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!

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 glass mixing bowl.
- Divide the batter between muffin cases in a muffin/cupcake tin.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes.
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.
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
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
Gluten-Free Vegan Orange Muffins
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 (â…” 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
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.
Sigi Cayel
These are absolutely wonderful! Most times, I have a hard time extracting the citrus flavor from baked goods, but these are so on point, even without the syrup!
I have large than normal cupcake tins so it made 4 muffins - I halved the recipe as well and used the following for anyone interested:
1/8 cup EVOO
1/8 cup freshly squeezed OJ
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tbsp + 2 tsp orange zest
4 tbsps agave
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch coarse salt
3/4 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup all purpose flour
or sub any other sweetener)
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
Had to bake for 25-30 minutes, but they are absolute stunners and the flavor is delicious!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much for sharing, so glad you liked them!
Nikki
Hi, I am interested to learn if you can substitute the ground almonds with coconut flour? As my son is allergic to almonds and maple. Thank you
Rhian Williams
You can replace the ground almonds with a fifth of the amount coconut flour (as coconut flour absorbs a lot of moisture)! Hope that helps!
Donna
Thankyou for asking this question about almonds substitute as my daughter has a total nut/seed allergy.
H B
Do you think I could easily add in blueberries?
Rhian Williams
Yes!
Selena
Yummy!!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much!
Stephanie
This looks amazing! I’m wondering if you think I could replace the Almond flour with oat flour??
Rhian Williams
Thank you! Ah sorry I don't think that would be the right texture, but you can replace it with ground walnuts or ground sunflower seeds.