Wake up in decadent style with a Bakery-Style vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins. They are moist, fluffy, and bursting with chocolatey flavor. You're gonna love them!
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It's vegan Chocolate Chip Muffin time.
Hands down, my most popular recipe on the website is my Blueberry Muffins. These muffins have over 180 5 star reviews! You guys LOVE those muffins and that makes me so happy.
Since I didn't want to stray too far from what works, I adapted that recipe to make these vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins. Using simple everyday ingredients, this fool-proof muffin is unbelievable moist, perfectly sweet, and filled with chocolate chips in every bite.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Muffins {Video}
Recommended Ingredients & Equipment
I love this recipe and I think you will too! These vegan muffins are moist, rich, and bursting with cinnamon and chocolate in every bite. They are the perfect morning pastry or a midday snack.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Non-Dairy Milk – I recommend soy milk because it curdles the best. Almond milk will often curdle but not as well. This may affect the overall texture of the muffin.
- Apple Cider Vinegar – This is my vinegar of choice when making vegan buttermilk (vinegar + soymilk) but white vinegar, white wine vinegar, and lemon juice are great alternatives.
- All-Purpose Flour – For healthier flour options, you can use 1:1 gluten-free flour blends, buckwheat, or spelt flour.
- Baking Powder & Soda
- Salt
- Granulated Sugar – Check out my guide to vegan sugars and alternative sugar replacements. For a healthier sugar alternative, I recommend coconut sugar.
- Oil – This recipe calls for canola oil because it creates the best texture without added flavor. If you want to avoid hydrogenated oils, try avocado or melted coconut oil. Olive oil also works but adds a slightly savory flavor. If you want to eliminate the oil altogether, swap it out for the same amount of applesauce.
- Vanilla Extract
- Ground Cinnamon
- Mini Chocolate Chips - This is my favorite brand of mini vegan chocolate chips. (<<affiliate link)
Recommended Equipment
For all my muffin recipes, you’ll need basic kitchen equipment such as a mixing bowl, utensils, a wire cooling rack, and a muffin baking pan. I also recommend using an ice cream scoop to evenly and cleanly scoop your batter. (<<affiliate links)
Check out the full list of my recommended kitchen tools and gadgets.
How to Make Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins
Step One - Make Vegan Buttermilk
In a small bowl combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Whisk together then set aside to allow the milk to curdle.
The soy milk/apple cider vinegar combination makes vegan buttermilk which is essential for the muffins rise. I am often asked if other non-dairy milk will do and have learned that people have had great success with other thick milk such as cashew milk and oat milk.
Once the milk/vinegar mixture is thick and curdled, add the granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla extract, whisking together until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Step Two - Make the Batter
While the milk/vinegar is curdling, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until the flour is evenly hydrated. Be careful not to overmix.
Fold in the chocolate chips and your batter is done!
Step Three - Bake the Muffins
Scoop your batter into a greased muffin tin. I find that using an ice cream scoop is the cleanest and easiest way to get the batter into the muffin molds. Additionally, with an ice cream scoop, you can ensure the muffins are equally sized.
Fill each muffin mold about ¾ of the way full and bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before flipping out to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Serving And Storing
Serve these muffins immediately. They come out of the oven warm, buttery, and hard to resist!
Store leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can also freeze these muffins for up to 2 months. To thaw, pull the muffins from the freezer and let them thaw at room temperature for several hours.
Tips and Tricks
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Do not overmix your batter. Overmixing allows the gluten to develop and too much gluten will give you gummy and dense muffins.
- Fill muffin tins about ¾ of the way full. Any fuller than that and they will overflow.
- Make sure to let the muffins sit in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before flipping them out to a wire cooling rack. Otherwise, the muffins may fall apart.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use something other than soymilk?
Yes. While I choose soy milk because it curdles so well, many people have had success with almond milk, oat milk, and cashew milk as well.
Can this batter be made in advance?
Yes! If you want to make this muffin batter in advance, store the batter in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. To bake the muffins, preheat the oven and bake according to the instructions. However, these muffins may take a few minutes longer to bake since the batter will be chilled. The muffins will also be slightly denser as the baking soda begins to activate once it’s mixed into the batter, causing it to be slightly less potent.
But don’t worry; the difference will be hardly noticeable.
Can these muffins be gluten-free?
For sure! For gluten-free muffins, I recommend using a 1:1 baking blend.
More Vegan Muffin Recipes
- Blueberry Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Banana Nut Muffins
- Pumpkin Muffins
- Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup vegan mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a small bowl combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Whisk together then set aside to allow the milk to curdle. This will take about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Once milk/vinegar mixture is thick and curdled, resembling buttermilk, add the granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla extract, whisking together until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together until dough is evenly hydrated. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared baking sheet so that muffin molds are ⅔rd of the way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly brown and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before transferring onto wire cooling racks to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Video
Notes
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Do not overmix your batter. Overmixing allows the gluten to develop and too much gluten will give you gummy and dense muffins.
- Fill muffin tins about ¾ of the way full. Any fuller than that and they will overflow.
- Make sure to let the muffins sit in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before flipping them out to a wire cooling rack. Otherwise, the muffins may fall apart.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
Husna says
Hi, thank you so much for sharing this super easy & simple recipe ❤️, i've tried twice & it turned out to be so fluffy, delicious muffins ever.. I substitute the apple cider vinegar (acv) with lemon juice coz i don't hv avc at home & consume 1/4 cup of sugar.. Coz i prefer less sweet.. Still the muffins taste good.. ??
Evelyn says
Great tasty easy to make muffins!
They taste very good and takes only a little time which makes it a
special treat.
Says says
Hi this is sooo good
Angeline McGee says
Hands down the BEST muffins I have ever tasted, let alone baked myself. Super easy, super simple, super tasty. I've made them four times the past week. We have a large family so they go quick. Thanks for sharing this baked piece of heaven!
M says
Put your choc chips in with the dry flour. That way you won’t have to double mix them.
Ella says
Hi, this recipe looks great! I’m going to try making this recipe, would it still work if I was to substitute the soy milk and apple cider vinegar with regular milk?
And are the measurements your using metric or US?
Sarah McMinn says
The measurements are US but you can switch it to metric on the recipe card. The soy milk and apple cider vinegar make a vegan buttermilk so if you don't need it to be vegan I would recommend cow buttermilk.
Maike says
Wow, this is the best chocolate chip muffin recipe I have ever made!!! They came out so fluffy and light. Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! 🙂
Margaret says
Thank you for a wonderful recipe! I did make a few alterations, but your basic recipe remained intact, and they turned out to be the best muffins I've ever made, confirmed by my family. These will be a regular for now on.. Thanks again!
Jordan says
I’ve made these countless times and they are phenomenal each time. The key is to not over mix and not over bake . Leaves you with a moist fluffy muffin. So so good. I’ve made these with oat milk and almond milk and both work well. I’ve also made these with apples instead of chocolate chips for an apple cinnamon muffin.
Phoebe says
hello i made these yesterday and they were so yummy! i am making them again now but instead of chocolate chips i am using blueberries if you don't have chocolate use blue berries instead!
Madison says
I have been making these muffins for over 2 years. Everyone who tries them falls in love & can't believe that they are vegan! Thank you for this amazing recipe. 🙂
Andrea says
I loved this recipe! It’s easy to follow with ingredients I usually have on hand, although I did have to substitute coconut milk. The muffins are fluffy and not too sweet! I added a tiny bit of cocoa powder and some chopped almonds on top for some crunch. Love these with my coffee or tea.
Jen says
Any luck using rice milk? My food allergy kiddo cannot do soy, oat or any nut milks. Thanks in advance!
Sarah McMinn says
Can they do oat? That might be the best alternative. Otherwise, rice should be fine.
Samarah says
Made these today for the first time and it’s only my second time making muffins in general. The first recipe I dried was very dense but these were awesome I made three with oiling the tin and the turned out with a crispy exterior and were super yummy but I preferred the non crispy bottom ones (not oiled). The cinnamon in this recipe makes them awesome! Will be keeping this recipe ! Thank you 🙂
Threese says
Hi! Is it okay to use coconut flour? How many degrees should i heat the oven?
Sarah McMinn says
I haven't tried it with coconut flour but I haven't had much luck in using coconut flour 1:1 on other vegan muffin recipes. The oven should be set to 375F.
Nicole says
I have never made vegan buttermilk before I am using oat milk. It isn’t getting to a thicker consistency what am I doing wrong? Thanks
Sarah McMinn says
Oatmilk won't curdle with vinegar. Soy milk is really the best option although I know people who have had luck with almond and cashew as well.