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
Sharon says
I made these muffins this morning with fresh blueberries from our garden. They are delicious. they only took 18 minutes in my oven. Brought them to work and everyone enjoyed them. I will make these again! Thanks for the recipe!
Rachel says
Thank you for this simple vegan muffin recipe! I had few ingredients in my house and most vegan muffin recipes I came across called for alternative flours, applesauce, etc., so I was glad to find yours. I used it as a base but then made them lemon poppy seed because I had no fruit. I used almond milk and substituted coconut oil for canola, as that’s all I had. I used an extra teaspoon of baking powder because I was out of soda. Added extra lemon zest + juice and also some orange. Baked for about 17 minutes. They turned out really yummy!!!
Marisa says
She’s also has a lemon poppy seed muffin recipe that is amazing!
Stephanie says
Made these with unsweetened coconut milk instead of soy, coconut oil instead of canola, and cane sugar instead of white sugar (only used 1/2 cup) and OMG these are amazing.
Laura says
thanks for tip! I’ll try your version too!
James says
Used organic oat milk, organic olive oil ( canola is bad for you), and no sugar. Turned out perfect still
Bella says
Just made these with almond milk and fresh blueberries and they are soooo delicious!! Thank you so much for the recipe!!
Sam says
Now, this is a discovery. I rarely praise vegan cake recipes as they are usually just a poorly tasting ripoff the original and very far from the authentic flavors, but this here is amazing. It tastes exactly as the muffins I used to buy from the grocery store and even better. Also fluffy and perfectly crumbly. Not sure how that was achieved as the ingredients are so common, obviously you have an A in chemistry. Thanks a lot for sharing this.
hilary says
Why are the measurements and instructions different in the video than in the text?
Minileaves says
Can I substitute soy milk with fresh goat’s milk?
Sarah says
I would imagine that wouldn’t change the texture too much.
Lois says
I made these muffins twice in a week. They were so good!
Andy says
Thanks for this. I had rhubarb on hand and wanted to make vegan muffins with it. Just subbed for bluberries and they were delish! (I always use less sugar than any recipe calls for, in this case a generous 1/3 c.)
Sarah says
I bet the rhubarb was excellent. I’ll have to try that!
Lynn says
So good! I used dates, raisins and banana (blended) instead of sugar. Soooo fluffy but still moist! Yum!
Sarah says
That’s great! Thanks for sharing that tip!
sybilla says
I’m not vegan myself but a lot of my friends are and I entertain a lot. I really struggle with vegan baking and it seems like a lot of the recipes available online haven’t been tested well or at all. That being said I’m super impressed by this recipe! I’m making them for the third time today and they’ve been delicious each time. Vegans and non-vegans alike love these. They dont have the issues ive had with other vegan recipes like dryness, crumbyness or a baking soda taste. They hold well too and in my opinion are even better a day old. The only difference between these and my go-to dairy and egg muffin recipe is that these are slightly sweeter and less buttery. Love. Thank you!
Sarah says
Thanks so much Sybilla. Glad they worked out for you!
Katie says
These are amazing!! Highly recommend! <3
L says
These were really easy to make and turned out very good and tasty. Worked out perfectly even though I mixed up measurements and put far too much oil in them. Chocolate chip ones next. Thanks for a great recipe.
anna says
Just made these and they turned out great. I used no-added sugar almond milk and they turned out just fine. I thought I was out of lemons and used lemon juice instead – I think lemon zest would have been better not even sure I can tell with the lemon juice but they are still good! I used grape seed oil but next time I’ll try apple sauce as I think it will make them a little sweeter and no oil is better of course. For the record I don’t think there is such thing as “healthful/nutritious” muffins. Anything with flour and sugar and oil of any kind isn’t great for you. Only a WHOLE, PLANT-BASED diet or better yet a raw foods diet and a gallon of water a day is good for you. I generally don’t eat gluten because it doesn’t sit well with me but had to try these (had two already sleepy:-P) because I’ve had a difficult time finding a blueberry muffin recipe that turns out! I do think these could be a touch sweeter for the average person – but I’m fine with less sugar. I used some leftover blueberries – probably a cup and they were huge. If you have frozen blueberries or any kind really you can shake them in some flour before adding to batter and they don’t bleed as much. These turned out very light and fluffy – I baked for 20 minutes and filled the tins to the top. I am going to try apples and cinnamon as well that sounds really good. Thank you for the great recipe. I think any plant milk or liquid would work fine as well as any kind of oil or even apple sauce. I’m not even sure curdling the milk is necessary for them to turn out. I’m tempted to try canned full fat coconut milk. I don’t usually have almond milk as we don’t drink anything but water here but I would even try water if I had to. Thanks!!!
Sarah King says
These were amazing. I am a terrible baker (and also, I only had frozen blueberries that were way too big and I overstuffed the muffin tins) and was worried that the batter seemed gummy after adding the frozen berries, but holy wow they were TOTALLY PERFECT. Perfect crumb on the inside, perfectly brown and done on the outside. Thanks!!