Lemon Chia Oat Muffins (gluten-free, dairy-free, flourless)

Filled with bright lemon flavor, with chia seeds throughout, these healthy oat-based muffins make a great Spring or Summer breakfast!

Have you ever had a “flourless” muffin before?

Depending on who you ask, the definition of “flourless” is different. For some, flourless means NO flour of ANY kind. Several others term “flourless” as food made without traditional flour, and instead using something like almond flour, oat flour, etc.

I err on the side of recipes with “oat flour” being considered “flourless” because oat flour is made out of oats. Oats themselves are not a flour.

So, I consider these muffins flourless. But, whether you call them flourless or not, for the sake of ease and to ensure your baked goods turn out and aren’t a crumbly mess, I recommend buying oat flour for muffins. Unless you have a high powered blender and can get your oats blended up as fine as the oat flour you can buy in a store.

All that being said, these Lemon Chia Oat Muffins are gluten-free (if using certified gluten-free oats), flourless, and dairy-free too, thanks to coconut oil and almond milk.

I love using coconut oil, but have you ever had problems with coconut oil?

My biggest complaint about coconut oil is that it can easily turn back to a solid after you add it to a cold batter. Big chunks of coconut oil floating around in your batter can mess with your baked goods, causing an uneven texture.

So, how do you make sure that doesn’t happen?

• Before I start getting my ingredients out for a recipe, I take my eggs out first and leave them on the counter, for them to warm up a touch.
• Ensure all of the ingredients you add to your batter are at room temperature. A little tedious, but worth it. Adding milk? Make sure its room temperature. Applesauce? Room temperature. I use the same microwave safe bowl to heat up each ingredient, and then add them to my mixing bowl one by one, so I don’t get several dirty bowls.
• If all else fails, heat your batter in the microwave briefly (like 15 seconds). This is a tricky one. You wanna make sure your mixing bowls are microwave safe if you do this, and its best to do this prior to adding your eggs. I have had this save a muffin batter before, if the coconut oil has just partially solidified.

Now that you’re armed with tips, ready to make some Lemon Chia Oat Muffins? 🙂

To begin, preheat your oven to 350 and either line a muffin pan with cupcake liners or spray with non-stick spray.

In a small mixing bowl, combine your dry ingredients (oat flour, baking soda, salt).

Next, in a large mixing bowl, whisk your sugar, applesauce, and coconut oil together till creamy. Add in your lemon juice (I like this squeezer), lemon zest (the most important ingredient for great lemon flavor!), almond milk, vanilla and eggs and whisk together.

Pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and stir them together till everything is completely combined. Add in your chia seeds and fold them into your batter. Scoop your batter into your muffin pan, filling each cavity about 2/3 way full.

Bake in the oven for 15-16 minutes, or till the tops of the muffins are springy to touch and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let them cool for a bit, then take a big bite out of sunshine! 🙂

I hope you bake these Lemon Chia Oat Muffins up this Spring or Summer and fall in love with them as much as my family did! My son and husband were big fans of these. 🙂

Can’t get enough of lemon? Check out my gluten-free Lemon Cookies, gluten-free Lemon Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies or gluten-free Lemon Pancakes.