No-Fuss Vegan Blueberry Muffins

These vegan blueberry muffins manage to be light, airy, and pillowy-soft without any eggs. In conventional baking, eggs tend to do a lot of heavy lifting (literally!) by giving rise to cakes, cookies, and other baked goods while also making them tender. But these vegan muffins rely on a combo of oat milk and apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice) instead. The two ingredients form a dairy-free “buttermilk” that activates the baking powder, creating the lift and rise you would get from eggs. It also provides moisture, making the muffins tender and fluffy on the inside. The only way to jeopardize this texture is by overmixing the batter, so put down your whisk as soon as the wet and dry ingredients are combined. The same goes for when you add the blueberries—just quickly stir the batter to disperse them evenly. 

Fresh blueberries work best in this recipe because frozen ones can add too much extra moisture, making the muffins wet and gummy. But if you only have frozen ones on hand, give them a good rinse with room-temperature water until they’ve defrosted. Then dry them really well with paper towels before adding them to the batter.

We tested this recipe with both sweetened and unsweetened oat milk, and both worked fine; sweetened oat milk will make just slightly sweeter blueberry muffins. Note that oat milks with stabilizers may curdle when mixed with vinegar, while unstabilized milks may not, but both will succeed at creating moist muffins with a fluffy crumb. We love the slightly crunchy top created by a sprinkle of sugar just before baking.