Thank you Sacla’ for sponsoring this recipe!
Creating a savoury, gluten-free and vegan muffin was no easy feat but I am soooo happy with the result!
These muffins are like a cross between cornbread, quiche and a fluffy muffin. You wouldn’t know they were gluten-free, egg-free and dairy-free.
And the flavour? Oh my, there is plenty of that. The vegan pesto definitely steals the show and adds a comforting but strong (not overpowering) flavour throughout, with just the right amount of saltiness.
Then you get a sweet, slightly smoky hit from the sun-dried tomatoes every time you bite into a piece. SO yum.
I ended up serving a few of these with a salad as part of a lunch but you could also grab them to go as a breakfast, serve them as a side dish, as an alternative to bread or just eat for a delicious snack.
So as mentioned, pesto is the main flavour of these muffins and if you don’t tend to make your own then Sacla’ do an amazing free-from pesto that tastes EXACTLY like the dairy-laden kind.
Savoury Pesto Muffins (Vegan + GF)
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- A handful of finely chopped basil, parsley and chives
- 65 g / 1/2 cup gluten-free flour
- 80 g / 1/2 cup polenta
- 45 g / 1/2 cup chickpea flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 3 tbsp Sacla free-from pesto
- 120 ml / 1/2 cup vegan cream cheese, or soy yoghurt
- 180 ml / 3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- A handful of sundried tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190C / 370F and grease a non-stick muffin tin with oil or use muffin liners, if preferred.
- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and saute the onion and garlic for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together the gluten-free flour, polenta, chickpea flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.
- To the frying pan, stir in the pesto, cream cheese (or yoghurt), water and vinegar. Mix in the sundried tomatoes.
- Add the wet mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Transfer the mixture to the muffin tins, filling each hole about three-quarters of the way up.
- (Optional) stir in a little extra pesto on top.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool before serving.
Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 229Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 3mgSodium 264mgCarbohydrates 21gFiber 2gSugar 7gProtein 6g
More gluten-free recipes
Double Chocolate Buckwheat Muffins (Vegan + Gluten-free)
Delicious, indulgent double chocolate muffins made from wholesome buckwheat and almond flour! Vegan & gluten-free.
Spanish Omelette (Vegan + GF)
This is my new favourite recipe. A vegan spanish omelette that is so simple but so delicious and comforting! Naturally gluten and grain-free.
Hi
What is the nutritional information please?
Hi, I’ve just published the nutrition info at the bottom of the recipe. Please be aware that this is automatically calculated using the best available ingredients but you can get a more accurate result by inputting the exact brands you used into a site like myfitnesspal.com. Nonetheless, this should be a good estimate :-) Hope that helps.
Hi would the muffins work with spelt wholemeal flour?
In place of the gluten-free flour, yes. It may be slightly denser but should work fine. Let me know how you get on!
I’m dying to try these, but don’t have access to vegan yoghurt. Would plant-based milk curdled with lemon juice perhaps do the trick?
Hi Ingrid. I really can’t say for sure but I’m guessing it could work? Let me know if you try it!
It worked really well! I used unsweetened soy milk and about 2 teaspoons lemon juice. They came out beautifully, will definitely be making them again!
I made a batch of these for healthy mid-morning snacks a couple of days ago and my only complaint is that they don’t last very long – meaning that I thought there’d still be some today, but the tin is empty!
Love the versatility for using up different pestos, herbs and other additions and the yoghurt keeps the muffins deliciously moist.
So glad you enjoyed them!
Hi, I am in the U.K. on lockdown, I only have Chickpea flour and unable to get any other, I would like to add nutritional yeast – what measurements if each would I use please?
You mean you don’t have any other flours or polenta? I’m not sure how I would adjust the recipe without the other gluten-free flours. It would take a lot of experimenting. You could try these vegan quiches though.
Hi at home on CV lock down, baking to keep me busy and family fed. Muffins just out the oven and eaten 2 already (mini sized) delicious! Was only making them vegan so sub’ed gluten free flour for spelt flour, added pinch chilli flakes, 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes and 1/2 cup sweet corn. Dangerously delicious!
Wow, These tasted as good as they looked and were super easy to make. I used a large muffin tin and got 5 big muffins. I used a tad extra pesto and they were sensational. Thank you
2/22/20
I made these muffins today. Most excellent. Yes a very thick batter, but yielded a sturdy muffin. I will add more pesto the next time. They cooked just perfect, and in the time listed in the recipe. They went perfectly with my homemade minestrone soup. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe. Nice thing is it doesn’t use an excess of products, so I didn’t drain my pantry of staples.. living on a budget this recipe delivers. Side note I didn’t use the sundried tomatoes as I didnt have them on hand
Bert
Great, I’m glad they turned out well for you and I am pleased that it is budget-friendly too!
Hi, can you please confirm the correct measurements of the dry ingredients. It’s confusing as you say 1/2 cup for all but the gram measurements are very different. Thanks Suzy
Hi Suzy. Sorry for the confusion. The cup measurements are for US measurements and the grams are for UK. Just ignore the cups if you’re using grams.
Hi Is it me or do you not state how many people youre catering for in each recipe ?? I need to know I can’t have anyone left out as it would usually be the chef…..me !!!
Hi Kate, it does say underneath the recipe title on the recipe card “Serves: 8” but it is very small writing so sorry you missed it! But yes, it makes 8 muffins. Let me know if you make them :)
Could i just use gluten free flour and not chickpea or polenta?
Savoury pesto muffins – vegan, gf . Can these be frozen? Can you please advise other recipes on your site can be frozen. Many thanks.
I’ve not tried freezing muffins before. I would say it should be fine. Most baked goods should be fine, just make sure to allow them to fully defrost.
I think I can do serious subbing to get these vegan and gf.
I mean they are obligatory goodies, definitely!
These already are vegan and gluten-free!
what is polenta and where would i get it?
what else can be used in its place?
Polenta is corn meal/corn flour in the US
Can you freeze these muffins?
Hi Nikki, I’ve not personally tried freezing these but imagine it would work fine! Let me know if you try it :)
Just made these de-li-cious muffins. As I could not find dry polenta (only the ready made one brick type at Tesco), I substituted it with quinoa and used Buckwheat flour for your gluten-free flour. And I always make my own pesto – so quick as long as you can find fresh basil – the result was excellent. The only problem was caused by the small muffin paper cases that stuck like mad on the muffins… What do you suggest?
So happy to hear you enjoyed them and good to know about those substitutions! I think sometimes it’s better to just grease the muffin tin and not use papers. Although, for this recipe I did use brown tulip cups (non-stick lined) and they worked perfectly!
Thanks for the great recipe! Mine turned out a little bit dry and ‘bready’ though. I think next time I’ll add a cup of grated zucchini. Also, had to go to the store and buy a special yoghurt, but I think for those who also don’t have vegan yoghurt you can probably just substitute the water with any plant milk for the creamy effect. Love the idea of using polenta! I never would have thought of it but it gives a great texture!
These look delicious!! Is there a way to sub the gluten-free flour all together? Say for example only use polenta and chickpea flour?
Thank you! :)
These sound absolutely delicious! I’ve never made savoury muffins before so I must give them a try. LOVE the Sacla free-from pesto. I always have a jar in the fridge ;)
How have I just found your site?? Also, how do I sub gluten-free flour with normal flour please? thanks!
Haha I don’t know but I’m glad you did! Just sub the same amount, gluten-free flour mixes are designed to be equal to ordinary flour measurements. Let me know if you try them!
Cornbread + quiche + fluffy muffin–that’s a carb collaboration I want in on!! The texture looks amazing. I don’t usually get too excited about savory snacks, but these sound amazing. And those tops look so perfectly toasty brown mmmm…<3
These muffins look AMAZING!! I love a good savory muffin, and these look especially delicious ;)