Gluten-Free Coffee Cake Muffins

Name: Gluten-Free Coffee Cake Muffins
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 32 min
Total time: 47 min
Yield: 1 muffin
Ingredients: 2 cups (280 g) Pamela's Gluten-Free Pancake & Baking Mix; 2/3 cup butter, softened; 1 cup granulated sugar; 2 large eggs; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 cup sour cream or whole-milk plain yogurt; 1 cup walnuts or pecans, medium chop, for the filling; 1/4 cup granulated sugar, for the filling; 1/4 cup light brown sugar, for the filling; 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, for the filling; 1/2 cup currants or raisins, plumped in hot water then drained, for the filling (optional); 1 cup powdered sugar, for the glaze; 2 to 3 tablespoons water, for the glaze; 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, for the glaze

on Feb 25 2026

Table of Contents

Coffee cake muffins solve the problem with coffee cake, which is that you have to cut it and put it on a plate and eat it with a fork.

These are the same cinnamon and nut filling marbled through the same tender batter, baked in a muffin pan instead of a bundt and glazed while still warm. You can eat one standing at the counter.

They take 28 to 32 minutes and make twelve. Built on Pamela's Pancake & Baking Mix, so there is no baking powder to measure.

So good, no one will guess they are gluten-free, the way Pamela's has done it since 1988.

Use Large Muffin Papers

These are generous muffins and they need the room.

Use large muffin papers set into a regular or large muffin pan. The batter is layered with filling in the middle, which means each cup holds more than a plain muffin batter would.

Spray the papers before filling them. The filling contains sugar that caramelizes against the paper, and an unsprayed liner takes half the muffin with it.

Fill each cup with half the batter first, covering the bottom, then the filling, then the rest of the batter. Layering rather than swirling is what gives you a clean ribbon through the middle.

Glaze Them Warm

This is the one difference from the full-size cake.

A bundt cake gets glazed cold so the glaze sits on top in a white ribbon. Muffins get glazed warm, so the glaze soaks slightly into the top and sets as they cool.

Make the glaze while they bake. Mix it until creamy and add water a little at a time until it pours in a thin stream.

Let the muffins sit about 5 minutes out of the oven, then glaze. Straight from the pan is too hot and the glaze runs straight off.

Why the Mix Does the Structural Work

There is no baking powder, baking soda, or salt in this ingredient list. They are already in the bag.

The mix these are built on Pamela's Gluten-Free Pancake & Baking Mix A complete baking mix with the leavening and salt included. GFCO-certified.

Weigh it if you can. We use 140 g per cup, and scooping the cup through the bag compacts the mix enough to make the muffins dense.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 32 minutes

Total Time 47 minutes

Yield 12

Serving Size 1 muffin

Ingredients

2 cups (280 g) Pamela's Gluten-Free Pancake & Baking Mix
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream or whole-milk plain yogurt
1 cup walnuts or pecans, medium chop, for the filling
1/4 cup granulated sugar, for the filling
1/4 cup light brown sugar, for the filling
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, for the filling
1/2 cup currants or raisins, plumped in hot water then drained, for the filling (optional)
1 cup powdered sugar, for the glaze
2 to 3 tablespoons water, for the glaze
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, for the glaze

Shop Gluten-Free Pancake & Baking Mix, 24 oz.

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F with a rack in the middle. Spray 12 large muffin papers set into a regular or large muffin pan.
Make the filling. Mix the nuts, both sugars, the cinnamon, and the currants if using. Set aside.
Make the batter. Soften the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the granulated sugar and mix until creamed together. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until thick, then add the vanilla. On low speed, add the Pancake & Baking Mix and the sour cream alternately, beginning and ending with the mix, until just combined.
Spoon half the batter equally into the cups, covering the bottom. Sprinkle half the filling over the batter. Repeat with the remaining batter and the rest of the filling. Do not swirl.
Bake 28 to 32 minutes. A toothpick will come out clean and the edges will be just pulling away from the paper.
While the muffins bake, make the glaze. Mix the powdered sugar, water, and vanilla until creamy, adding more water if needed for a pourable consistency.
Let the muffins sit 5 minutes out of the oven, then drizzle with the glaze while still warm.

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Gluten-Free Pancake & Baking Mix, 24 oz.

One mix, a whole recipe box

Pancakes are just the beginning. This is the mix behind our most-loved waffles, banana bread, blueberry muffins, drop biscuits, crepes, and coffee cake. If you keep one gluten-free mix in the pantry, this is the one that earns its shelf space.

Also your waffle mix

The waffle recipe is printed right on the bag: separate the eggs, whip the whites, and fold them into the batter for waffles that bake up crisp outside and tender inside. Want extra crunch? Leave them in the iron a little longer.

Why it works

Cultured buttermilk gives a tender crumb, almond meal adds richness, and whole grains bring flavor most gluten-free mixes leave behind. It all started in Pamela's own Northern California kitchen in 1988, and it's still the #1 gluten-free pancake mix.

Brown Rice Flour, White Rice Flour, Cultured Buttermilk, Almond Meal, Tapioca Starch, Sweet Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Baking Powder (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Potato Starch, Sodium Bicarbonate), Baking Soda, Sea Salt, Xanthan Gum.

Contains Milk and Almonds.

Pamela's Products are manufactured in a Gluten-Free Certified Facility and peanut-free facility. Our products are produced on equipment that processes Tree Nuts, Coconut, Eggs, and Soy.

Recipe Tips & Notes

Measuring the Mix

Pamela's Pancake & Baking Mix is a complete mix, which is why there is no baking powder, baking soda, or salt in this ingredient list. They are already in the bag.

It also contains almond meal and cultured buttermilk. The almond meal adds fat that keeps the crumb tender, and the buttermilk gives a slight tang that keeps a sweet cake from tasting flat.

Measure by weight if you can. Our recipes use 140 g per cup. Scooping the cup through the bag compacts the mix and can add 20 g or more per cup, which in a coffee cake shows up as dense and dry.

If your cake dips in the center, add a quarter to a half cup more mix next time. That is almost always a measuring difference rather than a recipe problem.

Storing and Freezing

Room temperature: 3 days in an airtight container. The sour cream keeps them moist longer than a plain muffin.

Freezer: up to 3 months, unglazed. Wrap individually, freeze in a bag, and thaw at room temperature for an hour. Glaze after thawing.

Reheat a thawed muffin for 10 seconds in the microwave and it comes back almost completely.

Do not mix the batter ahead. The leavening in the mix activates when the wet ingredients go in, and a rested batter bakes flat.

Ways to Change It Up

Toast the nuts first. Eight minutes at 350 degrees F before chopping, which is worth the extra step.

Mini muffins. Use the same layering in a mini pan and bake 14 to 16 minutes. Makes about 24.

Skip the glaze and add a streusel instead, made from a half cup of the mix, a quarter cup of brown sugar, and a quarter cup of cold cubed butter.

Orange zest in the glaze, about a teaspoon, which lifts the cinnamon.

Leave the currants out. They are optional for a reason.

For the full-size version, our gluten-free sour cream coffee cake is the same batter baked in a bundt pan.

What This Contains

This recipe contains milk and tree nuts.

Pamela's Pancake & Baking Mix contains almond meal and cultured buttermilk, so it cannot be made nut-free or dairy-free. The butter, eggs, and sour cream in this recipe add more dairy and egg.

The mix is also made on equipment that processes soy.

Everything from Pamela's is certified by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization and made in a certified gluten-free, peanut-free facility.

Recipe FAQs

28 to 32 minutes at 350 degrees F. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean and the edges are just pulling away from the paper. These are generous muffins with a filling layer, so they take longer than a plain muffin.

Warm, about 5 minutes out of the oven. The glaze soaks slightly into the top and sets as they cool. Straight from the pan is too hot and the glaze runs off. A full-size bundt cake is the opposite and gets glazed cold.

The cinnamon sugar filling caramelizes against the paper as it bakes. An unsprayed liner sticks and takes half the muffin with it when you peel it. A quick spray before filling solves it.

Yes. Layer them the same way in a mini muffin pan and bake 14 to 16 minutes instead of 28 to 32. One batch makes about 24 minis.

Pamela's Pancake & Baking Mix is a complete mix with the leavening and salt already in it. Adding more would make the muffins rise fast and collapse. That is also why this ingredient list is shorter than most muffin recipes.