Vegan Strawberry Muffins

These vegan strawberry muffins are a great snack or ready-to-go breakfast option. They are delicious and easy to freeze so your future self can be prepared for the day ahead. Whether it is a marathon school day, or I’m packing for a day-long adventure, you can be sure I’m taking these muffins along for a treat.

Ingredients for Vegan Strawberry Muffins

When I first entered the world of healthy baking, I was bombarded with ingredients I couldn’t pronounce, and weird vegan cheeses, creams, butter, sweeteners, etc. that were super expensive, plus still loaded with strange ingredients. Totally unnecessary. This recipe, and my Bakery-Style Vegan Banana Muffins use clean, whole foods and minimally processed ingredients.

• Almond butter: Whether you use store-bought or homemade nut butter, it will bring about a smooth and nutty flavor.
• Coconut oil: This is my favorite oil to use in baked goods as it gives a slightly sweet flavor to the final product without overpowering the recipe. Swap with homemade vegan butter if you have it on hand.
• Maple syrup: A delightfully nutty, mild natural sweetener that is a great swap for refined sugar.
• Unsweetened applesauce: This easy, inexpensive ingredient is my swap for eggs in this recipe. It’s used to moisten the dough.
• Dry ingredients: All-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon are used to make the “muffin” part of this recipe. I used a flour combo so they would remain fluffy while getting in some more complex carbohydrates from the whole wheat flour.
• Unsweetened almond milk: Another easy sway is dairy-free milk like almond milk.
• Strawberry chia jam: I’ve got a simple, protein-packed jam recipe in my Simple Green Meals cookbook that bumps up the protein and healthy fat in this strawberry muffin recipe while remaining sweet.

How to Make Vegan Strawberry Muffins

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Alternatively, you can grease each cup using coconut or palm oil.
2. Start with the wet ingredients. Beat the almond butter and coconut oil until creamy in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer. Add in the maple syrup and beat again. Add the applesauce and vanilla and beat until creamy.
3. Now for the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon until well combined. You want to make sure the specks of cinnamon appear all throughout the mix.
4. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Add half the almond milk and briefly beat again. Repeat until all the flour and almond milk is added to the batter, yet be sure not to over-mix as this will cause the muffins not to properly rise.
5. Using a cookie scoop or spoon, fill the muffin cups 1/4 full with batter. Then use the tip of a spoon to make sure the batter covers the whole bottom and a little up the sides of each cup. Place 1 rounded teaspoon of jam into the center of each muffin cup. Top the jam with batter, making sure it is entirely covered.
6. Bake 15-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and spring back when gently pressed. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove and serve.

Pro Tip: Replacing 1/4 cup of flour with 1/4 cup of homemade protein powder can turn this into a superfood champion. I’ve found it super easy to add this easy powder to a variety of baked goods.

More Vegan Baked Goods

Many people have told me that they can make healthy meals, with no problem. When it comes to snacking, they keep reaching for salty, sugary, processed foods. I get it! Nutritious snacks take prep work and aren’t always ready when you need them. Batch baking has become my lifeline when it comes to healthy snacking. Here are a couple of my go-to snacks that are easy to batch bake, taste delicious and will keep you full.

• Healthy granola: This is such a great snack to bake in bulk and then enjoy with milk, on top of yogurt, or by the handful.
• Vegan protein bars: These are easy to freeze as well. I like to warm them up in the toaster oven for a snack, then top them with almond butter for even more healthy fat and protein. 
• Homemade granola bars: I love to take these along for road trips. They can be wrapped in beeswax paper for easy transport. 
• Vegan Blueberry Muffins: A delicious treat that puts the joy back into snacking.

Don’t forget to rate + review this vegan strawberry muffin recipe once you’ve made it! Everyone tweaks baked goods to fit their preferences and it helps us all when you share.