These easy Healthy Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins with a touch of lemon are oil-free, moist, tender, fluffy, soft and absolutely delicious! Such a simple recipe with simple ingredients and they taste just like a traditional blueberry muffin!
HEALTHY VEGAN BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
These amazing healthy vegan blueberry muffins are so gorgeous, fluffy and soft, nobody would ever believe they are refined sugar-free, oil-free, no oil and no butter, no eggs and much lower fat than most recipes.
They are SO delicious! If you are needing gluten-free, check out my vegan gluten-free blueberry muffins, which are also oil-free. Interested in learning more about oil-free baking? Follow my full guide here!
No fancy ingredients or methods, just easy and simple vegan healthy blueberry muffins. These contain fresh lemon juice and zest for the most flavorful lemon blueberry muffins. If you are a huge lemon fan, then try my most popular cake recipe; this vegan lemon cake!
If you are into blueberries, then you will love these vegan blueberry pancakes as well!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
- All-purpose flour
- Blanched almond flour: Using a small amount of almond flour lends lots of moisture, fluffiness and tenderness to these vegan blueberry muffins. That is because almond flour contains fat. Since these are oil-free vegan muffins, adding fat is crucial to the texture. I tried these with all all-purpose flour and found them very chewy. I use the superfine almond flour by Bob’s Red Mill.
- Baking powder
- Pure maple syrup: Keeps these healthy blueberry muffins refined sugar-free.
- Non-dairy yogurt: Using yogurt here provides extra flavor and some fat to the muffins. It also provides moisture since these are oil-free.
- Lite coconut milk: This is really the main source of fat here and there isn’t a whole lot of it, so it’s pretty important for moisture and texture and fluff. I tried these with a low-fat oat milk and they were terribly chewy, so I don’t recommend it. If allergic to coconut, use another really creamy high fat milk like one of the higher fat oat milks. Lite, thin milks like almond, rice, low-fat oat will make for a flatter, dense, less fluffy muffin. Soy milk is very high in protein and will make these quite chewy, I do not recommend it.
- Lemon juice: This adds extra flavor and fluff to the muffins.
- Vanilla extract
- Blueberries
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST VEGAN BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
Step 1: To a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients well.
Step 2: To a separate medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients until smooth.
Step 3: Pour the wet over the dry and very gently mix until incorporated and the batter is smooth, but being very careful not to overmix! Overmixing batters that contain all-purpose flour (gluten) can easily become dense, chewy and not rise well. The batter will be thick.
Gently fold in the blueberries.
Step 4: Divide the batter into 9 muffin liners. The batter will fill up high, this is correct and how your muffins will be tall and fluffy.
Step 5: If desired, for crunch and a beautiful presentation, sprinkle raw sugar on top of each muffin.
Step 6: Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes or a toothpick is clean with no wet batter. They should be a beautiful warm golden brown color on top and puffy.
Step 7: Cool 15 minutes before serving.
RECIPE TIPS FOR THE BEST MUFFINS
Follow the recipe as written. It has been tested multiple times. As always, with baking, it is very scientific and changing even one ingredient can affect the outcome. This is especially true with vegan and oil-free baking.
Use a scale. I’ve said for years the importance of using a scale with baking. Too much flour and they will be dry, not enough, they will be gummy. Since it’s very easy to mismeasure flour with cups, using a scale gives much more precise results. This is my favorite scale I’ve used for years.
Use room temperature liquids. The yogurt, milk and syrup all need to be at room temperature. Or close to it. Coconut milk and yogurt get super cold and thicker in the fridge. To help with a smoother and easier to mix batter, room temperature ingredients will help for fluffier muffins and prevent overmixing the batter.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I make these gluten-free?
For this recipe, I do not suggest subbing with a gluten-free blend, they are all very different and quite finicky with my recipes. Since my recipes are oil-free, that further changes how those blends can perform. Instead, make my gluten-free vegan blueberry muffins. They are a reader favorite!
Can I use whole wheat flour?
No, whole wheat has a much larger amount of gluten. If you use whole wheat, they would be extremely dense and chewy. You can try spelt or whole wheat pastry flour though. They will be more tender and likely not rise as much, but that would work much better than whole wheat. Use the same gram weight amount.
Can I omit the almond flour?
No, it’s imperative to use it for the fat needed for these healthy blueberry muffins. Without the fat, since these are oil-free, they will be quite chewy and dense. The almond flour provides lightness. See the substitution suggestion above or on the recipe card below if you are allergic.
If you are allergic to almonds, you can try a seed meal like sunflower seeds or tigernut flour. I have not tested these personally, but suspect they should work well since 1/4 cup is not a large amount here.
Can I use a different sweetener?
You can sub the maple syrup with agave if you like. It is not as rich of a flavor, but will technically work.
MORE VEGAN MUFFIN RECIPES
- Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Double Chocolate Muffins
- Gingerbread Muffins
- Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Whole Wheat Chocolate Muffins
- Vanilla Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Bakery-Style Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
- Cinnamon Coffee Muffins
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
The Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (150g) regular all-purpose flour (see NOTES below for GF)
- 1/4 cup (28g) superfine blanched almond flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (200g) pure maple syrup or agave, room temp
- 1/4 cup (60g) canned lite coconut milk, shaken well first (SEE NOTES below), room temp
- 1 tablespoon (15g) lemon juice + zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons (30g) unsweetened plain creamy non-dairy yogurt (I used cashew yogurt, the Forager brand), room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (90g) fresh blueberries
- raw sugar for topping, optional
NOTE
- Always use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed. You never need cups to compare, just the scale and bowl, making sure to hit zero before each addition.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Make sure your liquids are at room temperature before beginning. Cold ingredients make for tough batters and muffins and harder to mix smoothly.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with 9 liners. 10 if using a lot of blueberries. 9 will yield quite fluffy muffins.
- To a large bowl, add the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt and whisk well.
- To a separate medium bowl, whisk together the syrup, milk, lemon juice/zest, yogurt and vanilla and whisk until very smooth and frothy.
- Pour the wet over the dry and very gently mix with a spoon until incorporated and the batter is smooth, but being very careful not to overmix! It's ok if there are a few lumps as long as no more flour is visible. Overmixing batters that contain all-purpose flour (gluten) can easily become dense, chewy and not rise well. The batter will be thick.
- Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Divide the batter into 9-10 muffin liners. The batter will fill up high, this is correct and how your muffins will be tall and fluffy.
- Sprinkle raw sugar on the top of each muffin if desired. It gives a pretty sheen and crunch.
- Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick is clean. 20 minutes was perfect each trial for me.
- Cool 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Blanched almond flour: Using a small amount of almond flour lends lots of moisture, fluffiness and tenderness to these vegan blueberry muffins. That is because almond flour contains fat. Since these are oil-free vegan muffins, adding fat is crucial to the texture. I tried these with all all-purpose flour and found them very chewy. If you are allergic, I would suggest another nut/seed meal like finely ground sunflower seeds or perhaps tigernut flour.
- Lite coconut milk: This is source of fat here and there isn't a whole lot of it, so it's pretty important for moisture and texture and fluff. I tried these with a low-fat oat milk and they were terribly chewy, so I don't recommend it. If allergic to coconut, use another really creamy high fat milk like one of the higher fat oat milks. Lite, thin milks like almond, rice, low-fat oat will make for a flatter, dense, less fluffy muffin. Soy milk is very high in protein and will make these quite chewy, I do not recommend it.
- Coconut milk brands: I use the 365 whole foods lite canned coconut milk or the Sprouts lite. Both are very creamy and not watery. Do not use the Polar brand, it is all fillers and gums and will ruin the muffins.
- Gluten-free: If you need gluten-free, make these gluten-free blueberry muffins!
- See post above for further common sub questions answered!
Nutrition
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Sounds amazing; can I use cashew milk instead of coconut milk?
Yes, that should work as long as it’s creamy and not watery, otherwise the muffins will be more dense/less fluffy.
New to the plant based life and it is recipes like this that keep me on track. Sweet, fluffy and flavorful! Will add this to my favorites list!
These are incredible! Hard not to eat the whole batch😊 Only sub I made was with the flour to make them gluten-free. Used 1 cup Bob’s 1-1 + 1/4 cup oatflour. This is a keeper, thank you!
This is my all time favorite recipe to make for vegans and non vegans. Everyone always raves about it! Thank you for sharing it!
Do you have any other sweet bread recipes that you think are also show stoppers like this recipe?
So happy to hear this Kris!! Bread or muffins?