Vegan Strawberry Muffins

Bakery-style Vegan Strawberry Muffins that are packed with sweet strawberry flavour. These soft and fluffy muffins have bursts of fruit and jamminess in every bite thanks to a combination of fresh strawberries and strawberry jam that gets swirled through the batter!

It's Vegan Strawberry Muffin time. We're talking soft, fluffy, fruity and jammy. Yes, jammy because we aren't just using fresh strawberries, we're also swirling strawberry jam through the batter for extra stickiness and even more strawberry flavour...An idea I got from my jammy strawberry overnight oats.

Try eating these delicious muffins (and how about some vegan zucchini muffins or vegan lemon muffins too?) with a generous schmear of vegan butter for a peak seasonal snackage situation!

Recipe video

Jump to:

• Recipe video
• Ingredient notes
• Important equipment notes
• Make your own tulip muffin liners
• How to make vegan strawberry muffins
• Success tips
• Variations
• To make oil-free
• How to store muffins
• How to refresh muffins
• How to freeze muffins
• FAQS
• 📖 Recipe

Ingredient notes

Here is what you will be needing to make perfect vegan strawberry muffins and why:

• Strawberries- Use fresh strawberries. This is a great recipe for using up slightly past their best strawberries. I do not recommend using frozen strawberries in this recipe because they are too wet and not very flavourful.
• Strawberry jam - Strawberries lose a bit of their flavour when baked, so by adding swirls (yep we are swirling not mixing it in completely) of strawberry jam to the batter too, you add extra fruity flavour and make the muffins extra sticky, jammy and delicious!
• Flour – You can use all-purpose flour, spelt flour or white wholewheat flour in this recipe. For the best flavour though I recommend all-purpose flour.
• Baking powder – To make the muffins nice and fluffy.
• Baking soda and apple cider vinegar – To create a chemical reaction between the alkaline baking soda and the acid vinegar. This is important in an eggless muffin recipe because it creates lots of bubbles and lift and replaces the leavening you would get from eggs in a non-vegan recipe.
• Sugar – Adds structure and sweetness. It must be white sugar or cane sugar. The flavour of darker sugars doesn't work as well with the strawberry flavour. Don’t replace the sugar with a liquid sweetener as that will make the liquid to dry ratio off and create soggy muffins.
• Salt & vanilla – Flavour, flavour, flavour! Salt is just as important in sweet recipes as it is savoury ones.
• Vegan butter – Provides fat that produces a soft, cake-y crumb. It also acts as a preservative. The flavour is better with butter but you can use oil if you prefer. For those of you who bake oil and butter-free, I have included an oil-free option.
• Plant milk – To bring everything together. Any is fine although I recommend an unsweetened one to avoid making the bread too sweet. Don’t be tempted to use water instead of milk. The muffins will end up flat and heavy without it.

There is also the option to add vegan streusel to the tops of the muffins if you like your baked goods EXTRA and it works so well with this recipe. Highly recommend!

Important equipment notes

To make this recipe you will a muffin pan (you will need 10 wells if you make them the same size as mine).

This strawberry muffin recipe is a sticky one because of the jam and the fruit so it's important that you either have a really great muffin pan or if it's not, that you line it well.

With most pans, you will need to use liners or you won't get the muffins out cleanly. I do not recommend regular muffin liners though. These muffins are big and will rise up over the tops of the pan. That means that any jammy bits above the liner could get cooked on and make removing the muffins really difficult once they cool. For this reason, I recommend that you use tulip muffin pan liners . That's because they rise up high and the batter will be much less likely to come into contact with the muffin pan.

If you are unfamiliar with tulip muffin pan liners, they are available at most stores that sell muffin liners and this is what they look like:

By using muffin liners like these you won't run into any problems when removing your muffins and the quality of your muffin pan won't be important.

If you are on the lookout for a new muffin pan though I highly recommend USA Pan Muffin Pans. When I use mine I do not need to use muffin liners, even with these really jammy muffins.

Make your own tulip muffin liners

If you don't have any at home or don't want to buy them, it's actually really easy to make your own tulip muffin liners if you have some parchment paper at home. You can find a tutorial here.

How to make vegan strawberry muffins

These vegan strawberry muffins are really easy to make. Here's how:

1. Mix the dry ingredients together.
2. Mix the wet ingredients together (this includes the sugar).
3. Mix the wet mixture into the dry mixture.
4. Stir in the chopped strawberries, then swirl through the strawberry jam.

5. Spoon into the muffin pans, making sure to fill them to the top. If using the optional streusel add it to the top of the batter. Bake.

It is important to let these muffins cool completely in the pan. They are way too fragile to move when warm and will fall apart.

Success tips

Take note of these tips for perfect vegan strawberry muffins every time:

• For the best results weigh the ingredients with a digital scale.
• Chop the strawberries into small pieces and don't be overenthusiastic with how many you add. I made this mistake lots of times when testing and the amount I give here in the recipe is just perfect. Any more and the muffins end up too soggy and lack structure.
• If you don't have a really, really great muffin pan that you can totally trust, use tulip muffin liners (see equipment notes above for more info).
• My tip for perfect muffin tops? They need an initial, very hot blast in the oven. This creates steam that will raise those muffin tops right up from the inside out. Then you need to turn them down after 5 minutes so that the insides cook through more gently. That’s my temperature trick and it really works so don’t skip it!
• Do you know how most recipes and “muffin experts,” say to only fill the wells two-thirds or three-quarters full? Well, we are breaking all the rules and are going to fill them all the way to the top. This helps with the aforementioned muffin tops. And don't worry, the batter won't overflow because of the initial high temperature.
• Do not over-mix the batter. Just mix until you can’t see any dry flour. Resist the urge to stir or beat the batter until it is smooth and lump-free. Some small lumps are fine.
• Mixing the wet and dry ingredients separately as instructed, before adding them all together helps avoid accidentally over-mixing.
• Just swirl the strawberry jam through the batter. Don't mix it in completely.
• How can you tell when muffins are cooked properly? First of all go by eye. These muffins need a little longer than most because of the extra moisture and should be a golden colour by the time they are finished. Once you've checked that use the toothpick (or skewer or sharp knife) test too. Stick one in the centre of a muffin and if it comes out clean then they are done.

Variations

They are perfect as they are, but if you want to make them your own, here are some ideas:

• Go crazy and add some vegan streusel to the tops before baking to take them right over the top!
• Add a sprinkle of flaked or slivered almonds to the top for a delicious nutty crunch
• Add up to half a cup of shredded coconut to the batter with the strawberries
• Add a tablespoon of lemon zest (not juice) to the batter
• Use half strawberries and half fresh peaches or nectarines
• Use fresh blueberries and blueberry jam instead of strawberries and strawberry jam
• Use fresh raspberries and raspberry jam instead of strawberries and strawberry jam
• Add a handful of vegan chocolate chips to the batter
• Add half a cup of chopped walnuts or pecans to the batter or scatter some on top before baking
• Drizzle with powdered sugar and lemon juice glaze (use the one from my lemon blueberry loaf)

To make oil-free

To make this muffin recipe oil-free, use cashew butter instead of vegan butter. Use the same quantity and blend it up into the milk before proceeding with the recipe. If it's not really drippy/runny nut butter, you will need to add an extra 2 tablespoons of milk.

Cashew butter has a neutral buttery flavour and will provide the necessary fat to create a nice spongy, good textured muffin. Note that they will not be quite as light and fluffy as they would if you use vegan butter.

How to store muffins

You went to the trouble of baking your own muffins, and if you have leftovers it’s important you know how to store them for optimum freshness.

The most important thing is to let them cool completely on a wire rack before storing them. If there is any warmth in them at all, as soon as they go into a sealed container condensation will happen, and that means damp muffins.

Once they are completely cool, you will need an airtight container and some paper towels. As muffins age, the moisture inside them rises to the surface and can make them wet. By packing them up with some paper towels laid out underneath and another layer on top, you can avoid this. Just keep an eye on them and if the paper towels get a little moist, replace them with fresh.

How to refresh muffins

Refresh older muffins to fresh from the oven status. Simply place on a baking tray in the oven at 350°F (175 °C) for about 7 minutes. They will come out good as new!

How to freeze muffins

Need to store leftover vegan strawberry muffins for more than a couple of days? Then the freezer is your best option. Muffins freeze extremely well for up to 3 months. Pop them into a freezer bag or a freezer-safe container and place carefully in the freezer. When you want them, remove from the freezer and let them defrost for a couple of hours at room temperature. You can make them taste oven-fresh again by warming them gently in the oven at 350°F (175 °C) for about 7 minutes.

FAQS

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