Vegan Orange Cupcakes
My Vegan Orange Muffin recipe bursts with flavor, thanks to whole oranges in the batter! These eggless, dairy-free muffins are springy and moist, and stay good for days. Plus, they can be made gluten-free!
Servings: 12
Calories: 217kcal
Equipment
- bullet blender
- muffin tins
- muffin liners
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups flour (270-280 grams) (see notes for gluten-free flour!)
- 1 cup sugar (200 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon table salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup pureed clementines (227 grams, usually from 2-3 clementines) (see notes)
- ⅔ cup orange juice (150 grams) (bottled juice is fine)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 grams)
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil (75 grams)
- sparkling sugar, for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
- Slice off the ends and any rough or discolored peel from the clementines. Puree until about smooth; you don't want big pieces of peel. Measure out 1 cup.
- Measure out your ⅔ cup orange juice. If you didn't have enough puree, add extra orange juice to the puree to make up the difference.
- Add the orange puree, orange juice, vanilla, and vegetable oil to the dry ingredients. Mix just to combine. Do not overmix. The mixture will foam up some.
- Scoop the batter into greased or paper-lined muffin tins. Fill them ¾ full, almost but not all the way to the top. If you have extra batter (you might if your muffin tins are small), grease or line a few extra muffin cups and bake immediately. Sprinkle batter with sparkling sugar before baking, if desired.
- Bake at 400F for 15-18 minutes. They may or may not brown on top. The top will spring back if pressed lightly, and a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean when the muffins are done. Do not underbake.
- Cool for 5 minutes, then carefully turn muffins out to a cooling rack.
- Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in a sealed container at room temperature. Muffins are good for several days. As with all muffins, the tops will soften after being stored.
Notes
Pureed oranges make these muffins very moist. You should puree your oranges thoroughly, to avoid large pieces of peel. If you don't have a bullet blender or food chopper, I recommend you zest the oranges, then segment them and chop the segments as finely as possible.
Since you include the orange peel in the muffins, use a very thin-skinned, sweet, not-bitter orange. Clementines or mandarins are ideal. Be sure it's seedless before you blend it. I recommend organic oranges if possible.
If you don't have quite enough puree, top it off with more orange juice.
This recipe is easily made gluten-free by using a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend that has xanthan gum. The gum is necessary since this recipe does not have eggs. I tested it with a Trader Joe's gluten-free blend. Look for a mild-tasting flour made from millet, sorghum, or rice flours, and not one that uses bean flours.
Do not overfill your muffin cups, as they will overflow and create muffin tops. If you have extra batter, bake it immediately following your first batch of muffins. Don't stir it, or you'll deflate the batter.
This recipe makes anywhere from 12-17 muffins depending on the size of your muffin tin. Most recently, I've consistently gotten 15 muffins.
Follow the doneness cues, and do not underbake. Underbaked muffins may be gummy.
This recipe was originally adapted from King Arthur Baking.
Calorie count calculated in MyNetDiary and is an estimate only.
Recipe updated 4/7/2025
Nutrition
Calories: 217kcal
