These gluten free vegan muffins are wealthy and flavorful with a barely crisp exterior, and a tall, golden brown dome. This particular recipe wants no difficult “egg replacers” since it’s made to be naturally egg-free and dairy-free with out sacrificing that dense, moist crumb.
Plus, you possibly can add our secret vegan-friendly flavoring that makes them style like they’re made with dairy butter!
Why this recipe makes the perfect vegan gf muffin
These muffins mix vegan butter and oil for a brilliant tender crumb with none oily taste, and add some additional tapioca starch to a traditional gf flour mix for the perfect texture and a supported rise. Plus, with loads of vanilla extract and buttery-flavored vegan butter emulsion oil, they’re filled with genuine bakery taste.
This vegan recipe has all the identical texture as our traditional gluten free chocolate chip muffins made with eggs and buttermilk. However it’s developed with out the necessity for eggs within the first place, so it is vegan first and with out compromise.
Made simply in a single bowl, this small batch recipe could be doubled simply to make a good 12 muffins—and even halved to make simply 3!
Ingredient notes: the key to good texture & taste
The elements on this recipe could appear a bit unfamiliar, since there aren’t any “egg replacers.” Simply primary elements that act collectively to create the perfect textured muffin. This is a bit about what every does:
- Oil: Any impartial oil (canola, grapeseed, peanut, vegetable, avocado) works properly. Just a bit bit helps lock in moisture with out including taste or making the muffins style oily.
- Vegan butter: Block-style vegan butter gives taste and moisture. The type within the tub has an excessive amount of oil, so use Miyoko’s Creamery, Soften, or Dealer Joe’s vegan butter, that are all good. Should you use Earth’s Steadiness Buttery Sticks, cut back the salt by 1/8 teaspoon since it’s extremely salty.
- Plant-based milk: Provides richness and brings the muffin batter collectively. Use one thing with an identical thickness to cow’s milk, like unflavored and unsweetened almond milk or soy milk. Keep away from something fats free, like rice milk, something with texture, like oat milk, or something with out sufficient moisture, like canned coconut milk.
- Apple cider vinegar: Reacts with baking soda alone and the baking soda in your baking powder to assist the muffins rise excessive. It might have a powerful scent within the bottle, nevertheless it does not add any distinct taste to the muffins.
- Granulated vegan sugar: Provides sweetness and tenderness. Should you’re a really strict vegan, refined sugars could be vegan in the event that they’re processed with out using bone char, so search for phrases like “pure” and “uncooked.”
- Mild brown sugar: Provides sweetness, tenderness, and depth of taste. Be certain it is vegan when you’re strict.
- Gluten free flour mix: For the correct construction, you want a finely floor rice flour based mostly mix that is correctly balanced. Higher Batter’s traditional mix and Bob’s Pink Mill’s 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour (blue bag) are each vegan-friendly. Should you’re utilizing Bob’s, add one other 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum or your muffins will likely be crumbly. You can even use my mock Higher Batter mix, however Nicole’s Finest has milk powder, so it will not work right here.
- Tapioca starch: To assist the muffins stand up tall with out eggs, we add extra tapioca starch though your mix most probably already incorporates some.
- Salt: Brightens all the opposite flavors and balances the sweetness.
- Vanilla extract & butter emulsion oil: Add depth of taste in these in any other case easy muffins, particularly within the absence of eggs and common butter. LorAnn model butter emulsion is offered on Amazon (the place I purchased it) and in a few of the bigger craft shops.
- Chocolate chips: The simplest and hottest of all mix-ins, they add some texture and a contact of chocolate taste. Get pleasure from Life is my favourite model of vegan-friendly chocolate chips.
The right way to make gluten free vegan muffins, step-by-step
1. Make the muffin batter
Start by mixing collectively white and lightweight brown sugars to make sure that you’ll be able to break up any lumps within the brown sugar. Add the vegan milk, vanilla extract, butter emulsion oil, melted vegan butter and oil, and whisk vigorously. The combination ought to lighten in colour as you start to emulsify the oil within the milk which creates a extra tender, easy muffin after baking.
Add the gluten free flour mix together with xanthan gum, extra tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. You possibly can whisk these dry elements collectively individually to keep away from clumping of the leaveners, or simply scatter every of them evenly excessive of the moist elements.
Whisk till very properly mixed. The combination will fall off the whisk in comparatively skinny ribbons.
2. Let the batter sit
Let the batter sit, undisturbed, for about half-hour. Because the flours take in a few of the moisture, the combination will thicken. That creates a extra steady batter that may maintain the chocolate chips in suspension, and can rise greater within the oven. Double-acting baking powder will activate as soon as when it is first combined with moisture, and once more when it goes into the oven.
3. Portion the batter and bake
Fill the wells full with batter, concentrating it towards the middle of every properly. In my expertise, thick muffin batter piled excessive makes for muffins with a phenomenal, tall dome.
Should you’re making 6 muffins (that means you did not double the recipe to make 12), and you do not have a 6-muffin tin, depart each different properly of the tin empty to provide the muffins area to broaden with out interfering with one another. Place the pan within the oven and fill the empty wells about 70% full with sizzling water to encourage even baking. Chilly or lukewarm water will decrease the oven temperature.
If you did not have time to let it sit, line the ready muffin wells with some plain batter first. Then, combine within the chips and fill the wells the remainder of the best way.
Bake first at 400°F for a burst of sizzling air that creates as a lot oven spring as attainable for a excessive dome, then end baking at 350°F so the muffins do not burn.
Cool briefly and switch the muffins to a wire rack to complete cooling, and serve.
Professional ideas for bakery-style muffins
Let the muffin batter relaxation
If you let the graceful muffin batter, with out chips or different mix-ins, relaxation for about half-hour, the batter thickens sufficient to maintain the mix-ins from sinking within the batter throughout baking. With out eggs, it is a comparatively skinny muffin batter when simply combined. This manner, the chips keep suspended within the thicker batter, and the muffin tops rise even greater into a giant bakery-style dome.
Use a mix of oil and vegan butter
Although the vegan butter is melted, combining it with a impartial oil like peanut or vegetable oil retains the muffins from smelling or tasting oily. Should you do not thoughts that style, the recipe will work with all oil (simply change the vegan butter with 35 grams extra oil, not 42, since oil is all fats and butter has some moisture).
Add butter flavoring
Block-style vegan butter like Miyoko’s Creamery model is healthier than ever earlier than, nevertheless it nonetheless does not style precisely like dairy butter. To get that butter taste and canopy any oily aftertaste, attempt utilizing LorAnn Oil’s vegan-friendly butter emulsion oil. Though it does not style like a lot by itself (I attempted it!), it elevates the buttery taste of baked items.
Fill each different properly of a 12-cup tin
If you’re making solely 6 muffins, you do not want a 6-cup muffin tin. It is really higher to make use of a 12-cup tin and fill each different properly of the tin to permit the tops loads of room to broaden with out interference. To assist the muffins bake evenly, fill the empty wells 2/3 of the best way filled with heat water as soon as the pan is within the oven.
Variations & mix-in concepts
Chips
Some other form of vegan chocolate chip works, nevertheless it’s greatest to keep away from white chocolate chips since a dairy free selection could be very onerous to search out.
Nuts
I like uncooked nuts greatest for baking, since they are typically softer. Attempt including some damaged items of walnuts or pecans. Toasted coconut chips could be nice, too.
Spices
Whether or not you are including chocolate chips or nuts or not, attempt enhancing the flavour of by including 1/2 teaspoon of floor cinnamon and/or 1/8 teaspoon of freshly floor nutmeg.
Fruits
If you would like to make these into vegan blueberry muffins, begin with solely 3 ounces of contemporary or frozen (undefrosted) blueberries however toss them in some extra tapioca starch/flour earlier than fastidiously mixing them into the muffin batter. Remember to let the batter sit first to thicken earlier than mixing them in.
You can even add as much as 4 ounces dried fruit like raisins or dried cranberries. Attempt 2 ounces dairy free chocolate chips and a pair of ounces dried blueberries for a extra complicated taste.
🔄 Ingredient substitutions
Since these muffins are vegan, they’re already dairy free and egg free. There are nonetheless another elements you would possibly like to switch, and a few mix-ins you would possibly prefer to swap. Listed here are some concepts:
Tapioca starch
If you do not have extra tapioca starch, attempt changing it with superfine glutinous rice flour instead of tapioca starch. You can even use extra of the all objective mix, however the muffins will likely be shorter and the crumb tighter.
Apple cider vinegar
In my expertise, apple cider vinegar is the best acid in activating baking powder and soda. If you should change it, you should use contemporary lemon juice or white vinegar.
Butter emulsion oil
That is an elective ingredient. Should you do not wish to buy it, the muffins are scrumptious as is. You can even use a full 2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste, or pure vanilla extract with some vanilla bean seeds.
- 7 tablespoons (88 g) granulated sugar, (vegans, ensure it is applicable)
- 5 tablespoons (68 g) packed gentle brown sugar, (vegans, ensure it is applicable)
- ¾ cup (6 fluid ounces) nondairy milk, at room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon LorAnn butter emulsion oil, elective, for buttery taste
- 3 tablespoons (42 g) vegan butter, melted and cooled
- 1 ½ tablespoons (21 g) impartial oil, (canola, grapeseed, vegetable, peanut oils are all high-quality)
- 1 cup (140 g) all objective gluten free flour mix, ensure it is dairy free (See Recipe Notes)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum, omit in case your mix already incorporates it
- 6 tablespoons (46 g) tapioca starch/flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 ounces mix-in items, dairy free chocolate chips, raisins, or chopped nuts
- Coarsely floor sugar, elective, for sprinkling
Stop your display screen from going darkish
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Grease and/or line 6 standard-sized muffin wells and set the pan apart. (See Recipe Notes about muffin tin.)
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In a big bowl, place the granulated sugar and lightweight brown sugar and blend them collectively, breaking apart the lumps within the brown sugar.
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Add the milk, vinegar, vanilla, elective butter emulsion, melted vegan butter, and oil to the bowl, and whisk vigorously to mix very properly. The combination will likely be skinny.
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Scatter the dry elements, first the flour mix and xanthan gum, then the tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, on high of the moist elements. Whisk to mix till very easy. The batter will likely be sticky and runny.
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Set the batter apart for a minimum of 20 minutes, ideally half-hour. It is going to thicken because it stands.
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Whereas the muffin batter rests, preheat your oven to 400°F.
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Use a silicone spatula to show the thickened muffin batter over a couple of instances. Add nearly the entire mix-in items, and blend till evenly distributed all through. Reserve a couple of chips or different mix-ins.
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Fill the ready wells of the muffin tin all the best way with batter. Pile the batter towards the middle of every properly if in any respect attainable. High evenly with any remaining mix-in items and press in gently to assist them follow the batter. Sprinkle the highest of the batter in every properly calmly with the elective coarse sugar.
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Place the baking tin within the high third of the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Scale back the oven temperature to 350°F and proceed baking till a tester comes out largely clear and the muffins are properly domed (about one other 12 minutes).
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Take away the muffins from the oven and permit them to chill within the tin for five minutes earlier than transferring to a wire rack to chill utterly.
My favourite vegan-friendly gluten free flour mix is Higher Batter’s unique mix gluten free flour. Bob’s Pink Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour can be dairy free and works properly. I like to recommend including an extra 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum to your dry elements or the muffins will look good, however will likely be crumbly.
To make your individual mix utilizing my “mock” Higher Batter recipe, please see the all objective gluten free flour blends web page.
In regards to the muffin tin
If you do not have a 6-well muffin tin, use a typical 12-well muffin tin and fill each different properly. To make sure even baking, fill the 6 empty wells about 2/3 of the best way with lukewarm water.
To make 12 muffins
This recipe doubles actually simply to make a full dozen (12) muffins. Simply double all of the elements by altering the yield to 12 or clicking the [2x] button.
Serving: 1muffin | Energy: 380kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 3g | Fats: 15g | Saturated Fats: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 3g | Monounsaturated Fats: 4g | Trans Fats: 0.04g | Sodium: 306mg | Potassium: 60mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 383IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 94mg | Iron: 2mg
Vitamin data is routinely calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.
Storage directions
Quick time period
Wrap baked and cooled muffins in plastic wrap or retailer in a sealed container at room temperature. They’ll keep contemporary that method for a minimum of 3 days.
Long run
Freeze them in a single layer on a flat floor, then pile them right into a sealed, freezer-safe container. They’re going to final a minimum of 2 months that method, and could be defrosted within the microwave and refreshed within the toaster oven.
FAQs
No, this muffin batter does not have sufficient construction to make an entire quickbread loaf that rises and holds collectively correctly.
All the time examine the freshness of your baking powder and baking soda, as they’re the one supply of rise on this egg-free, vegan recipe. Ensure you did not omit the vinegar, which prompts the baking soda, and measure your entire dry elements by weight. And ensure your baking powder is double-acting, which implies as soon as when hydrated and a second time within the oven.
You possibly can simply depart it out and use the recipe as-is, or change the vanilla extract with 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste for enhanced taste.
The muffins will nonetheless end up, however they will simply be a bit shorter. Should you watch the recipe video, you will see that I did not at all times let the muffin batter relaxation. As a substitute, to stop the chocolate chips from sinking all the best way to the underside, I lined the muffin wells with some plain batter first earlier than mixing within the chips and filling the wells all the best way.
I actually like unsweetened almond milk, because it has some fats and never a variety of distracting taste. Unsweetened unflavored soy milk and Ripple milk are additionally nice. I do not like baking with oat milk because it normally has undesirable texture, however when you have a favourite oat milk that mimics cow’s milk in texture, it is price a attempt!
Sure, you should use all melted vegan butter as an alternative a mix of butter and oil. I want so as to add some oil to assist soften the crumb and preserve the muffins brisker, longer.
I do not suggest decreasing the sugar, since it is also a tenderizer and retains the muffins moist. If you would like to attempt utilizing maple syrup instead of each sugars, attempt utilizing 6 tablespoons (126 grams) pure maple syrup, and cut back the milk by 1 1/2 tablespoons. Scale back the preliminary oven temperature to 375°F since maple syrup burns extra simply, and let the muffin batter sit for 1 hour earlier than including the chips because it has additional moisture that we aren’t in a position to completely take away.
These moist and tender muffins will keep contemporary in a sealed container at room temperature for a minimum of 3 days. For longer storage, I like to recommend freezing them wrapped tightly, and eradicating as a lot air as attainable to stop freezer burn. Defrost for 20 seconds within the microwave and sprinkle with water then refresh in a 300°F toaster oven till heat.
