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:
Note: 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 big FAQ section.
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.
Vegan Blueberry Muffins Recipe |
| Prep Time | Cook Time | Makes |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Mins | 22 Mins + 5 Mins Cooling | 12 Muffins |
| Author | Category | Method |
| Madhuram | Muffins | Baking |
- 2 cups Unbleached All Purpose Flour (I used bleached)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Lemon/orange Zest
- 3/4 to 1 cup Sugar
- 1 cup any non-dairy milk
- 1/3 cup any oil with neutral flavor
- 1 teaspoon vanilla/lemon/orange extract (optional)
- 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 and 1/2 cups Fresh OR Frozen Blueberries
- 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 2/3rds 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.
- these vegan blueberry muffins have the best airy and fluffy texture that is hard to find in any other vegan muffin recipe on par with a recipe that uses eggs. You have got to try it to believe it. The sweetness is perfect for us because we don't prefer very sweet muffins. You may have to increase the quantity of sugar for sweeter muffins.
- A few years back I learned that baking the muffins at a higher temperature at first and then reducing the temperature at the end gives nice dome-shaped muffins just like the ones you can buy from a bakery. Since I knew this trick, I have been following it for my muffin recipes, and it works.
- Regarding sugar, the original recipe itself mentions 3/4 to 1 cup. I have experimented using 3/4th to 1.25 cups of sugar. A 3/4th cup is perfect for people like us who don't want their muffins to be very sweet. So adjust the quantity of sugar accordingly, especially if you think the blueberries you are using are sour.
- If using frozen blueberries, thawing is unnecessary. Add it to the muffin batter directly from the freezer, but do not over-mix it, or it will start bleeding. I have tried this recipe with fresh and frozen blueberries and haven't found any difference at all.
- Even though the recipe suggests 1 and 1/2 cups of blueberries, I find that it's a little too much depending on the size of the blueberries. A couple of times I have ended up having more blueberries than muffins. So I tend to use just 3/4th-1 cup of blueberries most of the time. 3/4th cup if it's bigger size berries and 1 cup if it's the tiny wild blueberry variety.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How much applesauce can I use instead of oil? Would the muffins still be airy if I used applesauce instead of oil?
A: 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.
Q: Can I use lemon juice instead of vinegar?
A: 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.
Q: What is this lemon zest you are talking about? Is lemon zest and extract compulsory?
A: 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.
Q: Why do the muffins rise well and suddenly sink in the middle?
A: 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.
Q: Can I make a gluten-free version of these muffins by replacing all-purpose flour with finger millet flour, almond meal, or coconut flour?
A: 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.
Q: Can I just make blueberry muffins without eggs instead of vegan?
A: 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.
Q: What oil can I use instead of canola?
A: 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.
Q: Would you recommend baking these muffins at 350 F? Will it involve baking for a longer time then?
A: You can try it at 350F but bake it a few minutes longer.
Q: Can I bake just 6 muffins?
A: 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.
Q: Is using a flaxseed meal instead of lemon and vinegar okay? If so, can you please suggest the amount of flax-seed meal?
A: 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.
Q: I used paper liners instead of greasing the muffin tins. Unfortunately, the muffins stuck to the liners! What do you think happened?
A: 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.
Q: Does the baking temperature or time change using mini muffin tins?
A: 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.
Q: I have baked muffins like in the past and ended up with the berries sinking in the bottom. How to avoid it?
A: I have explained it in detail here: Why does fruit sink to bottom of the cake?
Q: What is rice milk? Can I use any other milk instead?
A: 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.
Q: Can I use other fruit instead of blueberries?
A: Yes you can use any other berries or fruits of your choice. Or even add-ons like nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruits, etc.
I’ve made these twice – LOVE THEM! I substituted vanilla extract for the lemon extract, used 2% regular milk, and apple cider vinegar (as suggested). Also I calculated Weight Watcher points – 4 points for 1 muffin. (The mix ended up making 18 for me).
Thanks Desiree. This recipe is surely a keeper.
These were amazing! I made them with apples and cinnamon with a vegan streusel topping and they were perfect — airy and perfectly moist. Adamswife, I tried adding the vinegar at the end and that did the trick for a fluffy texture.
Thanks Alex. I’m also going to try the vinegar trick the next time I bake these muffins.
LOVE THESE!! I used whole wheat flour and these were still great. i always add in the vinegar after i’ve stirred everything else together – it makes for a better “rise” and fluffiness. I also used orange zest and no extract. Thanks for this recipe. I’ve used it a few times and always had great results 🙂
You’re welcome Adam’swife. I too have tried a whole wheat version of this recipe and it’s here: Vegan Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
I made these exactly as the recipe stands, but substituted applesauce for oil. The batter was awesome! The smell was amazing! Got them out, let them cool for a while, and they tasted like an awful bitter bar of soap or something of the sort. What could have caused this? I am not new to baking, I have never had this taste, and I am going crazy trying to figure it out… I washed the BB, I have clean pans, and used cupcake liners.. nothing smells odd, just the horrible, haunting taste!
I’m guessing it’s something to do with the baking soda. Did you use baking powder instead of baking soda? I’m asking this because somebody else switched it in a recipe and ended up having a very bitter cake.
OMG I had to write back to you . . . trust me, its the baking POWDER !! I went through this going crazy trying to figure the exact same as you describe here. Get rid of the baking powder and get a new one. Try a different brand as well. That’s what I did. Actually, try this . . . open your baking powder and take a good whiff at it. Do you slightly smell what you are tasting? This is what I did and realized the problem. Cheers.
DEFINITELY! I worked up the courage to make them again yesterday. I thought, hmmm I have some extra baking powder in the pantry, I’ll open it up and use it. Sure enough.. no rancid terrible taste! I was really bothered by it 😛 Thank you for writing back ~ appreciated !
No problem ! I’m glad it worked out for you ! 🙂
If you decide to omit the gum, add an extra TBSP flax meal (add about 1 TBSP extra water to your liquids) Also, allow it to sit for 5 minutes before attempting to remove it from your pan. Otherwise, it will rip open and start crumbling. I have baked without the gum more than half a dozen times and works just great. Not as sticky/gummy, which sometimes I like. I have also tried this using soya milk and it also just works fine 🙂
Hi Madhuram!
Just wanted to let you know, I came up with my own gluten free vegan blueberry loaf. I skipped using starches completely and egg replacer too! Honestly, I think they are becoming a little over-rated. I make them in my mini loaf. For some reason, they turn out best using this size.
That’s great Farzana. Do share your recipe.
This makes 1 mini loaf. Double it or triple it as you wish. Baking times will change.
Turn oven on to 350. Get your lemon or orange rind ready (I like to do a good TBSP or more if you like !) Get your 1/4 cup blueberries out. (frozen or fresh. if frozen, wait until VERY last minute & toss in 1 TBSP GF flour !! Otherwise, your loaf will come out greenish/blueish)
wet ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 2 TBSP coconut milk
1 TBSP oil
1 tsp Vanilla, 1 tsp lemon extract
1/2 TBSP lemon OR ACV
MIX ALL TOGEATHER AND LET IT SIT UNTIL YOU GET YOUR DRY INGREDIENTS TOGEATHER.
Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup gluten free flours (I use 1/4 cup millet, 1/4 cup sorghum, 2 TBSP buckwheat flour, 1 TBSP flax meal & 1 TBSP soya flour)
1/4 TBSP baking powder
1/4 TSP baking soda
1/4 TSP salt
4 TBSP brown sugar(I usually do half xylitol, half brown sugar)
1/4 tsp guar gum (sometimes, I omit this, depends on my mood)
Sift well.
Mix wet into dry. Throw in the lemon or orange rind. Mix and then throw in the blueberries.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.
This recipe is so versatile (I use different flours sometimes like quinoa instead of the sorghum and I also make a plain loaf with this recipe. Also, I love how there is absolutely NO STARCH !!! xoxo
Thank you very much for the gluten-free version of the recipe, Farzana. I have some more gluten-free flour left. Will try it one of these days.
Just made these today evening & surprised my hubby. The verdict : great! I actually half of the all-purpose flour with corn flour, which lent a grainy texture & taste, skipped the extract and baked for 20mins in a loaf pan. It still turned out tasty. I was happy & satisfied with the results.So keep it up!!
Shubha
Thanks for the feedback, Shubha. I’m glad that you liked it.
I tried making this recipe but found that I had no fresh lemons to zest. So I used orange extract where the recipe called for lemon extract. I also used whole wheat flour–that was before I knew that you had a recipe for that, but I did not have all the ingrediants for that one as well–and used vegan cane sugar (pure cane from the store uses bone char to bleach it…yuck!), raw apple cider vinegar, and light olive oil. After I filled up a muffin tin, I had some left over, but not enough to fill up another one. So I added some more non-dairy milk and a bit more flour, enough prepared egg replacer to substitute for one egg, and made pancakes with it. The sugar in the recipe made the pancakes brown so nicely; the combination of the egg replacer and vinegar/baking soda worked so well that it made the most perfect, fluffy whole wheat blueberry pancakes on the face of the earth! I’ll have to wait until later to try the muffins, though, because I had pancakes for breakfast and I am still full from them.
Thanks for the detailed feedback, Cynth.
Hi Madhuram,
I just got them out of the oven and they are white. They are cooked through. I see the picture and the muffins look brown. Am I going wrong somewhere.
Thanks Shiv.
As long as the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and it tastes good, it’s fine Shivangi. Did you use muffin liners? In that case it will not turn very brown like when you bake it directly in the pan. Or sometimes we do enhance the picture, so that could also be the reason.
Hi Madhuram! I am always coming across your recipes when I type “gluten free vegan”. Just wanted to know if you ever make gluten free vegan cakes/bread? Your recipes seem so delicious 🙂
Hi Farzana, so far I have just one Gluten-Free, Flourless, Vegan Chocolate Cakerecipe. I have a couple of gluten-free cookies recipe, which you can find in the Eggless Cookies page. I’m actually working on a couple of other gluten-free, vegan recipes, which is quite tricky. I’ll keep updating when I find the results satisfactory. Why don’t you sign up for the free email alerts? So that you won’t miss if I post those recipes.
Best. Muffins. Ever. I work out a lot and wanted to beef up these muffins so I added 1.5 scoops of vanilla (unsweetened) protein powder to the recipe. You have to add a little more milk (maybe a 1/4 cup).
That’s a great idea Dan. Thanks for trying the recipe. Do rate it when you find time.
These are awesome! Way better than any boxed mix, and much healthier. I’ve been using almond milk and wheat flour and only 3/4 cup of sugar and they turn out amazing. I ran out of almond milk the other day so I used coconut milk instead and i think they even turned out more moist and fluffy. My 2 year old LOVES them and asks for them all the time. Next time im going to try agave instead of sugar and maybe applesauce instead of oil. Would applesauce or a banana change the consistancy of the muffin?
Thank you very much KMR. I have never baked with coconut milk. Thanks for the tip. Using applesauce/mashed bananas will make the muffins quite dense and you may need to add some extra baking powder and bake it for a couple minutes extra.
[…] Eggles Blueberry Muffins This recipe (I hear) can also�be made with rice or soy milk if you want the recipe to be vegan. �Enjoy! (The original recipe can be found at Eggless Cooking.) […]
Love, love, love these. Quickly became addicted to having them for breakfast every day. I also didn’t use the lemon extract AND I decided one lemon per batch was plenty of zest for flavor.
I’ve tried to make them gluten-free with two different flour mixes (so far) and the results aren’t satisfactory yet. Will keep trying. 🙂
Thanks for the feedback Donna.
Any problems with the berries sinking in the batter and ending up all on the bottom after they’ve baked? Lately that has happened to me when I try to make berry muffins. Just wondering.
I have explained it in detail here: https://www.egglesscooking.com/2011/07/08/why-does-fruit-sink-to-bottom-of-cake/
Great recipe. My son’s a vegan and I’m always looking for recipes that are delicious for everyone. These muffins are the best muffins I’ve made of any type. Yum!
Thanks Meme.
Thank You so much! Love your recipes! I baked blueberry muffins for the first time and it turned out great. Everyone liked it. I used orange zest instead of lemon, used lemon juice and for sugar slightly more than 3/4 th cup. It’s delicious and tasted great. Once again, thank you very much.
You’re welcome Pragna.
[…] vegan blueberry muffins (oh wait, I already did […]
I love this recipe! I use coconut milk (from a can, not the beverage), whole wheat pastry flour, and vanilla extract in lieu of lemon extract. My girls love these muffins!
Thanks for the feedback, Cristine.
Great recipe. I didn’t use lemon extract either – I did use the zest and it was just delightful. Used soymilk and coconut oil.
I also used whole wheat flour and only 1/2 c. sugar. They were sweet enough. We had four children over for breakfast and they were eaten up quickly.
Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome Adamswife. I too have tried a whole wheat version of this recipe using maple syrup instead of sugar, that one was nice too. Check this recipe for Vegan Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
Awesome recipe! Thank you for this — it’s easy, fast and as delicious as you said it would be. I served it to a non-vegan friend and he had no idea it was made with animal-free products. Whoo hoooooo!
My own notes:
I used whole wheat pastry flour.
I skipped the zest and used 1/2 tsp dried orange peel, instead.
I did use the lemon juice.
I also used apple cider vinegar & rice milk.
I used coconut oil.
I added a dash of vanilla.
I used a mix of half regular & half brown sugar.
I used frozen Maine wild blueberries.
Truly delicious – thanks so much!
You’re welcome Megan. You should try another variation of this recipe too, which uses maple syrup and no sugar. I think you will loves these Vegan Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins too.
I was a bit skeptical at first after having tried several vegan muffin recipes, but this was by far the BEST muffin recipe I’ve tried. They were so light and moist and just fabulous! They were gone within hours after they were made…all of them! This recipe is a keeper!
I’m glad you liked it Lauren. Thanks for rating the recipe.
I’ve now tried this recipe 4 times (3 times adding blueberries and once adding chocolate chips) and each time, I got amazing results and my friends and relatives told me these were the best muffings they’d tasted. Even two people who don’t normally like muffins said they were delicious! They’re amazingly light, not sticky and very tasty.
The best result I got was the one where I used fresh blueberries, but it was also very nice when I used frozen ones.
With the chocolate, it was a bit drier, so perhaps one should add a tiny extra amoung of milk (I used oat and almond milk, not together, on different occasions).
I only add 1/2 of sugar myself and find them sweet enough.
But anyway, I’m so glad I found this recipe! Thank you! Top marks!
You’re welcome Saffron. Thanks for the detailed feedback.
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[…] Blueberries are in season and turns out Quebec has their own wonderful blueberry fields, which means the blueberries are amazing, even when bought in the local supermarket. The vital ingredient is lemon zest. The lemon zest adds that hint of lemon after the sweet sourness of the blueberries. I added plenty of blueberries. So many that my landlady noted, the dough was just there to hold together the blueberries. Since it’s vegan week, I replaced the eggs and milk with soy milk and a bit of cornstarch. What you need (adapted from egglesscooking.com): […]