These muffins are inspired by summer! We are at the tail end of blueberry season up here in New England, but they are still abundant and so delicious. This is an amazing vegan lemon blueberry muffin but with a hint of basil. Nothing better than fresh blueberries, basil and some lemon flavor in a muffin. These vegan basil blueberry lemon muffins are PACKED with blueberries.
Resting the Batter
So, in this recipe, I call for resting the batter for an hour. A couple of things happens here. Additional gluten will develop in the batter when it rests, which will result in taller muffins. But this also gives a chance for all the flours to hydrate which results in a thicker batter. If you would like to read more about resting muffin batter, check out this article from Kitchn. I tried a rest version, and no rest, straight in the oven. There is a difference – the muffins get more rise. Though the muffins without a rest were very good as well. So if you’re impatient you can just go ahead and bake, but I implore you to give them a rest, at least one hour, up to overnight. There is such a noticeable difference that makes these vegan basil blueberry lemon muffins feel more like bakery-style muffins.
What is Aquafaba?
Not sure exactly what aquafaba is? It is the liquid from a can of chickpeas and can be a 1:1 replacement for egg whites. Aquafaba can whip, and create foam but it also makes a great binder. So next time you use a can of chickpeas, save the liquid! You can freeze it, so it will store until you are ready to use it. If you have been following along, this is my go to egg replacer as it is easily accessible. I’ve used it in previous recipes such as my vegan brioche donuts, vegan cinnamon rolls, and even these vegan miso brown butter cookies. It makes a great egg replacer in these vegan basil blueberry lemon muffins. When you are incorporating the aquafaba into the vegan butter and sugar, you will notice it will get nice and fluffy! Just what we want, perfect egg-less muffins.
Additional Tips
You will see in the recipe, I call for the juice of 1 lemon, but list the amount in tsp and grams. The reasoning is, when developing this recipe the results varied based on the size of the lemon. When I had larger lemons, the batter was too runny, and the muffins didn’t rise as well. They were still good! But I measured exactly how much lemon juice you will need – just to get correct results.
One last note – you will see I will call out for you to lightly smoosh some of the blueberries before adding into the batter. This is because without doing this, you will end up with giant blueberry holes in the muffins. Because these muffins contain so many blueberries, you end up with gaping craters of blueberries. This just helps the batter be a bit more homogeneous and help eliminate some of these blueberry craters. You can use frozen blueberries if you would like, just defrost them first to room temperature and drain off any juices that collect!
Also, feel free to sprinkle the tops of your vegan muffins with some sugar if you like a crunch!
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Vegan Basil Blueberry Lemon Muffins
- V
- VG
- DF
Nutrition per portion
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (330g) All-purpose Flour
- 2 tsp (8g) Baking Powder
- ½ tsp (3g) Kosher Salt
- ½ cup (114g) 1 Stick Unsalted Vegan Butter, at Room Temperature
- 1 cup (200g) Granulated Sugar
- Zest of 2 Lemons
- 6 tbsp (90g) Aquafaba
- Juice of 1 Lemon (about 4 tsp or 20g)
- ½ cup (120g) Oat Milk, or Any Other Non-dairy Milk
- 2 ½ cups (343g) Blueberries, Room Temperature
- 10 Large Basil Leaves, Chiffonade (Cut into Thin Strips)
Method
- In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into it. Whisk to combine.
- In a large bowl, add your vegan butter, granulated sugar and lemon zest. Mix with a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally to incorporate all the butter.
- Add in the aquafaba to the butter sugar mixture, and mix on medium high for 1-2 minutes until super fluffy.
- Add in the lemon juice, and mix until incorporated.
- Now you will add in alternating additions of the flour and milk into the butter mixture, starting and ending with flour. Add in 1/3 of the flour, mix to combine. Then 1/2 of the milk, mix to combine. Repeat until all flour and milk are added.
- In a small bowl, take half of your blueberries and lightly mash them with a fork. Then add them into the batter and mix with a rubber spatula until evenly dispersed.
- Add in the remainder of the blueberries, and then the sliced basil then gently stir to combine.
- Cover the bowl and place in your fridge for at least 1 hour, up to overnight. The muffin batter will be thick after resting.
- Pre-heat the oven to 400°.
- When the oven is preheated, line your muffin tin with liners, or grease lightly. Then divide up the batter equally into 12 muffin cups.
- Place the muffin tin in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops are nicely browned.
- Remove and let cool for 15 minutes. Then remove the muffins and place on a wire rack to fully cool.
