Add some sweetness to your morning with these Vegan Blueberry Muffins, loved by vegans and non-vegans alike. This is a simple muffin recipe that packs a sweet and slightly tart punch.
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Back when I was a newspaper photographer in Mississippi, I spent a significant amount of time driving around the Southern portion of the state, covering everything from monster truck throwdowns to sporting events and political rallies to festivals.
One of the festivals I had the opportunity to cover was the Blueberry Jubilee in Poplarville, Miss. I’ve been obsessed with these lovely blue fruits ever since.
Not only did I bring home the most delectable blueberry cobbler I have ever consumed, but also I scored some great deals on blueberries and took them all home, freezing a majority to make baked goods, smoothies and anything else I could think of.
In fact, I’d love to see if there is some sort of festival like this around Dallas that I could check out in the spring or summertime.
I was grocery shopping last week and stumbled upon a fabulous organic blueberry sale, so I snatched up a few containers of them and brought them home, thrilled to have a little blueberry sweetness during the wintertime. After much waffling, I decided to make some muffins…
This blueberry breakfast treat harkens back to my galley kitchen in Mississippi, and as if that wasn’t enough, they’re vegan, to boot.
Erin’s Recommended Tools/Products for Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Essentials: Muffin tin.
- Get the look: Drinking jar with handle. Yellow striped towel.
Now who’s ready to make these beauties?
Vegan Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh blueberries + 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour.
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar + 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with baking cups, then spritz with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Coat the blueberries in 1 tablespoon of flour. Set aside.
- Mix dry ingredients -- flour, baking powder and sea salt -- together, whisking until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the sugar, oil and applesauce until light and fluffy using a hand mixer.
- Add vinegar and baking soda mixture, then the vanilla, stirring until incorporated.
- Sprinkle in the dry ingredients and almond milk, stirring until just mixed.
- Fold in the flour-coated blueberries, stirring until incorporated into the batter.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared baking cups.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown, then enjoy warm!
These look so appetizing right now! I haven’t had a blueberry muffin in ages but they are one of my fave kinds. I like that you use applesauce in these, healthy 🙂
They are SO GOOD, and I wish I had one to eat for breakfast here in Denver. I’m a huge fan of blueberries, clearly, and like you, I love using applesauce to make it a little healthier.
Oddly enough, I HATE blueberries unless they’ve been muffin-ed or pancaked. These sound super tasty and worth allowing blueberries into my home for 🙂
Kelly, too funny! I used to feel that same way about blueberries… back before that blueberry festival. I’d be interested to know what you think about these muffins! I think the blueberries in them are the perfect touch.
can i use frozen blueberries and just thaw them or would it affect texture of the muffin?
Chelly, not sure if the frozen and thawed blueberries would work here. I’d love to hear if you DID use them to see how they were, though.
Bluberry muffins remind me of baking with my mom as a young tyke. We baked blueberry muffins pretty frequently and I loved helping out with the batter. Your muffins look awesome and I bet they’re deeeeeelicious! Like the idea of making them vegan, too…I’m not vegan but it’s nice to keep things clean from time to time 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Aww, I love that, Julia. What a fun memory. And thank you. The muffins ARE delish. Like you, I’m not vegan, but I like the change things up and keep them clean from time to time.
I love blueberry desserts! Especially those that pair lemon and blueberry. I want to try this with soy milk and see what happens! There are many kinds of food that remind me of various people and places. For example, potato chicken and steamed eggs always remind me of my grandma. And shepherd’s pie reminds me of college when I first tasted it. Divine!
Blueberry anything is fine by me, girl. 😉 And please let me know how it turns out with soy milk! I’ve never used it before, but I have heard great things.
I love all those different foods that remind you of various people and places. What fun memories to have! And to be able to share with others through your cooking!
Mmm muffins in the morning are the best! Thanks for sharing this!
You’re welcome! Muffins are one of my favorite things, and these ones are pretty darn delish.
I made these with frozen blueberries and they came out great, but I had to cook them about double the time (not sure if that’s just because of the frozen berries) I also used coconut milk because I had some leftover on hand.
Becky, thanks so much for the report back! I am so glad to hear that they came out great, even if they took some extra cooking time. When I initially scribed this recipe, maybe my oven was running too hot because this seems to be a trend of them taking longer? When I made them two week ago, I wrote the extra cooking time off as my 50+ year old oven going out (because I’m fairly positive it is.)
I’ll go ahead and make a note for future people wanting to bake these so they know this might be more common than not. Or all our ovens are wonky. 😉
Glad you tried them, and they turned out for you! Thanks!
I think this was one of the most poorly written recipes I’ve ever tried. As I’m going through adding the dry ingredients, I have to search them out in the list of ingredients because they don’t specify what they are, and then right after I add sugar (a dry ingredient, no?) they tell me to mix that in with the applesauce. Then the time says to bake for ten minutes and right now they’ve been in for 20 and are still not done. Would never use this recipe again.
I’m sorry you feel this way, Carolyn, though I can certainly understand your concerns. I’ll go ahead and break down the ingredients a bit better in the directions so there is no more confusion for this in the future. As far as the baking time, I know ovens run at different temperatures, which is why I add the line about baking until cooked through because I know my old oven is maybe not the most accurate.
Thanks for your feedback. I’ll work to make this better in the future.
I love this recipe. I had to cook them a little longer and now I use only 1 cup of blueberries, instead of 2, but besides that they are perfect! yummy! and directions were very clear to me and I just started baking. I also add walnut for protein… great way to get more protein into my kids and they LOVE these muffins! maying your banana bread today – can’t wait! thank you for posting all these amazing recipes! helping me get started in my baking/vegan diet for my family!
Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so negative. I was just trying to whip these up fast for my girls for breakfast and I got very frustrated. They taste ok, although they could use a little zip of lemon or something. Anyway, I don’t want to be a negative nelly.
That’s fine. I can understand your frustration, and I’m just sorry one of my recipes caused it. Glad they taste OK, despite the hassle they were to make.
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Do you think I could make these gluten-free? Have you made these that way? Do you have any recommendations? I am making these for class and one of my groupmates is Celiac.
Hey Jessica! I love that you’re thinking of your classmate’s food allergies. Sadly, I don’t have much experience with gluten-free baking to guide you in the right direction with this. I’d just hate to say for you to substitute the flour here with AP gluten-free flour, and it not turn out since I haven’t tried it myself. Sorry I can’t be more of a help!
Hello! I just made these gluten free and vegan by using two cups of rice flour instead of white flour. I also substituted the apple sauce for one mashed banana. They tasted great. However, the blueberries all settled at the bottom. I guess that’s because I used frozen blueberries.
That’s fantastic, Kailey! So glad your adapted gluten free version turned out well… I wish I could try it with the mashed banana, but alas, I’m allergic. (How horrible is that?) As far as the blueberries go, did you coat them in the flour? And were they thawed when you baked the muffins? Those are the only two things that I think might affect them being distributed evenly in the batter.
Thanks for your comment!
Great recipe! My daughter who is six just helped me make these after school. She is not a fan of blueberries. This might just be the recipe to win her over! They turned out great. We gave them a few minutes to cool. Yum! we made 12 regular size and 12 mini muffins. They won’t last long.
Thanks so much! That’s AMAZING that you made these with your daughter after school, and I hope this recipe changed her mind about blueberries! Thanks for your comment, and I hope y’all enjoyed the rest of the muffins!
My son has a dairy intolerance so these were a perfect recipe for us to make together. I did end up cooking them for 20 minutes and next time would probably add a minute or two on to that because they were still a bit gooey on the inside. I also used original almond milk because thats what we had on had. Overall I was very impressed. This is not a very sweet muffin so it’s great for breakfast and they came out incredibly moist, light and fluffy. We will definately be keeping this in our recipe box to make again!
Good to know that you also baked them for 20 minutes and might add some more time. (I swear, my oven is SO WONKY sometimes!) So glad to hear you were impressed and that the muffins were good for breakfast and moist, light, and fluffy! Thanks for your comment, and I hope you continue to enjoy these muffins in the future!
I loved these! Super incredible…I baked mine for about 22 minutes. I might’ve added just a wee bit more almond milk because the batter was super thick, but they were great! Thanks for sharing!!!
Thanks so much, Rebecca! I am so glad to hear they turned out wonderfully and that you loved them! I appreciate the comment, and I hope you continue to enjoy the recipe. It’s one of our favorites when we can get our hands on fresh blueberries.
I’m so sad that these didn’t turn out at all for me. They came out deflated and a mess. I can’t even get them out of the pan without destroying them. The flavor is okay but they are impossible to eat. Any ideas what may have gone wrong? The only difference was I made them as mini muffins instead of the full size ones. I have never had this happen, so odd!
Oh, Amy, I’m so sorry to hear that your muffins didn’t turn out at all! How frustrating AND disappointing. My only guess is maybe that your baking soda and baking powder weren’t fresh? That would explain them being deflated, as I’ve run into that issue before, as well. (And also had a cake turn into a volcano in my oven when I added too much — bad news bears.) I’ve never made these in the mini muffin tins, but changing the size shouldn’t matter as far as rising goes. That’s my only guess, though, girl. I’m sorry they didn’t work out.
I checked the date on the powder before I used it and it should have been good, but it could have been the soda. My nursing babe has a dairy intolerance so we are on an endless quest for decent muffins and were hopeful that this one would work. I’ll get new ingredients and try again. Thanks for the quick reply!
Amy, My apologies on being so slow in getting back to you now. Sorry to hear that the soda could have been the issue, and I hope these worked out if you made them again! I use a LOT of almond milk at my home, so I can understand working with a dairy intolerance. 🙂 Best of luck to you!
Thanks for a wonderfully easy recipe! I developed food allergies to milk & eggs 2 years ago and it has been a challenge to find recipes and creative ways to still make my favorite dishes. I wanted a healthier lifestyle and well, food allergies was not what I had in mind, but it has forced me to eat healthier and pay more attention to whats in my food. Not only has it changed me, but it has helped me bring more awareness to my spa and educating my clients on nutrition. I will definitely be adding this recipe to my list of good finds! I used King Arthur self rising flour and organic vanilla soy milk so I omitted the baking soda, salt and vanilla extract. I also sprinkled a little brown sugar on the tops for that extra hint of sweetness and crunch. Thanks for the recipe!!!
I just made these tonight with a few modifications and they are great! I had no applesauce so I used a banana, as suggested by another commenter. I also used frozen blueberries and soy milk in place of almond milk. I love the taste of lemon in muffins so instead of using vinegar, I used the juice of one lemon and added the zest of that lemon in too. In order to draw out the taste of the lemon I cut back on the vanilla by half. I would consider doubling the lemon zest next time. Oh, and these took about 25 minutes to bake.
Thanks for a great recipe!
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Hi! I just made these! I substituted the applesauce with 1 banana like some other commenters, used lemon juice from 2.5 mini lemons instead of the vinegar, and 3/4 cups of soymilk because the batter felt too unliquidy (lol i’m clearly great at making up words..) to fold in the blueberries! I should’ve just baked them for 10 minutes because at 20 they came out too brown and the bottom turned too tough 🙁 I got a total of 12 cupcake-sized ones! Thanks for the recipe! They tasted great for being vegan!
Anna, I’m happy to hear that they tasted great, even if they were a little overcooked. The more I cook in this new house of mine, the more I’m realizing that my oven, which is ANCIENT, is really inaccurate, and I need to make notes on my recipes for people to check because what works for me will certainly not work for a newer oven. Thanks for letting me know how your experiment turned out, and I wish I could try the banana in this!
I made these yesterday because I have been craving blueberry muffins! When I was getting all the ingredients together I was disappointed because I didn’t haven’t any vinegar except for ones with added garlic, which didn’t sound too good! Haha! I used lemon juice instead and it worked perfectly. Boy were these delicious!!!! So moist! I will be making these again! Even one of my family members who isn’t a big muffin fan loved them. He ate 3 and kept going on about how good they tasted!
Amber, so happy these worked out for you and that you enjoyed them, even if you substituted some lemon juice instead of the vinegar. (Isn’t it amazing how many substitutions work and serve the same role?) Thanks for the feedback, and enjoy the muffins!
I made these muffins this morning with I guess too high of expectations. The muffins turned out fine, they did take almost 25 minutes to bake though. My husband said they were ok, but I thought they were a little bland and sticky, not really muffin texture. I have yet to find a really good vegan blueberry muffin recipe, but I will keep looking. Thanks for your effort in making the recipe!
Aww, I’m sorry to hear the muffins didn’t turn out as nicely as you expected, Andrea. One of the first times I made these muffins, I overmixed them, and they turned out sticky like you’re describing. And I’ve also found adding a little lemon zest adds some zip to them if you’re willing to tinker! Thanks for leaving me a comment about it. I appreciate it, and good luck finding that vegan blueberry muffin recipe!
All I have to say is that these are amazing and better than any regular or vegan muffins i have ever had . Thanks so much for sharing
Camille, so happy to hear you enjoyed these muffins! Thanks for the compliment and trying ’em out!
Made these with zest of 1 lemon and lemon juice in place of vinegar. SO delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!
So happy they turned out for you, Lindsey! Enjoy!
I made these today for my family. My husband reports that they taste like pancakes and need maple syrup. I think they contain a little too much baking soda as they taste like it. What did I do wrong? They just don’t seem to resemble the flavor of muffins.
Jeannine, I’m sorry to hear your husband thought they tasted like pancakes and that they didn’t have a muffin flavor. I honestly don’t know what to tell you as far as the taste and the baking soda go. I’ve never run into this problem before. … But then again, I really DO like the taste of pancakes and probably would mind them in muffin form. :/
I made these for my boyfriend and me and they were delicious! My boyfriend said they were his favorite muffins he’s ever had and we loved how moist and decadent they were. Thank you for the recipe!
So happy to hear the muffins turned out, Erin, and that your boyfriend said they were his favorite muffins ever! What a compliment!
These muffins turned out perfectly for me when I tried them! Quick question though – you mentioned that you have made these muffins with egg and I was wondering what would the recipe look like with it included. Also, did you find the muffin was noticeably different with the egg included (fluffier maybe?). Thanks for your help and the awesome recipe! 🙂
Archana, I’m so happy to hear the muffins were perfect for you! And yes, with the eggs, the muffins were a little fluffier, but it wasn’t too much of a difference. And I hope you continue to enjoy this recipe!
Hello Everyone, I am new to vegan baking. I am a avid baker and these muffins were way to soft and mushy. Followed recipe exactly how it was written. Baked for 20 mins. Probably will not waste ingredients again on this recipe.
I’m sorry to hear your muffins turned out mushy, Linda. That’s disappointing, and I’m sorry the directions didn’t lead you to the perfect and fluffy muffins I have achieved in the past with this recipe. Good luck with all your vegan baking and better luck next time!
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I make these all the time – the kids love them and I switch things up a bit with adding oats and nuts, and the come out great all the time. I just starting baking a few months ago and this was the 1st thing I ever baked from scratch. thank you.. so easy to follow! also, today I made them as donuts… donut pan instead of muffin and my kids went crazy for them! very happy to make healthy baked goods for my family and really appreciate this and all your recipes! merry christmas!
Kristin,
So happy to hear that you make these all the time, your kids love them, and that you’re able to adapt them based on your needs/wants of the day. 🙂 Also thrilled to hear these were the first thing you ever baked from scratch! I’m definitely going to have to make these as donuts because that is a GREAT idea!
Thanks for leaving your sweet comment, and continue to enjoy all the goodness, girl!
These are in the oven as I type! They are rising lovely!
A few observations – based on pics, it looks like you made mini muffins? It would make sense in that case that it only took 10 minutes to bake. If making regular muffins, it will take longer, more like 20-25 minutes.
I modified slightly. We are gluten free so I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all-purpose flour (2 cups plus 1 tsp xanthan gum) and I used rice milk instead as that’s all I had on hand. I also used frozen blueberries. I did not thaw them and they worked well and didn’t sink. Oh and I didn’t have enough applesauce, so I subbed with an apple/squash baby food!
And now, after all this typing, they are out of the oven. I thought they were done but even with the nice brown tops the inside was all mushy. Don’t know if it because of frozen berries or what but back in for longer cooking and I covered the pan so as to not brown tops any more. The little that I did sample tasted great.
Christine,
Thanks for leaving such a lovely and thorough comment! Happy to hear that the muffins were rising wonderfully AND that the sample tasted great, even if they weren’t done when you first pulled them out of the oven.
I actually made regular-sized muffins, and the previous 10-minute baking window was based off of the oven in our old home (which was brand new)… though I still think that is incorrect. Since my current oven is 50+ years old, the 20-25 minute baking window is way more applicable now. 😉
Very interesting about your modifications to make the muffins gluten free, the substitution of rice milk and frozen blueberries instead of fresh. I’m happy this recipe was adaptable!
Here’s to great muffins. I hope you enjoy them!
Ok, so I had 3 muffins that were ‘extra’ (bottom of bowl, scraped batter) so hardly any blueberries. They cooked up perfect! So next time I will reduce the blueberries.
Happy to hear they turned out well and that you might reduce the blueberries next time. Enjoy!
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hello there! i don’t usually post when i find recipes, but these came out so amazing that i just had to say thank you!!! as a vegan for over a year, i had not ventured to try blueberry muffins yet. i had a great non vegan recipe that made huge muffins with streusel and everything that i always used, but i wanted to find something healthier and still delicious. i was slightly afraid that my boyfriend would not find these as appealing, but he LOVES them and so do i! not sure about the baking problems, i baked them for 15 minutes with the full amount of blueberries and they are perfect. thank you!
Cate, thanks for stopping by and leaving a review of this recipe! I so appreciate it, and it makes me smile knowing they turned out wonderfully for you and were loved by vegans and non-vegans alike!
These were so delicious! I made a batch of 24 and they are all gone a day and a half later. Thank you for this recipe!
These are so yummy! I did end up baking for 20-25 minutes instead of 10, but I also prefer my muffins a little brown, so it would have been around 20 minutes if I were baking them to give away. I made 18 regular-sized muffins. I love how blueberry-y they are! So great!
Made this today and they turned out great!! I had to bake them for 25 minutes instead of 10. But they turned out great!! 🙂 Thanks!
Mine didn’t raise very good, any suggestions?
I’d guess that maybe the baking powder you used was older. If that’s not the case, I’m unsure what would be another factor in the muffins not rising very well other than maybe too many blueberries were added? I hope that helps, Avery!
Gorgeous photos! Blueberry muffins are my favorite and this vegan recipe looks like a winner. Pinning 🙂
Thanks so much, Andrea! I’m a huge fan of blueberry muffins, too, and I hope you enjoy these beauties!
Hi! I made this today, and though the taste is good, they turned out deflated. I used frozen blueberrys, but by reading the other coments I don’t think thats the problem. Maybe it’s because I put baking soda and vinager separetely, or the fact that the apple sause had sugar. What do you think?
Hey Ana! I’m sorry that the muffins were a bit deflated. I’d guess that maybe your baking soda wasn’t fresh? It could also be because the baking soda and vinegar should go in together (you want them to fizz up!). I wouldn’t think it was the applesauce. I hope that helps, and I hope next time, they turn out beautifully!
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I really liked this recipe. While I made some weird changes, I think that this recipe would be excellent as written, which is why it’s so easily adaptable! I used whole wheat flour and subbed 1/4c with homemade almond meal because I wanted to use it up. I added a little flax for fun, and subbed the blueblerries with frozen cranberries and chocolate chips! These muffins don’t taste like they’re missing any oil, which makes them an extra nice breakfast/snack/treat! Thanks TSP!
Hey Dana! Thank you SO MUCH for your comment and your review. 🙂 I’m so happy to hear that you think the recipe was excellently written (thank you, several years of edits!) and that your “weird changes” worked because of it. 🙂 I love the idea of adding cranberries to these muffins, too. I hope you and yours enjoy these muffins for years to come!