Vegan Blueberry Lemon Cornmeal Muffins

Winter has been persistent here on the east coast this year. So I’ve been baking a fair bit lately – when my body allows me to, that is!

Often I lean towards sweeter combinations for my muffins – like chocolate banana or pumpkin gingerbread. But these are a bit lighter, and remind me of spring. Or at least, that was what I was thinking about when I decided to make them!

Blueberry and lemon is a great combination, giving you some tartness and sweetness. The cornmeal gives these a nice textural element, different from your usual gluten-free flour muffins.

Now if only spring would actually arrive! But for now, I’ll eat a few of these muffins.

This is a good recipe for meal prep, since it freezes well. You can also double the recipe without any issues.

The recipe is purposely designed as one-bowl, dump and bake. That means that other than the milk and lemon juice at the beginning, and the blueberries at the end, you just put everything into one bowl one after the other and whisk well. No need to get out – and wash! – four different bowls to make these.

If you don’t have lemon extract, that’s fine. If you have a fresh lemon and the energy to zest it, you could add in that instead of the lemon extract. But if that’s not workable, you can just leave out the lemon extract and make these as vanilla blueberry cornmeal. Still delicious!

I almost always use frozen blueberries for my muffins as that’s easier, and good for days when I don’t have the energy to wash fresh fruit.

Blueberry Lemon Cornmeal Muffins

Delicious, one bowl, simple muffins bursting with blueberries and a hint of lemon. Plant-based and gluten-free.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Course Snack

Servings 12 muffins

Ingredients

  

• 3/4 cup plant milk I used oat
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend see notes
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 100 ml unsweetened apple sauce see notes
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil I use canola
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 1 cup wild blueberries frozen or fresh are both fine

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners (recommended). If you don't have liners, a good greasing of your muffin tin should be fine.
• In a large bowl, combine the plant milk and lemon juice. Let sit for 10 minutes while you gather the other ingredients.
• After 10 minutes is up, add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt to the bowl.
• Add in the applesauce, oil, vanilla and lemon extracts.
• Give it a good whisk until blended – there may be a few small lumps.
• Last, fold in the blueberries using a spoon or a spatula.
• Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup almost full.
• Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into one of the muffins comes out mostly clean (perhaps just a few crumbs).
• Let cool completely before eating. Enjoy!

Notes

With gluten-free baked goods, the texture is best when you let them cool completely before consuming. But that said, if you can’t wait that long, eating them when just a bit warm also works!

 

In terms of gluten-free flour blends, I like and use the Ardent Mills All Purpose blend. It would also work with the Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 blend that comes in a blue bag.

 

With applesauce, I generally just use one of those pre-portioned cups you can buy for kid’s school lunches. They are all approximately 100-115 ml, which works out well for this recipe.

 

Storage: once cooled, muffins can be stored in an airtight container for 3 days. After 3 days I recommend putting them in the refrigerator so they’ll keep longer, up to 7 days total. They also freeze very well!

Keyword baked goods, blueberry, easy, gluten-free, vegan