Here comes another amazing vegan recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I can assure you that this is the best eggless/vegan blueberry muffins one can bake.
It's as light as an angel food cake made with only egg whites. You can imagine how light that cake would be.
So these eggless blueberry muffins which use vinegar as an egg substitute are also equally light and airy.
I used apple cider vinegar this time and got no aftertaste or smell from the vinegar. I personally feel that white vinegar has an aftertaste and smell.
I have made this vegan blueberry recipe a couple of times with many variations in using different flavors and ingredients, yet the recipe yields perfect muffins every time. I have used lemon zest, orange zest, orange juice, rice milk, and almond milk for flavorings and the liquid portion. I prefer these eggless blueberry muffins with orange flavoring the most.
I have always loved the combination of blueberry and orange. This orange blueberry bread is another best example of how lovely this combination is.
In my early days of venturing into vegan baking, I have used soy milk as a vegan substitute for dairy milk and have always felt that soy milk tends to give a rubbery texture to the baked treat. I don't know if it's just me or if others have felt it too.
That's the reason I have stopped using soy milk and these days mainly use rice milk and almond milk. Bot these non-dairy kinds of milk don't affect the texture.
I have another version of these muffins which uses whole wheat pastry flour, flax meal, maple syrup - healthy vegan blueberry muffins.
How to make vegan blueberry muffins?
Here is the step-by-step pictorial recipe on how to make fluffy vegan blueberry muffins from scratch:
Top Tip
This vegan blueberry muffin recipe is one of the most tried recipes from the blog and I get a lot of questions asking for substitutions and many other things. I have tried to answer it all either individually or consolidating similar questions and created one below.
So please take some time to go through all the questions and answers before trying the recipe or before repeating the same question in the comments section. Thank you.
If you tried this Vegan Blueberry Muffins recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
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Recipe
Vegan Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour (I used bleached)
- 1 and ½ teaspoons Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Lemon/orange Zest
- ¾ to 1 cup Sugar
- 1 cup any non-dairy milk
- ⅓ cup any oil with neutral flavor
- 1 teaspoon vanilla/lemon/orange extract (optional)
- 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 and ½ cups Fresh OR Frozen Blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F/200C (see My Notes) for 15 minutes. Lightly grease a muffin tin.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and orange zest.
- Combine the sugar, milk, oil, extract, and vinegar in a large bowl. Mix well.
- Add the dry and wet ingredients to stir until just combined. Don't over-stir.
- Gently fold in the berries using a rubber spatula.
- Fill the muffin tins about ⅔rds full.
- Bake at 400F for about 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 375F and bake for another 7-8 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes. After that remove the muffins from the tins and cool on a wire rack.
Taste & Texture
Nutrition
Recipe FAQs
I know that it's easy to get tempted to replace the oil/fat in a baking recipe with applesauce to make it fat-free, but that would result in dense and dry muffins. It won’t be as airy as using oil alone. So I would suggest just replacing half the quantity of oil with applesauce.
Since the acidic content of lemon juice is less when compared to vinegar you might have to double the quantity of vinegar. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of vinegar, use 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.
Lemon zest is nothing but grating the skin of the lemon. Care should be taken so that the inner white sheet from the skin does not peel away because it will be bitter. Lemon extract is like vanilla, and almond extract is in liquid form.
I wouldn't say that it's compulsory, but it will give these blueberry muffins a nice flavor without baking powder. You may choose to use orange zest/extract instead of simply vanilla extract will be good too.
Opening the oven door quite too often while it is baking makes cold air enter the oven and might be the reason for the muffins to sink. Another reason is that you used too much batter for each muffin.
No it doesn’t work like that. You would have to use Xanathan gum. I haven't baked this recipe gluten-free and have read that simply substituting the all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour would not work especially in baked goods that have to rise, like muffins, cupcakes, and cakes. Brownies and cookies should not be that much of a problem to bake gluten-free and can be done without xanthan gum.
Gluten-free and egg free is a lot of trial and error methods only. But some of the readers did mention that they tried this recipe gluten-free using rice flour and gluten-free mix (which already has the xantham gum in it). You may try it at your discretion. I will try to bake a gluten-free version shortly and blog about it soon.
Certainly you can. Just use dairy milk and if you prefer butter, melted butter instead of oil. One of the readers suggested that the muffins turn out better if oil is used instead of melted butter though.
Any oil that has a neutral flavor. Peanut oil, sunflower oil, (refined) coconut oil, avocado oil, etc could work on this homemade vegan blueberry muffins recipe.
You can try it at 350F but bake it a few minutes longer.
Halving the recipe may not work out always. It's again for you to experiment and see. Another option is to bake all the muffins and freeze the remaining and use it later. If you decide to halve the recipe and use a 12-cup pan, then you will have to fill the rest of the cups with little water so that the muffins will bake evenly and doesn’t get dried out.
You can try a flaxseed meal, but I’m pretty sure the muffins won’t be as airy and light as those with lemon and vinegar. You can blend a teaspoon of flaxseed meal with 3 tablespoons of warm water.
There are a couple of reasons for this:
1) If you try to peel off the wrapper while the muffins are still warm
2) If you make it low-fat or fat-free
3) If you don't lightly grease the liners with non-stick cooking spray.
The temperature does not change, but you need to bake it for a shorter time than you would bake regular-sized muffins. Somewhere between 12-15 minutes.
I have explained it in detail here: Why does fruit sink to bottom of the cake?
Rice milk is derived from cooked white/brown rice. You can use any other non-dairy milk like almond milk, oat milk, hemp milk, etc. I personally don't prefer using soy milk because it gives a sticky texture to the baked goods. For vegan baking, my choice is either rice milk or almond milk.
Yes you can use any other berries or fruits of your choice. Or even add-ons like nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruits, etc.
Kathryn says
Lovely! Just made these with almond milk instead of soy, a teaspoon of vanilla essence instead of lemon, and substituted half the flour with rice flour. Also used an extra half cup of blueberries as I like more of them in my cupcakes. Thanks so much for this recipe, this is one I’m going to save and make again!
Madhuram says
You're welcome, Kathryn.
Katherine says
Do you know how you get that moist top on muffins? I was thinking maybe painting a simple syrup on top after they are done. Any idea's?
Madhuram says
That's not necessary especially for this and other fruity muffin recipes is my opinion, Katherine because I feel these muffins are generally moist.
Brianne says
Would you mind sharing the exact brand and type of rice milk you use? I don't want to risk messing up what sounds like a perfect recipe! Thanks very much!
Madhuram says
I'm pretty sure it was Rice Dream.
Teody Samson says
I followed the recipe exactly. They came out fantastic. As someone who is trying to go vegan, I search for delicious and nutritious recipes. This takes the cake or shall I say muffin!
Madhuram says
Thanks for the comment, Teody.
CThuggy says
Absolutely amazing! Ate 9 in two days.
Used 1/2 less sugar and 2 cups blueberries and zero lemon (filled all the way to the rim, i like um big;)).
Otherwise exactly how the author did.
10/10.
Madhuram says
That's awesome!
Mommylove says
Usually Im horrible at making vegan pastries or pancakes, but these were GREAT! I made them with Daughter and were very pleased with how moist and browned they were. We used blueberries, a few cherries and a couple strawberries. We ate a lot of them..lol. I put the rest in the freezer to save ourselves shame! Hahahha
Madhuram says
Haa..haa..Thanks for trying the recipe and for the feedback.
Irina says
This is a great recipe, thank you! I was looking for a vegan muffin recipe and tried many different egg replacements, but didn't realise it could be that easy! Instead of putting vinegar with the wet ingredients I add it last (just before the blueberries) and stir it through quickly, so the mixture is still fizzing while I am scooping it into the tray. They turn out so fluffy! No one believes there is no egg in them!
Madhuram says
That's wonderful, Irina. Thanks for the tip about using the vinegar. Will try it.
Milen Moodie says
Hi, Madhuram!
Thank you for the perfect vegan recipe!
Milen
Weedit.photos
Madhuram says
You're very welcome, Milen.
NS says
I made these muffins last night and they were delicious! thank you so mich for this recipe.
I didn’t have blueberries at my home, so I used cherries and they turned out just great. I also made a flex egg instead of using apple cider vinegar. It was my first time using this method of egg supplement for muffin-baking and I’m glad I tried it.
The muffins are so soft and fluffy, I love them
Thanks again.
Madhuram says
Wow! Thank you very much for sharing your tip about using flaxseed egg. Can't wait to try it now.
Amrutha Vidya Sivaram says
They are very yummy and thanks for the recipe.
Madhuram says
You're welcome Amrutha.
Sasi says
I made this this morning. It was very delicious.
Thanks for the amazing and false-proof recipes ever.
The top part was little crispy. My kids like it crispy when my husband likes it moist. How can I make the top part moist? I reduced the sugar a little bit and substitute it with honey this time thinking that it will become moist...
Madhuram says
You're very welcome Sasi. Take the muffins out of the even a bit early and it will be soft.
Sasi says
It actually became moist after couple of hours. I will try taking it bit early next time, but I am afraid that it might not be fully baked.
Thanks again
Stay blessed!
Madhuram says
Sometimes when we don't cream the sugar that happens. Maybe you can try removing it from the oven 1-2 minutes earlier. It might help. Thanks Sasi.
Gaiil says
Can you use another oil apart from canola as this oil is not good for you?
Madhuram says
Yes, any neutral flavor oil can be used.
Gaiil says
Why can't you use proper weight measurements? I don't use cup but I do have scales!
Madhuram says
Here in the US/Canada we are used to cup measurements. Please check the baking measurements page for weight measurement conversion charts.
ron says
I'll try make them.
Fonzie says
I followed everything to a T, and when I opened the oven they had exploded and disinagrated. Whhhyyyy??
Madhuram says
Sorry to hear this Fonzie but it's very surprising that it happened because this is one of the most popular recipes here and I guess you would have read the reviews. I'm wondering it the baking powder you used was old or something. Not sure.
Sara says
Forgot to give the 5stars in the comment before. ☺️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Madhuram says
Aww...thank you so much Sara.
Sara says
Thanks for the recipe! I made it with coconut milk and oil. The battery was doughy but easy to spoon in the muffin pan. First vegan muffin and it's delicious. Great breakfast for the whole week for my hubby and me 🙂
Madhuram says
You're very welcome Sara.