These fluffy as a cloud vegan blueberry muffins with crumb topping feature a ricotta dough studded with fresh blueberries and perfumed with vanilla. Easy from scratch recipe, no eggs, no dairy, you'll just wish you baked a double batch!
Streusel Topping - In a small bowl whisk together the flour and sugar. Grate the butter or dice it into small pieces. Use your hand and quickly work the butter into the sugar and flour mix until it resembles wet sand. Refrigerate or freeze until needed. It is very important that the mixture stays cold and the butter doesn’t melt.
Vegan Ricotta from scratch - Soak the cashews in boiling hot water for 20 minutes. Drain then process in a powerful blender with the water and lemon juice until creamy. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until needed.
2 cups raw cashews, 1 lemn, 3/4 cup water
The Muffins
In a large mixing bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients then gently fold in the blueberries trying not to break them.
1.5 cups unbleached all purpose flour, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp sea salt, Zest from 1 lemon, 1.3 cups fresh blueberries
In a separate bowl whisk all the wet ingredients then pour over the dry ingredients. Fold until a thick batter is formed.
1/3 cup olive oil, 5 Tbsp cashew milk, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 3/4 cup vegan ricotta cheese
Prepare a muffin pan lined with paper cups or use cardboard cupcake/muffin cups or silicone ones. Fill each cup with the muffin batter 3/4 of the way up.
Sprinkle each muffin with about a tablespoon of the streusel topping.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool off completely before serving. (Optional - Dust with powdered sugar before serving).
Notes
Swaps - If you don't fancy blueberries today you can swap them for fresh cranberries, blackberries, chocolate chips, dried figs and even Turkish delight.
Can I use gluten-free flour instead of all purpose? - This recipe has not been tested as gluten-free and I do not recommend that swap.
Topping - If you don't fancy making a streusel topping you can simply sprinkle your muffins with granulated sugar. For a festive wintery look dust the muffins with powdered sugar before serving.
Lemon Glaze Variation - omit the crumb and glaze your blueberry muffins with a lemon glaze once fully cooled. (whisk 1/2 cup powdered sugar + 3 tbsp lemon juice + lemon zest).