Vegan Chocolate-Coffee Muffins Recipe

By
Carrie Vasios Mullins
Carrie Vasios Mullins is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Carrie Vasios Mullins
Carrie Vasios Mullins is the former national editor at Serious Eats, with a focus on all things sweet.
Learn about Serious Eats' Editorial Process
Updated May 07, 2020
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Carrie Vasios Mullins

The cool thing about a lot of the great chocolates being produced these days is that they're vegan. In fact they're vegan without intending to be vegan; their short, focused list of ingredients simply excludes dairy products and other potential animal by-products. Having all that high quality chocolate makes it that much easier to make great vegan sweets, which in my book is always a good thing.

These muffins are really simple to put together, but they do come with a few caveats. First, they have a dense, moist crumb that's not going to be exactly like a traditional muffin in texture. (See photo below for a visual.) Second, they have a double dose of coffee— a cup of the freshly brewed stuff and instant espresso powder—so be ready for a literal pick-me-up.

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And finally, the batter is on the sticky side, so I highly recommend using paper liners instead of just greasing the muffin tin. But if rich, deeply chocolatey breakfast sweets that contain no dairy or eggs are your thing, then give these a whirl.

Why this recipe works

  • Without butter or eggs, this is a dense, almost fudgy muffin, but if you're down with that texture, you'll like these.
  • Using a combination of strong freshly brewed coffee and instant espresso powder doubles the coffee flavor

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    • Recipe Details

    Vegan Chocolate-Coffee Muffins Recipe

    Active 15 mins
    Total 35 mins
    Makes 12 muffins
    Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

    Ingredients

    • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
    • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 1/4 cups sugar
    • 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
    • 1 cup freshly brewed coffee
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
    • 3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips or vegan chocolate, chopped

    Directions

    1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin tin with paper liners.

    2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, sugar, and instant espresso powder until combined. Stir in coffee, vanilla, and vinegar until batter is formed. Stir in chocolate chips or chunks. Fill each muffin tin 3/4 way full with batter. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Transfer muffins to a wire rack to finish cooling.

    Special equipment

    12 cup standard size muffin tin, paper muffin tin liners

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