• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Rhian's Recipes

  • About
    • Contact
    • Work With Me
  • Recipes
  • Meal Plan
  • Cookbook
  • Subscribe
  • Blogging Tips
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Subscribe
  • Meal Plan
  • Cookbook
  • Blogging Tips
×
Home » Recipes » Baking & Desserts

Gluten-Free Vegan Orange Muffins

Modified: Feb 1, 2024 · Published: May 13, 2020 by Rhian Williams

Photo of the author Rhian Williams
Modified: Feb 1, 2024 · Published: May 13, 2020 by Rhian Williams · This post may contain affiliate links · 33 Comments
Jump to Recipe Jump to Video
A collage of two photos of gluten-free vegan orange muffins

These Gluten-Free Vegan Orange Muffins are moist, fluffy, sweet and fragrant. They come together in one bowl and are refined sugar free too. Perfect for breakfast, a snack or dessert!

Two gluten-free vegan orange muffins, one cut in half

Tips for baking with oranges

  • The orange flavour in these muffins comes from orange zest and orange juice.
  • The orange zest can be replaced with orange extract.
  • If using orange zest, make sure to use unwaxed oranges.
  • You can either use freshly squeezed orange juice, or orange juice from a carton.
  • If you prefer a stronger orange flavour, you can add some orange extract to the muffin batter - instructions in recipe notes.

How to make this recipe

  • Mix together all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Raw gluten-free vegan orange muffin batter in a glass bowl
  • Divide the batter between muffin cases in a muffin/cupcake tin.
Raw gluten-free vegan orange muffin batter in two brown muffin cases
  • Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
Two gluten-free vegan orange muffins in brown muffin cases

For even more orange flavour, you can make an orange syrup to pour over the muffins.

Tips for the orange syrup

  • Mix it together while you're waiting for the muffins to bake in the oven.
  • I recommend pouring the syrup over the muffins straight out the oven while they're still hot, so that it gets properly absorbed.
  • It's optional so you can leave it out if you want.

Substitutions you can make

  • You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
  • The orange juice can be freshly squeezed or from a carton.
  • The orange zest can be replaced with orange extract.
  • 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) with ground walnuts.
  • For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds (almond meal) with ground sunflower seeds or use 30g (¼ cup) coconut flour instead of 150g (1 ¼ 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.

Flavour substitution ideas

You can easily make this recipe your own by adding ingredients that suit your taste preferences. Here are some ideas:

  • Poppy seeds.
  • Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries - use my Blueberry Muffins recipe as a guide for how much fruit to add.
  • Desiccated coconut.
  • Dried cranberries.
  • Chocolate chips - use my Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe as a guide for how much to add.

How long do these Orange Muffins keep for?

These muffins do taste best when fresh, but keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days. You can reheat them in the oven or an oven toaster if you like.

A gluten-free vegan orange muffin in a brown muffin case topped with chopped pistachios

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
  • Raspberry Muffins
  • Gingerbread 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.

Watch how to make this recipe

Two gluten-free vegan orange muffins, one cut in half

Gluten-Free Vegan Orange Muffins

These Gluten-Free Vegan Orange Muffins are moist, fluffy, sweet and fragrant. They come together in one bowl and are refined sugar free too. Perfect for breakfast, a snack or dessert!
4.30 from 50 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: gluten-free orange muffins, vegan gluten-free muffins, vegan orange muffins
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes minutes
Servings: 12 muffins
Calories: 193kcal
Author: Rhian Williams
Prevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

For the muffins:

  • 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
  • 60 ml (¼ cup) orange juice (freshly squeezed or from a carton)
  • 150 ml (⅔ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
  • 2 tablespoons orange zest * (use unwaxed oranges - or sub 2 teaspoons orange extract)
  • 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)

For the syrup (optional):

  • 3 tablespoons orange juice (freshly squeezed or from a carton)
  • 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)

Instructions

For the muffins:

  • 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 orange juice to the same bowl along with the milk, orange zest, 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
.
  • 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.

For the syrup:

  • Whilst the muffins are baking, mix together the orange juice and maple syrup.
  • Drizzle it over the muffins as soon as they're out of the oven - it will soak into the muffins better when they're hot.
  • These muffins taste best eaten on the day they're made, but keep for a few days. They can be reheated in the oven or an oven toaster if you like!

Video

Notes

*For a stronger orange flavour, add an extra teaspoon of orange extract as well as the orange zest. Or if using orange extract instead of orange zest, use 3 teaspoons of orange extract.
**You can alternatively use almond flour.
Nutrition Facts
Gluten-Free Vegan Orange Muffins
Amount Per Serving
Calories 193 Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 5g25%
Sodium 41mg2%
Potassium 57mg2%
Carbohydrates 21g7%
Fiber 3g12%
Sugar 9g10%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 14IU0%
Vitamin C 4mg5%
Calcium 72mg7%
Iron 1mg6%
* 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 purchase any of these 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.

More Baking & Dessert Recipes

  • A slice of gluten-free vegan chocolate chip cake on a plate with a fork
    Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cake
  • A slice of gluten-free vegan lemon olive oil cake on a plate with a fork
    Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cake
  • A slice of vegan lemon poppy seed layer cake on a plate with a fork
    Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Layer Cake
  • A slice of vegan olive oil yogurt cake on a plate with a fork
    Vegan Olive Oil Yogurt Cake (Gluten-Free)
  • Share
  • Tweet

Reader Interactions

Comments

    4.30 from 50 votes (41 ratings without comment)

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




  1. Marianne Atkins

    May 17, 2020 at 3:49 am

    5 stars
    Thank you for this amazing recipe, gf and vegan, light fluffy and very tasty, i used third milk and third coconut yoghurt and added almond flakes to the top.

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      May 17, 2020 at 2:07 pm

      Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!

  2. Anonymous

    May 20, 2020 at 3:33 pm

    5 stars
    these are fabulous !!!!!

    these

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      May 20, 2020 at 5:07 pm

      Thank you so much, so glad you liked them!

  3. Maheen

    May 31, 2020 at 2:57 pm

    Looks amazing, but is it possible to use regular whole wheat flour??

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      May 31, 2020 at 5:52 pm

      Yes, in place of the gluten-free flour!

  4. Anonymous

    August 15, 2020 at 6:03 pm

    Can almond flour be used in place of almond meal?

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      August 15, 2020 at 7:40 pm

      Yes!

  5. Yasmine

    November 10, 2020 at 9:09 pm

    5 stars
    So simple and delicious! I used less maple syrup but they tasted great just the same and I'll probably try reducing even more next time.

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      November 10, 2020 at 10:42 pm

      Thank you so much, so glad you liked them!

Newer Comments »

Primary Sidebar

Photo of Rhian Williams

Hi, I’m Rhian! I make easy, undetectably vegan + gluten-free recipes, including healthy comfort food and naturally sweetened desserts using plant-based ingredients.

More about me →

Popular Recipes

  • A slice of gluten-free vegan yogurt cake on a plate with a fork
    Gluten-Free Vegan Yogurt Cake
  • Three vegan blueberry muffins with a bite taken out of one with a bowl of fresh blueberries in the background
    Vegan Blueberry Muffins (Gluten-Free)
  • A loaf of coconut flour bread topped with sunflower seeds and poppy seeds with two slices next to it
    Coconut Flour Bread (Vegan + Gluten-Free)
  • Flaxseed Pancakes (Vegan + Gluten-Free)
  • A sliced vegan baked cheesecake topped with wild strawberries and strawberry flowers
    Vegan Baked Cheesecake (Gluten-Free)
  • A loaf of quinoa bread topped with seeds with two slices next to it
    Quinoa Bread (Vegan + Gluten-Free)
  • Five vegan coconut flour pancakes stacked in a pile decorated with fresh raspberries and coconut flakes on a green plate against a grey background
    Vegan Coconut Flour Pancakes (Gluten-Free)
  • Wok-fried tenderstem broccoli, pak choi and sliced garlic on a black plate
    Wagamama Wok-Fried Greens (Vegan + GF)

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • About
  • Privacy Policy & Disclosure
  • Copyright Notice

Newsletter

  • Subscribe for free updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Work With Me

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2025 · Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework ·

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.