Vegan Blueberry Chia Muffins

With an incredibly light and fluffy crumb, these vegan blueberry chia muffins can be made with fresh or frozen berries. They have a touch of lemon zest.

My freezer is stocked with frozen fruit.

Berries take up the most of the real estate in one of the skinny compartments of our side-by-side.

That stash includes raspberries and blackberries, but blueberries are always the space hog.

Pretty much every morning I wake up and make a blueberry smoothie with spinach, chia seeds, peanut butter powder and coconut water.

My smoothie routine has been going strong for the last few years.

Before that, I never thought I could be full from drinking my breakfast, but a big glass of this combination of fruit, greens and protein does the trick.

Besides smoothies, I use these berries for baking.

When you want fruit to swirl and beautifully stain a cake, frozen berries work best.

I even did an experiment with fresh vs. frozen making my raspberry buttermilk cake both ways.

On weekends I like something else to go along with my smoothie. Muffins are such an easy thing to bake, and they are just the right size.

During the fall, I love making vegan apple cinnamon muffins. They come out so incredibly light and fluffy that you would never guess they don’t have eggs in them.

Since we are nearing the start of berry season, I have come up with a spring/summer version—vegan blueberry chia muffins.

It’s probably obvious that these muffins are inspired by my go-to smoothie.

How To Make Vegan Blueberry Chia Muffins

To start, I combine the flour, baking powder, salt and all the sugar, except 1 tablespoon, in a large bowl.

In a separate smaller bowl, I whisk together oil, oat milk, cider vinegar and vanilla extract.

Then I carefully stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

When there is only a little flour that’s still visible in the bowl, I fold in lemon zest, chia seeds and blueberries.

I like to think of chia seeds as a superfood version of poppy seeds, a classic muffin addition.

To finish, I spoon the batter into the muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with the remaining sugar.

They rise and turn golden brown as they bake.

When I take the pan out of the oven, I always see that many of the berries have burst leaving lots color on these vegan blueberry chia muffins.

I store a couple of the muffins in a container on the counter and freeze the rest.

You can defrost the muffins in 10 minutes in a 300 degree F oven.

Vegan Blueberry Chia Muffins

• Author: Paige Adams
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
• Total Time: 40-45 minutes + cooling
• Yield: 12 muffins 1x

With an incredibly light and fluffy crumb, these vegan blueberry chia muffins can be made with fresh or frozen berries. They have a touch of lemon zest.

Ingredients

2–2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1–1/2 cups oat milk

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Zest of 1 lemon

1/3 cup chia seeds

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, milk, cider vinegar and vanilla extract. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined followed by lemon zest, chia seeds and blueberries.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops are golden brown and they spring back when lightly pressed in the middle.

Cool the muffins on a wire rack for 20 minutes before removing them from the pan.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days. You can freeze the muffins and reheat in a 300 degree F oven for 10 minutes.

Notes

Adapted from Flour, Too by Joanne Chang