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.
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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
Newvegan says
Do you have to use the zest of an entire lemon?
Sarah says
I do, but you don't have to if you'd like less lemon flavor.
Kaley says
I used coconut milk and coconut oil and they turned out great! This recipe is a keeper. Thank you!
Seclusive Nature says
I used coconut oil instead & these turned out perfect. Thanks so much for sharing it!
Maggie says
Can you use olive oil? I think I have all the ingredients if I could use olive oil.
Sarah says
Yeah, it might have a VERY slight taste but unless you're sensitive to the taste of it, that shouldn't be a problem.
Sheetal says
I used Whole wheat flour and used orange zest. They were moist and so delicious!! Thanks for the recipe.
Mommablidd says
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?
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.
Constance says
Should it be unsweetened soy milk?
Sarah says
I used plain (which is a little sweetened) but sweetened/unsweetened won't make much of a difference
Renee Coles says
These were delicious!
Amy says
These muffins turn out just like your picture and are very tasty!!
Amy says
I substituted soy for almond original milk too
Veg says
Do you mean you substituted ALMOND milk for the SOY? How did it come out? Thanks!
jess says
Can you use frozen strawberries?
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.
Kortney says
Could you use something besides canola oil?
Sarah says
Sure, you could try melted coconut oil.
Shalee says
Can you use a different sugar, such as coconut sugar?
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!
Rosie says
Hi how many calories are they per muffin ? Could I use fairy cake cases (they’re slightly smaller) xx
Genny says
These look yummy!! Do you think it would work with almond milk instead of soy?
Sarah says
Soy milk is preferable because it curdles and thickens (like buttermilk) with the vinegar but almond milk would work fine.
sara says
I used almond milk and it curdled and the muffins taste amazing. Thank you!!
Sarah says
That's great! Thanks for sharing.
Amanda says
What does it mean to fold in strawberries....? I made it and it got burnt !
Sarah says
The strawberries got burnt or the entire muffin? Folding in strawberries just means gently mixing them in with a wooden spoon in a circular method. Here is a short video that helps explain it:
D. Sherman says
These look wonderful. Can't wait to try them this weekend. Thank you for the recipe!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
These are lovely, my friend! Nice and simple ad letting the glorious strawberries shine!
Little Vegan Bear says
These look lovely!