Chocolate Chip Muffins – vegan and easy

A new year comes with new recipes and where better to start than this tried and tested classic; the chocolate chip muffins. As always this recipe is easy, delicious and of course, vegan.

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Whose mouth doesn’t water at the sight of anything that has got chocolate chips in it? I bet no one. And today you are about to get your mouth watering over these fluffy, sweet, and delicious vegan chocolate chip muffins.

They are honestly one of the easiest and most delicious muffin recipes that you can make while staying at home! I’m very pleased to introduce you to this delicious muffin recipe as the first recipe of the new year!

My first vegan chocolate chip recipe in Japan

It may come as a surprise to some of you guys as much as it is to me, but this is actually the very first recipe that I made with chocolate chips in it! I posted my lovely vegan chocolate chip cookie bars a while ago, but these muffins were definitely the very first thing I baked with vegan chocolate chips. And I wondered, why did I not try to create any recipes with chocolate chips in them sooner?

And I realised, one of the reasons was that vegan chocolate chips were not available in Japan when I started creating recipes for The Chestnut Bakery, so frustrating! But thankfully, I recently came across some vegan chocolate chips online that stay in shape in the oven, hurray! I love that we are all seeing more and more of our favourite baking goods without dairy in them.

So of course the first thing I baked as soon as the package arrived was these lovely vegan chocolate chip muffins. Are you all chocolate chip lovers ready for this recipe?

Here we go.

How to make vegan chocolate chip muffins

Muffins are one of my absolute favourite things to bake. Mainly because they are just plain delicious, make my day brighter just looking at them on my breakfast table(and eating them of course!) and they are also super easy and takes relatively short amount of time to bake. This makes muffins a beginner friendly thing to bake for moms with kids or anyone who wants to take up baking during quarantine.

I remember the very first time I baked muffins, I was apprehensive as to how that batter I was mixing could turn into the delicious muffins with puffy little tops I see in fancy bakeries and cafes. And I can feel your apprehension too, especially if this is your first time baking muffins.

So here are some of the tips I use to make this muffin recipe or any muffins with that puffy top.

Dry and liquid in ingredients ratio

If you bake often, I guess you know how important it is to get the dry and liquid ingredients ratio right to make certain baking goods to give them their signature features. For this recipe, is that fluffiness and puffy muffin top combined with that soft and moist texture. To achieve this, do use the scale or very carefully measure with measuring cups, otherwise the texture won’t be right or you won’t get that cute muffins tops.

No over mixing the batter

It is easy to over mix the batter when mixing the dry ingredients and liquid ingredients. But be careful not to! Over mixing the batter causes gluten(if using regular white flour) in the flour to develop, which results in tough texture. For muffins we want to get fluffy, puffy, soft, and moist texture so when mixing try to mix as gently as you can.

I always mix with a big wooden spoon instead of a whisker with cutting motion from top to bottom, rotating the mixing bowl slightly to make sure everything is combined but just before it’s mixed too much. 

It is ok to have some lumps of flour left in the batter, don’t worry! They will all incorporate once the batter is rested and baked in the oven.

Patience, it’s resting time

It wasn’t until I baked the second batch of my muffin butter at my first attempt that I realised the muffins of the second batch raised higher and made that perfect muffins top!

Turns out, resting muffin batter for good 20-30 mins gives it time to incorporate the dry and liquid ingredients well and relax the gluten developed in the mixing step. So patience my friends, the key to good tall muffins!

Keep aside some chocolate chips to sprinkle

To make this recipe both delicious and looking pretty (who doesn’t want their muffins to look pretty?), keep aside about ~half a cup of chocolate chips to sprinkle on top right before they go into the oven. 

This way you have chocolate chips both inside the muffins and on top of the muffins which will make them look pretty to anyone’s eyes when they come out of the oven!

Use vegan chocolate chips that don’t melt in the oven

I did… I did try to bake things with regular vegan chocolate chunks when I couldn’t find any vegan chocolate chips that don’t melt in heat. But the thing is, muffins don’t do well with regular chocolates!

So do use vegan chocolate chips that don’t melt away in the oven, so the ones you sprinkle on top won’t all melt and run down to the side of them.

In supermarkets or online, pay attention to the package to see if the chocolate chips are dairy free and don’t melt in the oven. They look the same as regular ones, so be careful!

Q and A

Can I make them gluten-free?

Yes you can! Simply swap the plain flour with 1:1 gluten-free flour. The texture is going to be slightly dense, like one of my favourite muffin recipe gluten-free vegan lemon muffins.
I am planning on creating more gluten-free recipes for those who follow gluten-free diet so keep tuned!

Need some recipe inspiration while you wait t for my new recipes?

Join The Chestnut Bakery mailing crew to never miss a recipe and receive my free recipe ebook The Little Guide to Perfect Porridge where you can find colourful and delicious porridge recipes that kick start your day in the morning for the whole week! Plus 2 exciting Japanese style porridge recipes inside, hurray.

Can I use vegetable oil instead of vegan butter?

Yes, you can use vegetable oil instead of vegan butter if you prefer. Just use the same amount of your preferred vegetable oil in the recipe. The texture and flavour will be slightly different, slightly lighter in texture and flavour would be subtle.

I like the flavour that vegan butter gives in this muffin recipe so I recommend you to use vegan butter but you can use any other oils you like!

How and how long can I keep them for?

Muffins are best eaten fresh but you can also put them in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for up to 2-3 days to enjoy in the morning or as a snack. Simply take the muffins out of the fridge and warm up in the microwave whenever you fancy having these delicious vegan muffins.

You can also keep them in the freezer for a longer shelf life. Put them in an airtight container and keep them in the freezer for up to 2-3 month, warm up in the microwave for 2-3 mins until it’s soft and fluffy again!

Please leave a comment and rate this recipe in the comment section below if you like this vegan chocolate chip muffins! Let me know and tag me @thechestnutbakery on Instagram too. Thank you for making my recipe friends!

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Useful kitchen tools for this recipe

Muffin tin