The perfect vegan blueberry muffins! These muffins are soft, sweet, perfectly moist, and filled with fresh blueberries in every bite. Made with a hint of lemon to take these muffins to the next level.
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This post was originally published on March 2, 2015. Last updated on July 13th, 2020
My first baking job was the best job I’ve had to date. Well, with the exception of this job. In my time as a baker, I fell absolutely in love with the process, the environment, and the practice of baking and patisserie.
I originally published this vegan blueberry muffin recipe over 6 years ago. Since then, it has become the most popular recipe on my website, BY FAR. You people LOVE these vegan muffins.
I get it. These vegan muffins are soft, perfectly moist, and flavored with a hint of lemon. Beyond that, they are wildly versatile. Take a look through the comment section of this recipe and you’ll learn how to make these muffins gluten-free, without refined sugar, soy-free, and so many other ways!
With all the love these vegan muffins get, I figured it was time to give them a new look.
Recipe Video
Recommended Ingredients & Equipment
I love this recipe and I think you will too! These vegan muffins are moist, rich, and bursting with blueberries and lemon zest in every bite. They are the perfect morning pastry or a midday snack.
Ingredient Notes
- Non-Dairy Milk – I recommend soy milk because it curdles the best. Almond milk will often curdle but not as well. This may affect the overall texture of the muffin.
- Apple Cider Vinegar – This is my vinegar of choice when making vegan buttermilk (vinegar + soymilk) but white vinegar, white wine vinegar, and lemon juice are great alternatives.
- All-Purpose Flour – For healthier flour options, you can use 1:1 gluten-free flour blends, buckwheat, or spelt flour.
- Granulated Sugar – Check out my guide to vegan sugars and alternative sugar replacements. For a healthier sugar alternative, I recommend coconut sugar.
- Oil – This recipe calls for canola oil because it creates the best texture without added flavor. If you want to avoid hydrogenated oils, try avocado or melted coconut oil. Olive oil also works but adds a slightly savory flavor. If you want to eliminate the oil altogether, swap it out for the same amount of applesauce.
- Fresh Lemon – If you don’t like lemon, this can be omitted.
- Fresh Blueberries – If you don’t have fresh blueberries, check out my Tips & Tricks to find out how to replace them with frozen berries.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step One – Combine the Ingredients
To start, we must first make our “buttermilk”. To do this, mix together soymilk with 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and set it aside for 5 minutes to curdle. Once it’s curdled, whisk in the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.
Pro Tip: The curdled milk helps give these muffins rise and texture. While other types of non-dairy milk will do, I find that soy milk curdles the best.
In a small bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. That’s the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until it’s well combined and set aside. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until all the flour is evenly hydrated.
Step Two – Fold in the Blueberries
Once the batter is made, we want to gently fold in the blueberries. The goal with folding is to get the blueberries fully incorporated into the batter without overmixing the batter or breaking apart the berries.
To do this, use a wooden spoon or plastic spatula and fold the batter from bottom to top in a “C” shape.
Step Three – Bake the Muffins
Scoop your batter into a greased muffin tin. Fill each muffin mold about 3/4 of the way full and bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Pro Tip: I find that using an ice cream scoop is the cleanest and easiest way to get the batter into the muffin molds. With an ice cream scoop, you can ensure the muffins are equally sized as well.
Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before flipping out to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Serving And Storing
Serving – Serve these vegan muffins immediately. They come out of the oven warm, buttery, and hard to resist!
Storing – Store leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can also freeze these muffins for up to 2 months. To thaw, pull the muffins from the freezer and let them thaw at room temperature for several hours.
Tips And Tricks
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Do not overmix your batter. Overmixing allows the gluten to develop and too much gluten will give you gummy and dense muffins.
- If you are using frozen berries, thaw the berries in a colander by running them under room temperature water. Let the berries sit for 30 minutes for any excess water and juice to run off them. Pat them dry with a paper towel before adding them to your batter.
- Fill muffin tins about 3/4″ of the way full. Any fuller than that and they will overflow.
- Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and the tops are golden brown.
- Make sure to let the muffins sit in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before flipping them out to a wire cooling rack. Otherwise, the muffins may fall apart.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. While I choose soy milk because it curdles so well, many people have had success with almond milk, oat milk, and cashew milk as well.
For sure! For gluten-free muffins, I recommend using a 1:1 Baking Flour Blend. (<<affiliate link)
Sure. If you would like to make this recipe oil-free, simply swap out the oil for additional applesauce at a 1:1 ratio.
If you are using frozen berries, thaw the berries in a colander by running them under room temperature water. Let the berries sit for 30 minutes for any excess water and juice to run off them. Pat them dry with a paper towel before adding them to your batter.
I recommend coconut sugar. Other readers have replaced the sugar with 1/2 cup maple syrup or simply reduced the sugar by 25%-50% with great success. Check out my complete guide to vegan sugar for more ideas.
If you want to make this muffin batter in advance, store the batter in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours.
To bake the muffins, preheat the oven and bake according to the instructions. However, these muffins may take a few minutes longer to bake since the batter will be chilled. The muffins will also be slightly denser as the baking soda begins to activate once it’s mixed into the batter, causing it to be slightly less potent.
Do you still have a question? If so, make sure to check out the comments below. This recipe has over 500 comments, including answers to frequently asked questions, common substitutions, and more!
More Vegan Muffin Recipes
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Healthy Vegan Banana Muffins
- Pumpkin Muffins
- Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
And make sure to check out all my muffin & pastry recipes.
Vegan Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup + 2tbsp. granulated sugar
- ¼ cup + 2 tbsp. canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1½ – 2 cups fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a small bowl combine soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside to allow milk to curdle.
- In a larger bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, canola oil, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Add soy milk/vinegar mixture and stir to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients until well incorporated. Be careful not to over-mix – a few lumps are okay. Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Spoon into muffin tins, filling each cup about ¾ full. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from heat and allow muffins to cool before removing from pan.
Video
Notes
- Can I use something other than soy milk? Yes. While I choose soy milk because it curdles so well, many people have had success with almond milk, oat milk, and cashew milk as well.
- Can I make this recipe gluten-free? For sure! For gluten-free muffins, I recommend using a 1:1 Baking Flour Blend.
- Can I make these muffins oil free? Sure. If you would like to make this recipe oil-free, simply swap out the oil for additional applesauce at a 1:1 ratio.
- Can I use frozen berries? If you are using frozen berries, thaw the berries in a colander by running them under room temperature water. Let the berries sit for 30 minutes for any excess water and juice to run off them. Pat them dry with a paper towel before adding them to your batter.
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- If you are using frozen berries, thaw the berries in a colander by running them under room temperature water. Let the berries sit for 30 minutes for any excess water and juice to run off them. Pat them dry with a paper towel before adding them to your batter.
- Make sure to let the muffins sit in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before flipping them out to a wire cooling rack. Otherwise, the muffins may fall apart.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
Kina says
I’ve made these 3 times now and they are simply the best. I make my own nut milk based on whatever I have in hand and play with different variations of berries, but follow the amounts exactly. The muffins are delicious!
Serena says
My 16 month old son went crazy for these (I did too)! Last weekend I made traditional muffins and I like these way better! So much fluffier. I just started to incorporate vegan eats into our lives so thanks for doing what you do.
Jacqueline T. says
We love this recipe. The first time I went crazy on the lemon zest but I’ve cooked it twice since then and it has turned out perfectly. If you use frozen blueberries, make sure that they are the wild ones which are smaller. Today I’m making them with fresh blueberries to see how well they come out.
Sabrina Siddique says
How long am I supposed to let the soy milk curdle . I’ve already mixed the AVC but I don’t see any curdling yet .
jasmine says
So good i used alomd milk and coconut oil and turned out so light and yummy
Carla says
I used almond milk and coconut oil as well. My muffins are good but they are a little gooey. I think I will try the soy milk next time. Thanks for sharing.
kali says
These were the first vegan muffins I ever made! My husband recently came home from a deployment and was craving some blueberry muffins, he was in Korea for about 8 months so he didn’t have any real “American” food since he left. I ended up finding this recipe and fell in love. My husband and I both love these so much. The first time I made these I actually didn’t realize that we didn’t own any muffin tins, funny I know, so I ended up just pouring all the batter into a round cake pan and baked it like that. Took a lot longer to get bake, but still turned out perfect! Thank you so much for this great recipe.
Dom says
Really enjoy this recipe, have made it at least 2-3 times with little variations along the way. When wanting a bit more nutrition, or slightly heartier texture, I sub the APF for a mix of spelt, a bit of whole wheat and APF. Also sometimes sub out half of the oil for Apple Sauce, though it tastes delicious either way. Smaller blueberries are definitely the way to go, I rely on frozen ones and they work great. Have tried both lemon juice and lemon zest, and pefered the result with the zest. Thanks for the recipe, it’s definitely staying in rotation in our household 🙂
Emma says
Hi there, I tried out your recipe yesterday to make 6 jumbo muffins to take to work to cure my colleagues and I of Mondayitis and food be thy medicine, these were delicious! I used 2 cups of frozen blueberries, vanilla flavoured soy milky, and sprinkled a little castor sugar on top before baking to get a nice crispy top. These are the best blueberry muffins I have ever made in my seven years of being vegan! Excellent balance of moisture and crumb, very flavourful, the lemon zest is the perfect blueberry enhancer. Thank you!
Sherri says
Oops, for the flour ratio, I meant to say I used 1 1/2c AP flour and 1/2c whole wheat flour.
Sherri says
Baked a batch of these this morning and they were a hit. Tastes like everything you want a lemon-blueberry muffin to be.
I used 1 1/2c of blueberries, subbed coconut oil for the canola, and 1/2c whole wheat flour for the AP flour, and topped with a little lemon glaze (from your lemon poppyseed muffin recipe).
Thanks for the excellent recipe!
Amy B. says
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for the AP flour, unsweetened applesauce for the oil and 1 tsp orange extract for the lemon zest, only because I’m out of lemons. These came out absolutely perfect, fluffy and delicious. Will definitely be making these again and experiment with other fruit, too. Love love love!
Lisa says
Yummy! I don’t bake but even I managed not to c*ck these up! Used rice milk and they turned out fine. Thanks for the recipe.
Crystalyn says
I found your recipe just an hour ago and am currently sitting and eating my second one right now and HAD to come and comment!
WOWW!!!!
I admit, I subbed the flour with white whole wheat and the oil with applesauce (and took out some of the sugar), but WOWWWWW!!! These are the best vegan muffins I’ve ever had. I’m so excited that I’ve finally found a recipe that I can make more WFPBNO and still have them come out so tasty, fluffy, and sweet! Thank you so much for sharing your magic!
Also, for readers, some people said it was too many blueberries so I only used 1 1/2 cups (fresh). I do wish I’d gone with two! Definitely not too much if you’re using regular sized fresh blueberries!
Shannon says
Can you tell me your applesauce ratio – was it exact to replace the oil?
Zima says
Amazing muffins. We eat half of the in the first 10mins of them coming out the oven.
Thank you and keep adding more recipes.
Jen says
YUM! I used cows milk because I’m not a vegan I just hate eggs in baked goods. I also ran out of AP flour so I used 1 cup of oats pulsed in coffee grinder until they were of flour consistency plus a little ground flax. I didn’t have canola oil so I used melted coconut oil. Frozen berries instead of fresh blueberries. They came out great! Light, airy, crispy, and delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Susie says
These are Amazing ! I already ate 2 and I want another one ! Thank you so much for this yummy recipe ????