Red Currant Muffins

Name: Red Currant Muffins
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free flour mix (or all-purpose flour); 2 tsp baking powder; ¼ tsp ground cinnamon (optional); 2 large eggs; ½ cup cane sugar; ¼ cup avocado oil; 1 tsp vanilla extract; ½ tsp fine sea salt; ½ cup Greek yogurt (or a thick unsweetened vegan yogurt, I like Yoggu); ¾ cup milk (I use unsweetened almond or cashew milk); 1 cup red currants, stems removed (plus more for garnish); 1 tbsp turbinado sugar (optional but recommended)

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These Red Currant Muffins are light, fluffy, and gluten-free! They're made with fresh red currants, and just 10 simple ingredients in less than 45 minutes! The muffins are freezer-friendly and so delicious warmed up for breakfast or a snack! Great for meal prep, picnics, or potlucks.

Three red currant muffins stacked on a small wooden cutting board with fresh red currants around and more muffins in the back.

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Why You'll Love These Red Currant Muffins
Ingredients
Variations and Substitutions
Step-by-Step Instructions
Tips & Tricks!
Serving
Storing and Reheating
FAQs
Similar Fruity Muffins
📖 Recipe

Why You'll Love These Red Currant Muffins

Fresh red currant flavor - Red currants are nowhere near as popular as other berries and I wish they were! They're very tart so they're mainly used in baked goods, syrups (Red Currant Syrup is so good in matcha!), or jams. That being said, I grew up with a red currant shrub at our cottage so I snacked on them raw all the time and enjoy their tartness. Because of this I didn't make the muffins overly sweet to retain that true red currant flavor.

Lower in sugar than other muffins - Each muffin has just 10 grams of sugar, which is less than 1 tablespoon! They're just sweet enough to balance the tartness of the red currants but not too much so they're great for breakfast or snacking!

Gluten-free and simple - The muffins have 10 ingredients (and optional coarse sugar sprinkle and cinnamon) and take less than 45 minutes to make. The recipe is thoroughly tested with my favorite gluten-free flour (linked below and in recipe card), so you can be sure they'll turn out perfect every time with minimal effort!

Twelve red currant muffins on a cooling rack with fresh red currants in between them and the muffin in the middle sliced in half.

Ingredients

Flour - All my baking recipes are developed using Bob's Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free flour. You can also use regular all-purpose flour, but if you use a gluten-free one, I recommend the same one I use for the best results!
Eggs - Large eggs help the muffins rise. I haven't tested any vegan alternatives, so I can't guarantee results without eggs.
Milk and yogurt - I always use either unsweetened almond milk or cashew milk for all my baking. Whole milk works as well. Yogurt adds more moisture and makes them extra soft, but without the milk as well, they would be too dense. You can use full-fat Greek yogurt or an unsweetened vegan yogurt like Yoggu.
Avocado oil - A neutral oil like pure 100% avocado oil (or other vegetable oil) makes the muffins fluffy, light, and cake-like. Melted butter may also work, but it could make the muffins heavier.
Cane sugar - The muffins are made with cane sugar. It's neutral in flavor but less processed than classic white sugar, and it doesn't overpower the red currants.
Turbinado sugar - This is always an optional topping I sprinkle on most of my muffins before baking, but I highly recommend adding it to these. Red currants are quite tart, and the muffins only have about ½ tablespoon of sugar each, so it really helps to balance the tartness. It also makes the topping more caramelized and a little crunchy, just like a cafe muffin!
Red currants - You can use both fresh or frozen red currants for these muffins (don't defrost them). I like to freeze them in the summer (without the stems) to use later in the year in baking or for my favorite Red Currant Syrup!

Glass bowls with flour, red currants, sugar, oil, yogurt, and other with text overlay.

Variations and Substitutions

Different berries - You can make the muffins with raspberries, blueberries, or chopped strawberries instead of red currants. Or you can mix your berries together!
Dairy-free - Use almond milk or other non-dairy milk and a vegan yogurt. The muffins do need eggs though, so they can't be fully vegan.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400F and line a 12-muffin pan with paper muffin liners. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and cinnamon if using. Set aside.
Into a separate large bowl, add eggs, cane sugar, avocado oil, vanilla extract, and fine sea salt. Whisk vigorously until well combined.

Flour, baking powder, and cinnamon in a white bowl on the left and another white bowl with eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract on the right.

Pour in the milk and add the yogurt. Whisk again.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until just combined. Don’t overmix.

Whisked eggs and other ingredients with added yogurt and milk on the left and with added flour on the right before whisking.

Fold in the red currants.

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Muffin batter with red currants before and after folding them in.

Spoon the muffin batter into your prepared muffin pan, filling each muffin almost to the top.
Sprinkle with turbinado sugar if using.
Bake the muffins in the preheated oven at 400F for 5 minutes.
Lower the heat to 350F without opening the oven and bake for another 23-25 minutes or until they’re golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle of one comes out clean.
Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes before taking them out. Finish cooling them on a wire rack and enjoy!

Red currant muffins in a baking pan with paper liners before and after baking.

Tips & Tricks!

De-stem red currants quickly - Unless they're super ripe, this method always works! Just grab the top of the stem with one hand and cup all the red currants with the fingertips of your other hand and gently pull them down. Be careful not to squish them. This should easily remove them from the stem. Any small green pieces of stem left behind are ok to eat, or you can pick them out.
Don't skip the sugar toppings - These muffins aren't very sweet, so the coarse sugar topping really helps to balance the tartness, and it makes the muffin tops extra delicious!
Don't scoop your flour with the measuring cup - To measure your flour correctly, scoop your flour with a spoon into your measuring cup and level it with its flat side. Scooping it with the measuring cup adds too much flour and can make the muffins very dense and dry.

Serving

The muffins are best served warm. I like warming them up in the oven at 300F for 5-10 minutes on a small baking sheet.

You should also be able to reheat them in the microwave; I just don't use it very much. The oven crisps up the muffin tops really well!

I like eating them on their own, but they're great with yogurt, almond butter, or a little bit of softened butter as well.

Three red currant muffins stacked on a small wooden cutting board with a hand grabbing the top one.

Storing and Reheating

Fridge: You can store the muffins at room temperature in a bowl or a basket covered with a teatowel for 1 day, but if you want to store them for longer, keep them in the fridge. They will last for 3-4 days in an airtight container when refrigerated.

Freezer: You can also freeze the muffins in a freezer bag or a freezer-safe container for 3-5 months.

Reheating: Defrost the muffins either in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for an hour or so before reheating in the oven at 300F for 10 minutes or until warmed through. You can also use the defrost setting on your oven. If you reheat them straight from frozen, they might stay frozen in the middle.

FAQs

Can I use different color currants?

I really only recommend red currants here. White currants could work as well, but they're less tart and not as strong in flavor. Black currants have a completely different flavor and might need other spices or more sugar to balance their earthy flavor.

My muffins didn't rise/they're too dense. Why?

It's important to use fresh baking powder because it loses its potency over time once it's opened. Also make sure to always scoop your flour with a spoon into your measuring cup and not with the cup. Overmixing the batter could also cause dense muffins because the batter has less air.

Red currant muffins on a golden wire rack with fresh red currants in a glass bowl in the top middle and more around the muffins.

Similar Fruity Muffins

Below are a few of my other favorite summer muffin recipes. The blueberry peach are my favorite! They're all gluten-free and have similar ingredients to these muffins. To see all the latest ones and more, head over to Breads and Muffins!

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Have you tried these Red Currant Muffins? Please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!

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