Vegan Cranberry Muffins
Back at it again with another muffin recipe, this time vegan cranberry muffins! To me, muffins (and cookies) are the ultimate simple and straightforward treat. They require so little effort yet yield great results. They really shouldn’t be allowed to be so good. It’s sort of like investing money, you put in 10$ and it turns into 100$?! Witchcraft.
Anyways, these vegan cranberry muffins are easy to make, moist, fluffy, lemony and require basic ingredients you probably already have! And if you don’t have cranberries you can replace them with another (not too wet) fruit like blueberries, raspberries or even dried fruits and nuts. That’s the beauty of muffins, they’re super customizable. Just like the ginger-pear ones! Just a batter with endless possibilities.
How to make these vegan cranberry muffins
As I mentioned, these are simple to make. Like most muffins, no electric mixer is required since everything can be mixed by hand. Just whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in one bowl, and the oil, water (or plant milk), vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest in another.
You can go the extra mile if you’d like and rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingertips before adding the rest of the dry ingredients. That will extract some of the oils from the zest and amplify the lemon flavour in your cranberry muffins. And you can also use orange zest and juice if you prefer!
Once you have your two bowls of mixed ingredients, combine them and stir until you get a smooth batter. Then fold in your cranberries. If you want to make this recipe ahead of time, you can make the batter but omit the cranberries and put it in the fridge for up to 2 days. When you’re ready to bake, you’ll just need to fold in the cranberries!
I made these into giant muffins because I got a pan from the thrift store a while back that I’ve been itching to use. But obviously feel free to make regular-sized cranberry muffins. I highly recommend topping them with some coarse sugar before baking though for some extra crunch. We all know muffin tops are the best part of a muffin, but that crunchy sugar topping makes them even better.
You could even add some almond extract to the batter and finish it with an almond crumb topping to make some delicious almond streusel cranberry muffins. Damn.
Storing these vegan cranberry muffins
Once the muffins are baked and have completely cooled, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Or you can keep them in the fridge for up to a week. But they’re obviously best the day they’re baked. I haven’t tried freezing them but I wouldn’t recommend it, muffins are always best fresh so I wouldn’t go further than refrigerating them.
If you make this recipe please let me know in the comments! All feedback is very much appreciated and I would love to hear from you! You can also tag me on instagram @the.quaint.kitchen or use the hashtag #thequaintkitchen to share your creations!
Vegan Cranberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 155 g all-purpose flour
- 110 g white granulated sugar
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 70 g neutral oil, (grapeseed, canola, vegetable…)
- 155 g water or plant milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- zest of 2 lemons
- 70 g fresh or frozen cranberries
- coarse or granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 210°C/410°F and grease or line either a giant muffin pan (will give about 4 muffins) or a normal muffin/cupcake pan (will give about 6 muffins).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt.Optional : start by rubbing the sugar with the lemon zest with your fingertips to extract the oils and amplify the lemon flavour before adding the other ingredients. Or simply add the lemon zest to the wet ingredients.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the oil, water or milk, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest (if not added to the dry).
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until a smooth batter forms, then fold in the cranberries just until they’re evenly dispersed.
- Fill the cavities about ¾ full with the batter and top with coarse sugar (like turbinado or demerara) or just white granulated sugar.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (wet fruit doesn’t count), the tops are golden brown and are firm to the touch.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- *Disclaimer: I have a tiny not-so-great oven, so your bake time may vary from mine.
- I strongly suggest making recipes by weight, if you make them by cups I can’t guarantee that you’ll get the same results.
- Feel free to add nuts to the batter, replace the lemon juice and zest with orange, add almond extract or replace the cranberries with blueberries.