These Vegan Lemon Muffins are great to bake for a weekend breakfast. Freeze extras for busy mornings or quick snacks!
This post is in partnership with ALDI.
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fantastic celebration. Us? Well, we had a nice dinner and then slept through the new year for (I think) the second year in a row. The thing is – I’ve become a morning person. It wasn’t intentional – it just happened. On weekdays, I find that I get my best work done first thing in the morning. On weekends and holidays, I like to get up, pour coffee, and bake something for breakfast. So here are some yummy lemon muffins that I’ve been baking lately!
This post is in partnership with ALDI, because I wanted to tell you about some new exciting healthy/veggie-forward products that they have like Meyer lemons(!), organic coconut sugar(!), and even vegan cream cheese, which I used to make a simple frosting for my muffins.
I love Meyer lemons because they’re juicier and sweeter than other lemons. They’re sometimes hard to find but, conveniently, they’re at ALDI.
Did I mention that these lemon muffins are vegan? There’s no need for an egg here – they rise perfectly without one. I used almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil in lieu of any dairy. I especially love using olive oil in lemon recipes because lemon and olive oil are a great flavor pairing. Coconut sugar makes these refined sugar free.
These lemon muffins are made with some almond flour, which gives them a nutty texture and flavor. Pro tip: you don’t have to buy almond flour, you can just blend slivered almonds in blender until they become a fine meal.
Instead of making lemon poppy seed muffins, I used chia seeds. You get that same look and a tiny bit of crunch, but chia seeds also add some extra nutritional value, so I love using them here. Plus, chia seeds are a more common pantry staple for me; I always have them on hand.
The frosting here is light and lemony – it’s made with vegan cream cheese, maple syrup, Meyer lemon juice, and lemon zest. The muffins themselves have a lighter lemon flavor, but the frosting and the zest on top make them bright and tangy.
Like all muffins, these are best on the day they’re made. They freeze well, and the frosting can be stored in the fridge for a few days (it’s best to freeze them un-frosted).
Find these ingredients and more fresh and affordable healthy finds at ALDI.
And if you’re as much of a muffin fan as I am, I heartily recommend you try my Banana Muffins, Blueberry Muffins, and or Coconut Mango Muffins next.
Happy baking!
Vegan Lemon Muffins
- 1 cup Friendly Farms AlmondMilk, Original
- 1 teaspoon Simply Nature Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1¾ cups Baker’s Corner All Purpose Flour
- ½ cup almond flour*
- 2½ teaspoons Baker’s Corner Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Baker’s Corner Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Stonemill Sea Salt
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons Simply Nature Organic Coconut Sugar
- ⅓ cup Specially Selected Premium Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Stonemill Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 tablespoon Simply Nature Chia Seeds, more for garnish
- ½ cup Earth Grown Vegan Cream Cheese
- 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons Specially Selected Pure Maple Syrup
- 1 teaspoon Meyer lemon zest, more for garnish
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and lightly oil a 12-cup non-stick muffin tin.
- In a small bowl, combine the almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir in the almond milk mixture. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the chia seeds and use a â…“-cup measuring cup to scoop the batter into the muffin tins. Bake for 16 to 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Make the glaze. Using a hand mixer or a food processor, mix the cream cheese, lemon juice, maple syrup, and lemon zest until smooth. Dollop onto the cooled muffins and garnish with chia seeds and lemon zest.
This post is in partnership with ALDI.
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Is there a way to make these Gluten free? Could I sub oat flour for AP flour?
Hi Brenda, we haven’t tested a gluten free version, but a GF all purpose flour should work fine. Oat flour wouldn’t be a 1:1 swap.
I decided to make this fuss-free recipe for my family, I couldn’t resist tasting it first and … I am really pleased with the results. I didn’t have coconut sugar so I used Muscovado ( pure organic cane sugar ) and to my surprise, it wasn’t sweet at all ! Perfect for diabetic family member 🙂 I will make this again
Hi Matt, I’m so glad the muffins were a hit!
Is it possible to make these gluten free?
Hi,
Could any plant based milk be used as a substitute for almond milk? Does Oat milk work?
Oat milk would be great here!
yes any plant milk works ! the best for the ” buttermilk ” curdle is soy and almond but other works very well !
Loved these as muffins! They were gone in two days 🙂 Can these be made into a 9×5 loaf?
Hi Maria, I haven’t tried them in a loaf pan but I think they could work? I’d bake closer to 40 to 50 minutes. Or make this lemon cake (but it’s not vegan): https://www.loveandlemons.com/lemon-yogurt-cake/
Came out perfect (not too dense) with 100% whole flour and brown rice flour that I was trying to use up. Used lemon oil instead of vanilla. Just the right amount of sweet/lemon flavor. Plan to make again. (:
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for sharing your flour substitutions!
Ahhhh this looks so addicting. I havent made any lemony baked goods in a long time. most recipes call for powdered sugar or the like and i am not interested in eating that. Excited about these ingredients and looking forward to seeing how everything comes together.
These were absolutely delicious! My family doesn’t care for chia seeds, so I made a batch without them. but they were gone in a matter of days! So yummy! Will definitely make again!
These muffins were so fluffy and delicious! I also really loved how simple the recipe is! My whole family loved them as well, and the house smelled amazing while the baked. I used a different icing for them which was made from 1/2 cup of powder sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and it made them even better. Thank you very much for the recipe! I would recommend them to anyone (vegan or not 😉 )
Hi! I’d love to make these but my bf is allergic to nuts. What could I use to sub for almond flour??
I just made two batches of these tonight. They are delicious! I’m not vegan myself but was making them for a friend who is, and I loved how simple they were. I made one change: instead of lemon zest and juice, I used kumquats from my own tree – I removed the seeds and blitzed them whole into a puree, then used a generous 1/3 cup. They took a little longer to cook, but they were wonderful! Thank you so much for this recipe – I will definitely use it again!
I made these with my meyer lemons that just ripened and the recipe was perfect even though I didn’t use any of the brands mentioned and I didn’t make the glaze. To me, they were sweet and lemony enough without it. I really liked the chia seeds in there!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Could i use all whole wheat with almond flour instead? Thanks
They might come out more dense, I’d probably try half white and half whole wheat (and the written amount of almond flour).
So good! I added blueberries and these are delicious.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Hi, I was wondering if you knew the nutrition value of these muffins?
I’m sorry, I don’t calculate nutrition facts.
I tried these with just all purpose flour. But these turned out too dense and didn’t rise and were sticky. There’s no flavor whatsoever. I’m not sure what went wrong.
Hi Anita, the almond flour would help all of those things since almond flour and AP flour aren’t a 1:1 exchange.
I made these and the texture was really good, but I needed more lemon flavor. I’m going to try again with double the lemon juice as I had already added lemon extract and it still wasn’t very lemony. I do recommend letting the cream cheese get to room temp first or it stays lumpy. I’d definitely try this again. Also, I used poppy seeds and that worked well.