These vegan chocolate chip muffins are moist, tender, bursting with dark chocolate chips, and topped with a brown sugar crust! Easy to make and impossible to resist.
Muffins are my go-to baked good when my sweet tooth starts nagging me. They're so easy and quick, and pretty much always turn out delicious. Plus, they're basically a dessert that's acceptable to eat for breakfast, and I just love that. While I love classics like blueberry muffins and carrot muffins, these vegan chocolate chip muffins, in addition to being DELICIOUS, have one major advantage that those other varieties do not: they're made from all pantry staples.
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I always have the ingredients for these on hand, which is crucial, because how can a snack satisfy an urgent sweet craving if you can’t even make it?
Oh, and also: chocolate. I'm always a sucker for chocolate.
These muffins taste like they came from a bakery, and they can be ready super quickly using what you have in your pantry. Basically, they're perfect.
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Flour. I've only tested this recipe with all-purpose wheat flour, so I can't promise good results with any other varieties.
- Sugar. Make sure you use organic sugar in order to keep the recipe vegan.
- Baking powder.
- Baking soda.
- Cinnamon. You can leave this out if you prefer, but it will really enhance the flavor of your muffins!
- Salt.
- Non-dairy milk. Almost any variety of unsweetened and unflavored non-dairy milk will work. Soy milk, almond milk, oat milk, and cashew milk are all great choices. The only type I'd avoid is canned coconut milk. For more guidance, check out my guide to dairy-free milk.
- Vegetable oil. Feel free to substitute your favorite baking oil, such as coconut, corn, or vegetable oil.
- Vanilla extract.
- Apple cider vinegar. Need a substitute? I've got a complete guide to apple cider vinegar substitutes.
- Chocolate chips. Make sure your chocolate chips are vegan. I used Enjoy Life brand chips, which are available at many supermarkets.
- Brown sugar. This also needs to be organic. We'll just be using it as a topping, so you can skip it if needed, but it adds a lovely crust to the tops of the muffins.
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Prepare: Preheat your oven to 425°F and line a muffin tin with papers.
Step 2: Combine dry ingredients. Whisk your dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
Step 3: Combine wet ingredients. Stir your liquid ingredients together in a separate container. A liquid measuring cup works great for this! We'll be including your milk, oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar.
Tip: Make sure your non-dairy milk is at room temperature before beginning. If it's been in the fridge, this can be achieved by simply microwaving it for 20 or 30 seconds.
Step 4: Mix the batter. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir everything together just until blended.
Tip: Don't overmix the batter. Stop stirring as soon as the ingredients are combined and you no longer see flour streaks, even if there are a few lumps. This is the key to perfect texture with muffins and quick breads.
Step 5: Add chips. Fold your chocolate chips into the batter, being careful not to overwork it.
Steps 6 & 7: Pour and bake. Transfer the batter to your muffin tin, then sprinkle the muffin tops with a bit of brown sugar.
Bake the muffins for 8 minutes, then turn down the oven temperature to 350°F. Continue to bake them until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out free of batter.
Tip: Starting the muffins at a higher temperature helps them to rise, so they get those beautiful, bakery-style domed tops we all love.
Step 8: Cool. Place the muffin pan on a wire rack and let your muffins cool before removing them from the tin.
Shelf-Life & Storage
Vegan chocolate chip muffins will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for about 4 days, in the fridge for about a week, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
I haven't tried a gluten-free version, but I think your best bet would be to substitute an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend if you'd like to give it a shot!
I'm sure they can, but the texture will be a bit different. If you'd like to try a whole wheat version I'd recommend using either whole wheat pastry flour, or a mix of regular whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour.
Sure! Lightly oil your muffin tin to prevent sticking, or use a nonstick tin.
Variations
- Spiced vegan chocolate chip muffins. In addition to cinnamon, add ½ teaspoon of ground ginger and ¼ teaspoon each of cloves and nutmeg to the batter.
- Vegan white chocolate chip muffins. Use vegan white chocolate chips instead of dark. Try King David brand.
- Chocolate chip nut muffins. Replace up to half of the chocolate chips with chopped nuts, such as pecans or walnuts.
More Vegan Muffin Recipes
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup organic granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened non-dairy milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil, or suitable baking oil of choice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ cups vegan chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon organic brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- In a separate container such as a liquid measuring cup, stir together the milk, oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar.
- Pour the milk mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture and stir everything together just until combined. Don't overmix the batter.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter among the muffin cups, then sprinkle the tops of the unbaked muffins with brown sugar, gently pressing it into the batter.
- Bake the muffins for 8 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350°F and bake another 12 to 14 minutes. until lightly browned on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Transfer the muffin tin to a cooling rack and allow the muffins to cool (until just warm or cooler) before removing them from the tin.
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Made them with whole wheat flour and they still turned out great! Thanks for an easy recipe. :)
I am an oil free vegan, so I swapped out the oil for unsweetened applesauce 1:1 ratio. They came out perfect. Otherwise, I love this recipe, thank you for sharing. I just wanted to share my minor change in case anyone else is looking for oil free.
Thank you for sharing! I'm sure someone will find this helpful. I always get questions on whether this will work and I don't always have time to test it.
Thank you ☺️