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Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Muffins

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These Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Muffins are moist and fluffy, packed full of sweet, juicy blueberries and definitely healthy enough for breakfast! They come together easily in one bowl and require just 35 minutes from start to finish!

Photo of a blueberry cupcake on a silver background with a bowl of fresh blueberries in the background

Why you’ll love these Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Muffins:

  • they’re undetectably vegan and gluten-free
  • they’re refined sugar free and relatively healthy
  • they’re super versatile and work as a grab-and-go breakfast, lazy brunch, afternoon snack, or dessert
  • they filling and satisfying, and contain a nice amount of protein
  • they require just one bowl to make
  • you’ll only need
  • a handful of simple ingredients you probably already have on hand!

A bowl of muffin batter in a bowl with blueberries taken from above

How to make these Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Muffins

This recipe is very flexible, and can be easily adapted to suit your dietary needs, budget, ease and convenience:

  • 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 substitute the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground walnuts
  • for a nut-free version: substitute the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground sunflower seeds or use 30g (1/4 cup) coconut flour instead of 150g (1 1/4 cup) ground almonds
  • you can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free
  • you can use either fresh or frozen blueberries
  • if you’re not into blueberries, you can use any other type of similar fruit such as raspberries, blackberries or cherries, or dried fruit such as dried cranberries, figs or dates.

Four raw blueberry muffins in brown muffin cases against a white background

Top tips

  • Make sure to use the right amount of baking powder – 2 heaped teaspoons! Use too little baking powder and your sponge won’t be fluffy, too much and it’ll have a bitter taste
  • If you don’t use the lemon juice, make sure to substitute it with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar as it’s crucial to add some acidity which reacts with the alkali bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) to create a bubbly batter, and fluffy sponge
  • make sure to use an all-purpose shop-bought gluten-free flour blend (or a homemade gluten-free flour blend), as opposed to just using any type of gluten-free flour you can find (such as almond flour, coconut flour, buckwheat flour etc).

Photo of three blueberry muffins on a silver background, with a bowl of fresh blueberries

Equipment you need to make these Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Muffins:

Photo of three blueberry muffins, one with a bite taken out of it, with a bowl of fresh blueberries in the background

How long do these Blueberry Muffins keep for?

Though these muffins do obviously taste best when fresh, they keep well covered in the fridge for up to a few days, and freeze well too, which makes them great for a quick breakfast. If you have just taken them out of the fridge of freezer, I’d recommend warming them up in an oven toaster if you have one.

More gluten-free vegan blueberry baking recipes:

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.

Photo of three blueberry muffins, one with a bite taken out of it, with a bowl of fresh blueberries in the background

Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Muffins

These Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Muffins are moist and fluffy, packed full of sweet, juicy blueberries and definitely healthy enough for breakfast!
4.68 from 59 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: gluten-free blueberry muffins, gluten-free vegan muffins, vegan blueberry muffins
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 8 muffins
Calories: 292kcal
Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

Metric - US Customary

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 along 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
  • Add the fresh blueberries and fold in gently, to make sure you don’t crush them
  • Transfer the mixture between 8 muffin cases in a muffin tin
  • Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean
  • Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days

Notes

*If you don't want to use lemon juice, substitute it with 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar as you need something acidic to react with the alkali bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
**You can alternatively use almond flour
Though these muffins do obviously taste best when fresh, they keep well covered in the fridge for up to a few days, and freeze well too. If you have just taken them out of the fridge of freezer, I'd recommend warming them up in an oven toaster if you have one.
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Muffins
Amount Per Serving
Calories 292 Calories from Fat 153
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 17g 26%
Saturated Fat 7g 35%
Sodium 68mg 3%
Potassium 79mg 2%
Total Carbohydrates 31g 10%
Dietary Fiber 4g 16%
Sugars 14g
Protein 5g 10%
Vitamin A 0.1%
Vitamin C 3.2%
Calcium 11.3%
Iron 7.5%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!

Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you click through and purchase any of the products, a small percentage will come to me, with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.

 

These Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Muffins are moist and fluffy, packed full of sweet, juicy blueberries and definitely healthy enough for breakfast! Egg-free, dairy-free and refined sugar free. #vegan #glutenfree #dairyfree #eggfree #refinedsugarfree #muffins #blueberry #breakfast
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Comments

  2. To date, I have not had much success with gluten free recipes that use gluten free flour, but this one was easy make and came out beautifully fluffy. Very easy. I’ll be making this again, perhaps trying it without any fruit to see what it’s like plain. I must admit I did sprinkle the top with a bit of icing sugar for that extra bit of sweetness.

    Reply

    • Do you mean to use only almond flour and no gluten-free flour? I don’t think these would work using just almond flour, but the gluten-free flour can be substituted with rice flour or buckwheat flour. I haven’t tested them with coconut flour so can’t guarantee any results for that, sorry. Please let me know how you get on if you try any substitutions!

  6. used coconut flour as i didn’t have any gluten free not a good option as it didn’t rise and took ages to cook

    Reply

  7. These look great. Can I ask what Milk you used to make it vegan? Currently the only “Milk” I can use is Oat Milk, which looks like watered down skim.

    Reply

  9. I have virtually no experience with baking, so was surprised by how easy these were to make. After twenty minutes, they were still a little moist on the skewer, so I let them bake a bit longer and, after another five or so mins, they came out of the oven beautifully fluffy. I chose olive oil as a substitute (as I don’t much like coconut-flavoured food) and they still tasted great. Reluctantly shared with my family, and they loved them too!

    Can’t wait to try another of your recipes.

    Reply

    • Yes still add the bicarbonate, but not the full amount of baking powder. I would just add an extra teaspoon of baking powder just to be sure! Hope that helps

  14. Had to Google it–want to be sure that by Bicarbonate of Soda you mean what Americans call “Baking Soda”

    Reply

    • Ground sunflower seeds, or swap the ground almonds for chickpea flour and use 350ml (1 1/2 cups) plant-based milk instead (chickpea flour requires more milk as it’s quite dry). Hope that helps!

  18. Most of the recipes I’ve found for this are vegan but not gluten-free but yours are BOTH and STILL amazing! yay so excited to make more of these 🙂 🙂

    Reply

    • Hi! Unfortunately that won’t work, sorry! You can substitute ground walnuts or sunflower seeds. Another reader has told me that they used 1/4 cup of coconut flour instead of 1 1/4 cup almond flour and that it worked well! Hope that helps.

  20. Hi! I’m excited to try these muffins. Did your gluten free flour contain xantham gum or any gums? Thank you!

    Reply

  22. Is there an alternative to the almond flour? I want to make these for the teachers at my daughter’s school but they need to be nut free. TIA!

    Reply

    • Hi! I’ve never used Natvia so can’t say for sure, but having just done a bit of research I would guess about 6 tablespoons Natvia should be ok. Though you might have to taste-test before baking to be sure. Hope that helps!

  29. Thanks for this recipe, it turned out great! I was nervous because my last vegan, GF cake failed but this one rose nicely and is delicious. It’s a little soft; my son said the whole thing is like the inside of a muffin! 🙂 I used grapeseed oil instead of coconut and dried cranberries instead of blueberries. I used dark maple syrup and it made the muffin smell wonderful. I’m looking forward to trying your other recipes!

    Reply

    • Hi! Thank you so much, really happy to hear that! So glad it worked well and thank you for sharing your substitutions – dried cranberries sound delicious!

  30. Hi, can I use oatmeal instead of the store bought gluten free flour? It isn’t easily available where I live.

    Reply

    • Thank you so much! Yes I have frozen them before and they were fine to defrost – I’d recommend warming them up in the oven once they’ve defrosted though. Hope that helps!

  32. Awesome recipe! The muffins are moist and fluffy and have a lovely texture!

    The only comment I would add is that when you add the cold milk to the melted coconut oil, it re-solidifies. I ended up adding all of the wet ingredients to a saucepan (coconut oil, lemon juice, almond milk, vanilla and maple syrup) and slowly heated until it was a cohesive mixture.

    Reply

    • Thank you so much, so glad you liked the muffins. And thank you so much for the feedback about that – I will tweak the recipe slightly to address that issue. Thank you for letting me know and sorry there was a bit of a problem with that. But glad it worked out ok in the end!

  34. I just discovered this site and it’s GREAT! I now need to find the fastest conversion chart. I wonder if quinoa flakes could replace the oat flakes? I’m new to all of this, both GF and quinoa. I think I need to purchase some GF oats too. I live in the great NW and we get fresh organic blueberries this time of year. Another wonder: How would the frozen ones work this winter? Questions, questions! You have a wonderful site and I am thoroughly enjoying exploring!

    Reply

    • Thank you so much! You can convert the measurements by clicking on the ‘US customary’ button underneath the ingredients list. I’m sorry if it was unclear! Yes I think quinoa flakes could replace oat flakes, but not sure what you’re referring to as there aren’t any oat flakes in this recipe? And yes frozen blueberries will absolutely work! Thank you so much, really glad you like my site!

  35. Ok these are literally perfect !!!! So moist and fluffy and delicious. My husband said one of the best muffins he’s ever had 😍❤️ Thank you !!!

    Reply

  36. These muffins are AWESOME!! I made some with buckwheat flour, real pumpkin and maple syrup and they came out SO delicious!! Definitely something I will make for the next office party!! Thank you!!

    Reply

  38. Hi Rhian, I tried your muffins this evening and they turned out pretty bad… I’m so sad right now as I’ve hardly ever been successful with baking (doesn’t matter if gluten free or not, vegan or not).
    I used a blend of potato flour, rice flour and cornflour. I used rice milk. I didn’t have bicarbonate of soda so I used more baking powder instead. Was that my mistake? Maybe also my oven isn’t “strong” enough. The muffins didn’t rise and are wet and half raw on the inside and dark and chewy on the outside.

    Please tell me what I did wrong, ughh I’m so discouraged right now…!

    P.S. I’m not at all blaming you, your recipes are great and I bet NORMALLY those muffins are amazing!

    Reply

    • Hi! Thank you so much for your feedback and I’m so sorry about what happened! I think not using bicarbonate of soda might have been an issue, as it’s quite an important raising agent in vegan baking as it kind of acts as an egg replacement when it reacts with the acid in the lemon juice or vinegar. Did you preheat your oven properly and bake them at the right temperature? So sorry again!

    • Actually the baking powder reacted with the lemon juice, I saw it bubble. But maybe that wasn’t enough.
      Yes I preheated the oven and used the right temperature, however I wasn’t in my own flat so I didn’t really “know” the oven 😀 Maybe I shouldn’t have baked them at top and bottom heat?
      Well, I don’t know, and I don’t mind anymore. The taste was very good, not the consistency though, but at least the taste 😀 Will try them again using my conventional baking stuff 🙂

    • Thank you for letting me know! I’m glad the taste was ok but hopefully the texture will improve next time…would love to hear how you get on. Thank you for your feedback!

  40. Hi Rhian:

    I love the way you’ve created GF and vegan recipes. Great job! I’m wondering if there is a way to search your recipe files. I’m looking for a Sweet Potato Muffin recipe that is also GF and Vegan.
    Thanks your sharing!

    Reply

    • Thank you so much! You can use the ‘search’ bar in my menu to search the site for recipes, or alternatively just type in the recipe you’re looking for followed by ‘Rhian’s Recipes’ into google search! I don’t have a sweet potato muffin recipe on the site, but this GF Vegan Pumpkin Muffins recipe can easily be made with sweet potato purée instead of pumpkin purée: https://www.rhiansrecipes.com/pumpkin-muffins/

  41. I used 3/4 cup of almond milk because like some others, I have never heard of 4/5 lol. I also used gluten-free baking mix for all of the dry rather than almond flour and they turned out amazingly! I like almond flour and I will use it next time. Too much can be not so yummy but this looks like a great balance. Thank you!

    Reply

  43. I’m new to gluten free and vegan baking. I’m a very experienced baker, though. These didn’t come out as fluffy or sweet as I had hoped. Still, they were delicious. I used vegetable oil (it’s what I had) and I used almond flour. I also substituted with honey. Did my substitutions cause them not to come out fluffy? How can I make them sweeter? Trying to find some yummy recipes for my 11 year old son. He has so many food allergies and this recipe is a hit. Thank you.

    Reply

    • Hi, thank you so much for your feedback, I’m glad you’ve found something your son can have. I don’t think there was anything wrong with your substitutions, to make them fluffier next time I would recommend adding a little extra baking powder (maybe 1 teaspoon extra) as the amount you need can sometimes vary between brands. And to make them sweeter you could add more honey next time (or whatever liquid sweetener you want to use) – you should be able to add a few tablespoons extra no problem. Hope that helps and thanks again for letting me know!

  44. Absolutely loved these!! I doubled the ingredients and it made me about 28 muffins. My muffin pan is not that deep so this was perfect. They were super moist, tasty, and most of all, I had all the ingredients in my pantry! My friends loved it and were pleasantly surprised that it was gluten-free and vegan. Thanks again!

    Reply

  45. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes! We really enjoyed this recipe. They have great flavor and texture. I didn’t get them in the baking tins fast enough, so they lost a little volume in the end. I will try it with some applesauce and a different oil next time. They are kid and hubby approved and met our special dietary needs. Thank you again!!

    Reply

  46. These are incredible! The texture is moist, fluffy, and they have just the right touch of sweetness. I also eat oil-free so I subbed unsweetened applesauce for the coconut oil. I also used canned lite coconut milk because I was out of my usual soy and almond milk. I also added about a tablespoon of grated lemon peel for a little more lemon flavor. They are so good!! Definitely adding this to our regular recipe file!

    Reply

  48. Lovely recipe!! I used organic sunflower oil and oat milk. Delicious. Fluffy, tasty. Nicer than most “regular” muffins, which I find too heavy.

    Reply

  49. This is my kids’ favorite muffin recipe. They especially love these muffins after a hiking trip. I make them regularly. Thank you!

    Reply

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