Wake up to something special. These vegan strawberry muffins are perfectly tender and moist for a fresh and seasonal breakfast pastry or daytime snack. A hint of lemon takes these muffins to the next level.
It's strawberry season! Do you know what that means?
Strawberry recipes are coming your way! You see, the thing is, Oregon has the BEST strawberries in the world. Every year, when the strawberry season hits, I simply cannot help myself.
What are some of my favorite strawberry recipes?
I'm glad you asked.
Well, there's Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream, Strawberry Shortcakes, and, one of my go-to breakfasts, Strawberry and Cream Overnight Oats. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.
This year, I'm kicking off the strawberry season with a fan favorite: Vegan Strawberry Muffins.
Recipe Video
Ingredients & Substitutions
I love this recipe and I think you will too! These vegan muffins are moist, rich, and bursting with strawberries and lemon zest in every bite. They are the perfect morning pastry or a midday snack.
Here is everything you need.
- 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
- Fresh Lemon - If you don't like lemon, this can be omitted.
- Fresh Strawberries - If you don't have fresh strawberries, check out how to use replace them with frozen berries.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step One - Combine the Ingredients
To start, we must first make our “buttermilk”. To do this, mix together soymilk with 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and set it aside for 5 minutes to curdle. Once it’s curdled, whisk in the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
In a small bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. That’s the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until it’s well combined and set aside. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until all the flour is evenly hydrated.
Step Two - Fold in the Berries
Once the batter is made, we want to gently fold in the strawberries. The goal with folding is to get the strawberries fully incorporated into the batter without overmixing the batter or breaking apart the berries. To do this, use a wooden spoon or plastic spatula and fold the batter from bottom to top in a “C” shape.
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 strawberry 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
Serving - Serve these muffins immediately. They come out of the oven warm, buttery, and hard to resist!
Storing - 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.
- If you are using frozen berries, thaw the berries in a colander by running them under room temperature water. Let the berries sit for 30 minutes for any excess water and juice to run off them. Pat them dry with a paper towel before adding them to your batter.
- 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
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.
If you are using frozen berries, thaw the berries in a colander by running them under room temperature water. Let the berries sit for 30 minutes for any excess water and juice to run off them. Pat them dry with a paper towel before adding them to your batter.
Sure. If you would like to make this recipe oil-free, simply swap out the oil for additional applesauce at a 1:1 ratio.
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.
For sure! For gluten-free muffins, I recommend using a 1:1 baking blend.
More Vegan Muffins Recipes
- Blueberry Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Banana Nut Muffins
- Pumpkin Muffins
- Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
Vegan Strawberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 heaping cup fresh strawberries sliced thin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a small bowl combine soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside to allow milk to curdle.
- In a larger bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, canola oil, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Add soy milk/vinegar mixture and stir to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients until well incorporated. Be careful not to over-mix - a few lumps are okay. Gently fold in the strawberries.
- Spoon into muffin tins, filling each cup about ¾ full. Bake for 20-22 minutes until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow muffins to cool before removing from pan.
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.
- If you are using frozen berries, thaw the berries in a colander by running them under room temperature water. Let the berries sit for 30 minutes for any excess water and juice to run off them. Pat them dry with a paper towel before adding them to your batter.
- 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
Nicole says
Love these muffins! I've never made strawberry muffins before and these did not disappoint! I love the added layer of lemon- it was not overpowering but added depth. I will definitely make these again. Thank you!
Brenda says
Would spelt flour work?
Ashley says
I am so grateful to have found your recipe! My sons’s preschool doesn’t accommodate our dietary preferences and then requests that the food we send with him resembles what others are served. I get it, they don’t want other kids to notice a different meal and lose interest in what’s served. For some it may be the best chance at a good meal that day. I usually pay better attention to what’s on the breakfast, lunch, and snack menu each day and plan accordingly, but strawberry muffins caught me off guard one day. I scrambled to find a recipe and came across yours. It came together quickly and they were absolutely delicious. I subbed 1/4c of oil with applesauce and still kept the 2 Tbsp oil. They were perfect texture! I froze the rest to use the next time strawberry muffins come up on the menu. Thank you!!
Bre says
This is my favorite fruit muffin recipe ever. I've been making them for years. So easy, turns out perfect every time. I can use whatever fruit I have on hand. I usually use frozen mixed berries and chop them up, toss with a small amount of flour before adding to the rest of the ingredients. This helps keep the muffins from getting soggy.
Sarah says
If I can’t use Soy Milk, what else can I use?
Carrie says
We love this recipe and works great for our son who is an egg allergy. We added in juice of a lemon as well and found for us adding the sugar to the dry ingredients worked better. So delicious!
Angie says
Amazing and easy recipe! I made these using orange zest instead of lemon and they were great. Perfect crumb and texture. I put them in the oven at 425F and instantly turned down the heat to 375 like the recipe calls for and took them out after 20 minutes. The initial heat blast makes them rise high!
Shannon Marie Philbin says
So yummy and moist! Perfect for my dairy and egg allergy kiddo!