternative to my earlier gluten-free cinnamon bun muffin recipe using almond flour. Both are great gluten-free flours, and impart different texture and flavor. And there are pros and cons to using each kind of flour, but in the end, it comes down to taste and your body.
Big confession here: I prefer muffins made with almond flour, but I’ll let you be the judge. I generally prefer the texture of almond flour baked goods, but sometimes coconut flour knocks one out of the ballpark for me. And one differentiator for each side of the fence: almond flour costs more, but coconut flour uses more eggs. So if you love what coconut flour offers you, can’t or don’t eat almonds, or enjoy baking with coconut flour, this recipe is for you.
One thing I will note that I do a bit differently here than in the recipe using almond flour – I don’t put the topping in the center of the muffin. I found it wasn’t necessary to do because the topping spread well through the batter when placing it on top. But, it’s up to you. Also, you could lower the amount of sweetener a bit – maybe to 1/3 of a cup and it will still taste good, but not as sweet.
I’m a huge fan of using maple syrup in baked goods, but if you don’t or can’t have maple syrup, use honey. I haven’t tried other sweeteners, but if you do, please share it with us. I love to hear what others do with my recipes! Cooking and baking is a creative process, so don’t hesitate to play with the recipe, or modify it to your taste or needs.
Cinnamon Bun Muffins (using coconut flour)
Muffin Ingredients (makes about 8 muffins)
- 1/2 cup of coconut flour
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
- 4 eggs
- 1/3 cup of yogurt
- 1/2 cup of honey (or other sweetener)
Cinnamon Topping Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons of honey (or other sweetener)
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted (ghee or coconut oil will work too)
- 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts (optional; or other nut)
Method
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- For the muffins, combine all the dry in ingredients and blend well.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a mixer to blend (get rid of any clumps of flour), or blend well by hand.
- Fill muffin or cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way with batter.
- Drip the cinnamon topping over the top of each muffin. Some of it will sink into the muffin batter. You can use a toothpick to poke the topping into the batter, to get more of the topping to spread into the batter.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Cool and enjoy! Store for a few days at room temperature (covered) or keep in the refrigerator for a week or so.
I can’t wait to try these… <3
yum!
Think I will make these on Saturday morning for breakfast.
I swear sometimes it’s like you read my mind!
I was drooling over the cinnamon bun muffins with almond flour and wondering if I could make them with coconut instead! My son is allergic to tree nuts, so thank you, thank you for doing the work for me! As a side note, though, I do prefer muffins with almond flour too. But the coconut flour muffins are more cupcake-like, and he seems to like that! 
So excited to make these
Making these today!!
only 1/2 cup of coconut flour? I know it absorbs a lot of liquid and there are 4 eggs vs 2 in the almond flour…Still seems a bit light on “dry” ?
I was going to make these today, but my coconut flour just doesn’t smell right. So I tossed it…shew, that’s an expensive toss! How long can coconut flour keep and should it be kept in the fridge? Peace, Pam
Not sure about the life of coconut flour, sorry. I just recently tossed a bag that smelled bad. Maybe storing it in the fridge would allow it to last longer.
I keep my coconut flour in the fridge and I’ve never had to throw any away.
I have these muffins in the oven right now and they smell so good! LOVE your recipes!
I made the almond flour ones the night you posted them and they were fabulous! I can’t wait to try this version. Thank you for such great recipes!
DUDE THESE ARE RIDICULOUS! Just pulled them out of the oven! THANK YOU! : )
OMG! These look fantastic. I can’t wait to try them. I love baking w/coconut flour. I do some baking w/almond flour too.
Thanks for the great pictures and recipes.
Your welcome!
Which brand of coconut flour did you use? I have had inconsistent results baking w/different brands. When I weighed half cup portions of 4 brands, they each had a different weight. I blogged about this:
http://www.thehealthycookingcoach.com/2011/05/baking-with-coconut-flour-part-3.html
I followed your recipe to the T and it took 5 more minutes to test done w/a toothpick and they were still very wet/soft on the bottom. I plan to make the recipe again using a different brand. I’m still curious about which one you used.
A big smile from Norway, and thanks for a great blog! Just discovered it, and i know i am gonna try a lot of what u offer
These were wonderful! I didn’t have any yogurt so I subbed in coconut milk and they came out super moist and delicious. I also made this 7 minute frosting: http://www.comfytummy.com/2011/04/04/a-better-7-minute-frosting-scd-friendly/ (it’s really just meringue) to put on top and it tasted great with the muffins!
Great idea with the meringue! Here’s another meringue version on comfy belly: http://comfybelly.com/2010/10/ghostly-meringues/
I tried these, but I used clabbered milk instead. They were fantastic!
I have some Coconut Flour in the fridge. Will be trying this very soon!
Could you substitute butter for the yogurt? I don’t have any yogurt on hand now…
not sure – but someone used coconut milk with success, if that helps.
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TOTALLY ADDICTIVE!!!
You say that coconut butter will replace butter in the recipe above. Did you mean coconut oil? Coconut butter has a texture like almond butter. Have you used it in this recipe?
ooh – thanks, I meant coconut oil. I haven’t used coconut butter yet, but I am curious.
Just made these and all I have to say is AMAZING! They are SO delicious and SO satisfying! I have major, major yeast allergies that restrict my diet significantly, so when I find things I can eat I am ecstatic! Instead of the honey I used Plain Stevia, 1/2 tsp in the muffin batter and 1/4 tsp in the cinnamon mixture. YUM! Thank you Comfy Belly!! <3
Oh, good! I have to use Stevia as well instead of honey. I was wondering how much to use. Thanks!
www,goodbyefungus.blogspot.com
Erica, these are great! Thanks for sharing. I couldn’t find my muffin tins, so I used four mini loaf pans (3×6″) and it worked great. Cheers!
Paul Stocker, eatingSCD.com
I love these cinnamon muffins! I made them a couple of times already. First time, I thought the honey was too sweet. I also used a blender. The coconut flour gets so thick and it was hard to remove the batter in the blender. Second time, I used maple syrup but only 1/3 cup. And I didn’t have any yogurt, so I substituted it for cottage cheese. Hand mixed it with a wire whisk as well. It turned out great! These muffins are so dense and filling! I can barely finish one without feeling stuffed. But its a good stuffed, not bloated as with other flour muffins. Thank you for this great gluten free recipe
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My son can not have dairy. I used coconut milk instead of yogurt and it was delicious. I also used spectrum vegetable shortening in place of butter.
Any suggestion for cutting out some eggs or at least the yolks?
we are watching cholestrol and weight here in GF home.
Have you tried egg replacements, like flax seed, and commercial products like Ener-G Egg Replacer? Here is a quick list, but remember that I haven’t tried these:
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce = 1 egg
1/2 a mashed banana = 1 egg
1 tablespoon flax seed flour or meal mixed with 3 tablespoons warm water = 1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 2 tablespoons rice milk or water = 1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda + 1 teaspoon cider vinegar (or distilled white vinegar) = 1 egg
These are from this site, which I love: http://www.cybelepascal.com/?page_id=99
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I am on a grain free diet, and I’m always on the look out for great tasting food (I get bored easily). This recipe is wonderful, and my little ones loved it! I didn’t have yogurt, so I used coconut milk instead. I also used maple syrup instead of honey. Wonderful!
Tasty! I used 1/3 cup honey in the muffin batter and 2 tablespoons brown sugar in the topping. Thanks!
Wow these were amazing! I needed some inspiration this morning and made these- but I mixed coconut flour and blanched almond flour and made them dairy free with coconut oil and milk.
I blogged about it here:
http://www.thealmondflower.com/2012/01/dairy-free-cinnamon-swirl-muffins.html
and linked back to your post.
I loved the little bit of walnuts, they added a great texture!
Mollie
I am baking these as we speak but I was unable to bake 12 muffins and only 9. I replaced the yogurt with coconut milk and mixed the batter but it wasn’t smooth like cake batter. Was I supposed to make the batter smooth or chunky like most muffin batters?
Thanks
mostly smooth
Thank you!! I loved the flavor of these muffins! They didn’t expand and grow to look like ur photos but I will try again and make sure the batter is smooth. I had to substitute the eggs with bananas since I can’t have dairy and ran out of egg replacer…also used coconut milk instead of yogurt… I am new to using coconut flour and these kinds of ingredients to bake.
but it is a great recipe!
I love these muffins! I’m on the GAPS diet, so I substituted yogurt for butter and added pecans on top. They are so good!
Great change-up of ingredients. Love pecans!
I just made a gf squash muffin (from the naturally knocked up lady) for the first time combining typical gluten free flours (rice and tapioca) WITH coconut flour AND almond flour. It was AWESOME. It made them taste more normal then other recipes that I’ve tried.
The rule that I learned is you add an extra egg per ounce of coconut flour and you never sub more than 1/3 of the flour with coconut. I don’t know any rules for almond flour.
I’m wondering if you’ve experimented putting them together like that. I’m going to keep trying to modify recipes, but I’m hoping that I didn’t get lucky because of the squash…
I haven’t, but this sounds great, and I agree that the ratios are the trick to getting the right texture. Good work and thanks for sharing this!
Made this in a square pan, yielded 16 pieces. Yummy! Like coffee cake!
Forgot to add:
To replace the yogurt, I make “buttermilk” by using 1/3 cup coconut/almond milk and 1tsp apple cider vinegar (let sit for a little bit)
Great sub! thanks for sharing this.