The Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins

The wild blueberries on the back ridge came in this week, a week later than last year, the bushes heavy with fruit that has been swelling since June in the cool shaded spots between the spruce. I picked two quarts Tuesday morning and two more Friday, the blueberry stain on my fingers by midday a reliable summer mark. Helen's 1987 notebook blueberry buckle — the recipe that Teddy made from his copy of the notebook during last year's family visit — has become one of the most requested recipes on the blog, and every July I get a new round of comments from people making it for the first time. I made it myself this week and photographed it at the cooling stage, the buckle still warm on the rack, the blueberries pooling slightly through the crumble top.

The Cherokee Purple tomatoes are beginning to turn. The color progression of the Cherokee Purple is different from the Brandywine — the fruit goes from green to a brown-purple at the shoulders first, then deepens all over to the characteristic dusky red-purple that gives the variety its name. The first ripe one came in Friday and I ate it the same way I ate the first Brandywine: standing, with salt, at the cutting board. Different character from the Brandywine — less acid, more sweet, a richness that sits further back on the palate. The two varieties planted together give the tomato season its range. This was a good call.

The Aunt Ruby's German Green came in Saturday — small sample, three fruit, the pale yellow-green of ripe Aunt Ruby's catching me off guard even though I had read about the color. A ripe tomato that is green. The flavor was extraordinary: sweet and spicy and entirely its own, unlike either the Brandywine or the Cherokee Purple, a distinct voice in the tomato choir. I ate all three in one sitting with olive oil and fleur de sel and decided immediately that this variety is in permanent rotation. The family arrives in ten days. There will be a tomato salad on the table before they have put their bags down.

Four quarts of wild blueberries in a week is a kind of abundance that asks something of you — the buckle is already photographed and cooling, and there are still berries left. I’ve been making these vegan blueberry muffins on the mornings after a big pick for a few summers now, and they suit the wild fruit better than most recipes I’ve tried: the crumb is tender enough that the berries stay whole and pool their juice where they sit, and the lack of dairy lets the flavor of the blueberry itself come through without competition. With the family arriving in ten days and the tomato salad already planned, I wanted something for the breakfast table too — something that smelled like July when it came out of the oven.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 22 minutes | Total Time: 32 minutes | Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for topping
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup unsweetened oat milk (or any plant-based milk)
1/3 cup neutral oil (such as avocado or light olive oil)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen wild blueberries
1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional, but recommended)

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 400°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or lightly grease with oil.
Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the oat milk, oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract. Let stand for 2 minutes — the vinegar will slightly curdle the milk, creating a vegan buttermilk effect that tenderizes the crumb.
Combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest if using.
Bring the batter together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a wooden spoon or spatula until just combined. Do not overmix — a few small lumps are fine. Overmixing will toughen the muffins.
Fold in the blueberries. Add the blueberries and fold in gently with 3 or 4 strokes. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them first — add straight from the freezer to prevent the batter from turning blue.
Fill the tin. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Sprinkle the tops with the reserved tablespoon of sugar for a light, crisp crust.
Bake. Bake at 400°F for 20 to 22 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. The tops should spring back lightly when pressed.
Cool. Let the muffins rest in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. They are good warm but hold their texture better once fully cooled — the blueberries will have set slightly and the crumb will slice cleanly.

Nutrition (per serving)

The Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins — When the Back Ridge Comes In Heavy