Vegan Blueberry Muffins

These vegan blueberry muffins are tall, soft, light, airy, and the perfect amount of moist. They are also tasty, with a natural blueberry flavor, and no one will know they are vegan.

We still can’t believe how a few ingredients can create something so delicious!

All you need for this recipe is plant milk, flour, sugar, a neutral vegetable oil, baking powder, vanilla extract, lemon zest, cornstarch, and fresh or frozen blueberries.

Our loved and tested batter, made without eggs or butter, turns out light, airy, soft, and perfectly moist.

It has enough structure to make tall muffins that stay that way for days.

If you like your vegan blueberry muffins with a sweet and crunchy top, you can sprinkle them with sugar before baking them. We tried with and without; they are both beautiful and delicious.

These berry-packed muffins are perfect for a quick on-the-go breakfast, a light coffee break, a tea break in the afternoon, or dessert after dinner. Let’s see how to make them.

Blueberries

You can make this vegan blueberry muffin recipe with fresh or frozen blueberries.

Fresh blueberries are our favorite (when in season) because they make prettier muffins that are a little taller than the ones made with frozen berries. Also, they taste less tart and slightly sweeter.

Frozen blueberries are your best bet if you can’t find fresh ones. However, the muffins will be slightly sour, so we recommend sprinkling the extra sugar on top.

Also, muffins with frozen blueberries take 2 to 4 additional minutes to cook.

Flour

All-purpose flour is perfect for this recipe. It produces the prettiest, airiest, and tallest vegan muffins.

For gluten-free muffins, use 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blends.

If you want a more wholesome recipe, you can use half whole wheat flour, spelt flour, or oat flour, and half all-purpose. The muffins will be a little heavier this way but still delicious.

Sugar

We use white sugar. All sugars are more or less the same nutritionally, so we like to go for the best taste and texture, which for our muffins is white sugar.

We added some brown sugar for the top, but that’s optional.

Note for strict vegans: some of you might think white sugar is not vegan, but if you get white sugar made from sugar beet (not sugar cane), it is. Brown cane sugar, on the other hand, rarely is vegan. Only if it says “certified organic” or vegan on the package.

Non-dairy milk

Any non-dairy milk works. We use unsweetened soy milk. Almond milk, oat milk, vegan buttermilk, cashew milk, and other types of dairy-free milk all work wonderfully.

You can even substitute water for milk to make your muffins even lighter.

Oil

Use neutral-flavored vegetable oil such as avocado oil, canola oil, or sunflower oil. Refined oils produce muffins that taste way better than the ones made with unrefined organic oils.

The nutritional difference is minimal, so we recommend refined (and better tasting).

We don’t recommend butter or melted coconut oil. It won’t allow the blueberry muffin batter to rise as much as it should, and you’ll end up with cupcakes instead.

Vegan butter is ok, but it’s best, texture-wise, without palm or coconut oil. I’d stick to canola or sunflower oil for the best muffins.

To make the muffins oil-free, substitute applesauce for oil in the same quantities.

Vanilla extract

Vanilla extract adds a nice round and cozy flavor to the muffins, and we do recommend it. You can also use the tiny beans in a vanilla pod.

Cornstarch

We toss the blueberries in cornstarch to make them stay afloat in the batter so they won’t end up at the bottom of the muffins.

Substitute all-purpose flour for cornstarch.

Baking powder

Baking powder is essential to get those tall, airy, fluffy, and pretty muffins we all love. Ensure your baking powder is well within its expiration date and hasn’t been left open for too long.

There’s no need for baking soda. Baking soda will disrupt the rising of the baking powder and change its taste. So you’ll get darker and flatter muffins that taste slightly sour.

Note: there’s no need for apple cider vinegar when baking with baking powder.

Lemon

We add lemon zest to the batter to give the muffins a subtle lemon flavor. This is optional; you can keep the zest out if you are not into lemons.

If you want extra lemony vegan blueberry muffins, you can substitute 1/4 cup (60 grams) of lemon juice for 1/4 cup (60 grams) of milk.

Salt

Salt is optional, and you can omit it if you are on a low-sodium diet. However, it does make the flavor of the muffins richer and rounder.

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a 12-muffin pan (or two 6-muffin pans) with muffin liners.

Tip: if you don’t have muffin liners, use 5-inch squared pieces of parchment paper.

To a large bowl, add lemon zest, milk, sugar, oil, and vanilla extract.

Whisk well until the wet ingredients are well combined.

Sift in the flour and baking powder all at once.

Whisk wet and dry ingredients for a short minute until lumps are gone, but without over-mixing.

You can use a hand whisk or an electric whisk.

Note: over-mixing develops the flour’s gluten, making vegan blueberry muffins heavy and compact. To have light, airy, and fluffy muffins, don’t over-mix.

Rinse the blueberries, shake the water off, and toss them in a bowl with the cornstarch, then add them to the batter.

Tip: muffin batter should be pretty dense, between a cake batter and cookie dough. You should be able to scoop it in the muffin liners.

Stir and fold the blueberries in the mixture gently.

Tip: if you use frozen blueberries, add them in frozen. Do not let them thaw.

Transfer the batter to the muffin liners. You should be able to make 12 muffins.

You can fill them almost to the top, leaving about 1/5-inch (0.5 cm) to the rim.

Optionally, sprinkle the top of the muffins with sugar. We used brown sugar here, but white sugar is also ok.

Note: We did half with the sugar and half without to please everyone in our family.

Bake at 350°F or 180°C for 22.5 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

Tip: muffins made with frozen blueberries take 2 to 5 minutes longer to bake.

Let the muffins cool down for about 20 minutes before removing them from the pan. Then transfer it onto a cooling rack.

They should be good to go within about 45 minutes of total cooling time. They are soft, tall, jam-packed with juicy blueberries, moist, airy, and so delicious you won’t believe they are vegan.

Sugar top or no sugar top?

For everyday snacking on these or having them for a quick breakfast, we’d say no sugar on top. They are still delicious without it, especially if you make them with fresh in-season blueberries.

However, the extra sugar on top will certainly be welcome if you have guests over or make these with frozen blueberries.

Lemon blueberry cake

Love the blueberry-lemon combo and want to make something different to these cute little muffins?

Then try our blueberry cake! The recipe is similar and easy to make. The cake is soft, moist, and delicious.

Check out our lemon blueberry cake recipe.

Lemon blueberry pound cake

Lemon and blueberries are also excellent in a pound cake. We make this one with the same ingredients as our vegan blueberry muffins; the result is incredible.

Then to make it extra delicious, we top it with a lemon glaze which is finger-licking good. This pound cake is moist, soft, and packed with blueberries!

Check out our lemon blueberry pound cake recipe.

Room temperature: Store vegan blueberry muffins at room temperature in a plastic bag or airtight container for up to 4 days.

Freezer: let them cool down completely, then transfer them into a freezer-friendly bag and freeze for up to 3 months—Thaw in the microwave with the thawing function.

Tips

• Don’t have muffin liners? You can use twelve 5-inch squared pieces of parchment paper.
• Don’t over-mix the batter: over-mixing will result in compact and heavy muffins.
• Use oil instead of butter: oil is best for muffins because it makes them tall, airy, and fluffy.
• Use vegetable oil with a neutral flavor, like canola oil or sunflower oil.
• Baking soda is not necessary; use baking powder instead.
• The batter should be thick and spoonable. Somewhat in between a cake batter and cookie dough.
• Toss the berries in cornstarch so they don’t sink to the bottom of the muffins.
• If you use frozen berries, add them frozen. Also, the muffins will take a little longer to bake and will be less tall.

Questions