Vegan Bakery-Style Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

 2025 National Festival of Breads Champion 

Sarah Meuser

New Milford, Connecticut

Quick Bread Category 

“My 9 year-old-son is allergic to eggs, dairy, and peanuts. When he turned one, I began experimenting with egg-free and dairy-free recipes to try and create muffins (and other baked foods) that had the exact same taste and texture as muffins normally baked with eggs and dairy ingredients. After several slight tweaks over the years, I created this recipe for delicious bakery-style muffins with a fresh orange flavor and lots of mini chocolate chips throughout. The subtle crispness of the golden-edged muffin tops combined with the fluffy and tender, citrus-kissed and chocolate-laced interior, have made these easy muffins a favorite family recipe.” 

INGREDIENTS 

Nonstick cooking spray 

2 ¼ cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk 

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 

10 tablespoons vegan butter, melted 

¾ cup organic cane sugar 

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest, divided use 

3 cups King Arthur® Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 

1 tablespoon baking powder 

½ teaspoon baking soda 

½ teaspoon salt 

1 ¼ cups vegan semi-sweet mini chocolate chips; divided use 

Vegan butter, for serving (optional) 

DIRECTIONS 

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup nonstick  (3 x 1 ½”) muffin pan with paper liners. Lightly spray liners with nonstick spray. Sarah used a 15 ¾” x 11 ¼” x 1 ½” pan for these bakery-style muffins.  
  2. In medium bowl, use fork to whisk almond milk and vinegar; set aside 10 minutes to create vegan buttermilk.  
  3. In medium bowl, melt vegan butter in microwave and allow to sit at room temperature 2 – 3 minutes once removed from microwave. 
  4. In a large bowl, using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, combine melted vegan butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla, vegan buttermilk mixture and 1 tablespoon orange zest.  
  5. In a medium bowl, whisk to combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
  6. Add flour mixture to bowl with wet ingredients; stir until just combined, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Note: Batter won’t have a completely smooth appearance; there will be some small lumps throughout. 
  7. Add 1 cup mini chocolate chips; stir until just combined.  
  8. Spoon batter into prepared pan, slightly over-filling each muffin cup. Sprinkle tops with remaining 1 teaspoon orange zest and remaining ¼ cup mini chocolate chips.  
  9. Bake on the middle rack of oven at 400°F for 7 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and bake an additional 23 minutes. 
  10. Remove muffins from the oven and cool them in pan at least 30 minutes before transferring them to wire rack to continue cooling. Serve plain or with softened vegan butter, if desired. 

Yield: 12 large bakery-style muffins. 

TEST KITCHEN NOTES: If you are not baking for a food allergy, we recommend substituting whole milk, butter, granulated sugar, and semi-sweet mini chocolate chips. If you prefer smaller muffins, use a standard-size muffin pan, 2 ½ x 1 ¼-inch and make 18 muffins. Bake at 400°F for 7 minutes; reduce to 350°F and bake an additional 18 minutes or until tested done. 

NUTRITION INFORMATION PER SERVING (1 muffin, 126g): 370 calories, 21g total fat, 12g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 0mg cholesterol, 310mg sodium, 46g total carbohydrate, 4g dietary fiber, 15g total sugars, 6g protein, 0mcg  folate, 0mg vitamin C, 3mg iron.