Vegan Muffins | English Muffin Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is a vegan muffin made of? ›

A basic vegan muffin recipe requires just 7 simple ingredients. You'll need flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and egg replacement, non-dairy milk and oil. That's all!

The idea here is to start the muffins in a very hot oven for just a short amount of time. This activates the baking powder and allows the muffins to shoot up in height quickly. We then turn the heat down and continue to cook for longer. This is done to avoid over-browning and overbaking.

The number one rule for successful muffins is: Don't over-mix the batter. Use a rubber spatula to quickly fold (gently stir) the liquid ingredients into the dry ones.

For a comparison, though, most commercial vegan muffins say that they should only be kept for around 5 days.

For Storage Longer Than Four Days

I recommend freezing muffins that you'd like to keep beyond four days. Individually wrap them in plastic, then place them in a ziptop bag and freeze for up to 2 months.

Many muffin recipes use cooking oil instead of butter. Oil, being a liquid, distributes easily in the quick-mix batter and is readily absorbed into the baked muffin, producing a light non-greasy texture. Vegetable oil is ideal because its mild flavour doesn't compete with the main flavour of the muffin.

Oils like soybean oil (often labeled as vegetable oil) and canola oil do an amazing job of keeping baked goods moist without imparting a lot of flavors. Unlike butter, these oils tend to make baked goods lighter in texture and moister, as well. (Butter has a beautiful flavor, though.)

If there isn't enough egg, your batter or dough may not be able to hold its structure or could end up overly dry or dense. On the other hand, if there is too much egg, your baked goods could lose their shape due to excess liquid, or have a rubbery (or even overly cakey) texture depending on the recipe.

What does adding more eggs do to muffins? ›

Eggs are responsible for giving baked goods structure, which means the amount you use directly affects the resulting texture. Using too few eggs will make your desserts dense, but using too many will make them rubbery.

Rest the Muffin Batter

The first, most hands-off way to make your muffins pop (literally) is to let the batter rest. Make the batter, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the batter rest at room temperature for about 1 hour. If you're short on time, just 30 minutes can make a difference.

Overmixing is a common problem with muffins. First combine dry ingredients, mixing well. Then combine liquid ingredients, mixing well. Finally combine dry and wet ingredients, by hand, using only 15 to 20 light strokes.

Ideal Muffin Cooking Temperature

That being said, the standard oven temperature for baking desserts like quick breads and muffins is commonly set to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Setting your oven to this temperature will almost always produce a well-cooked muffin recipe.

A basic formula for muffins is 2 cups flour, 2-4 tablespoons sugar, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 egg, 1/4 cup oil, shortening or butter, 1 cup milk. When the fat, sugar and egg ratio in a recipe reaches double or more than this, you have reached the cake level.

Plant-based substitutes: Vegan baking often involves using ingredients like plant-based milk (e.g., almond milk, soy milk, oat milk), vegetable oils, nut butters, applesauce, mashed bananas, or tofu as replacements for dairy and eggs. These substitutes provide moisture, fat, and binding properties necessary in baking.

Vegan cupcakes are animal product and dairy free. This means they contain no egg, butter, or dairy products. However, they do contain ingredients that are familiar to the baker such as flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, oil, and vanilla.

Vegan baking and cakes are free from any animal products.