Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins (Oil-free)

5 from 10 votes

Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins (Oil-free)

Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins that are gluten-free, oil-free and made with whole grain oat flour and potato starch for the most delicious breakfast muffins. Topped with a delicious sweet and citrus orange glaze to complete them. A dark chocolate version is amazing as well!

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Keyword: vegan cranberry orange muffins, vegan orange chocolate muffins, oil-free vegan muffins, vegan gluten free orange muffins, vegan orange muffins

Servings: muffins

Calories: 151.9kcal

Author: Brandi Doming

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (170g) superfine oat flour
2 tablespoons (20g) potato starch (See NOTES)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup (180g) freshly squeezed orange juice + 1 tsp zest (do not use bottled, it will not give the same great flavor)
1/2 cup (120g) unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup (78g) light brown sugar lightly packed or my homemade coconut brown sugar, the natural molasses in the sugar gives moisture, so don't sub with plain coconut sugar)
1/2 cup fresh cranberries (see NOTE at bottom!)

ORANGE GLAZE

1/4 cup orange juice
6 tablespoons (72g) light brown sugar or my homemade coconut brown sugar
pinch of salt

NOTE

Always use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed. You never need cups, just the scale and bowl.
I use this scale.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a muffin pan with 10 parchment paper muffin liners or Reynolds Staybrite foil liners (they never stick).
Add the oat flour, potato starch, baking soda, cinnamon and salt to a large bowl and whisk really well. Add the orange juice, orange zest, applesauce and brown sugar to a separate bowl and whisk until well combined. Pour over the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth and no lumps remain. Stir in the cranberries. If you are using frozen cranberries, it is important to not remove the cranberries (if using) from the freezer until right before you need them, otherwise they will thaw and become watery and affect your results. Like I said above, I preferred these completely plain (no fruit).
Pour into 10 liners for beautiful tall muffins or 12 liners for smaller muffins. Bake for 15-20 minutes until they are golden on top, risen well and lightly spring back when touched and a toothpick is clean. If making them plain, they are closer to 15 mins, if using wet fruit, they took 20 minutes to cook through. Make sure the toothpick is clean with no wet batter before removing. Let cool for about 15 minutes to finish cooking and firm up.
While the muffins are baking, make the glaze (if using). Add the juice and sugar to a small pot, whisk and bring over medium-low heat. Once it starts fully bubbling, let it cook for about 3 minutes untouched. Let it completely cool. It will thicken up like a syrup after it cools completely. If you want it thicker, cook it a tad longer. The longer you cook it, the more intense the flavor and thicker/stickier it will become. Drizzle on muffins before eating.
Once completely cooled, store in an airtight container to keep them moist. These are still wonderful and moist the next day!

Notes

Full disclosure. I'm not a big fan of the fresh cranberries in these muffins. I MUCH preferred these plain the most. They were delicious and I loved the texture of them plain more. The cranberries made them a little more wet/juicy than I prefer. so if you like juicy muffins, then go for it. Otherwise, I'd suggest adding another fruit you like or I think dried cranberries would be better. Of course, I LOVED the chocolate chunk version too, since chocolate compliments orange well!
Potato starch is crucial to these muffins for the fluffy, light texture. I've tested both cornstarch and tapioca and they were gummy and dense, so do not sub! Potato starch performs very differently in baking. You can find it at most grocery stores or online on Amazon.

Nutrition