Healthy Gluten Free Orange Cardamom Muffins Recipe (V, GF): an easy, 1-bowl recipe for soft, fluffy orange muffins with a hint of delicious cardamom flavor. Made with healthy ingredients. Vegan, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free.
Here comes the guaranteed grumpiest day of my life: my birthday. I know, I know… what’s wrong with me? I’m hugely grateful to be alive, enjoy my life and practice gratitude/trying my darnedest not to complain too-too much on a daily basis. But something about my birthday just puts a wrench in it. Unless I make and eat an entire vegan chocolate cake… 😳
Do you feel the same way?
Like, what is it about birthdays that hold way too much weight, too much reverse-levity (okay, that’s probably the same thing), but you know… they feel like a check-in date of some sort where you have to See How Things Are Progressing in Life.
I don’t know when this annual birthday grump fest started, but if I had to guess, it may have begun about 5 years ago. When I hit the last sparkling years of my 20s. Tbh, they weren’t that sparkly and I’m really freaking glad they’re over. But something about that decade change made me face facts: I’m older now, expected to be more mature, and expected to have accomplishments under my belt.
Today, at least, I can say that I’ve accomplished baking this healthy gluten free orange cardamom muffins recipe. There! Take that, mid-30s Progress Report Card!
Funny thing is, I’m glad to be in my 30s, putting all of the foolish mistakes of my 20s behind me, and moving forward into this for-realsies career. I finally learned that I’ve got to stand up for what I want, call people out when they’re taking advantage, and vocalize my appreciation for the immense good in my life.
How’s that for a grade, ya birthday bugger? 😉
I now have the confidence and grit to focus on what I want, and not constantly apologize for getting it–something I talk about coming to terms with in my moist banana bread recipe post. So maybe I can just let myself be grumpy this year, for one day… then quickly snap back and appreciate, bless and beam about all the good things that surround me. Including you. 🙂 If it weren’t for you, right now, reading this post, I wouldn’t be able to do my dream job and make a career out of it. I wouldn’t be able to sit with you, virtually, and gossip, make cookies, and swap kitchen makeover updates.
So thank you. And a Happy Everyday to all of us! (It would’ve been weird to wish myself a happy birthday, right? Hehe.)
I hope you truly enjoy these healthy gluten free orange cardamom muffins. They were a little outside of my comfort zone (see: Birthday Progress Report Card: required risk-taking). But I’m really happy with how they turned out. They’re moist, fluffy—but just the right amount of satisfyingly-dense, orange-y, with a delightful hint of cardamom. A little bit like my Easy Orange Muffins, but with some much-needed birthday pizzazz.
Will you celebrate my birthday with me by whipping up a batch of these Healthy Gluten Free Orange Cardamom Muffins? Here are a few delicious points about these gluten free muffins! They’re:
- vegan, gluten free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free
- fluffy and moist, with just the right amount of dense texture
- oh-so-satisfying
- seriously perfect for a gluten free muffin basket including: gluten free maple pecan pumpkin muffins, gluten free banana oat muffins, moist gluten free chocolate pumpkin muffins, lemon poppy seed muffins, and moist banana chocolate chip muffins! 🤤
- made with the healthy, whole ingredients you know and love
- just the easy gluten free orange muffins you’ve been searching for
- so great with a Vegan Pumpkin Pie Smoothie or my Triple Berry Smoothie
- your soon to be favorite homemade gluten free muffins!
- dedicated to myself for my bday, which sounds weird, so we’re gonna move on
Let’s get our birthday bake on! You grab the muffin pan, I’ll grab the balloons!! Okay, now I’m getting excited—blame the balloons. 😉 Thank you for being here, and sharing in these wonderful bake-a-thons with me. There’s nothing better than seeing and hearing what you think. Pop over to Instagram some time if you want to chat! ‘Til next time…
Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️
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If you enjoyed this Healthy Gluten Free Orange Cardamom Muffins Recipe, then you’ll just love these Vegan Gluten Free Muffins recipes:
Healthy Gluten Free Vegan Muffin Recipes
- Easy Gluten Free Vegan Dark Chocolate Muffins
- Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins Recipe
- One Bowl Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- and… Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes, just for fun! 🙂
- 2 ¼ cups gluten free oat flour, if using homemade, make sure it's very finely ground, not coarse
- ½ cup finely ground, blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed orange juice
- 3 tablespoons orange zest (about 1 large orange)
- 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons organic, unrefined confectioners’ sugar* (sugar-free substitute in notes)
- 1 teaspoon orange juice (start with less, make sure it’s white and thick, not too translucent)
- Orange zest
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients: oat flour, almond flour, cardamom, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Add water and milk to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 10-second increments until just warm. This will prevent the melted coconut oil from solidifying once mixed with these liquids.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients: water, milk, orange juice, orange zest, oil, sugar, maple syrup and vanilla. Whisk until well incorporated.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Whisk until just incorporated, making sure no flour patches remain.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared muffin pan—filling each cup all the way to the top for fewer muffins with high, domed-tops, and ¾ of the way for more muffins that are smaller. Bake for 22-26 minutes. Mine took 24 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check for doneness—once it comes out clean with just a few moist bits, it’s done. Another way to tell: gently and carefully press your finger into the top of one muffin, if it springs back, it’s done.
- Place the muffin pan on a cooling rack to cool for 20 minutes. Remove muffins from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely, about 1-3 hours. Optionally, in a small bowl, whisk together Glaze ingredients until thickened: confectioners’ sugar and orange juice. Drizzle muffins. Enjoy! Storing instructions below.
Adapted from my Easy Orange Muffins Recipe.
Also try my Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins and my Dark Chocolate Muffins.
- To Freeze: store in an airtight container or bag, unglazed, in the freezer for up to 1-2 months. Allow to thaw for about 30 minutes at room temperature before enjoying. Or, heat in the microwave in 15 second increments until just warm.
- *Powdered sugar substitutes: Swerve powdered sugar is a good sugar-free, low carb substitute. You can also grind the sweetener of your choice, such as Xylitol, in a coffee grinder or small blender until you get a powder. Since Swerve is a bit drier, use about 2 ½ teaspoons orange juice to make the glaze.
- *You can also add more powdered sugar if you’d like a thicker glaze.
© beamingbaker.com. All content and images are protected by copyright. Please do not use my images or recipe without my permission. Please do not republish this recipe, instead, include a link to this post for the recipe.
SHOP THE RECIPE
Here are a few items I used in today’s recipe. 🙂
Muffin Pans (2pk) | Coconut Oil | Maple Syrup | Coconut Sugar | Gluten Free Oat Flour | Citrus Zester | Citrus Squeezer | Parchment Cupcake Liners | Cooling Rack | Glass Mixing Bowls | Bellemain Stainless Steel 3 Cup Flour Sifter
This post may contain affiliate links, which allow me to make a small commission for my referral, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Beaming Baker.
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Please let me try these incredible muffins! My whole family would go crazy for these! This is absolutely fantastic! So YUMMY! Is good food and this looks like one of the BEST!
Haha thanks Mary! I hope you and the fam enjoy them! 😊
Love this healthy and hearty muffins! Great combination of flavors!
Exactly! Thanks Anissa! 😊
These muffins look delicious. I love the flavors. I haven’t tried using cardamom in baking yet but will now give it a go! Also Happy Birthday!
Thanks Julia! 😊 Cardamom adds such a wonderful flavor, I think you’ll really enjoy it!
These muffins are amazing! I love the combination of orange and cardamom – different and delicious!
Oh yes, so totally delicious! 😋
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Demeter! I love your sense of humor and your recipes!
Hi Olivia!! You’re too kind!! Thank you so much. Big hugs!
I love the flavor of cardamom. I’m sure these muffins are delicious. They look perfect too!
Aw thanks Jill! 😄
Happy birthday!! 💕 Ah, everyone is allowed to be grumpy sometimes 😉 but I hope you still have an excellent day! These look AMAZING and I’d better get my hands on some cardamom fast so I can make them!!! I hope this’ll be a great year for you!!
Thanks Palutena!! It’s always such a joy reading your comments. 🙂 This birthday’s already better with sweet notes like yours. Xo
Happy Birthday Demeter!! It’s just a number, don’t worry about it!! These look so good! And it is a great combination of ingredients too! I can’t wait to make these! I made your lemon poppyseed muffins, and the family loved them!! Thank You!!
Thanks so much, Tina!! 🙂 You’re so right. I’m gonna focus on being grateful & happy. I cannot wait to hear what you think. Woohoo on the lemon poppy seed (those are a personal fave). Hugs!!
Happy birthday! I feel ya, birthdays definitely hold too much pressure. Enjoy the year ahead.
P.S. These muffins look fabulous!
Thanks Allison! Yeah… I’m focusing on letting go of the pressure and focusing on the moment. 🙂 Thank you so much!
Balloons make everything better, Happy Birthday! I hope you were able to have a nice day, it’s funny my birthday used to bother me, but now that I’m older, I find myself happier. I love this combo with Orange and Cardamom. Last Christmas, my husband and I spent 5 weeks in the state of Kerala in India. They grow Cardamom, along with a bunch of other amazing spices and herbs, it was so cool to see it growing. I’ll try to make these this weekend. Thanks for sharing!!!
🙂
Heck yes to that!!! Yeah, maybe as I get older, they’ll bother me less. 🙂 oooh… Kerala? I love hearing about your travels!! It must’ve been the best to see those herbs growing! Can’t wait to hear what you think of the muffins. Have a great weekend! 🙂
Happy Birthday Demeter!! Be thrilled that you’re in your 30’s! I’m in my 50’s and have no idea where the last 20 years went. The older you get, the faster time goes….really.
Cardamom is one of my favourite flavours! It isn’t something I grew up eating but the first time I tasted it, somehow it tasted familiar and like a flavour I’d been missing. Now I try to put it in everything. I’m making these little gems tomorrow!! Thank you!!
Thanks Bridget! You’re so right… I mean, weirdly enough, I still feel like it was just yesterday that I was a teen! Hehe. Thank you for your words of advice. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the muffins!! Enjoy. 🙂
These muffins look amazing! I also love how tasty that glaze looks!
Oh yes, they glaze is soo tasty! 😋
These muffins looks delightful! Craving for this and really can’t wait to try this at home!
Yeah! Hope you enjoy them Melanie!
My husband loves the muffins with a cup of tea or coffee. I like your recipe. They are very beautiful and I’m sure that is very tasty.
Yum, muffins and coffee go so well together! Thanks Mahy! 🙂
This would make a great afternoon snack or to start the morning off on the right foot.
Definitely! Such a wonderful breakfast treat! 🙂
Love that this is gluten-free. The orange zest really takes this to the next level. I see these in my near future.
It most definitely does! 😄 Hope you enjoy them Jacque!
Happy Birthday for yesterday, Demeter! 🙂
These muffins look like absolute perfection, I need to make these for breakfast right now! Loving the combo of orange and cardamom!
Aw thank you Marsha! 💕 Haha, hope you enjoy them! They’re seriously amazing!
Hello, what I can use instead of oat flour?
Hi Valeria! I’ve had other readers use GF all purpose blends before on my other muffin recipes with good results, though I haven’t tried it with these. Let me know how they turn out! 🙂
These look plain sensational. Perfect for the holidays!
Oh yes, they most definitely are!
Thank you for the AWESOME recipe, Demeter! I’ve made these gems twice since you published the recipe this week. They are also excellent with the addition of blueberries and a little almond extract. I love the texture. My husband asked me to make them for dessert last night! I enjoy them with a cup of rose hip and cardamom tea. Thank you for ALL your recipes! You are a great blessing to all of us who have food sensitivities!
You’re so welcome, Chloe!!! I’m so happy to hear that you’ve enjoyed my recipe—not once, but twice!! 🙂 Oh gosh, blueberries and almond extract sound wonderful! Thank YOU for your kind words—I take them to heart, and they inspire me to bake even better treats! Hugs!
wow Looks great ! very nice Recipe, Thank you!
You are very welcome Priya!
These muffins look great! I’ve recently had to go gluten-free and vegan.
I’m sensitive to almonds (not a life-threatening allergy), could I use all oat flour? I’ll keep looking around your site for more recipes!!
Hi Anne! Yes, you can swap the almond flour for the same amount of oat flour, minus 1-2 tablespoons. It might change the texture a bit, so you could also try using sunflower seeds meal. Hope this helps and happy baking! 🙂
Thank you for introducing Cardomom to me! It`s delicious and smells so good in the muffins.
Unfortunately my muffins didnt rise but were still so totally edible. I cant have maple syrup so I added that 1/4 extra with more plant-based milk and coconut oil…I am not one to give up and will give another go soon. But I do love this recipe! Thank you and Happy Birthday🎈
Hi Heidi! Oh gosh, isn’t cardamom the best?! Okay, for the rise situation, here’s what I recommend: instead of using extra milk + oil, sub the maple syrup with 1/4 cup of coconut sugar (so add that to the existing amount of sugar), then add in 1 extra tablespoon of orange juice. That should do it! 🙂 Thank you for the birthday wishes. Let me know how the muffins turn out!
These are delicious! I love orange paired with cinnamon and cardamom. Thank you for this great recipe! Will be making all the time for my family and I!
Woohoo!! It’s wonderful to hear that you enjoyed it! There’s nothing quite like that flavor combo. Happy baking! 🙂
I did make these on your birthday because it was also my vegan son’s birthday, cool!, so Happy Birthday Demeter and a million thanks for helping me to impress my son with vegan goodies! These were wonderful! I so appreciate your recipes – I tried other vegan recipes but yours are far superior – no doubt the love and care you put into them.
Oh wow!! A big Happy Birthday to your son! 🙂 It is my absolute pleasure to help. It’s always such a true joy to read your comments, Cindy. Sending you big hugs & lots of love. ❤️
I made these the other day and I absolutely loved them! The flavors are wonderful and they’re very moist. I thank you so much for this recipe (and for all of the awesome recipes you share) because you’ve given me hope that I can still enjoy great food despite an egg and gluten allergy.
Hi Emily! It was such a great joy to read your comment. Truly. I’m so happy that you enjoyed this recipe… but more importantly, I’m so humbled to hear that my recipe has given you hope. ❤️ My mom also faces a restricted diet that focuses on whole foods, so I’ve seen her anguish when it comes to eating. She’ll be so happy to hear that a recipe she loves is one that a reader does as well. ☺️
I absolutely Love your recipe for the Healthy GF Orange Cardamom Muffins! They are Delicious! I made quite a few batches for Christmas gifts for Friends who have gluten and other sensitivities. They All Love them! Even a few picky eaters in my Family really like them! Thank So much for your Great recipe! I am looking forward to making other Healthy recipes of yours!
The one thing if I may suggest would be to add the nutritional information. I am a type 1 diabetic who carb counts and I could not find the nutritional info and even googled to find it and had no luck.
Thank You again for Deliciousness!
Hi April! I’m so happy to hear hear everyone enjoyed the muffins! Must have been one delicious Christmas for your friend and family. 😉 I’m currently working on adding nutritional info to the site, so you will be seeing it on some of my new recipes. Thanks for all the kind words! 😊