Gluten Free Vegan Dark Chocolate Muffins Recipe (Dairy Free)
Gluten Free Chocolate Muffins: rich, deep dark vegan chocolate muffins with a beautiful rise. Dairy-Free.
Okay, so who’s excited for the new year? I mean, we could totally use a fresh start, amiright?? Are you already crossing ALL the new year’s resolutions off of your list (woah) or, like me, still letting a few percolate, while the others are pretty much lost causes?
A few years back, one of my new year’s resolutions was to share more tasty and secretly healthy muffins with you. And guess what? Today’s gluten free chocolate muffins fit the bill, like woah!
Today’s recipe not only qualifies as vegan chocolate muffins, but also as gluten free dairy free muffins. Yaaaaaas! These chocolate muffins are refined sugar-free, and made with whole ingredients. Plus, they’re downright tasty.
Are you ready to bake this? Let’s do it!
How to Make Gluten Free Chocolate Muffins
Preheat
First things first, make sure to preheat your oven to 350°F. Then, drop a muffin liner into each cup of your 12-cup muffin pan.
Sift the Dry Ingredients
Using a large bowl, sift together all of the dry ingredients: oat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
Heat
Because we’re working with coconut oil, we gotta make sure that we don’t expose it to anything cold—here’s looking at you, milk + water! So let’s heat our dairy-free milk and water together until just warm.
Whisk the Wet Ingredients
Now, let’s add the warm milk + water and the rest of the wet ingredients to a medium mixing bowl. Whisk it altogether until well incorporated. Congrats! You just made your gluten free chocolate muffin batter. So easy, right?
Pour Batter
Pour your vegan chocolate muffins batter into the muffin pan you prepared earlier. Fill each cup up about ¾ of the way for a higher quantity of smaller muffins, or all the way for a lower quantity of large muffins!
Bake, Cool, and Enjoy!
Bake vegan chocolate muffins for about 30 minutes. Cool and enjoy the best gluten free chocolate muffins ever!
More Muffins We Love: Vegan Pumpkin Muffins | Vegan Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins | Gluten Free Banana Oat Muffins (Vegan) | Best Ever Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins
Storing and Freezing Vegan Chocolate Muffins
Room Temperature
After completely cooling your vegan chocolate muffins, place them into an airtight container and store them in a cool, dark environment. You can keep your vegan chocolate muffins for up to 1 week.
Freezer
These gluten free chocolate muffins freeze well. Just remember to cool your muffins completely, then tuck them into a freezer-friendly container. Keep dairy free muffins for 1-2 months.
Testimonials
Jo says, “I have tried so many healthy recipes from different blogs over the past 2-3 years (banana bread, vegan cheesecake, muffins of all sorts), but this recipe has got to be one of my best baking adventures. The muffins are moist, dark, fudgy, and delicious. I did use olive oil instead of coconut oil, and it still worked. Thank you, queen.”
Jaclyn says, “Delicious!!!!! Fluffy and a hint of sweet! These will be going in my muffin rotation!!”
Pashlee says, “My kids loved these! I swapped some of the cocoa powder for protein powder and used monk fruit instead of coconut sugar.”
Mel says, “I just baked these for the 2nd time and they are delicious! I’m looking for a coconut cream frosting to make for the top this time. Last time we just drizzled a bit of maple syrup on top–yummy! Thank you!!”
Jen says, “Great recipe! Subbed out the oil for applesauce. Doubled the recipe & it made 20. Thank you for a quick & easy recipe.”
An easy recipe for deep, dark vegan chocolate muffins made with gluten free, dairy free ingredients.
Great Tools for the Best Vegan Chocolate Muffins
- Raw Cacao Powder – my favorite, nutritent-rich cacao powder. It works just like the traditional unsweetened cocoa powder you know, but it’s packed with nutrients. This raw cacao powder is so high-quality and boasts deep, rich chocolate flavor.
- Unbleached Muffin Liners – my go-to muffin liners. These guys stick just the right amount to your muffins so they stay on while the muffins cool. Bonus? They’re unbleached!
- Coconut Sugar – a staple in my gluten free vegan baking pantry. I use coconut sugar to keep the recipe refined sugar-free.
So whaddya say, wanna join me in new year’s reso-luting the fudge out of homemade vegan chocolate muffins this year? 🙂 I’m so grateful to share in these joyful kitchen adventures with you and your loved ones. ‘Til the next one…
Sending you all my love and maybe even a dove, xo Demeter ❤️
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📸 Did you make this gluten free vegan chocolate muffins recipe? Take a pic and share it on Instagram with the hashtag #beamingbaker & tag @beamingbaker. I’d love to see it! 📸
Gluten Free Muffins & Vegan Muffins We Love
- Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins (Vegan, Gluten Free)
- Easy Vegan Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins Recipe
- Paleo Gluten Free Chocolate Muffins (Grain Free)
- Vegan Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins
- Gluten Free Banana Muffins
- 25+ Absolute BEST Vegan Muffins
- Chocolate Orange Muffins (Vegan)
- …and Chocolate Espresso Martini, just for fun
Gluten Free Vegan Dark Chocolate Muffins Recipe (Dairy Free)
- Total Time: 43 minutes
- Yield: 9-12 muffins 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Gluten Free Chocolate Muffins: rich, deep dark vegan chocolate muffins with a beautiful rise. Dairy-Free.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups gluten free oat flour – if using homemade, make sure it’s very finely ground (not coarse)*
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons water
- ½ cup non-dairy milk
- 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: oat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add water and milk to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 10-second increments until just warm. This will prevent the melted coconut oil from solidifying once mixed with these liquids.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients: water, milk, coconut oil, sugar, maple syrup and extract. Whisk until well incorporated.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Whisk until just incorporated, making sure no flour patches remain.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared muffin pan—fill ¾ of the way for about 12 smaller muffins; fill all the way for 9-10 larger muffins with big, high tops.
- Bake for 16-20 minutes. Mine took 18 minutes. Place muffin pan on a cooling rack to cool for 30 minutes. Remove muffins from muffin pan and continue cooling on rack until completely cool, 1-3 hours. Enjoy! Storing instructions below.
More Gluten Free Vegan Muffins
Notes
*If using homemade oat flour, make sure to sift the flour to remove coarse bits of oats that could create grainy, overly moist muffins without domed tops.
Storing Instructions: Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Freezer Instructions: These chocolate muffins freeze well. Cool muffins completely, then store in a freezer-friendly container. Keep muffins for 1-2 months.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 18 mins
- Category: Dessert, Breakfast, Snacks
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
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This is really amazing!! A great way to enjoy chocolate without all the guilt! So yummy!
Exactly! Guilt-free and so delish! 😋
I love poofy muffins (technical term?) and especially I love these chocolaty muffins – fabulous and great to have a flourless recipe!
Haha that’s totally a technical term! 😂 I’m happy to hear they’re a hit for you!
Love how the vegan muffins turns out with a nice sugar top crust! It definitely hits the spot for satisfying my chocolate cravings!
Woohoo! So happy you enjoyed them Brenda!
Yum! My family is going to love this recipe! I can’t wait to make this recipe! Looks so delicious and scrumptious!
Oh I have no doubt they will Beth! 😊
Oh my god Demeter! These are amazing. I normally find that in recipes they add too much sweetness and it ends up too sweet, but these are absolutely amazing. It was dark and fudgy and fantastic. I added an addition of coffee, cause I love the combination of chocolate and coffee. It was even better. I also used palm sugar instead of coconut. That’s fine right? Anyway, thanks a bunch!
Lotsa love,
Aditi
Yay! I’m so very happy to hear you enjoyed the muffins Aditi. 😊 Love the addition of coffee, and the sugar sub should be fine. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with me!
Can I use olive oil to subtitute coconut oil? Tnx
Hi Cory! I haven’t tried it myself so I can’t say for sure, but I believe a few other readers have with good results. If you do try it, let me know how it goes!
I have tried so many healthy recipes from different blogs over the past 2-3 years (banana bread, vegan cheesecake, muffins of all sorts) , but this recipe has got to be one of my best baking adventures. The muffins are moist, dark, fudgy, and delicious. I did use olive oil instead of coconut oil, and it still worked. Thank you, queen.
Aww you’re so welcome Jo! 😊 You’re kind words have seriously made my day. I’m so pleased to hear how much you’ve enjoyed the muffins—they’re definitely one of my faves. And thanks for letting me know the olive oil worked well!
Great recipe! Subbed out the oil for applesauce. Doubled the recipe & it made 20.
Thank you for a quick & easy recipe 😋
Thanks Jen! 🙂 Loved hearing that the applesauce worked. NICE! Thank you for stopping by. Enjoy!
Hi Demeter, this recipe looks amazing! Please speak to those of us out here who don’t have a sifter!!?? How necessary is it and could we just get away with whisking the dry ingredients until well combined before adding in the wet?? Thx! Love your blog and recipes!! 🙂
Hi Susie!! Okay, the main reason why I want you to use a sifter in this recipe is to get the clumps out of your cocoa powder, to create a lighter, fluffier texture for your muffins and to more evenly mix the dry ingredients. If you must, go ahead and skip the sifter, but be sure to really get the clumps out of your cocoa powder (without packing it in in any way) and very thoroughly whisk your dry ingredients. The muffins might not be as perfect as I want for you, but it’ll do lol. P.S. You’re too sweet!!! <3 <3 Hugs!!
Ok, got it! Thank you so much for your thorough explanation! You’re the best! Have a beautiful and blessed day!! 😄
My kids loved these! I swapped some of the cocoa powder for protein powder and used monk fruit instead of coconut sugar.
Awesome! So happy this kids enjoyed it Pashlee! 🙂
Hi Pashlee, would you mind sharing how much monk fruit did you use? Just bought some to try – as a green powder – but haven’t used it yet. Thank you, Carmen
Is there a replacement we can use instead of the oil in this and all your other cake recipes?
Hi Shivani, you could try replacing the oil with applesauce in my cake recipes. Some readers have found that substitution quite successful, but I haven’t tried it myself, so I can’t say from personal experience. Good luck!
I am very excited to try this recipe out…I was wondering if I can still use eggs in the recipe. Is yes, should I use two eggs and don’t replace anything?
Hi Nini! This recipe doesn’t actually call for flax eggs, but in most of my baking recipes you should be fine to swap flax eggs for regular eggs, 1:1 with no other changes. Happy baking!
Hi! I’m wondering if you think this recipe would work with either buckwheat flour or whole meal spelt flour? Thank you in advance!
Hi Skye, unfortunately, I haven’t tried this recipe with either of those flours. According to some, buckwheat is interchangeable with oat flour, but since I haven’t tested it myself, I can’t verify that. If you try it, let me know how it turns out. Good luck!
Delicious!!!!! Fluffy and a hint of sweet!
These will be going in my muffin rotation!!
Yay! I’m beyond thrilled to hear it Jaclyn!
These turned out great! I substituted two of the table spoons of coconut oil with Greek yogurt to cut on fat, and used 1/2 a cup of maple syrup because I didn’t have coconut sugar. They turned out incredibly moist with the perfect texture. They are exactly what I had been craving. Thank you! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the muffins Rebecca! . I cannot wait to see what you try next!
These were so good!!!! thank u so much
Thanks so much, Kaylee! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed them! Happy baking & eating! 🙂
Currently, my fav breakfast is overnight oats with bananas, chocolate, and peanut butter. But these muffins look so good that I definitely have to switch it up! Just curious, why can’t the cocoa be dutch processed?
Oh I know you’re gonna love these muffins! . Dutch process won’t work because it doesn’t react the same way with the leavener. Happy baking!
Hi
Love the recipe. There are very few recipes without dairy and gluten, thank you for this!
I made these muffins yesterday. The texture was beautiful but it was very bitter. I am thinking it was my super special dark cocao powder..can I just add more sugar or do i have to reduce another ingredient to get the texture. Also my batter was very runny – almost like cream soup. What should the consistency be like?
Hi Sylvia! Hm, special dark cocoa powder could definitely lead to more of a bitter taste, though the muffins are meant to be like dark chocolate. And the consistency of the batter should be on the thin side. How did they bake up?
This recipe looks great. I’m trying to make a healthier version which includes a large scoop of flax, hemp and chia seeds, protein powder and used coffee grounds (great for antioxidants). Any ideas on what I’d need to add to balance these additions? I had a version I used with a simple muffin mix as the starter but now want to avoid white flour and white sugar so have to go from scratch.
Thanks.
Hi Donna! Wow, that’s a tough one. I’m not 100% sure since I haven’t tried this. Try replacing about 50% of the flour with your subs, then seeing how you like the result. *If* it works, increase the amount of dry ingredients you replace; if it doesn’t, decrease the amount. Good luck!! Let me know how it turns out for you!
I love it that you’re so unabashedly enthusiastic about your recipes! And you should be, This one is everything you claim it to be: light and satisfying, with a beautiful crumb!
I made a half-batch, scooping the batter directly into 8 ungreased silicone cups, then baked for 15 minutes at 365 F (which gives me closer to an even 350F temperature than 350 on my oven).
I don’t like things as sweet as most people, and so cut the sweetener in half, also using the less expensive options of liquid oil and water instead of vegan milk.
One suggestion only, which is to specify whether to use Dutch processed cocoa (which is better with baking powder) or non-alkalinized cocoa, which works well with the amount of soda you specify. Otherwise, very good directions, as well as perfectly tested ingredients.
You are to be seriously commended: many of the online vegan and gluten-free options aren’t as rigorously developed.
I’ve been doing vegan and gluten-free for 30 years, and am already a huge fan!
When your cookbook is ready, please let me know! I don’t do much web stuff, but I do read all my e-mail.
Hehe, thanks, Frances! 🙂 I’m so happy to hear that you’re enjoying my recipes. I’ll go ahead and make that note in the recipe. Thank you for your kind words! When I do write a cookbook, I’ll be sure to let everyone know on the site and via email. Happy baking!
As I was reading your blog you had me laughing and super hopeful about this recipe you stumbled upon. As I began adding the liquid to the sifted oat flour mixture I could tell I wasn’t going to be able to “pour 3/4 full” as per instructions. The delicious chocolatey smelling batter was too thick to mix with anything but a spatula or wooden spoon. Im not a newbie to baking nor to gluten free cooking, so im sitting here wondering how anyone got these measurements to work out? The simply must be a mistake? I was very careful in my measurements. I ended up having to add more milk, and a tablespoon more coconut oil, and also strongly brewed coffee to enhance that chocolatey flavor. They still turned out a bit dry, but not a single kid complained, and my 9mo LOVED them. My 7 year old said “ate they supposed to be cracked on the top”? Lol I said YES, and showed him the blog picture. They did look perfect! Still, I was convinced the batter should’ve been more pourable than a thick, crumbled mass.
I recant, it was my mistake! I had read another recipe and had it in my mind YOUR recipe called for 3 cups of oat flour! Forgive me! Nooo wonder I had to add almost another cup and a half of liquid! And they were def not a sweet as I had thought… but go figure! Eh, on the bright side it was a healthier breakfast option . Now I’m sitting here thinking I can’t believe my kids didn’t complain about the lack of sweetness! Can’t wait to try this recipe again, with the right amount of oat flour . I do have a question though….I was pretty amazed that you didn’t need flax eggs or anything! Is that just the beauty of oats?
Oh no!!! But I’m glad to hear that you figured out what the issue was. 🙂 Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Just saw your newest comment. Will respond to that. 🙂 Glad it wasn’t my recipe that was the issue! Lol.
When making these I had to convert the ingredients to metric measurements. Not sure I got this right as the batter looked thick and the finish muffins were indeed too dry although taste was good. I thought I was v careful with the conversions but subsequently realised different internet sites give different measurements. Can you please let me know the metric measurements for this recipe as would like to try again. Also do you have a book published?
Hi Sandra. Yeah, it’s always difficult using online calculators because you never know exactly how they do their conversions, especially when it comes to metric and customary. I don’t currently have metric measurements for this recipe, but adding those units to my recipes is something I do hope to do eventually. As far as a cookbook, I don’t have one yet. But it’s definitely a dream of mine! .
If you use 240 ml instead of 250 for a cup, thn translations of 1 Tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 and 1/4 tsp = a generous 1 ml should work. It’s actually 1.25 ml, but unless you’re balancing acid (vinegar, lemon juice, cream of tartar) and base (usually baking soda) in a very sensitive recipe, it should work fine.