It doesn’t get any more classic than this! Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins are chocolatey, moist, and made with simple ingredients.
If you love chocolate chip sweets, make sure to check out my Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and these Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Ahh, soft and chocolatey Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins… the perfect sweet treat! Enjoy them for breakfast or as an afternoon pick-me-up. Every bite is decadent, fluffy, and moist, just like my Vegan Blueberry Muffins and Lemon Poppyseed Muffins!
There’s a lot of reasons to love these soft and sweet vegan chocolate muffins. They’re the perfect go-to baked good because:
- They’re easy to make gluten free
- You can freeze the baked muffins for months
- All you need are pantry-staple ingredients
- They come together easily in only 1 bowl
This recipe makes a dozen vegan muffins so you have the perfect amount to feed your family all week long. If you love them as much as I do, you’ll definitely want to double or triple the batch so you can have chocolate chip muffins at all times!
How to make vegan chocolate chip muffins
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Start by making the vegan “buttermilk” by mixing the soy milk and vinegar together in a measuring cup. It only needs a few minutes to sit and curdle. The rest of the batter is easy to make:
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Pour the “buttermilk”, melted vegan butter, and vanilla into the bowl and gently stir everything together.
- Add the chocolate chips in to the batter (I prefer mini chocolate chips if you can find them!)
- Stir them in gently with a spatula.
Pour the muffin batter into a lined baking tin. Top each muffin with extra chocolate chips or a sprinkle of coarse sugar if you like, then bake until they’re slightly golden brown.
Leave the muffins to cool for a few minutes in the pan before transferring them to a wire rack. Eat and enjoy!
Tips and substitutions
- Vegan “buttermilk” – Is necessary to give the muffins extra rise, moisture, and a little tang. It can be made at home with soy or almond milk and apple cider or white vinegar. If you don’t have vinegar, lemon juice is the best replacement.
- Gluten free – Substitute the flour with a quality gluten free flour mix. Almond flour will not work here though!
- Dairy free milk – You don’t have to use soy milk. Any plant milk will do! But a higher fat content milk is best.
- Oil free – Use applesauce to make oil free chocolate chip muffins.
- Vegan butter – If you don’t have vegan butter on hand, replace it with a neutral oil instead like canola oil.
Customize the flavors
Just like chocolate chip cookies, you can experiment with the flavors here and add in a few extras to really customize the recipe. Use any of these suggestions for inspiration:
- Pumpkin puree – Use instead of the oil/butter for pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.
- Warm spices, like cinnamon, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, or nutmeg
- Mashed banana
- Chopped nuts
- Shredded coconut
- Chocolate chunks
- Mini vegan marshmallows
- Dried cranberries
- White chocolate chips
- Sea salt
Storing and freezing muffins
Vegan chocolate chip muffins stay fresh for about 3 days at room temperature when kept in an airtight container. They’ll last a few days longer when stored in the fridge.
You can also freeze the baked muffins by wrapping them in plastic wrap and storing them in a large freezer bag. Just let them thaw at room temperature for about an hour, then unwrap and enjoy.
Looking for more vegan muffin recipes to try?
Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 cup melted vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups vegan chocolate chips
- 1-2 tablespoons coarse sugar, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a standard muffin pan with non-stick spray or use paper liners and spray them with a little oil.
- Combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar in a glass measuring cup and set aside to curdle. This is your "buttermilk".
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cornstarch.
- Pour in the soy milk/vinegar mixture, melted vegan butter and vanilla. Stir with a large spoon to combine, but do not over mix. Some small lumps are fine.
- Fold in the chocolate chips, gently. Using a small measuring cup or ice cream scoop, add batter to the liners and fill all the way to the top. Top with a sprinkle of coarse sugar, if desired.
- Bake for 22-26 minutes, until lightly golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Do not over bake, or they will be dry and hard. Let cool 5 minutes in the pan, then move to a cooling rack. Eat and enjoy!
- Store leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days. You can also freeze them by wrapping them in plastic wrap and placing them in a large freezer bag.
Notes
- May use any kind of milk you like, such as almond, cashew, coconut or oat milk.
- Instead of apple cider vinegar, you can also use white vinegar or lemon juice.
- Gluten free – Substitute a quality gluten free flour mix. NOT almond flour, which will not work.
- Feel free to cut back the sugar, down to 1/2 cup for less sweet muffins.
- Oil free – Substitute applesauce or even pumpkin puree, for the vegan butter.
Hi Nora!
How much applesauce to sub in for the oil?
Thank you so much!!
Hi Felicia. You would substitute 1/2 cup applesauce for the butter. Enjoy!
I love to cook, but baking isn’t my forté. This recipe was so EASY – a single bowl – and so delicious. The family was thrilled to wake up to them still warm this morning!
Hi Abigail. I believe cooking should be easy and delicious, and that’s why I love creating easy and delicious recipes! I’m really glad that you love the chocolate chip muffins! Thank you for sharing this wonderful feedback! Happy cooking!
Turned out so good! I used Ripple brand plant milk and it got super thick like a carton of buttermilk!
These are the best muffins I’ve ever made! Nora’s recipes are always so good.
Thank you, Katie, for your kind words! I’m thrilled you love the muffins. Thanks for sharing your wonderful feedback!
Made for second time w choc chip chunks vegan and strawberries and they are delicious!!!!! I’ll have to share or I’ll eat them all ! Nora u rock !
Hi Jessica. Your combination sounds so delicious! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback and ideas!
Nora,
Another wonderful recipe! Chocolate Chip Muffins are so yummy & decadent!
Love your website!!!
Thank you! I am so glad you love the muffins, and that you are enjoying my recipes! I appreciate you sharing your wonderful feedback and review!
i forgot to add the five starts but honestly i would give it a ten!
Hi Nora: another one of your famous recipes that is so tasty!!! So yummy coming out of the oven and me and hubby enjoying. Of course i will have to share with some other folks. I even used some coconut oil with the vegan margarine ( ha d no vegan butter) and still very delicious.
Thank you for your wonderful feedback, Jessica! I’m so glad you and your husband loved the muffins!
I’m not a huge chocolate chip anything fan, especially for breakfast… but my 4 year old daughter insisted she wanted mini muffins for breakfast, and I have to say these are probably the best muffins I’ve ever made! I used half sugar half stevia for the sugar since they already have a whole bad of chocolate chips and we couldn’t tell at all! I think next time I’ll do the same and try apple sauce or pumpkin purée for the butter as well. My kids are really picky and they loved making and eating them, thank you!
That sounds wonderful, Kylie! Thanks so much for using my recipe and for leaving such a fantastic review!
Hi Nora! So thankful for your website and all these wonderful recipes that I can make for my allergy kids! If I wanted to do this as mini muffins do you have the cook time for that?
Hi Erin. You should only need to bake these for 10 to 15 minutes if using a mini muffin pan.
Sooooo yummy. I made them for my mother and sister in law when they came to visit. Everyone loved them. Only changes I made were oat milk instead of soy, 1/2 cup regular choc chips instead of mini (it’s all I had), and I added chopped raspberries. My husband asked if I’d make them again this week.
Thank you for your wonderful feedback! I’m so happy you and your family loved the muffins!
Nora, first of all, I am SUCH A HUGE FAN. I have never tried a recipe that I didn’t absolutely love, you have taught me so much about vegan baking.
Secondly, do you think if I used cake flour for this recipe, it would be more cupcake-like? I am trying to make some chocolate chip cupcakes for a Dalmatian birthday theme.
Cake flour should work instead of AP flour here but it won’t automatically make them taste like cupcakes. Instead, make my Vanilla Cupcakes and add chocolate chips to the batter! Thanks so much for your wonderful feedback!
Aha, will do! Wasn’t sure if the cupcake batter would handle chocolate chips or not… thanks so much for the feedback!
You are welcome!
Side note, made these muffins yesterday and they are SO GOOD! 10/10 recipe, once again!
Thank you for your wonderful feedback! So glad you loved the muffins!
Just made these. Delicious and super easy, as always Nora!!
Thank you for your great review and feedback! I’m so glad you loved the muffins!
Perfection. Mine were ready in 24 minutes! Another hit. Thanks Nora!
These are stellar! Absolute perfection in muffin form! I made these into mini muffins for my daughter to take to school for a snack, and they are so delicious! Thank you for another out of this world recipe!
Hi Erin! I’m so glad you guys love the muffins! Mini muffins are always fun! Thank you for using my recipes, and for taking time to share your wonderful review and comments!
These are THE best!
These turned out perfect!! So delicious!! Thank you for a recipe on how to make my favorite muffin!!
Hi Stefanie! You are welcome! I’m glad the muffins turned out perfect for you! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review and comments!
Classic and great!
My three girls all loved them
So glad you enjoyed the muffins, thank you!
Hi Nora, I really want to make these muffins, but would like to make the batter chocolate instead. Do you have any recommendations on how to do that? Thanks!
I haven’t tested it, but you might be able to replace 1/2 cup of the flour with cocoa powder. Hope you enjoy the muffins!