Vegan raspberry muffins – Lazy Cat Kitchen

Berry season is here, despite unseasonally cold weather again, and because I am a sucker for raspberries I made a tray of bakewell tart inspired little vegan raspberry muffins. It’s been months since I baked something – these date sweetened muffins aside – as I went off sugar in January and while I am still very much off sugar for the most part, I now allow myself a treat every now and again – as long as it doesn’t get out of control again.

These vegan raspberry muffins feature sweet and juicy pops of raspberries, have a delicious, light crumb thanks to the combination of almond flour and plain flour and are gorgeously moist thanks to vegan yoghurt and a tiny bit of oil. If you enjoy cardamom in your desserts, I recommend adding a touch but as it’s a divisive spice, I recommend you skip it if you aren’t too sure. Also be aware that cardamom has the propensity to overpower so don’t go too crazy – half a teaspoon is plenty – unless you are a die hard fan.

These vegan raspberry muffins are easy to make too. They come together in a single bowl including the raspberries if you don’t mind them being squashed a little. Since ripe raspberries are rather delicate, I actually prefer to layer them in between spoonfuls of batter directly in my muffin tin for a neater look and bigger pops of fruity surprise. However, if that’s too much faff, don’t worry – just chuck them all (apart from a few you may want to save for the decoration) right into the batter. Just be extra gentle when folding and when spooning the batter into the muffin tin, that’s it. We’ve really enjoyed these after a long break from sugary treats and I hope you will too.

MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS

VEGAN YOGHURT – I used vegan yoghurt to keep these muffins moist. They are not completely oil-free as I also used a small amount of oil, but you can make them oil-free by replacing oil with extra yoghurt. I recommend using thick (rather than pourable) yoghurt here for best results. I used plain coconut yoghurt by The Coconut Collaborative.

OIL – a small amount of neutral oil (grapeseed, sunflower, mild olive oil) helps to keep these muffins beautifully moist, but you can make these muffins OIL-FREE by replacing the oil with extra yoghurt.

SUGAR – I used caster (superfine) sugar, but coconut sugar will work just as well if you prefer to use that – the colour of the muffins will be a little darker though.

RASPBERRIES – I used fresh raspberries, but frozen will work just as well. Both types benefit from a little dusting of flour before being added to the batter. Be aware that if using frozen raspberries, they will bring batter temperature down a bit so your muffins may need a couple of minutes more baking.

PLANT MILK – any plant milk will work well here although I like using soy milk in baked goods.

CARDAMOM – I like a light touch of cardamom here, but if you are not a fan, feel free to skip it and perhaps add a zest of another lemon instead.

LEMON – lemon juice helps these muffins rise as it comes into a reaction with baking soda so don’t skip it although you could use lime juice instead. As for the zest, it’s optional, but I like its fragrance against white chocolate.

FLOUR – I used white all purpose flour here, but if you want to make these muffins gluten-free, use a well balanced gluten-free flour mix. One that contains plenty of starch and ideally some xanthan gum too.

GROUND ALMONDS – ground almonds give these muffins a beautiful, moist crumb. I love using almonds in baking but you could replace them with extra flour. My guess is that 90 g of flour (¾ cup) would yield a perfect result.

WHITE CHOCOLATE – I added chopped white vegan (based on oat milk) chocolate to the batter, but you can skip it if you wish. It provides little sweet pops of flavour, which contrast really nicely against tart raspberry pockets.

Combine yoghurt, oil and sugar in a large mixing bowl, stir it around until lump-free, then add lemon zest, lemon juice and plant milk. Mix well before adding dry ingredients.

While pouring in almond flour, use a spoon or a spatula to make small circles in the centre of the bowl gradually incorporating more almond flour as you go along – I find that this method minimises lumps. Place a sieve over the bowl, sift in flour, salt, both baking agents and cardamom (if using). Fold them into the wet ingredients gently, again use small circles technique I described above.

Finally fold in chopped white chocolate (if using) and you could also fold in raspberries at this point. Since they are quite fragile and fall apart rather easily, I prefer placing them in between spoonfuls of batter when building my muffins. Both approaches work. Save a few clean raspberries to decorate as they look lovely peeking from underneath risen batter.