Vegan Chocolate Cherry Muffins

There is no better pairing than the notes of chocolate and cherries blended in one. So, when you use the last of the cherries of this season to create chocolate cherry muffins, you bake a song. And it is a song, not a mere bake. The dark chocolate brings a deep, rich baritone and the juicy cherries weave in a light, sweet alto.

I know cherries are always magical in bakes, and chocolate does its own bit. But the combination of the two has an out-of-this-world mouthfeel, making the moistest, fluffiest, and gooiest muffins ever.

How to make vegan chocolate cherry muffins?

• Always start with the buttermilk. It saves time. For these, I mixed coconut milk with vinegar and let it rest for a couple of minutes.
• In the meantime, sift whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Then mix in coconut sugar. 
• To the buttermilk, whisk in vanilla extract and coconut oil.
• Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and combine them gently with a spatula. Don’t overmix because you will be mixing again when you add the cherries. 

• The batter will be pretty thick and very different from cake batter. If it feels dry to you, add milk in small increments until all the ingredients are just moistened enough.
• Add in pitted and halved cherries and chocolate chips. Again, fold them using a very light hand. The reason being more mixing develops the gluten strands, which makes muffins dense and hard.
• A word about the chocolate chips - My true love is bittersweet dark chocolate, so that’s what I used. But if your palate runs towards a sweeter and lighter note, feel free to use white or semi-sweet chocolate, as long as it is baking chocolate.

Baking the chocolate cherry muffins

• Grease the cups of your muffin tray or line them with paper or silicone liners (both do mess-free wonders). 
• Scoop the batter. I have a 12-cup tray and the batter was sufficient for just nine. So, I filled the empty ones with water a quarter of the way. It’s a simple trick to even baking and making sure the bare cups don’t get scorched. 
• Cherry muffins are a quick bake and done in 20 to 22 minutes. Don’t overbake. Your skewer should come out clean with a few moist crumbs attached. 
• Wait a few minutes before you take them out of the tray, and then cool the muffins on a wire rack (to prevent soggy bottoms).

Variations of muffin recipe

There are a lot of ingredient substitutes you can use in a muffin recipe. The next best thing to chocolate in any recipe that calls for cherries is almonds.

Use almond meal or chopped almonds for healthy fats, especially if you’re having the muffins for breakfast. You can even top them with almond slivers. Toasted, they lend a gorgeous crunch factor. 

What is the best flour for muffins?

All-purpose flour is the obvious choice. But if you want to keep them healthy, use quinoa flour as I did for my orange muffins. The recipe also relied on flax egg, so it’s still eggless.   

You can also use buckwheat flour to make gluten-free muffins. Try my mango coconut muffins for the recipe. Even amaranth is an option. Or use a mix of whole wheat and all-purpose flour. 

Which oil is best for muffins?

Any neutral-tasting vegetable oil is best if you don’t prefer coconut oil.  

Which sugar to use for muffin recipes?

Any sugar will do, from regular to cane. I’ve used them all for different muffin recipes. Coconut sugar does impart a slightly darker hue to the muffins. That’s why mine were brown. Regular sugar will give you lighter, almost blonde-hued muffins.

If you want to go completely sugar-free, try jaggery powder. Hop over to my banana granola muffins for the exact recipe. 

Which milk to use to bake muffins?

What makes a muffin moist? Buttermilk. So long you add it to the recipe, your muffins will have domed tops with incredible texture. It doesn’t matter which milk; use what you have at hand. I simply prefer coconut milk because it enriches and amplifies the taste. 

Some more muffin recipes:

• Plum cardamom muffins
• Vegan blueberry lemon muffins
• Feta spinach muffins (an excellent savory snack)
• Chocolate protein muffins (great post-workout treat)

Serving the vegan chocolate cherry muffins

Even without eggs, the muffins rose really well. They needed just a light dusting of icing sugar, if that, and were ready to be devoured warm!

The best part? Because they are vegan, refined sugar-free, have whole wheat, and use only dark chocolate (the healthiest option), we had no qualms about having them as breakfast. The chocolate cherry muffins make for a feel-good and (sort of) wholesome snack. 

If you make these chocolate cherry muffins, please leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love getting to connect with you guys. You can also follow me on Instagram & Pinterest for more fabulous recipes.

📖 Recipe