Orange and Chocolate
These two ingredients form a magical combination in these muffins and just about all desserts. The pairing of the fresh, sweet and sour notes of the citrus with the bitter, sweet and nutty notes of the chocolate add an elegance to these vegan muffins. The addition of orange zest adds another layer of citrus and some additional bitter notes – elevating the flavors even more.
Vegan Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins
This wholesome dessert, is one of my of my favorite. A few notes about these delightful plant-based treats.
For a strong orange taste, I use both orange juice and orange zest. I also chop the chocolate chips a bit, especially as I usually opt for mini muffins and the smaller pieces are just the perfect size. I also top them off with a sprinkling of sugar.
Vegan Chocolate Chips
There are a variety of high quality non-dairy chocolate chips on the market. My favorite of these are the Guittard Semisweet Chocolate Chips. If you live near a Trader Joe’s, they conveniently carry a non-dairy chocolate chip as well that I can recommend.
Vegan Butter
My go-to vegan butter for baking is Miyoko’s Butter. Recently I made these with Trader Joe’s Vegan Butter and I was very happy with the results.
Wholesome and Nutritious Flour
This recipe calls for a whole wheat pastry flour. It is more nutritious and health promoting than a processed all-purpose flour and adds a wholesomeness to the muffins. I love Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. I often use it in recipes to replace all-purpose flour in a 1:1 ratio. Note: Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and Whole Wheat Flour behave differently in baking and it is the former that works for this recipe.
Love Vegan Desserts with Chocolate?
If you love vegan desserts with chocolate, then this Chocolate Mousse recipe is a must try. It’s decadent and creamy and it’s hard to believe that it’s made without dairy.
Here’s the recipe. Enjoy!
Vegan Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- ⅔ cup unsweetened plant-based milk of your choice
- 6 tbs orange juice
- 6 tbs melted vegan butter see blog post for recommendations
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbs ground flax seed
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour see blog post for recommendations
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup chopped non-dairy semi-sweet chocolate chips see blog post for recommendations
- sprinkling of sugar on top to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Line a 12 or 24 cup mini muffin tin with liners, or use a non-stick tin.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir to combine the plant milk, orange juice, butter, and apple cider vinegar.
- Mix in the ground flax seed for one minute to evenly disperse. Then stir in the vanilla.
- Add the sugar, and mix thoroughly.
- Add the whole wheat flour, orange zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until just combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chip pieces.
- Fill each muffin well with batter. Sprinkle sugar on top of each.
- If using a 24 cup muffin tin, bake for about 16-20 minutes until beginning to brown and a knife inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.
- If using a 12 cup muffin tin, bake for about 20-24 minutes until beginning to brown and a knife inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.
