Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins

Sweet, soft vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins with a hint of orange and studded with armloads of chocolate chips!

These vegan chocolate chip muffins are delicious with the sublime, barely-there flavor of orange. They rise beautifully and biting into one is like biting into a soft, fluffy cloud. You won't be able to stop at one with these bakery-style treats! There are no eggs or dairy products in these muffins, of course, and you can make them healthier with whole wheat flour. They are also soy-free and can be nut-free.

Wake up to these vegan chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. They are sweet and moist and soft and they will leave you feeling so proud about giving your family, and yourself, the perfect treat to start the day--or end it, because these are amazing for dessert as well.

There's a surprise ingredient in this recipe--orange zest and juice. It works wonderfully because of how well orange and chocolate pair with each other. The taste of the orange is subtle but discernible and I love it that way.

I usually use whole wheat pastry flour when I bake vegan muffins but this time I used all purpose flour because I wanted a lighter crumb. You can definitely substitute some or all of the flour with whole wheat pastry flour for a very satisfying result.

Why you'll love these vegan chocolate chip muffins

• They are scrumptious. These muffins rise high and they are so soft and tender. They are quite sweet with the orange juice and chocolate chips so they make a great dessert as well. But you can definitely reduce the amount of sugar and/or chocolate chips, or not sprinkle the bit of sugar on the top (although that gives you a really nice, crackly muffin top).
• They are one-bowl. The recipe is literally dump-and-bake: add all the dry ingredients, mix, then dump in the wet ingredients and mix again before baking.
• They are adaptable. You can make these with whole wheat to make them healthier, or use less sugar. The results will be slightly different, of course, but the muffins will still taste amazing.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 3 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Zest and puree of 2 oranges. The oranges should yield roughly ¾ cup puree. Just put the peeled oranges in the blender (make sure there are no seeds), blend into a coarse puree, and use.
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ¾ cup vegan yogurt. Any kind is fine, but use unsweetened.
• ½ cup non dairy milk. I used oat milk, but any nondairy milk, including almond milk, soy milk or oat milk, is fine.
• 1 cup granulated sugar. This yields a very sweet muffin. To reduce the sweetness you can cut down to ¾ cup.
• ½ cup vegetable oil. Any unflavored oil is fine, I used avocado oil.
• 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips. Regular or mini chocolate chips are both fine. Mix most into the batter and reserve a few for the tops of the muffins for a nicer look.

How to make vegan chocolate chip muffins

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit/220 degrees Celsius.
• Place all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl--flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk until well blended.
• Stir in the sugar, then add the orange zest, juice, vinegar, yogurt, milk, sugar and vanilla.

• Fold in the wet ingredients using a spatula. You can use a whisk but don't overmix. Just mix until everything is incorporated and there is no dry flour, especially at the bottom of the bowl.
• Stir in the chocolate chips and mix them in.

• Scoop out the muffin batter using a cup measure or ice cream scoop into muffin tins that have been oiled or lined with cupcake or muffin liners. The batter yields 18 regular-size muffins.
• If you reserved some chocolate chips for the muffin tops sprinkle them now. You can also sprinkle some sugar, as I did, which gives a really nice, crackly top, but you can skip this, especially if you used the full cup of sugar in the recipe.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 18 more minutes or until the tops are lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out dry or with crumbs sticking to it.
• Let the muffin pan cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then gently lift out the muffins. Eat warm or cold.

Storage and freezing

• The muffins will be fine at room temperature for two days. After that refrigerate for up to a week.
• For longer storage let the muffins cool thoroughly, then store them in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to three months. Reheat in a microwave for 30 seconds or in a preheated 350 degree oven for five minutes.

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