This simple recipe can be customized to make many different kinds and sizes of delicious muffins! See the recipe notes for some classic variations, or create your own unique flavor! (I also have separate recipes for double chocolate muffins, banana muffins, and pumpkin muffins.)
I made basic blueberry muffins for the step-by-step photos below. These are the ingredients you will need for the basic muffin recipe:
If you are gluten free, you will need to either use Freely Vegan GF Flour or make your own DIY gluten free flour with The Plant Based Egg. Using the right egg replacement (and not using flour that contains xanthan or guar gum) is essential if you want muffins with the perfect texture! The Plant Based Egg replaces both gums and eggs in gluten free baking. Please note that The Plant Based Egg is already built into Freely Vegan GF Flour, so you do not need to add any!
If you are not gluten free, you can use regular all-purpose wheat flour and add The Plant Based Egg as directed in the recipe. I do not recommend using any other egg replacer as you will not get the same perfect results! (Other egg replacers bind, but they do not also leaven, provide structure, and emulsify like real eggs as this one does.)
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add the vinegar and vanilla to the plant milk (I use Silk Original Soymilk or another high protein plant milk), and mix together. (Now is also the time to add any zest and additional extract that you are using.)
Combine the flour (see recipe notes below!), baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. If you are using all-purpose wheat flour, you will also add The Plant Based Egg now. Stir together:
Add the sugars and stir again:
Line your muffin tin with paper liners. You can make 36 mini, 12 regular, or 6 jumbo muffins with this recipe.
Melt your vegan butter (I use Earth Balance Buttery Spread), then add it to the sour milk mixture and whisk together:
Make a well in the flour mixture, then pour the liquid mixture into the well. Be sure to scrape all of it into the bowl.
Whisk together until combined. You don’t have to worry about over-mixing with gluten free muffins, but be careful not to overmix if you are using wheat flour.
Let the batter stand for ten minutes, then stir your batter to release the built-up air bubbles. This sounds counter-intuitive, but stir it anyway! You do not want any rise just yet, and the finished texture will be much nicer by stirring now.
Fold in your mix-ins. You can use any combination that you like, but keep the total volume to about 1 1/2 cups. If you are using frozen blueberries or blackberries, keep them frozen until you are ready to add them. This really helps to prevent them from coloring your batter.
Divide the batter evenly among your muffin liners:
Add sugar, chopped nuts, or a crumb topping if you wish. Sugar can just be sprinkled on top, but nuts or crumb topping should be lightly pressed onto the batter.
For mini muffins, bake for five minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, then reduce the temperature to 400 and bake for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and bounce back when lightly pressed.
For regular-size muffins, bake for five minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, then reduce the temperature to 400 and bake for an additional 13 to 16 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and bounce back when lightly pressed.
For jumbo muffins, bake for five minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, then reduce the temperature to 375 and bake for an additional 21 to 24 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and bounce back when lightly pressed.
For all muffin sizes, keep the oven door shut until you need to check for doneness. You do not need to rotate the pan and opening the door lets too much heat out of the oven.
Also, if you are using frozen berries, increase the cooking time by one to two minutes for mini muffins, two to three minutes for regular muffins, and three to five minutes for jumbo muffins.
Place the pan on a rack and let the muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing them to the rack to finish cooling.
Let your muffins cool down completely, or serve them slightly warm. They have a beautiful texture!
Here are some classic variations. (See the recipe notes for the amounts.) I love cranberry orange walnut muffins!
Chocolate chip muffins are also very good, and sometimes I will also add chopped walnuts or pecans:
Lemon poppyseed are lovely with a lemon glaze on top:
Here, I made jumbo tropical muffins with pineapple, toasted coconut, and walnuts – so good!
These are mini apple spice muffins with a brown sugar and walnut topping:
Finally, a note on why you want to start baking the muffins at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Starting off at high heat gives the baking powder a quick start, which is what gives the muffins a nicely domed top (filling the muffin liners to nearly full also aids this). The quick rise gives your muffins a fluffier texture too. This photo demonstrates the difference between starting at 450 degrees Fahrenheit and reducing the heat to 400 after five minutes (chocolate chip), or baking at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for the whole baking time (apple spice):
Enjoy!
Vegan (& Gluten Free) Muffins Your Way
Ingredients
- 255 g (2 c) Gluten Free Flour Blend or All-Purpose Flour (See recipe notes below!)
- 9.6 g (4 tsp) The Plant Based Egg (ONLY add if using wheat flour!)
- 15 g (1 TBS) Baking Powder
- 6.4 g (1 tsp) Salt
- 125 g (5/8 c) Vegan Sugar
- 55 g (1/4 c packed) Vegan Light Brown Sugar
- 15 g (1 TBS) Distilled Vinegar
- 285 g (1 c + 3 TBS) Plant Milk (I use Silk Original Soymilk)
- 7.5 g (1 1/2 tsp) Vanilla Extract
- 70 g (5 TBS) Vegan Butter (I use Earth Balance)
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
-
Add the vinegar and vanilla to the plant milk, and mix together. This is also the time to add any zest and additional extract that you are using.
-
Combine the gluten free flour blend (or wheat flour plus The Plant Based Egg), baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir together. Add the sugars and stir again.
-
Line your muffin tin with paper liners. You can make 36 mini, 12 regular, or 6 jumbo muffins with this recipe.
-
Melt your vegan butter, add it to the sour milk mixture, and whisk together.
-
Make a well in the flour mixture, then pour the liquid mixture into the well. Be sure to scrape all of it into the bowl. Whisk together until combined. You don’t have to worry about over-mixing with gluten free muffins, but be careful if you are using wheat flour.
-
Let the batter stand for ten minutes, then stir your batter to release the built-up air bubbles. This sounds counter-intuitive, but stir it anyway! You do not want any rise just yet, and the finished texture will be much nicer by stirring now.
-
Fold in your mix-ins. You can use any combination that you like, but keep the total volume to about 1 1/2 cups. If you are using frozen blueberries or blackberries, keep them frozen until you are ready to add them. This really helps to prevent them from coloring your batter.
-
Divide the batter evenly among your muffin liners. Add sugar, chopped nuts, or a crumb topping if you wish. Sugar can just be sprinkled on top, but nuts or crumb topping should be lightly pressed onto the batter.
-
For mini muffins, bake for five minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, then reduce the temperature to 400 and bake for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and bounce back when lightly pressed.
For regular-size muffins, bake for five minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, then reduce the temperature to 400 and bake for an additional 13 to 16 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and bounce back when lightly pressed.
For jumbo muffins, bake for five minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, then reduce the temperature to 375 and bake for an additional 21 to 24 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and bounce back when lightly pressed.
For all muffin sizes, keep the oven door shut until you need to check for doneness. You do not need to rotate the pan and opening the door lets too much heat out of the oven.
Also, if you are using frozen berries, increase the cooking time by one to two minutes for mini muffins, two to three minutes for regular muffins, and three to five minutes for jumbo muffins.
-
Place the pan on a rack and let the muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing them to the rack to finish cooling. Let your muffins cool down completely, or serve them slightly warm.
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The muffins freeze and defrost beautifully, so freeze any muffins that you won't eat by the next day. To defrost, place three mini muffins or one regular or jumbo muffin upside down in the microwave. Heat on 50% power for 45 to 90 seconds (less for mini and more for jumbo), then turn the muffin right side up and heat on 50% power for another 30 to 60 seconds until the muffin is defrosted and warm all the way through.
Recipe Notes
- To make this recipe with all-purpose wheat flour, use the same amount of flour and add the equivalent of two eggs (9.6 g which is 4 level teaspoons) of The Plant Based Egg to the flour. Whisk together with the other dry ingredients. That is the only adjustment you need to make. (The liquid amount in this recipe has already been increased, so do not add extra as The Plant Based Egg package directions say to do. Those directions are only for recipes that include eggs and you are replacing them and veganizing the recipe with The Plant Based Egg.)
- If you are gluten free, you will need to either use Freely Vegan GF Flour or make your own DIY gluten free flour with The Plant Based Egg. Using the right egg replacement (and not using flour that contains xanthan or guar gum) is essential if you want muffins with the perfect texture! The Plant Based Egg replaces both gums and eggs in gluten free baking. Please note that The Plant Based Egg is already built into Freely Vegan GF Flour, so you do not need to add any!
- Berry Muffins: Add 180 g (1 1/2 c) of fresh or frozen blueberries or blackberries to the basic batter before filling the muffin tins. Fresh raspberries also work, but do not use frozen ones. You can also add 4.5 g (1 TBS) lemon or orange zest and 2.5 g (1/2 tsp) of lemon or orange extract to the liquid ingredients if you wish.
- Cranberry Orange Muffins: Add 4.5 g (1 TBS) orange zest and 2.5 g (1/2 tsp) orange extract to the liquid ingredients. Add 125 g (1 1/4 c) fresh or frozen cranberries and 45 g (3/8 c) chopped walnuts or pecans to the basic batter before filling the muffin tins. Press additional chopped nuts into the top of each muffin prior to baking if desired.
- Chocolate Chip Muffins: Add 130 g (3/4 c) vegan chocolate chips to the basic batter before filling the muffin tins. I use regular-sized chocolate chips for regular or jumbo muffins and mini chocolate chips for mini muffins. You can also add 45 to 60 g (3/8 to 1/2 c) of chopped walnuts or pecans if you wish.
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins: Add 4.5 g (1 TBS) lemon zest and 5.0 g (1 tsp) lemon extract to the liquid ingredients. Add 12.0 g (4 tsp) poppy seeds to the basic batter before filling the muffin tins. Add a lemon glaze to the cooled muffins if desired.
- Tropical Muffins: Drain a can of pineapple tidbits really well, pressing out the juice. Cut the tidbits in half, until you have 120 g (1 c). Set them aside. (Use the rest of the tidbits in another recipe.) Toast 60 g (2/3 c) sweetened flaked coconut at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about seven to ten minutes until it is lightly browned. Watch it closely and stir often to prevent burning. Set aside to cool. Add the reserved pineapple, toasted coconut, and 45 g (3/8 c) chopped walnuts, pecans, or macadamia nuts to the basic batter before filling the muffin tins. I also like to add 1.3 g (1/4 tsp) almond extract to the liquid ingredients, but this is optional. Press additional chopped nuts into the top of each muffin prior to baking if desired.
- Apple Spice Muffins: Peel and chop two small apples. You should have 180 g (1 1/2 c) of chopped apple when you are done. Add the apple to a glass bowl, then stir in 4.8 g (2 tsp) of apple pie spice. Cook on high power in the microwave for three minutes, stir again, and set aside to cool. For the topping, combine 55 g (1/4 c packed) vegan light brown sugar, 45 g (3/8 c) chopped walnuts or pecans, and 2.0 g (3/4 tsp) cinnamon. Add the cooled apples to the basic batter before filling the muffin tins. Sprinkle the topping onto each muffin before baking.
Wow. These look enticing.
Thank you!