My Darling Vegan

Vegan Strawberry Muffins

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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.

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Unbelievably moist and delicate, these vegan strawberries & cream muffins are simple and delicious for a sweet breakfast pastry everyone will love. #vegan #strawberries #veganpastries #veganrecipes

Stack of three muffins

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This post was originally published June 21, 2016. Last updated on May 25th 2020.

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.

4 pints of fresh strawberries

Table of Contents show

Recommended Ingredients & Equipment

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.

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
  • 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.

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 Strawberry Muffins

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.

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.

Chopped strawberries and muffin batter

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.

Muffin batter in muffin tin

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 3/4 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.

Baked muffins in a muffin tin

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

  1. The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
  2. Do not overmix your batter. Overmixing allows the gluten to develop and too much gluten will give you gummy and dense muffins.
  3. 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.
  4. Fill muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full. Any fuller than that and they will overflow.
  5. 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 soy milk?

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 I use frozen berries?

Yes! However, frozen berries contain extra water and will bleed into your batter. If you don’t have access to fresh berries, follow these steps when using frozen berries:

  1. Place the strawberries in a colander and run them under room temperature water, breaking the berries up with your fingers. This will allow the excess juices to run out of the berries so they don’t bleed into your batter.
  2. Let the strawberries sit in the colander for at least 30 minutes so all the water has drained from them. If they are still wet, they will add liquid to your batter, altering the texture of these muffins.
  3. Gently pat the berries dry with a paper towel before adding them to your batter.

Following these steps, you’ll get a result as similar to fresh berries as possible.

Can I omit the oil?

Sure. If you would like to make this recipe oil-free, simply swap out the oil for additional applesauce at a 1:1 ratio.

Can this muffin 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.

Can I make this recipe gluten-free?

For sure! For gluten-free muffins, I recommend using a 1:1 baking blend.

Stack of vegan strawberry Muffins

More Vegan Muffins Recipes

Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment and rate it below. If you made any substitutions, let us know how it turned out!

My Darling Vegan
Vegan Strawberry Muffins

Wake up to something special. These vegan strawberry muffins are perfectly tender and moist for a fresh and seasonal breakfast pastry or daytime snack. Made with a hint of lemon to take these muffins to the next level.

Prep Time:
20 mins
Cook Time:
25 mins
Total Time:
45 mins
4.97 from 27 votes
Stack of muffins with a bite out of it
Print
Course: Breakfast, bread
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Vegan Strawberry Muffins
Servings: 12 muffins
Calories: 160 kcal
Author: Sarah McMinn
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
US Customary - Metric
Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.

  2. In a small bowl combine soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside to allow milk to curdle.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Remove from the oven and allow muffins to cool before removing from pan.

Nutrition Facts
Vegan Strawberry Muffins
Amount Per Serving
Calories 160 Calories from Fat 45
% Daily Value*
Fat 5g8%
Sodium 131mg6%
Potassium 135mg4%
Carbohydrates 25g8%
Sugar 8g9%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 80IU2%
Vitamin C 1.5mg2%
Calcium 68mg7%
Iron 1.1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Recipe Notes

Serving and 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.

Recipe Tips

  1. The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

Variations - For a healthier oil option, use either avocado oil or melted coconut oil.

If you give this recipe recipe a try, snap a photo and share it on Instagram. Make sure to tag @mydarlingvegan so I can see your creations!

Reader Interactions

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 4-Week Vegan Meal Plan.

Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest and read more about me here.

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Comments

  1. Diem Ly Tran says

    5 stars
    Yummy~ This is my to go recipe for strawberry muffins. What I was concerned about was that when you bake with strawberry, a lot of water will come out. So, I decided to create a strawberry puree, then fold it to the batter. It tastes just as good as with strawberry chunks!

    Reply

  2. Jen says

    5 stars
    Wow, these turned out so delicious! I am not typically one to leave comments once I make something but felt compelled to- they were THAT good! I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free baking flour, used canned coconut milk in place of soy milk, 1/2 cup coconut sugar and 2 tbs. agave syrup, avocado oil, no lemon zest and baked a bit longer probably around 27 minutes or so. They were very moist, perfectly sweet, and my 4 year old who said she wasn’t going to eat any loved them. Also used cupcake liners instead of greasing the pan and they came out perfectly without sticking to the paper. Will definitely make again!

    Reply

  3. Jessica s says

    My mixture was a little doughy ? Was it because I forget to add the extra oil and sugar ? My mum tried to fix it by making oil and sugar in bowl and then added bits of the mixture to that to combine it x

    Reply

  4. Aimee B. says

    5 stars
    These are quite lovely! I used melted vegan butter and lemon extract, and chopped my berries into small bits. Oh, and I added in some mini chocolate chips because who doesn’t love chocolate + strawberries? These came out light and delicious. They are a definite keeper for sure. 🙂

    Reply

  5. Jo says

    OK, these delicious muffins go entirely too fast so my question is if I bake two large muffin pans with 6 tins each at the same time do I need to make any adjustments in time or temperature? Or would you advise not doing that?

    Reply

  6. Jo says

    First time I made these they turned out great, we could not stop eating them! I am switching to large muffin tins, do I need to adjust the oven temperature what time?

    Reply

  7. J and E says

    We made these and they turned out sooooo good thank you!!! We also used rasberrys, and we frogot to cut the strawberrys but all turned out ok!!

    Reply

  8. Dan Hanley says

    5 stars
    We just bought some delish strawberries on the way back from the beach so I went online and found this recipe. So easy! And they are delicious! I am so happy! Thank you!

    Reply

  9. Leah Moskovits says

    4 stars
    These came out looking beautiful and were easy to make! The only criticism was that we thought they could be sweeter, but we seem to be the only ones to think that! I see someone added nutmeg -I will try that next time -they need some more flavor, but on the whole, I’m excited to have a new recipe! Thank you!!

    Reply

  10. Jackie says

    5 stars
    Amazing! I didn’t have soy milk and used almond milk instead. My 5 year loves them! Simple ingredients that we mostly have on hand so it’s simple to throw them together. These will be one of our go-to breakfasts from now on.

    Reply

  11. Mat says

    5 stars
    These turned out great! I am not much of a baker but had a craving for muffins and had just gone berry picking so I wanted to give this a shot and they are excellent. Moist, delicious, everything you could want in a muffin.

    Reply

  12. L says

    5 stars
    I’ve made this muffin recipe about 25 times over the last year (about twice a month sound about right). It is my go-to muffin recipe. I primarily make it with blueberries, as I find the strawberries make the muffins a little wet. I made them for the first time last week with frozen blackberries and OMG… out of this world delish! Thanks for such an easy, ingredients always on hand, moist and delicious muffin recipe!

    Reply

  13. Cheryl says

    5 stars
    Let me preface this by saying I do not dole out praise lightly, but these muffins are FANTASTIC! I like to think of myself as an accomplished baker and definitely a baked goods snob. Since my daughter became vegan a couple of years ago, I have tried quite a few vegan dessert recipes, most of which I find not as good as baked goods made with butter and eggs. However…these are incredible, and not just for being vegan, but simply awesome as muffins go (and trust me, I have baked my share of muffin recipes and then some). Kudos!

    Reply

  14. Angie says

    5 stars
    Delicious muffins. I made an extra half batch because I wanted the muffin tins to be full, but I i didn’t need to. The recipe fills up a 12 muffin tin right up to the top. I didn’t have the zest or vanilla on hand, and used melted butter instead of oil, but they still turned out soft and full of flavour. Definitely A keeper.

    Reply

  15. Trisha says

    5 stars
    The strawberry muffins tasted delicious! Great recipe! The only change I made was substituting unsweetened applesauce for the oil in the recipe.

    Reply

  19. Lindsey says

    5 stars
    Thanks for a great recipe! I’m new to vegan baking and love a recipe that uses ingredients I typically have on hand. I substituted the soy milk for coconut-almond milk (what was in the fridge), added about 1/8 tsp of nutmeg, and sprinkled raw sugar on top. They came out so sunny and delightful. Looking forward to trying other recipes from your blog. Thanks!

    Reply

  20. Brytanny Howard says

    Did anyone try this gluten free ? Maybe using Bob red mills one to One flour ? This recipe looks fantastic but I’m gluten free!!

    Reply

  21. Becky C. says

    5 stars
    Great recipe! I had an over abundance of strawberries so wanted to try this recipe. I used olive oil and substituted a combination of almond milk and cashew milk (it’s what I had on hand). I couldn’t help myself, added sliced bananas and chopped walnuts too! My husband ate two before they cooled off! Will definitely make these again.

    Reply

  24. Saher says

    5 stars
    I just made these muffins and they are fantastic! Soft, moist and deliciously zingy thanks to the lemon zest. I used coconut oil and coconut sugar in the same quantity as stated in the recipe and I will definitely be making these again!
    Thank you for this recipe, I will be checking out the others on your site 🙂

    Reply

  26. Jackie says

    5 stars
    This recipe is absolutely fantastic! Muffins were perfect and moist. Will indeed use this recipe from now on. Thanks for sharing!!

    Reply

  28. Gemma says

    5 stars
    I made these strawberry muffins with lemon zest they are delicious and easy to make. 25 minutes to cook and they came out perfect. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  32. Shauna says

    5 stars
    These were delicious!! I used coconut milk and I also subbed in gluten free AP flour. The flavor was amazing!! The texture of mine were a little “off” from a normal muffin simply because of the GF flour, but I’m going to remake these and experiment with different flours until I find one I like. My daughter loves them as well (she’s 11)…this recipe is definitely a keeper in our house!! 🙂

    Reply

  38. Mommablidd says

    5 stars
    My family and I are newly dairy free and vegetarian. So this is all new to me! I just made this recipe and they seemed to take much longer than the 20-25 min. I quit timing it, but believe it was around 40-45 min. They still turned out delicious, but I was just wanting to see if you may know of something I did wrong. I used everything exactly as stated. Could I have not ler the milk curdle long enough or over mixed?

    Reply

    • Sarah says

      That’s strange. Did you use bigger muffin tins? Does your oven tend to run at a lower temperature? Those are the only things I can think of that would have affected the baking time.

      Reply

    • Sarah says

      Sure! The red of the frozen strawberries may bleed into the batter a bit so the batter will have a pinkish tint, but the taste will be the same.

      Reply

    • Sarah says

      Sure. I’ve never tried with with coconut sugar and while it will affect the taste and flavor a bit, I think it would be fine. If you do it, let us know how it turns out!

      Reply