These are the best vegan chocolate muffins with simple ingredients, made in one bowl, in about 30 minutes! The recipe is plant-based, gluten-free, and super easy to make. You don’t want to miss this fudgy, moist, and rich deliciousness!
Raise your right hand if you love chocolate and raise your left hand if you love muffins. I notice we are on the same wavelength! ???? Making these easy homemade chocolate oatmeal muffins was seriously a breeze. You don’t even need a blender or food processor to whip up this tasty vegan dessert.
You can enjoy the muffins for breakfast or grab one in the afternoon when you need some energy. They’re also great for your kid’s lunch box and healthier than store-bought chocolate muffins. Furthermore, free of eggs, cow’s milk, and butter! Let’s do this!
I love creating (and eating!!!) healthy vegan and gluten-free treats and beside brownies muffins are my go-to dessert. They have the perfect size to satisfy any sweet cravings and the best part is that they are so easy to make. You can bake them with your kids, I am sure they would love to get involved.
Simple Ingredients
There are only 12 simple ingredients in total and I bet you have them all at home.
Oats or oat flour – If you have store-bought oat flour at home, you are all set. If you have oats, simply use an electric coffee/spice grinder or a regular blender to make oat flour. Blend for 10 seconds and voilà, you have oat flour. Make sure to use certified gluten-free oats/oat flour, if you are a celiac.
Coconut sugar – You can use brown sugar, white sugar, date sugar or any other granulated sweetener. I only used 1/3 of a cup because the vegan chocolate chips also contain sugar, however, if you have a sweet tooth, feel free to add 1/2 cup sugar.
Cocoa powder – I always use unsweetened cocoa powder. Please note that natural cacao powder has a slightly bitter taste. Dutch-processed cocoa powder is probably not the healthiest option but it still works in this recipe.
Dairy-free chocolate chips – I use these vegan mini chocolate chips but you can use regular-sized chocolate chips.
Plant-based milk – Any plant-based milk is fine. Some examples are almond milk, oat milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, etc. The higher the fat content of the milk is, the richer and tastier the chocolate muffins will be.
Applesauce – Lately, I have been experimenting more often with applesauce and I love baking with it. Not a fan? Simply, use mashed banana instead.
Nut butter – I used peanut butter because that’s what I had on hand. You can also use almond butter, cashew butter or sunflower seed butter for a nut-free version!
Apple cider vinegar – In combination with the baking powder and baking soda, it helps the muffins to rise. You can use white vinegar or lemon juice instead.
All ingredients AND measurements are listed in the recipe card BELOW!
How To Make Vegan Chocolate Muffins?
STEP 1: First, you should line a muffin pan with paper liners (or grease the pan). Preheat oven to 360 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
STEP 2: Add all dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips) to a large mixing bowl and stir with a whisk.
STEP 3: Now add the wet ingredients and stir until combined (you can use a whisk or a hand mixer). Stir in the vegan chocolate chips.
STEP 4: Divide the batter among the wells of the muffin pan. I had enough batter to make 8 muffins.
STEP 5: Bake for 24 to 27 minutes or until you spot cracks on top of the muffins. Insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin. It should come out almost clean (it’s ok if the toothpick is crumbly/slightly sticky but it shouldn’t come out wet).
STEP 6: Let the vegan double chocolate chip muffins cool and enjoy!
How To Store?
Store leftover muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze in zip-lock bags for up to 3 months.
These Flourless Chocolate Muffins Are:
- Vegan (dairy-free, egg-free)
- Gluten-free
- Can be made nut-free
- Can be made refined sugar-free
- Moist
- Fudgy
- Delicious
- Easy to make in one bowl
- Healthier than most chocolate muffins
If you love chocolate, make sure to check out my other delicious vegan & gluten-free desserts:
- Vegan Lava Cake
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Pie
- Chocolate Crepes
- Vegan Zucchini Brownies
- Best Vegan Brownies
- Flourless Brownies
- Sweet Potato Brownies
- Healthy No-Bake Brownies
Should you give these healthy vegan double chocolate muffins a try, please leave a comment and rating below and tag me in your Instagram or Facebook post with #elavegan and @elavegan.
Vegan Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 1/3 cup (120 g) oat flour gluten-free if needed (see notes)
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup (70-100 g) coconut sugar (see notes)
- 1/2 cup (50 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (90 g) chocolate chips (dairy-free) + more for the top
Wet ingredients:
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) almond milk
- 2/3 cup (160 g) applesauce unsweetened (see notes)
- 1/4 cup (65 g) nut butter (see notes)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- I recommend measuring the ingredients in grams on a kitchen scale.
- Line a muffin pan with paper liners (or grease the pan) and preheat oven to 360 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
- Add all dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips) to a large mixing bowl and stir with a whisk.
- Now add the wet ingredients and stir to combine. You can also use a hand mixer.
- Finally, stir in the vegan chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter among the wells of the muffin pan. I had enough batter to make 8 muffins.
- Bake for 24 to 27 minutes or until you spot cracks on top of the muffins. I also recommend making a toothpick test. Insert the toothpick into the center of a muffin. It should come out almost clean (it's ok if the toothpick is crumbly/slightly sticky but it shouldn't come out wet).
- Let the muffins cool and enjoy! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Oat flour: If you don't have oat flour, simply process oats (regular or certified gluten-free oats) in a blender or electric spice/coffee grinder until you have oat flour.
- Other flours: Buckwheat flour or millet flour works too. You can use regular all-purpose flour or spelt flour if you aren’t gluten-free.
- Sweetener: Any granulated sweetener can be used. Some examples are coconut sugar, Erythritol, regular sugar, or date sugar. I used 1/3 cup, however, if you have a sweet tooth, I recommend using 1/2 cup.
- Applesauce - You can use mashed banana instead.
- Nut butter: You can use almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter, or sunflower seed butter for a nut-free version. If you don't have nut butter, you could use oil instead. Please note that I never made this recipe with oil, however, I would suggest about 1/8 to 1/4 of a cup (please report back if you give it a try).
- Recipe makes 7-8 muffins (depending on muffin size). Nutrition facts are for one muffin.
- Do you want to make cupcakes? Try out this sweet potato frosting!
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Equipment
Simple and Delicious Vegan Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
Thank you! This recipe is definitely a keeper. Light, fluffy and delicious AND vegan AND gluten-free. My muffin xup runneth over! ☺ I didn’t have cocoa powder, so I substituted with more oat flour which worked perfectly.
Hey Debra, I am glad you liked the muffins. 🙂
Hi Ela,
How many eggs can i use for this recipe instead of applesauce?? It would be great for kids if egg’s could be used instead of applesauce
ah shucks, not sure what I did wrong, I did follow the recipe subbing mashed banana for applesauce, but they came out very heavy and dense with very little rise. they were not very sweet either apart from the choc chips. I’m so used to ‘ordinary’ muffins with eggs, butter, flour and refined sugar these muffins just didn’t hit the spot, sorry! But for a supet healthy alternative I guess they aren’t bad ☺️
This is the chocolate muffin recipe I have been searching for since going whole food plant based and being gluten free. I made exactly as written and got 24 mini muffins and 3 full size muffins. Thrown in the freezer the mini’s make the perfect quick snack!!! So glad I found this recipe, thanks!!!
That’s awesome, Regina. I hope you will try out many others of my whole food plant-based GF recipes. 🙂
Very tasty muffins! I followed the recipe as written and these turned out moist and delicious! I will definitely make them again. Thank you for sharing such a great recipe!
You are very welcome, Jennifer. So glad you like the muffins. 🙂
I have frozen bananas in the freezer, can I use frozen in place of applesauce
If you let them thaw it should work.
Hi, I’ve made these a few times and they are delicious, I want to send them into school but I can’t send any nuts in as they are not allowed. could I just miss out the nut butter? Maybe increase the mashed banana..?
Hi Clare, as mentioned in the recipe notes, you can use oil instead of nut butter. 🙂
I just made these today, just as the recipe calls, no subs. I made 9 muffins. I did the 1/3 cup coconut sugar. WOW. These are decadent and so good! I am not gluten free so I could use regular flour, but I wanted to make it as is. I’ll just stick to it! It is perfect 🙂
That’s so good to hear, Tania. Thanks for your amazing feedback! 🙂
Hi Clare, have you tried tahini or sunflower seed butter in place of the nut butter? Those are not on the school allergy list. I would bet those both would work.
hi. I cannot eat gluten free oats. can I use gluten free all purpose flour instead?
That should be fine. I tried millet flour with success, too.
An amazing recipe that’s easy and relatively healthy compared to other chocolate muffins
I used 70g coconut sugar and decided to bake with buckwheat and the muffins did not disappoint
Thank you very much will be a regular in my house hold my daughter said ‘ mummy these are scrumptious’
Will try with the oat flour aswell 🙂 x x x
Happy you like them, Aman! 🙂
It was my first time baking something and omg it turned out amazing. I followed the recipe by heart – the muffins raised, are tender soft inside and taste amazing!
Not sure what the difference is between baking soda and baking powder so I just put baking powder. I also used Integral (whole) Oat flour it works great. Peanut butter gives it an amazing finishing taste.
Just absolutely loved it, thank you 🙂
You are very welcome! So glad they turned out delicious. 🙂
Its not rising , too fudgy
Hi Kate, is it possible that you didn’t bake them long enough? Mine did rise, you can see it in the photos. Of course, muffins with oat flour do not rise as much as muffins with all-purpose flour, they are typically denser! Buckwheat flour (another gluten-free option) or millet flour works too, and the result is slightly fluffier. You can use regular or spelt flour if you aren’t gluten-free.
Can i use almond flour? I love it
Hi, I think almond flour doesn’t work in this recipe. Maybe a combination of almond flour with another flour would work, but I haven’t tried it.
I’ve made these muffins so many times, they are perfect! Everyone loves them 😍 I’m running out of apple cider vinegar, is there a substitute you recommend for it?
Thank you 🫶🏼
Hi Cinthya, I am so glad you like them! You can use lemon juice instead. 🙂
These look amazing! Could you substitute the sugar for a liquid one like maple syrup?
Hi Dess, I think that should be no problem. 🙂
I tried them with maple syrup and they were amazing and the texture was perfect. I made a double batch for a party and they were gone before the last person left. So delicious!
That’s good to hear, Dess! So glad you like them. 🙂
I love this recipe so much! I eat one of these muffins every Sunday as my treat! How awesome that it tastes so good but is healthier than most chocolate muffins. Plant based and gluten free too? Yes please! Staple in my house <3
Wonderful! I am so glad you love them! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Made these and they are the absolute best!! Did sun butter for the nut butter and we were out of almond butter so we did oat milk instead. My three year old LOVED it!
That’s wonderful, Ashley! I am so glad you like them. 🙂
Sorry, In my last comment regarding the grams I meant to say that the 1/2 cup of cocoa powder does not come close to 50 g. It seemed like a lot of applesauce to me as it’s thinner than a mashed banana would be and my batter was very runny as it filled 12 muffin cups with a little leftover. In oven now!! I love the ingredients and I am hoping it works.
Hi Linda, it’s best to always follow the measurements in grams, as stated in the recipe. I hope they turn out delicious. 🙂
Can you substitute oat flour for another type of flour.(almond,rice,coconut)
Haven’t had much luck finding a gluten free oat flour or oats for that matter.
You can try buckwheat flour or maybe even quinoa flour.
Wanting to make these and only have almond flour or a GF flour blend – would either work?
The GF flour blend should work fine. 🙂