We were down to one blueberry muffin, so I knew I needed to make more. But always wanting to experiment, I decided on these Vegan Strawberry Muffins instead.

Bakery Style Muffins

These strawberry-studded muffins bake up fluffy and buttery with irresistible sugary caps on top. Cake-like crumb and totally bakery style. I could see these buttery gems sold in the best little bakery in a cute town. Steamy coffee and muffin in hand, some sort of picturesque mountainside or quaint main street out in front of me. You see it?

So but wait, the question comes up, what do you prefer: a classic blueberry muffin or a less common strawberry muffin?…

These Muffins are the Tops!…

Anyone else have an obsession with muffin tops? You do, I know it. Well these muffins make the best muffin tops. Studded with baked, sweet ruby-colored strawberries…

Strawberries in Baked Goods

I mentioned to my husband that I was going to make strawberry muffins this time. “Strawberry muffins!?” was his reply. I reminded him that one of our very favorite muffins when we were living in NYC was a vegan strawberry peach muffin we would always buy at the Dean & Deluca in Soho. “Oh yeah…”

It’s true that strawberries do not get the pop culture fame as a blueberry muffin, but strawberries are arguably just as delicious to eat raw (or more delicious) compared to blueberries, so why not embrace them in baked goods as well???

One Theory Why Strawberries are Less Common…

One theory I have is that strawberries take more prep to add to baked goods. You need to dice them into smaller pieces, which can take an extra five minutes or so. They also give off slightly more moisture and stickiness since they do not have a circular skin protecting the insides. So you have to be aware of that and make sure your batter before adding the berries is nice and thick.

The other theory is just that people love fresh strawberries so much, they don’t really think that cooking them in necessary!

And it’s true, strawberries lose a bit of their acidity and bite when cooked/baked, but I still enjoy the mild and summery flavor of strawberries when cooked and raw.

So yeah, strawberries are a less traditional option for baked goods, but I think they totally stand on their own as being delicious – and so pretty too!

Vegan Muffins

These muffins are based on the blueberry muffins I posted last week. They use vegan butter instead of oil, so they have a slightly more dense texture. Almost like a scone in many ways. I love this batter recipe with fresh summer fruit! It reminds me a bit of my strawberry scones.

For the egg replacer, I have been really happy using the JUST Egg product — or my old fave of silken tofu, pureed.

Since these muffins use cane sugar as the sweetener, I make sure that the cane sugar is organic and vegan.

Everything else is so easy to veganize! These vegan strawberry muffins use vegan butter (Earth Balance sticks) and soy milk (unsweetened) and every other ingredient is naturally vegan.

Flavor Add-In Options

So these vegan strawberry muffins are so perfect for customizing with some mild flavor accents. I actually added in some ginger today and loved the hint of flavor it added. Flavor add-ins are totally optional, but here are a few ideas…

Ways to modify these muffins – add in…

2-3 teaspoon lemon zest
Reduce strawberries by half and sub with diced fresh peaches
Mini vegan chocolate chips (yup! you can’t really do that with blueberry muffins, but chocolate covered strawberry muffins are very allowed)
Drizzle a vanilla sugar glaze over top or add a crumble topping
Use bananas as your egg replacer for strawberry-banana muffins
Add in ½ cup chopped walnuts or almonds or hazelnuts

Baking Temp and Times for Vegan Muffins

I like to do 375 degrees and keep them in for about a half hour. But depending on how many muffins you want to make, the time may vary…

8-10 muffins – 30-32 minutes
11-12 muffins – 26-28 minutes

I like the slightly higher temperature when baking vegan muffins because I think it lifts the muffins quickly and then locks those puffy tops in place. Plus, you get a gorgeous caramelization and browning of those sugar-sprinkles tops.

Strawberry Season

These muffins are obviously best if you can make them from May-August-ish in strawberry or summer seasons. But since you can pretty much find strawberries year-round, you can make these whenever you crave them! I just love these with the freshest, deepest red summer strawberries – sweetest berries – I can find. I adore Harry’s Berries here in LA for super sweet berries.