Vegan Blueberry Lemon Muffins (Eggless Blueberry Muffins)

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

Like my vegan strawberry muffins, my lemon blueberry muffins are extra fresh, super moist and fluffy, and the tops are golden brown with crunchy crumble topping. They require no butter, no milk, no eggs, and are completely non-dairy and pair well with my quick and easy Banana Peel Bacon.

If you like the flavor combination of these vegan blueberry muffins, check out this decadent Lemon Blueberry Loaf. This recipe also pairs well with my Overnight Chia Pudding my Apple Pie Overnight Oats and my Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats! And, if you want to make it a brunch, don’t forget my Apple Cider Mimosa.

🥘 What Goes Into Vegan Blueberry Lemon Muffins?

Vegan sugar – granulated sugar is the best choice for these easy 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 blueberries or equal amounts of frozen berries in this recipe. If using frozen blueberries, be sure to thaw at room temperature before adding to the muffin batter. If you love blueberries, try my Blueberry Lemonade Margarita, Blueberry Chia Pudding and my Lemon Blueberry Loaf

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. If you love lemons, try my Vegan Lemon Poppyseed Cake.

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.

🔪 How To Make Vegan Blueberry Lemon Muffins

1. To make Vegan Blueberry Muffins, start by preheating oven to 400 Fahrenheit/204 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. Your muffin batter should be thick.

5. Use a big scoop and divide batter evenly (an ice cream scoop works best) into each muffin liner or slot until either is filled almost to the top. If you’re not using liners, be sure to spray each slot with a generous amount of cooking spray.

6. Top with remaining blueberries and sprinkle with streusel topping (see below on how to make). Bake the muffins at 400F/204C until muffin tops and streusel topping are golden brown, approximately 15-18 minutes, and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

7. Remove from oven. Place my bakery-style vegan blueberry muffins 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. Makes 12 muffins.

🍋 How to Make the Crumb Topping

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

👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips

• For the lightest, fluffiest, to die for vegan blueberry 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.
• For vegan blueberry muffins to bake evenly and have a nice dome top, be sure your ingredients are at room temperature prior to baking. Use a baking thermometer to ensure baking is at the proper temperature. Make sure your batter is thick and use a big scoop to add muffin batter to your muffin tin. Contrary to popular belief, fill each slot almost to the top. For the biggest domes ever, only fill every other slot.

🍓 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 1/2 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 3/4 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 this vegan blueberry muffins recipe 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.

💭FAQS

🥞 What to Serve With This Recipe?

• Just Egg Frittata
• Vegan Banana Pancakes
• Vegan French Toast
• Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

🥞 More Vegan Breakfast Ideas

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