Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins

With these vegan chocolate chip muffins, you don't need eggs or dairy to make a muffin that's wonderfully soft and tastes delicious. All you need is one bowl and a handful of simple ingredients for this vegan muffin recipe.

Your family and friends will never guess these muffins are egg-free and dairy-free! 

This vegan chocolate chip muffin recipe will give you a delicious muffin with a delicate crumb. It's true. You don’t need eggs or dairy to make pillowy-soft, bakery style muffins. 

Made with one bowl and just a handful of basic ingredients, see how you can create a vegan breakfast muffin that your family and friends are going to love! 

I make a lot of vegan muffins 

As my son is allergic to both dairy and eggs, I’m frequently whipping up a batch of vegan muffins. 

And even if he didn’t have these allergies, there are other kids at his school who do. So it’s nice to have an option that anyone with a dairy or egg allergy can enjoy.

If you’re vegan or have food allergies, you’ll want to know that these aren’t the only vegan-friendly muffins on this site. 

These chocolate chip vegan muffins are based on my vegan cinnamon muffins. Made with oats and brown sugar, they’re always a hit with my family! 

I've also shared these vegan blueberry muffins, which are made with applesauce and spelt flour. 

Vegan chocolate chip muffins aren’t overly sweet

Unlike store-bought muffins, this vegan chocolate chip muffin recipe isn’t overly sweet. Especially if you use dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips. 

To keep these muffins vegan, make sure to use dairy-free chocolate chips!

Ingredients you’ll need to make this vegan chocolate chip muffin recipe

These vegan chocolate chip muffins are made with just a handful of basic ingredients, including: 

• Ground flaxseeds
• All purpose flour 
• Granulated sugar 
• Baking powder and soda
• Salt
• Milk alternative (I usually use oat milk)
• Sunflower oil 
• Vinegar
• Vegan chocolate chips 

Possible substitutions 

While the ingredients above are the ones I use, you can substitute some of them with other options. 

• Milk alternative: I like using oat milk as it has a subtle sweetness that’s perfect in muffins. But almond milk or any other milk alternative you have on hand will work.  
• Sunflower oil: option to use melted coconut oil instead.
• Flour: to add a little fiber, you can replace half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat or spelt flour.
• Chocolate chips: I used dark chocolate or semi-sweet. 

Don’t leave out the vinegar! 

It may sound odd to add vinegar to a vegan chocolate chip recipe, but the acidity is key for getting the taste and texture of these muffins just right.  

Combing vinegar with the milk alternative essentially makes a vegan buttermilk, which helps give these muffins the perfect rise.

Flax seeds replace the egg in this vegan muffin recipe 

Eggs are usually an important ingredient in muffins as they help to bind everything together and give muffins a fluffy texture. 

Flax seeds are a great vegan alternative, because when mixed with water, they form a goopy, gel-like mixture. 

While you can read more about the science behind baking with flax seeds, what’s important to know is that adding a “flax egg” to muffin batter does the work of the egg by binding ingredients together and creating a wonderfully light texture. 

Just make sure to use ground flax seeds! Buying organic pre-ground flax seeds online is an easy and convenient option. 

However, if you have the time, buying flax seeds whole and grinding them yourself will help retain more of the nutrients and is often cheaper.

Tips for making the best vegan chocolate chip muffins

Making vegan chocolate chip muffins is so easy! 

All you have to do is mix everything together, pour into muffin liners, and bake. But, there are few key tips for making these muffins not just good, but really great: 

• Measure your flour correctly. To prevent adding too much flour (which would make your muffins super dense), make sure to spoon flour into a measuring cup, using a knife to level off the top, rather than scooping it up with the measuring cup. 

• Make a well in your dry ingredients. For a light and airy texture, you want to avoid overmixing. By pouring the wet ingredients into a well in the dry, it will help everything mix together faster and avoid overmixing. 

• Only fill your muffin lines ¾ of the way full. Unless you want a goopy mess in your oven, only fill your muffin liners ¾ full. To make it easier and less messy, I like using a measuring cup with a shaped spout for pouring the batter into the pan.

• Let the muffins cool completely. As good as they may smell, these vegan chocolate chip muffins taste best after having time to cool. They’re also less likely to fall apart when removing the liners. 

How to store leftover muffins 

Once fully cooled, you can store leftover vegan chocolate chip muffins in an airtight container on your counter for up to 5 days. 

To avoid excess moisture on your muffins during storage, place a paper towel in the bottom of your tupperware container. The paper towel will help absorb excess moisture, while still keeping your muffins nice and soft. 

You can also freeze leftovers. Simply place cooled muffins on a sheet pan and place in the freezer until frozen, about 30 minutes. 

Remove muffins from the freezer, wrap each individually with plastic wrap, and then place all the wrapped muffins in a freezer-safe zip-top bag. Finally, place the bag in the freezer for up to 4 months. 

When ready to reheat, simply remove the plastic wrap from one of the muffins and microwave for 20 seconds, or until soft. 

Vegan chocolate chip muffins are great for sharing, lunch boxes, and more

Whether you have a brunch party coming up or want to bring a batch to share with coworkers, I really hope this vegan chocolate chip muffin recipe makes it on your table soon. 

And if you’re looking for more vegan breakfast recipes, you may love these: 

• Vegan Blueberry Muffin
• Vegan Oatmeal Pancakes
• Healthy Chocolate Chia Pudding 
• Vegetable Congee 

Any questions? Feel free to ask in the comments below.