Whole grain Healthy Blackberry Muffins spiced with chai seasoning and topped with a pecan oat streusel! A dairy-free and refined sugar-free healthy muffin recipe. Great for school lunch boxes or an afternoon snack. Vegan and gluten-free friendly.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Wholesome and nutritious thanks to tart blackberries and whole grains.
- A crunchy, textured muffin top – just like at your favorite coffee shop bakery joint!
- Enjoy warm, stash them away for the week, or keep in the freezer.
- Tender muffins, moist muffins, fluffy muffins – check, check, check!
A Few Fun Facts About Blackberries
I actually visited the CalGiant California blackberry farm and WOW – what an awesome experience. (More on that trip HERE.) Hearing from the grower, John Navarro, firsthand and learning more about blackberries (and other berries too!) was so interesting. Here are a few little fun facts:
- One serving of blackberries has 8 grams of fiber. That’s legit!
- They’re a versatile fruit and wonderful with all kinds of dishes. From grilled blackberry chicken salad, harissa pork, blackberry fig salad, and cherry berry cobbler!
- Blackberries are best kept refrigerated and enjoyed within 1-3 days at home. So make sure you use them or freeze for later!
- When selecting berries at your local grocery store, look for firm berries with a deep, even color and glossy sheen.
Watch the Navarro Brother’s here! And check out other growers’ stories here.
Ingredients You Need
It hasn’t been that long since I’ve made muffins, but it has been quite some time since I’ve made muffins with streusel. But, hot dayum, are these blackberry muffins delicious! Here’s what we need to make them:
Muffins
- non-dairy milk + vinegar – AKA homemade buttermilk. You can make a dairy-free “buttermilk” by combining any type of milk, such as oat milk, almond milk, coconut milk, or soy milk, with a little apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
- whole wheat pastry flour – I like using this whole grain flour for muffins because it keeps the texture soft but you still get the benefit of whole grains. If you don’t have this type of flour, use half all-purpose flour / half whole wheat. OR use all whole wheat white flour (you’ll get a slightly more dense muffin this way, but you can try omitting 2 TBSP flour which may help.) For gluten-free, swap it out for a 1:1 gluten free baking flour blend, such as Bob’s Red Mill.
- chai spices – made up of cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and allspice. If you’re not a fan of chai, simply omit the spices from the recipe.
- baking powder and baking soda – use both leaveners for the right amount of lift with this easy blackberry muffin recipe.
- salt – flavor enhancer. Don’t omit it!
- oil – keeps these muffins nice and soft and adds moisture. Avocado oil, light olive oil, or coconut oil all work.
- maple syrup – a refined sugar-free sweetener option. The maple syrup also adds to the liquid ratio, so you can use another liquid sweetner, like honey instead.
- egg – helps bind the ingredients together. I imagine a flaxseed egg would work great here for vegan blackberry muffins, as I’ve tried that with many of my other muffin recipes.
- vanilla extract – flavor and a special sweetness.
- fresh blackberries – make sure to cut the juicy blackberries in half or even thirds, depending on how large they are. I used about 1 1/2 pints of berries, plus a few more for topping.
Streusel Topping
For the pecan oat streusel, it’s a simple mixture of oats, flour, chopped pecans, and oil or butter. We will need:
- coconut sugar – coconut sugar adds the right amount of sweetness. But you can use any granulated sugar, like light brown sugar or organic cane sugar.
- whole wheat white flour – stick to whole grains, use the same half-and-half ratio of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour, or use your favorite gluten-free blend.
- rolled oats – old fashioned rolled oats provide texture, fiber, and nutrients – be sure not to skip them!
- pecans – buy chopped pecans or chop the pecans at home. Feel free to swap them out for walnuts, almonds, or cashews.
- vegan butter / coconut oil – I used a non-dairy butter here for optimal flavor and texture, but I’ve made an oat streusel like this with coconut oil as well.
Find the full detailed instructions with measurements in the recipe card below, at the end of this post.
How to Make Blackberry Muffins
Homemade blackberry muffins require nothing more than a quick mix of the dry into wet ingredients, along with a few extra details. Here are the step-by-step instructions:
Prepare the ‘Buttermilk’
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with parchment paper liners.
Mix together the non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Also, make sure your blackberries have been washed, dried and chopped in half or thirds. Set these aside for the end where they’ll be added last.
Mix Dry Ingredients and Streusel Topping
In a medium bowl, mix together flour, chai spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a small bowl, combine all the streusel ingredients, including the coconut sugar, flour, oats, pecans, and vegan butter. Set this in the fridge while you prepare the muffin batter.
Make the Muffin Batter
Begin mixing together the wet ingredients (maple syrup, oil, egg, and vanilla) with a wooden spoon. Add half of the milk mixture. Then add half of the flour mixture and stir. Add in the rest of the milk, then remaining flour, and stir a little.
Fold in the chopped blackberries until no dry flour appears. You’ll end up with a thick batter.
TIP: Don’t overmix here. The more you stir the batter after it’s already been combined fully, the tougher the texture of the muffins will turn out.
Fill Muffin Pan
Evenly distribute the batter into a 12-cup muffin pan with a medium ice cream scoop, about 2/3 of the way full.
Then I like to add one more halved blackberry to the top of the muffins before topping with the pecan oat streusel.
Bake!
Bake at 425ºF for the first 5 minutes. Then, drop the oven temperature down to 350ºF and continuing baking another 10-12 minutes, until the muffin top is golden brown. If a toothpick comes out clean with no wet batter, you’re good. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!
Variations
- Lemon: Toss in some lemon zest or finish with a lemon glaze made with a tablespoon of lemon juice and powdered sugar.
- Blackberry Swirl Muffins: Add 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon blackberry jam to each muffin and swirl gently with a knife.
- No Streusel: Don’t feel like making streusel? Bake the final product with some coarse sugar sprinkled on top.
Serving Suggestions
I hope you love these blackberry muffins as much as I do! I enjoy them any time of day, but they make exceptional sweet treats in school lunch boxes or for kids as an afternoon snack.
My best advice – make a big batch and stash some away in the fridge and freezer!
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How to Store
Leftover blackberry muffins will keep covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days, or in the fridge for 4 days.
Freeze: Flash freeze by placing the muffins on a small baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour. Transfer to a freezer-safe ziptop bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw to room temperature.
Enjoy at room temperature or pop one in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, until warm.
More Berry Muffin Recipes:
If you make this Healthy Blackberry Muffin recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating on the blog! I love hearing from you, and it helps others learn more about the recipe too. Xx Ashley
Blackberry Muffins with Pecan Oat Streusel
Ingredients
MUFFINS
- 2/3 cup non-dairy milk, or your choice of milk
- 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour*
- 1/2 teaspoon chai spices, see notes
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup avocado oil, or melted/cooled coconut oil**
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pint fresh blackberries, rinsed, patted dry and chopped
PECAN OAT STREUSEL
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar, or brown sugar
- 1/4 cup whole wheat white flour
- 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, or dairy-free butter, softened
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF. Grease 12-cup muffin pan or use silicone liners. Set aside.
- Make homemade buttermilk: In a glass measuring cup, add milk + apple cider vinegar; set aside for about 5 minutes.
- Prepare berries: Rinse and dry blackberries, then chop in half or thirds, depending on how large the blackberries are. Set these aside for later.
- Make crumble topping: Combine crumble ingredients separately in small bowl and set aside.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, chai spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together oil with maple syrup. Add in egg and vanilla and whisk until combined. Pour half of the milk-vinegar mixture and gently stir to combine.
- Combine: Add about half of the bowl of dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and begin to stir gently. Add the remaining flour and milk, along with the blackberries. Gently stir everything together until dry flour is no longer visible; Batter will be somewhat thick. Avoid over-mixing the batter or you’ll end up with tough muffins.
- Bake: Evenly distribute batter into 12-cup muffin pan, filling 2/3 full (about ¼ cup of batter). Sprinkle crumble mixture on top of batter in each cup, gently pressing slightly into batter. Bake muffins at 425ºF for 5 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 375ºF and continue baking for an additional 10-12 minutes, or until inserted toothpick in center of muffin comes out clean.
- Cool: Allow muffins to cool in pan for about 10 minutes before gently removing. TIP: If greasing muffin pan, I use a butter knife to remove from pan. Transfer blackberry muffins to wire rack and allow to cool completely before storing.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information
This post was sponsored by California Giant Berry Farms in 2019. Post has since been updated to include more helpful information. Same recipe!
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