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 with a generous schmear of vegan butter for a peak seasonal snackage situation!
Ingredient notes
Here is what you will be needing to make perfect vegan strawberry muffins:
And notes regarding some of the ingredients:
- 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 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.
- Vegan butter – Provides fat that produces a soft, cake-y crumb. 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.
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. 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:
- Mix the dry ingredients together.
- Mix the wet ingredients together (this includes the sugar).
- Mix the wet mixture into the dry mixture.
- 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. 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. Don't skip that step!
- Fill the muffin wells all the way to the top. This helps form good muffin tops. And don't worry, the batter won't overflow because of the initial high temperature trick.
- Do not over-mix the batter. Just mix until you can’t see any dry flour. Some small lumps are fine. Mixing the wet and dry ingredients separately as instructed, before adding them all together helps avoid accidentally over-mixing.
- Swirl the strawberry jam through the batter. Don't mix it in completely.
Variations
They are perfect as they are, but if you want to make them your own, here are some ideas:
- Add some vegan streusel to the tops before baking!
- Add flaked or slivered almonds for a delicious nutty crunch
- Add up to half a cup of shredded coconut to the batter
- 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, or just follow this similar vegan blueberry muffin recipe.
- 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)
How to store & freeze muffins
To store muffins, first let them cool completely on a wire rack. Once completely cool, transfer them to an airtight container and some paper towels laid above and below them. As muffins age, the moisture inside them rises to the surface and can make them wet. By packing them up with some paper towels you can avoid this.
If you need to store leftover vegan strawberry muffins for more than a couple of days the freezer is your best storage 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.
Recipe FAQs
I haven't tested the recipe gluten-free but a good GF all-purpose flour like Bob's Red Mill 1 for 1 should work just fine.
I don't recommend using frozen strawberries in this recipe. They really lack flavour and are also very wet which will affect the finished texture.
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.
Recipe Video
Vegan Strawberry Muffins
Author:Ingredients
- 2½ cups (312.5 grams) all purpose flour (use plain flour in the UK). Spelt or light wholewheat work too.
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda in the UK)
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup (110 grams) vegan butter , (or ½ cup / 120 mls oil) - SEE NOTES FOR OIL-FREE OPTION
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (125 grams) sugar , white or cane sugar
- 1 cup (240 ml) non-dairy milk , unsweetened & unflavoured
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup (120 grams) diced strawberries , about ¼ inch dice, (do not use frozen strawberries)
- ½ cup (150 grams) strawberry jam
OPTIONAL
- 1 batch vegan streusel , to top the muffins
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 425 °F (220 °C) and grease or line a muffin pan with tulip-style muffin liners. (see recipe notes for more info RE this).
- Make sure you have your chopped strawberries close by and give the strawberry jam a quick mix to loosen it up so it's not clumpy.
- To a large bowl add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk them together to combine.
- Melt the butter and add it to a medium bowl. I pop it in the microwave for 20 seconds but you can also melt it in a pan on the stove over a very gentle heat.
- To the butter add the sugar, milk, apple cider vinegar and vanilla extract and whisk together really well.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix together gently. Do not beat it hard and do not over-mix. You need to just incorporate it until you can't see any dry flour. Some small lumps are ok.
- Add the chopped strawberries and fold them through the batter.
- Spoon in the jam and do a few quick folds so it is swirled through the batter but not mixed in thoroughly. You should be able to see streaks of it through the batter.
- Divide the batter evenly between 10 muffin wells. For me that was 2 ice cream scooops in each. They should be filled pretty much to the top. Don't worry, they won't overflow because of my high temperature trick ;O)
- If using the optional streusel topping, add it to the top of the batter.
- Get the muffins in the oven as fast as you can and set a timer for 5 minutes. This initial 5 minutes at high-temperature step is really important so don't skip it.
- When the 5 minutes is up without opening the oven door, turn the temperature down to 350 °F (180 °C) and cook them for about another 18 minutes, but all ovens are different so be sure to read my tips for knowing when they are done in the step below. If using streusel cook them for 1 minute longer.
- These muffins need a little longer than most because of the extra moisture from the jam and strawberries. Don't take them out of the oven when they are looking pale. They need to have a golden hue and a skewer or toothpick inserted into the centre of one of them should come out clean, except for maybe a little bit of strawberry juice or jam.
- When you remove them from the oven, leave them in the pan until cool. Do not attempt to remove them while hot because they are really fragile.
NOTES
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
Lacey says
I love these! I put the streusel topping on them and I seriously think they rival the only vegan place in town! So soft and delicious and easy to make. Even though I had strawberry preserves that I had to thin out, they turned out perfect!
Laura says
Your postings for the month of July is totally amazing. I absolutely adore the picture of your restful place. It's so beautiful. And your recipes, oh WOW! You are on fire. Than you for all the work you do. I can hardly wait to try this recipe, I have cherries in the freezer and will substitute. Take care...
Melanie McDonald says
Ah thank you so much Laura! I'm glad you enjoyed it and are loving my recipes. Enjoy the muffins. They'll be great with cherries!
Carmen says
The best muffins I’ve ever eaten. Seriously better than most bakeries. Amazing recipe!
Elizabeth Bennett says
I made your lovely recipe for Strawberry muffins for dessert today. Next time I make them I will add more strawberries and extra jam as they did not taste very jammy/strawberry.
I made my batter mix in a Stand Mixer and used vegan butter instead of the usual vegan marge i normally make my cakes with. The vegan butter and stand mixer helped produce a lovely smooth batter mix. I had to cook them a bit longer as you say in your lovely recipe. Thank you so much for sharing. Elizabeth xx
Melanie McDonald says
Glad you enjoyed them Elizabeth!
As per my tips in the post I do not recommend increasing the strawberries or jam. The recipe was tested many multiple times to get the balance just right. If you add more the muffins end up too wet and can end up collapsing.