Vegan Blueberry Lemon Muffins

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These easy vegan blueberry lemon muffins have a deliciously soft and fluffy texture, a perfect balance of sweet and tangy flavours, and are full of juicy blueberries! They are made in 1 bowl and ready in less than 40mins. Perfect for breakfast, dessert, snacks, and for bringing to home parties.

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It’s nearly the end of August but I guess it’s not too late to share these beauties with you, my vegan blueberry lemon muffins! If you love my lemon blueberry loaf cake, you’ll love this one too. The Blueberry and lemon combo is one of my favourite flavours. The tanginess of lemon perfectly compliments the juicy and sweet blueberries, don’t you think? I experimented a few times to make this muffin recipe and it came out of the oven perfect in the end – soft, moist, and fluffy with a lovely chubby muffin top. It’s so easy to make too! 

Main ingredients and substitutions

Plain flour: The base of this muffin recipe is regular plain flour. I like the fluffy texture I get from plain flour but you can also sub for a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend such as the one from King Arthur.

Lemon juice and zest: Get fresh and organic lemons from your favourite market! Organic is important here because you need to zest the lemons. You don’t want any nasty pesticides and chemicals on the lemon peel.

Blueberries: I like to use regular-size blueberries in muffins because big blueberries take up a lot of space in muffins. Having said that, any size of blueberries works fine! Make sure to weigh them correctly.

Caster sugar: I used caster sugar to sweeten the muffins but feel free to use any other sugar of your choice. If using brown sugar, the colour of the muffins will probably turn darker and the texture will be a bit more moist.

Soy yoghurt: Yoghurt creates an extra moist texture in baked goods and I love adding it to muffins too! You can use other plant-based yoghurts, such as almond yoghurt, etc.

Vegetable oil: Vegetable oil is the key to making muffins soft and moist. You can use rapeseed oil, canola oil, etc. Melted coconut oil should work fine too.

Soy milk: You can also use other plant milk if you prefer such as almond milk, rice, milk, oat milk, etc.

Arrowroot flour: Starchy flour like arrowroot flour helps create a soft and fluffy texture in baked goods. You can also use other starchy flour like cornflour, tapioca flour, potato flour, etc.

Other ingredients: baking powder and baking soda.

*I use bone char-free sugars for all of my recipes. I cover the topic in my article Vegan Baking 101. Go to the “Is sugar vegan?” section to learn more!

Recommended equipment for this recipe

Digital scale: Use a digital scale to weigh your ingredients for the best accuracy! It’s very inexpensive too.

Muffin tray: I used my regular-size muffin tray that can bake 9 muffins at a time.

Muffin cups: Use muffin cups / liners to make it easy to remove the muffins from the tray!

Ice cream scoop: I have an ice cream scoop for making muffins. It’s a great way to get the same amount of muffin batter in every muffin cup!

Lemon zester: A lemon zester comes in handy to zest not only lemons but any citrus fruits!

Lemon reamer: I have a ceramic lemon reamer that I love using to juice lemons. It’s pretty so makes it so fun to squeeze lemons!

*The ingredient list and measurement for this recipe can be found in the recipe card at the bottom.

How to make vegan blueberry lemon muffins

Step 1: Prepare the lemons and blueberries

Preheat the oven to 180°C(350°F).

First thing first, let’s prepare the lemon and blueberries! For blueberries, rinse them thoroughly under cold running water to get rid of any dirt. Remove any moisture by pat drying with a clean kitchen towel. Set them aside.

Rinse the lemons thoroughly and pat dry. Zest one lemon with a lemon zester. Try to only zest the yellow part of the peel! Once you zested, cut the lemons in half and juice with a lemon reamer. It should make about 1/4 cup (60ml) of lemon juice! 

Step 2: Make the batter

Mix the soy milk and lemon juice to make vegan buttermilk. Set aside for it to curdle. 

In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, caster sugar, arrowroot flour, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest with a whisk until well combined. Make sure there are no lumps of flour left in the mixture. Set aside.

In a  jug, mix the vegan buttermilk and vegetable oil until smooth. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix gently with a large wooden spoon or a silicone spatula until just combined. Do not overmix here! If you see little lumps or streaks of flour in the batter, don’t worry about it! It’ll all incorporate later. Add the blueberries and fold in gently.

Step 3: Bake

Prepare the muffin cups in a muffin tray. Scoop the batter using an ice cream scoop and fill each muffin cup to about ¾ and leave some room on top for the muffins to rise tall! Top with a few more blueberries or sprinkle some lemon sugar. Bake for 25mins until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. If it comes out with wet batter, bake for further 3-5 mins and test again.

Once baked, take them out of the oven and let them cool down in the tray until they are not too hot to touch. Transfer the muffins onto a cooling rack and cool further. Enjoy!

Serving tips and ideas

• Cut in half and serve with some vegan butter for breakfast. This is a great way to start your morning!
• Or have them with some nut butter to add some more flavour and texture.
• The muffins go nicely with coffee, English black tea, and a glass of lemonades on a hot day.
• They make a cure gift too! Wrap each muffin with a piece of a baking sheet and tie the top with string – I often gift my muffins to friends and they love them!

Expert tips and tricks

Mix the batter gently

I’ve probably said this in every single recipe post that uses plain flour because it’s super important. Mix the batter gently and do not overmix! Over mixing will form too much gluten in the batter and it results in a tough and rubbery texture in baked goods. When I mix muffin batter, I’m extra careful and gentle because it’s easy to overmix when using vegetable oil. It’s ok to have little lumps of flour in the batter, it’ll incorporate later in the oven. Be quick as well when folding the blueberries in.

Rest the batter if you have time

Resting the batter before baking will give the baking powder and soda time to activate as well as relax the gluten developed in the batter. So if you have time, rest the batter for at least 10 mins before adding the blueberries. This helps the muffins to rise tall and be fluffy!

Recipe variations

• Use orange zest and orange juice to make blueberry and orange muffins!
• You can also use other berries like strawberries, raspberries, blackberries etc. in place of blueberries.

How to store

• Room temperature: You can keep the muffins at room temperature for up to 1 day. Place the muffins on a plate and cover them with a dome cover to keep them away from dust. If your room is too hot, do store them in the fridge instead to prevent them from going bad.

• Refrigerating: Place the muffins in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. You can serve it cold or microwave it for a few seconds to slightly warm it up.

• Freezing: These muffins freeze well too! Wrap each muffin with clingfilm or put them in a freezer-friendly airtight container and store them in the freezer for up to 2-3 months. When serving, microwave for several seconds until warm and soft again.

Q and A

Can I use frozen blueberries?

Yes you can! However, frozen blueberries have more moisture than fresh ones so there’s a possibility that the texture of the muffins won’t turn out good. I’d thaw the blueberries completely before mixing them into the batter, remove any extra moisture with a clean kitchen towel, coat them lightly with some flour, and then mix them into the batter.

My blueberries sank to the bottom?

If the blueberries sank to the bottom of your muffins, they might have had extra moisture which weighed them down in the muffins. Make sure to remove any moisture with clean kitchen paper after rinsing them.

If they still sink, you can do the flour trick! Toss the blueberries in flour and coat them lightly then mix into the batter. It helps the blueberries not sink in muffins!

Want to master the basics of vegan baking?
Check out Vegan Baking 101 – the beginner’s guide to vegan baking for you to become an excellent vegan baker and familiar with the basics of vegan baking, ingredients, and techniques with useful tips!

You will LOVE these muffins because they are:

• easy to make
• a perfect balance of tangy and sweet
• a cute gift for your friends and family
• delicious

Want more recipes like this?

Try my other delicious muffin, lemon, and blueberry recipes you might enjoy!

• Lemon blueberry loaf cake
• Gluten-free lemon muffins
• Lemon sugar
• Apple cinnamon muffins

Visit the muffins page and recipe page for more delicious recipes!

Please leave a comment and rate this recipe with 5 stars in the comment section below if you like the recipe! Let me know and tag me @thechestnutbakery on Instagram too. Thank you for making my recipe, friends!

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