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.
Recipe
Vegan Blueberry Muffins Recipe
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.
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Sherry Lee says
Just made these yummylicous muffins! So glad I found this recipe.
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback, Sherry Lee.
Chickpea Express says
I made a healthy low sugar version of these blueberry muffins and I find using turbinado sugar on top makes them look like Tim Horton's style muffins! I also find increasing the blueberries to about 3 cups makes them look like blue tie dye muffins!!If you're interested in making a healthier version of these muffins, check out my plant-based recipe!!
Jen says
This is delicious! I didn’t have any zest available, so I increased the amount of blueberries to 2 cups. Thank you so much for sharing this yummy recipe - will definitely make it again!
Madhuram says
You're very welcome, Jen.
Diane says
My kids read about blueberry muffins in a book and requested I make some. They loved this recipe!
Madhuram says
Thanks, Diane.
Shauna says
I made these today and despite reducing the temperature they got all dark brown and crispy. I think it's rather the batter recipe. Wouldn't recommend this recipe.
Madhuram says
I'm sorry you did not get it right, Shauna, because this is one of the best recipes on the blog and I have made it so many times and others too. Not sure where it went wrong for you.
Josette says
I loved these. I subbed coconut sugar, coconut oil, whole-wheat/wholemeal flour because that’s what was in my pantry try. I’m going to make them again and add some mashed banana and further reduce the sugar and see if that works. Thank you.
Madhuram says
You're very welcome, Josette.
Wendy says
Made these today and they turned out well. I used lemon juice instead of vinegar and 2 cups of blueberries. They are very sweet and I may reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup next time. Lovely vegan recipe I’ll adapt for many different kinds of muffins.
Madhuram says
That's great, Wendy! Thanks for trying the recipe.
Nils Wildman says
I make these all the time. Sometimes I change things, nothing extravagant. Just different berries or orange instead of lemon, etc... Always comes out perfect. I like them fresh, when they are slightly crunchy. I also like them soft and squishy. I would eat them with green eggs and ham.
Madhuram says
Thank you very much for the feedback, Nils.
Adia says
My son and I just made these this morning. Dairy does not sit well with me so iam glad i saw this non dairy recipe. I made a few changes to mines though. I added 1/4 cup almond milk 1/4 water, less oil and added water to make up for the remaining oil the recipe called for. (I don't like alot of milk & oil in my baked goods). Use vanilla extract instead of lemon, used lemon juice instead of vinegar. Also added 2 huge tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce. Since my batter was on the more liquidy (i think i just made up that word) side due to the applesauce i added 1/2 flour to thicken. Baked for 40 mins. Soo moist and Delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe☺ Hint: applesauce was used as a binder, just in case it was going to be crumbly
Madhuram says
Hi Adia, great job on the variation to suit your needs. I'm glad that the muffins turned out good even after all those changes. Thank you very much for the detailed feedback.
Devena says
Made this recipe with applesauce, orange peel and walnuts. They are amazing! Thanks for taking the time to create and share. I have a pic on FB with the muffin broke into to show how moist and beautiful they baked.
Madhuram says
You're very welcome Devena.
Lisa says
I made these and after baking they finished product had that distinct apple cider flavor to it. It was a bit off putting for me. Am I doing somthing wrong with the portions or is this normal of apple cider vinegar to have a kind of funk to it post baking?
I cant tell if it's me or the vinegar.
Thanks!
Madhuram says
Usually the flavor of apple cider vinegar is completely masked in most of the recipes. It almost never shows up post baking but sometimes it does happen especially if you eat it immediately after baking. If you give an hour or two it would be alright.
Jackie Browne says
Hi.
I use rice milk all the time in cooking but am concerned about food poisoning. Especially if I have made my own rice milk
Is it safe to use rice milk and then leaving muffins to be eaten several days later? I thought rice was a big cause of food poisoning
Thx
Madhuram says
As long as it is stored properly (in the refrigerator/freezer if you plan to eat it after a few days) it should be fine.
Patrick says
I used a mix of almond, whole wheat and oat flour, coconut oil and coconut sugar. Turned out good.
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback, Patrick.
Elspeth Shepherd says
Absolutely delicious! I made 2 substitutions based on what was in my pantry:
Instead of 1 cup of sugar, I used half a cup of maple syrup (all I had)
Instead of canola oil, I used coconut oil
And to balance out the lack of sugar, I used oat milk (very high in sugar)
I doubled it, and put half of the batter in a cake pan, and baked it just a little longer than the muffins.
This recipe is amazing! My suspicious-of-all-vegan-things Sunday school class absolutely loved them.
Madhuram says
Wow! Thank you very much for the feedback and kudos to you for making it with what was available in your pantry and yet getting it right.
Mary K. says
I didn't have all ingredients listed but I still wanted to try the recipe. I followed as closely as I could and the muffins turned out very good, although a little crumbly....could be because I couldn't wait for them to cool down and they were too hot to eat! lol
I'm giving the changes made only to show others who also may not have these around, that they can still give this recipe a go.
I used Unbleached All Purpose flour only. I used organic cane sugar and maple syrup. I had no nuts on hand at all so used only raisins. I had no flax and didn't need to add more flour. All measurements remained the same.
What I did do was whisk the oil, sugar and syrup first then added the almond milk and whisked some more so that the sugar can melt. I dumped all the dry ingredients in, mixed, and because as some other comments mentioned it was a little loose, I just let it sit for a couple minutes. The mix thickened and was perfect to pour into muffin tin. I got 12 regular-sized muffins.
I'll be making these again!
Madhuram says
That's wonderful Mary. Good to know that the recipe turned out great even after all the changes you made. Thank you very much for the feedback.
Michelle says
This has been my go to recipe for muffins for years! Today for the first time I substituted a GF baking mix for the flour and they turned out just as good as usual. I was happily surprised. Thank you for all the hard work you do on this blog!
Madhuram says
Wow! That's great to know Michelle. I'm also going to try it now. Thanks for the feedback.
Jen says
Hi,
Just made a batch, had to change a few things but kept to the same measurements, frozen cherries, olive oil, soy milk, I only had one lemon and used raw sugar, kept to your, Not a whole cup of sugar, cooked these for about 25 mins on 190 cell, Result, delicious. Thank you
Madhuram says
You're very welcome, Jen. Frozen cherries! Sounds yum!
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.
Stephanie says
I made this using unsweetened vanilla pea milk and orange zest. I got a medium naval orange and used the whole orange for the zest. They turned out wonderfully! It may be my oven but I added two minutes on to baking time. Cannot believe there is no dairy or egg in these! So yummy!
Madhuram says
Wow, vanilla pea milk!? Haven't seen it yet! Thanks for the feedback Stephanie.
Sara Meyer says
Thank you for this fluffy, tangy muffin recipe! We are newly vegan & I'm looking hard for recipes to make for my very large (9 kids) sometimes picky family.
We are in north Houston, sitting out Hurricane Harvey, so these muffins are a very special treat!
Thanks again.
Madhuram says
Oh wow! You're very welcome and thanks for leaving your comment.
Sharlene Figueroa says
Is the batter suppose to be very thick? Should I add more milk if it is thick?
Madhuram says
I don't remember the batter being too thick but you can add some milk/water to get the right consistency.
lucy says
Also I used almond milk and gluten free flour! Thanks again.
Madhuram says
Wow! That's great Lucy.
lucy says
It turned out so good and i used dates instead of sugar and i used coconut oil. Thank you for sharing!
Madhuram says
Awesome Lucy!
Erica_suchalady says
I made this. I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk and actually used the lemon extract, but not the zest. I'm so glad I didn't use the zest too because it would have been lemon over kill. However, if I make it I would definitely leave out the lemon extract. Maybe replace it with vanilla or none at all. I was surprised at how well the muffins came together. Nice muffin recipe that you can easily substitute with your fav things or fruit
Erica_suchalady says
Also I used cupcake liners! Best suggestion ever!
Madhuram says
Thanks for the detailed feedback Erica.
Erica_suchalady says
You're welcome. Also, I didn't use any spray or oil for the liners. Thanks My friends thought the muffins were a hit!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Erica and thanks for the feedback.
Samantha says
Have you tried with the cupcake liners? Do the muffins stick to the liner? Thanks.
Madhuram says
Yes I have and it doesn't. You will have to lightly grease the muffin liners with non-stick cooking spray and also wait for the muffins to cool completely before you can peel off the paper.
Michael says
I used this recipe with almond milk, sunflower oil, and 1/2 c brown sugar and 1/4 org raw fine sugar. I also made streusel for the top with flour, coconut oil, inch of salt and brown sugar. I don't know the caloric intake, but it was vegan and awesome. Thanks!
Madhuram says
Wow! That sounds absolutely delicious!
Gemma Jones says
Hello,
Would coconut milk or soy milk work for these muffins instead of rice milk?
Thanks!
Madhuram says
Coconut milk might be a bit heavy. Soy milk should work but I prefer rice milk because it doesn't give a rubbery texture like soy milk.
Jofee says
Yum! No lemon anything, used water instead of any milk, fresh berries, spelt flour combo and baked at 350 for 26 mins. Turned out great!
Madhuram says
That's great to know Jofee. Thanks for the feedback.