How to make vegan muffins
These muffins are extra fluffy, light, and taste amazing. We love them just as much as the recipes that call for egg or milk (like this big topped muffin recipe or these banana blueberry muffins). Better yet, they are quick and easy to make! The ingredients for vegan muffins are not all the different to other recipes. You’ll need the usual suspects like flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Instead of milk, use a non-dairy milk. I prefer soy milk, but nut and seed milks like almond milk or hemp milk will work, as well. Instead of egg, we give you two options: use a flax egg or use aquafaba. We’ve done a deep dive into both on the blog, but let me give you a quick overview:
Flax eggs are made with flaxseed meal and water. Simply combine them and then set the mixture in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes. Flax eggs don’t act exactly like egg in all recipes, but in these muffins, it does the trick. Flax eggs are naturally vegan, gluten-free and nutritious. For these muffins, flax adds a healthy dose of fat and helps to bind the muffin ingredients together. Flax eggs do not help with leavening, but since we also add baking soda and baking powder to this muffin recipe, that’s not a big deal. Aquafaba is the liquid in a can of chickpeas or the cooking liquid left after cooking dried chickpeas. This starchy liquid works beautifully as a binder in recipes like this one. It also does a nice job of aiding in the browning process, which makes our muffins beautiful when baked. There isn’t much to be done when using aquafaba in this recipe. Simply measure out three tablespoons and give it a vigorous whisk until frothy. (Technically, you can do this with the liquid from other cans of beans, but it seems that chickpeas — or garbanzo beans — create the best, starchiest liquid for baking.
So when you make our vegan muffin recipe below, simply chose to use a flax egg or aquafaba. Both options make some seriously delicious muffins. There isn’t too much of a difference in the final baked muffin, but I’m inclined to give aquafaba the edge since it does help brown and dome the tops nicely. With that said, we’ve made this recipe with both options more times than I can count and each time the muffins were devoured!
Making the muffins
The process for making vegan blueberry muffins isn’t much different than our regular blueberry muffins. The full recipe with ingredient amounts is below, but if you need a little more convincing, let me walk you through how easy these are to make: And that’s it. Extra easy blueberry muffins made without dairy or eggs! I hope you enjoy them as much as our family does.
More vegan recipes
Vegan Pancakes Crave-Worthy Vegan Queso Our Favorite Black Bean Soup Easy Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
2/3 cup (158 ml) unsweetened soy milk or other non-dairy milk 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice 1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar 1/3 cup (80 ml) neutral oil 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda Rounded 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 ¼ cups fresh or frozen blueberries 2To make the muffins using a flax egg, stir 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal with 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Place into the refrigerator and leave to set for 15 minutes. 3To make the muffins using aquafaba, lightly shake a can of chickpeas, and then open it. Drain the beans and reserve the liquid. Measure three tablespoons of the liquid and place into a small bowl. Whisk the chickpea water (aquafaba) until very frothy. 2Combine the soy milk with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and then set aside for a few minutes. The milk will curdle and thicken slightly and is essentially a vegan buttermilk. 3Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together until well blended. 4In a large bowl, whisk the brown sugar, oil, milk mixture, vanilla and either the flax egg or whisked aquafaba. 5Use a large rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then add the dry ingredients in three parts, stirring gently until they disappear and the batter is smooth. Stir in 1 cup of the blueberries. 2Bake muffins 15 to 20 minutes or until tops are no longer wet and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out with crumbs, not wet batter. Transfer to a cooling rack. 3To store, place them in a plastic bag, seal, and store at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. To freeze, wrap them tightly in aluminum foil or place them in freezer bags. Freeze for up to 3 months.
