Blueberry Orange Oat Muffins (Vegan, Gluten-Free)

Soft, fluffy, healthy blueberry orange muffins made from oats. They’re so simple to make with just 12 ingredients that are completely vegan and gluten-free!

Blueberry lemon is a very common flavor pairing these days, but what about blueberry orange?? To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of lemon in desserts. I find it too sour to be in something that’s supposed to be sweet. But oranges are a kind of tangy sweet, so they’re perfect in desserts! (Like these Chocolate Orange Muffins and GF Chocolate Chip Orange Banana Bread.)

Ingredients

These blueberry orange oat muffins are made with 12 plant-based ingredients:

• Oats ⟶ We will be using oat flour and rolled oats. You can make your own oat flour by blending oats until they reach a fine flour consistency, or buy pre-made oat flour*.
• Almond Flour* & Almond Butter ⟶ Add moisture and flavor to make up for the lack of butter/oil.
• Coconut Sugar ⟶ You can also use white granulated sugar.
• Ground Flaxseed* ⟶ The egg replacer to help bind the ingredients together.
• Soy Milk ⟶ I prefer soy milk for its creamier profile, but any plant-based milk will work.
• Orange & Cinnamon ⟶ For extra flavor.
• Blueberries ⟶ You can also try other berries (cranberry orange muffins anyone??).
• And baking staples like vanilla extract, baking powder, and baking soda

How to Make

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or line a muffin pan (recipe makes 7 muffins) and set aside.
2. Combine milk, orange juice, orange zest, and oats in a large bowl or liquid measuring cup. Let the oats sit for 20 minutes to soften and soak up some of the liquid.
3. Mix ground flax and water and set aside to thicken.
4. Whisk together oat four, almond flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda.
5. Place blueberries in a small bowl and coat with 1-2 tbsp of the flour mixture.
6. When the oats have soaked long enough, add in almond butter, vanilla, and flax mixture and mix together until well combined.
7. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined. Gently fold in blueberries until well dispersed.
8. Divide batter among muffin cups and transfer to oven. Bake about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Vegan Oat Muffin Baking Tips

Most (if not all) muffin recipes caution against over-mixing. This is mainly because over-mixing can cause over-development of gluten, resulting in a muffin with a dense, chewy texture. Since these muffins are gluten-free this isn’t really an issue here, but don’t go crazy with your mixing. The leavening agents (baking soda and baking powder) are activated as soon as liquid hits them, so we want to get the batter in the oven as soon as possible. Just mix until there are no flour pockets left.

Work quickly once the wet and dry ingredients are combined. Make sure your oven is preheated and your muffin pan is ready before you combine the wet and dry ingredients.

Make sure you let the oats soak long enough to soften. This helps make the muffins soft and tender.

Use a kitchen scale to measure out your ingredients when possible. This is the most accurate way to measure your ingredients. If your muffins don’t turn out right, this is the first area I would check for mistakes.

How to Store Muffins

Short Term Storage (2-7 days)

Muffins tend to become soggy over time, as their moisture migrates to the surface and evaporates, only to be trapped by the container and fall right back on the muffins. To prevent this from happening, line the bottom of your container or ziplock bag with a paper towel. Arrange the muffins on top but do not stack them. (You may need to use multiple containers.) Place another paper towel on top of the muffins, then cover the container. Store them at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to a week.

Long Term Storage (up to 3 months)

To store muffins longer than four days, place them in a freezer bag or wrap tightly in foil and store in the freezer up to 3 months. To reheat them, place a slightly damp paper towel on top and microwave for 30-45 seconds. Or, let them thaw at room temperature the day/night before eating.

Whichever storage method you use, make sure the muffins are completely cooled first.

VEGAN MUFFIN VARIATIONS

In place of the blueberries, you can also try raspberries, cranberries, strawberries, chocolate chips, walnuts, pecans, or poppyseeds!

Instead of the orange you can use tangerine or lemon.

Feel free to sprinkle some oats, sugar, or even a streusel on top before baking.

STILL HUNGRY?

Check out these other vegan muffins!

• Fluffy Chocolate Muffins
• Blueberry Muffins
• Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
• Sesame Banana Oat Muffins (GF)
• Chocolate Orange Muffins
• Vegan Snickerdoodle Banana Muffins
• Carrot Banana Oat Muffins (GF)

I hope I’ve inspired you to try baking these vegan blueberry orange oat muffins! If you try them out, don’t forget to leave a comment/rating down below and tag me in your photos on instagram @ellielikes.cooking! I love seeing all your tasty recreations 🙂 Happy baking!

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