These Gluten-Free Vegan Cranberry Muffins are moist and fluffy, and filled with juicy, tart-sweet cranberries. The recipe is easily customisable and comes together in one bowl, and they are refined sugar free too. Great for dessert, a snack, breakfast, brunch or meal prep. A perfect festive treat for Christmas, but they work well for any occasion!
What type of cranberries should you use to make Cranberry Muffins?
Dried cranberries.
Can you use fresh cranberries to make Cranberry Muffins?
No, they are too sour.
Tips for making Cranberry Muffins
- You'll need to soak the cranberries first to make them soft. Otherwise, they won't have a good texture when baked, and as they cook they will absorb moisture from the muffin batter, causing the baked muffins to be dry.
- You can soak the dried cranberries in cold water overnight or in hot water for 10 minutes and drain them before adding them to the muffin batter.
- Or, but you can soak them overnight in orange juice, apple juice or any liquor of choice, such as brandy or sherry.
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mix together all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Tip: Make sure to use a measuring jug to measure out the exact amount of plant-based milk!
- Divide the batter between muffin cases in a muffin/cupcake tin.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Substitutions you can make to this recipe
- You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground sunflower seeds or use 30g (¼ cup) coconut flour instead of 150g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds, and use a nut-free plant-based milk.
- You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you're not gluten-free.
Flavour substitutions you can make
- You can replace the dried cranberries with any other dried fruit, such as raisins, sultanas, dried blueberries, dried cherries, or chopped dried mango, dried figs, dried pineapple, dried papaya, dried apricots, dates etc.
- You can add chocolate chips.
- You can sprinkle over some flaked almonds or coconut flakes before baking, if desired.
How long do these muffins keep for?
These muffins do taste best when fresh, but keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
More gluten-free vegan muffin recipes
- Carrot Muffins
- Blueberry Banana Bread Muffins
- Chocolate Muffins
- Apple Muffins
- Blueberry Muffins
- Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Banana Muffins
- Lemon Muffins
- Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
- Gingerbread Muffins
- Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Matcha Muffins
- Chocolate Sweet Potato Muffins
- Purple Sweet Potato Ube Muffins
- Yogurt Muffins
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I'd really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Gluten-Free Vegan Cranberry Muffins
These Gluten-Free Vegan Cranberry Muffins are moist and fluffy, and filled with juicy, tart-sweet cranberries.
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Servings: 12 muffins
Calories: 220kcal
Ingredients
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 200 ml (⅘ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice *
- 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) **
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 120 g (1 cup) dried cranberries (soaked in cold water overnight or in hot water for 10 minutes) ***
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil).
- Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl with the lemon juice, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and ground almonds.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
- Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it's looking too dry.
- Drain the cranberries, add them to the batter and mix in gently.
- Transfer the mixture between muffin cases in a muffin tin.
- Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- These muffins taste best eaten on the day they're made, but keep for a few days.
Notes
*The lemon juice is crucial as its acidity needs to react with the alkali bicarbonate of soda to make the muffins fluffy. If you don't want to use lemon juice, replace with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar instead.
**You can alternatively use almond flour.
***Or you can soak them overnight in orange juice, apple juice or any liquor of choice, such as brandy or sherry.
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Vegan Cranberry Muffins
Amount Per Serving
Calories 220
Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 5g25%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Sodium 48mg2%
Potassium 55mg2%
Carbohydrates 28g9%
Fiber 3g12%
Sugar 16g18%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 0.1IU0%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 78mg8%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Anonymous
Looks delicious!