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Chai Spiced Muffins are must-try vegan muffins that are moist, rich and flavorful! I use dairy-free milk, applesauce instead of butter and load it up with warm spices including cloves, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom. It’s a simple vegan muffin recipe that you can customize to add nuts, chocolate chips or dried fruit. And no one will even notice they’re vegan!
What are chai spices?
Chai is a blend of spices that originated from India. They provide a warming and soothing effect and act as a natural digestive aid so they have huge health benefits however you consume them! The spices used vary from region to region, but the mix most commonly includes:
- Cinnamon
- Allspice
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
- Cardamom
- Ginger
To make the vegan muffins recipe easier, I only included 4 of the spices, but feel free to substitute as you see fit.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour for the best results. If you have a gluten intolerance, you can try swapping it for a 1:1 GF flour, although these chai muffins have not been tested with this.
- Coconut sugar: Used to sweeten the vegan muffins. It’s less processed than granulated and adds a great flavor. You can use light brown sugar if you don’t have coconut.
- Baking powder and salt: For light and fluffy muffins.
- Chai spices: Cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves.
- Applesauce: To make these muffins vegan and eliminate the need for eggs, we use some unsweetened apple sauce instead.
- Milk: You can use any dairy-free or dairy milk. I like to use oat, but almond, soy or coconut will all work well.
- Oil: Grapeseed oil helps to keep the muffins nice and moist. You can substitute it with any other neutral oil like canola, vegetable or safflower oil.
- Maple syrup: To natural sweeten the muffins. If not vegan, you can also use honey.
How to make vegan muffins
Preheat your oven and grease your muffin tin. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. I like sifting the dry ingredients whenever possible for better results!
In another bowl mix together the wet ingredients: milk, applesauce, neutral oil (I like grapeseed) and maple syrup or another liquid sweetener.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and combine. You should have a smooth batter, but some lumps are totally ok whenever you’re making vegan muffins, or even regular muffins!
Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full and bake. They will puff up in the middle, but not too much. You can also fill them all the way up, and make 9 muffins instead. I like keeping them on the smaller side.
Tips for making this recipe
- Don’t substitute the oil for more applesauce. A little fat from the grapeseed oil (or another neutral oil) is ok in these vegan muffins because they help them become light and moist. There’s already applesauce in the recipe and adding more will make these gummy.
- Bring milk to room temperature so it doesn’t seize up. Just like non-vegan baking, it helps when the ingredients are all at room temperature, especially the milk.
- Sift the flour so the vegan muffins will be lighter and fluffier. And make sure to measure the flour after you sift it so you’re not using any extra flour, which can make the muffins more dense and dry.
- Don’t over beat the mixture together. Lumps in the batter are ok and even small specs of flour are ok. If you over beat the mixture, it leads the gluten to develop more, which can also lead to less fluffy muffins.
Frequently asked questions
These vegan muffins will take around 18 to 20 minutes to bake. When they are ready, the tops will rise and be solid. Insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin and if it comes out clean, they are ready to be taken out of the oven.
There’s only half a cup of non-dairy milk in these muffins, so you can use whatever you have. Soy, oat and almond all work well. If you aren’t following a vegan diet, you can also use regular cows’ milk.
Once you have baked the muffins, they will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for about two days. To prolong their life, you can store them in the fridge and they will be good for about a week. You can also freeze the muffins and they will keep for up to 3 months.
These vegan muffins are so perfectly spiced and no one will ever guess that they are vegan. The chai spice gives them such a great flavor and they are perfect to enjoy as a mid afternoon snack with a cup of tea or even for breakfast!
More vegan treats:
More muffin recipes:
If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Chai Spiced Vegan Muffins recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
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Chai Spiced Vegan Muffins
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Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup dairy-free milk
- 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a twelve-muffin tin or add muffin liners to a muffin tin.
- In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, salt, and the spices.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: applesauce, milk, oil, and maple syrup. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix.
- Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let them cool down for 5-10 minutes before removing from the muffin tin. Yields 12 muffins.
Notes
- Feel free to change up the spices or increase/decrease quantities as you see fit.
- Instead of grapeseed oil, you can substitute any other neutral oil like canola, vegetable or safflower oil.
- Instead of applesauce, you can use other fruit purees like banana or pumpkin.
- Instead of diary-free milk, you can use regular cow’s milk.
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
How can I make them non-vegan? can I replace applesauce with eggs for example?
This recipe is made specifically to be vegan, I have not made it with non-vegan ingredients so I am not sure what needs to be replaced and with how much. I do have other non-vegan muffin recipes you can try!
These muffins are delicious! I was impressed with the light and fluffy texture and the subtle spices. It’s hard to believe they’re vegan! Great for breakfast with a cup of coffee or tea.
Thank you so much! That’s perfect! I love it that way too.
I added pecans and subbed the coconut sugar for brown sugar (all I had at home). They look, smell, and taste delicious! Non-vegan (practically carnivore) roommate approved (lol). Taking them on an early spring camping trip for the perfect cold-weather pick-me-up 🙂
So glad to hear it worked with those substitutes! I love that!! Hope you have a fun and safe trip.
These were so good. I had some Tazo Chai concentrate so I subbed that in for the non dairy milk and they were perfect!
That sounds incredible! Thank you!!
I would never have guessed that these were vegan. Totally light, delicately-spiced, and delicious. I realized that I didn’t have cardamom, so subbed in allspice. Definitely a keeper.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Yay!!
Hello! Can I use all purpose gluten free flour instead of the regular flour in this recipe? If so, how much? Would it be the same amount? Thank you!
I’ve never tried it with gluten-free flour, but if you find a 1:1 gf flour, you can just use the same amounts.
These look beautiful and I love chai flavor. I noticed you say the applesauce can be replaced with other fruit purée but I have none. Would a flax egg work as an applesauce replacement? Thanks!
Sure thing! That will work!
Made these today and loved them! Didn’t have ground ginger so I used allspice and they turned out delicious. Thank you!
Oh perfect! Yeah, it’s fun to switch up the spices for this one too…so many warm spices can be used!
Cloves, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom. Best combination for a warm delicious muffin. Great recipe. Good instructions. Keep it up. Love your blog.