Easy Vegan Blueberry Lemon Muffins (Eggless Blueberry Muffins)

Easy Vegan Blueberry Lemon Muffins are made in one bowl with crunchy streusel topping and fresh thyme. They make the perfect eggless blueberry muffins for breakfast or Sunday brunch. Moist, low calorie, low-fat and made with applesauce, these easy vegan muffins can be made gluten-free (GF), oil-free with no sugar.

Delish. That’s just one way to describe these simple, dairy-free lemon blueberry muffins. Made in one bowl with a crunchy streusel topping, these vegan muffins are super moist, fluffy and bursting with sweetness and fresh citrus flavor. What’s more, this recipe, like my Vegan Cranberry Muffins and my Vegan Sweet Potato Muffins, requires no butter, no milk, no eggs; it’s completely non-dairy!

Why Make This Recipe?

If you’re looking for recipes for vegan blueberry muffins, look no further! Here are a few reasons you’re going to love this recipe:

• Fast and easy – requires only one bowl and less than 30 minutes to make. You don’t even need a mixer!
• Everyday ingredients – most of the ingredients needed for this recipe are probably already in your pantry.
• Diet-friendly – the perfect muffin recipe for vegans, vegetarians and just about anyone who wants to cut down on dairy, yet still wants to enjoy a decadent treat.
• Low calorie/low fat – only 190 calories and 7 grams of fat per muffin.
• Versatile – enjoy for breakfast, brunch, dessert or a snack.
• Dairy-free – no eggs, no milk, no butter, completely non-dairy.
• Can be made healthy – easy substitutions to make this recipe gluten-free, oil-free and sugar-free.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

• Vegan sugar – granulated sugar is the best choice for this recipe for vegan blueberry muffins, not only for the muffins themselves, but also for the streusel topping. Keep in mind, however, not all sugar is vegan. Many of the cheaper US brands are processed using bone char. Look for sugar that’s organic or labeled vegan/bone char free, such as Florida Crystals, or Kirkland Organic (from Costco). For a list of sugar companies that don’t use bone char, visit PETA.
• Oil – I use plain ol’ vegetable oil for these vegan muffins, but any neutral oil will do such as grapeseed or canola oil.
• Blueberries – you can use fresh or equal amounts of frozen berries in this recipe. If using frozen blueberries, see the substitutions section below for some handy tips.
• Fresh lemons – I like using fresh lemons best as it also allows me to also use the lemon zest from those lemons before juicing them, which is needed for the crumb topping and a garnish.
• Applesauce – organic, unsweetened works best. If making these blueberry muffins oil-free, simply increase the applesauce to a full cup and add a little more plant milk to get the desired consistency.
• Flour – all purpose flour is the best choice for this recipe. Of course, if you are gluten-intolerant, you may substitute with the gluten-free flour of your choice. Keep in mind, however, that this may change the texture of these muffins, but won’t affect the flavor
• Plant milk – lately I use oat milk in all my recipes as it’s my absolute favorite plant milk, but you may substitute whatever plant milk you have on hand, including cashew milk, soy milk, almond milk, etc.
• Thyme – adding thyme to this vegan muffin recipe transforms ordinary blueberry muffins into mega-muffin superstars. However, if you prefer to omit, it won’t affect the delicious outcome of the muffins whatsoever. Alternatively, if you don’t have fresh thyme, you may substitute with 1-2 teaspoons ground.

Step by Step Photo Instructions: How to Make Eggless Blueberry Muffins

1. Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit/244 Celsius. Line a standard muffin tin with 12 muffin liners. If you don’t have muffin liners, lightly oil each slot. To a large bowl, add dry ingredients, including flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk until the mixture is thoroughly combined.

2. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, starting with plant milk, applesauce, vegetable oil, lemon juice and vanilla extract.

3. Stir gently until wet ingredients are totally incorporated into the dry ingredients. DO NOT OVERMIX.

4. Add blueberries and thyme to batter. With a spatula, gently fold until well-blended.

5. Divide batter evenly (an ice cream scoop works best) into each muffin liner or slot until either is about ¾ of the way filled.

6. Top with remaining blueberries and sprinkle with streusel topping (see below on how to make). Bake the muffins until crumb topping is golden brown, approximately 15-18 minutes, and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

7. Remove from oven. Place on cooling rack (in the muffin tin) for at least 10-15 minutes. Once cooled for the required time, remove individual muffins from tin and transfer to a cooling rack until completely cooled.

How to Make the Streusel Topping

In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour, vegan butter, lemon zest and cinnamon until it forms a consistency similar to damp sand.

Tips and Tricks

• For the lightest, fluffiest, to die for berry muffins ever, don’t over mix the batter. This will make them too dense. Mix just until all ingredients are well-combined. Furthermore, gently fold in the blueberries and thyme using a spatula.
• Bake on center rack of your oven for the best, most even results.
• Test with a toothpick to check if they are done. If it comes out clean and the crumb topping is golden brown, they’re ready to be removed from the oven.

Substitutions

• Oil-free – to make these vegan lemon blueberry muffins oil-free, increase the amount of applesauce to a full cup. If the batter is still too dry, add more plant milk, a little at a time, until reaching the desired consistency (think thick lava).
• Gluten-free – to make the muffins gluten-free, use a gluten-free flour blend such as Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Baking Flour in a 1:1 ratio.
• Sugar-free – these muffins are healthier when you omit sugar. You may substitute the sugar in this recipe with ½ cup of dark maple syrup or agave nectar. Taste the batter and add more as needed to reach the desired sweetness.
• 100% whole wheat flour – using whole wheat flour may alter the texture and flavor of these muffins, but it will make them healthier. To substitute, use ¾ cup whole wheat flour for every 1 cup of white flour.
• Other berries or chocolate chips – you may substitute equal amounts of any other berries, such as strawberries, raspberries or blackberries or chocolate chips for blueberries in this recipe.
• Bottled lemon juice – although it’s best to use fresh lemons, you may substitute with bottled like 365 Organic Lemon Juice from Whole Foods Market if fresh lemons are unavailable.
• Frozen blueberries – frozen blueberries are a fine substitution for fresh and you don’t need to thaw them first (but you may need to cook them a little longer). In addition, to prevent the color from seeping into the mixture, coat them with flour before folding them into the batter.
• Jumbo blueberry muffins – to make these muffins jumbo, double the recipe and use jumbo muffins tins like these that are BPA-free and dishwasher safe.
• Ground thyme – don’t have fresh thyme? No problem. Substitute with 1-2 teaspoons ground thyme, depending upon how herby you want your muffins to be.

FAQ

More Vegan Breakfast Ideas

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