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 🙂 What purpose does the cornstarch serve? Is it a binding agent?
Yes, mostly, but you can leave it out if needed.