Sweet, spiced, and simple Vegan Chai Muffins! Perfect fluffy texture inside, golden crusty tops, and lots of cozy flavor. Easy to make and easier to devour!
Soft. Fluffy. Chai spiced. So easy. Next level muffin top crusty-ness.
See, there’s just so much to be obsessed with!
Chai is one of my all time favorite spice combinations, pumpkin pie spice has nothing on this mix if you ask me. And I’ve got lots more pumpkin goodies coming atcha in the upcoming weeks, so I thought we’d take a little break with some pumpkin-free Vegan Chai Muffins for today.
When you find the perfect combination of muffin ingredients, you hold on tight and never let go. And make a batch almost weekly. And dream up variations in every possible muffin flavor. And share them with anyone you want to impress with vegan/healthier baking. Or don’t share them with anyone because you are greedy and they are THAT GOOD.
That’s how I feel about this recipe, which is why I based these spiced little sweet chai muffins on it. But with a few tweaks because a) we need actual tea in the batter, obvi and b) all those spices needed a little extra sweetness for balance.
I almost went streusel on top, but 10/10 stand by my decision not too. Because while I love streusel a lot (like so much I may name my next fur child streusel ♡), sugar plus chai spices sprinkled on top to create the most crusty, golden, instant tongue-meet-intense-flavor first bite experience is better. Much better.
Honesty you don’t even need the glaze with all that going on. But if you want a little creamy something swizzled on top, I just warmed up coconut butter for the easiest one-ingredient glaze. Almond butter or SunButter would be delicious too.
Trust me – your muffin-loving, over-pumpkin-ed, snack-y fall self is gonna be all over these.
Cheers to coziness, crusty muffin tops, and favorite latte flavors wrapped up into perfect baked bundles.
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Sweet, spiced, and simple Vegan Chai Muffins! Perfect fluffy texture inside, golden crusty tops, and lots of cozy flavor. Easy to make and easier to devour!
Ingredients
Chai Spice Mix:
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp cloves
Muffins
- 1/2 cup (120g) non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp loose chai tea or 1 tea bag
- 3/4 cup (180g) plain non-dairy yogurt
- 1/2 cup (75g) coconut sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups (330g) almond flour*
- 1/2 cup (60g) tapioca starch (can sub with cornstarch or arrowroot)
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp chai spice mix (above)
Chai Spice Sugar Mixture (for topping)
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tsp chai spice mix (above)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a small bowl, mix together the spices.
- Boil the non-dairy milk. Steep with the chai tea, then strain or remove tea bag.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the non-dairy yogurt, coconut sugar, chai tea milk, and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, salt, and spice. Whisk until no lumps remain.
- Add wet to dry and mix.
- Spoon batter into a muffin pan (greased or lined with paper liners), filling each 3/4 of the way. You will get between 9 and 12 muffins depending on your pan. Smooth the tops.
- Top each with a sprinkling of the spice/sugar mixture.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden on top and the centers are firm to the touch.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from the pan.
- Enjoy!
- Keep leftovers in an airtight container. They will stay fresh longest in the fridge.
Notes
*I don’t recommend subbing any other flours in this recipe, but if you are looking for a chai recipe with oat flour try THIS one instead.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 221
- Sugar: 9g
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 19g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 6g
Keywords: vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, baking, easy, snack, fall, breakfast, spice, oil free
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Those muffin tops! And that glaze! I actually forgot about pumpkin for a minute 😉 Chai spices pair so well with baked goods! Now I need to perfect my homemade chai latte so I can have a big mug and a muffin (or two!) for breakfast this weekend =)
What a moment in october where pumpkin is NOT on the brain?? Are you sure you’re okay😳 Oh yes please perfect that and send me one too! I love them at coffee shops but never as good at home…need to work on that too😋 Have a great weekend girl!
I love chai so much, in fact it’s one of my favorite flavors and these muffins look incredible Natalie! I love that you used the tea too, so much delicious flavor! Not only does the muffin itself sound fantastic, but then you added a sugary chai crusty magic on top and then coconut butter. You are ticking all those yummy boxes! I bet your place smelled soooo good while these babies were baking. Love almond flour in muffins so much so I know these are wonderfully moist too. Love them Natalie! They are really beautiful Muffins.
I adore chai too and it can be hard to get the flavor to come through, but it is VERY present here! Omg I don’t ever want to make another batch of muffins with a sugar sprinkle on top haha. So simple but does some seriously magical stuff in the oven. Wish I could show up at your new front door with a housewarming batch 🙂 Happy monday, Brandi!
Could I make this in a loaf pan? I don’t have a muffin tin.
I don’t recommend a loaf pan, it’s so much thicker the center won’t cook through properly. You could try a square cake pan though (8×8″ or 9×9″), that would work better. And you will probably have to add 5-10 minutes to the bake time!
Hi, can I substitute almond flour with something else? Almond bases are on my no list but I can have wheat either…yep, it’s all hard for me to work out substitutes. 🙏
Hmm can you have oats? Or other nuts? You could use another type of nut flour here or grind your own cashew or pecan flour in a high speed blender. If you can do oats, I have another chai recipe with oat flour linked in the post 🙂
Can you sub any other sweetner? Like date syrup?
Unfortunately no, the only nuts is walnuts.
Maybe trying grinding your own walnut flour🤷🏻♀️ That could work!
What can I do with the leftover chai spice mix? Any suggestions? I’d rather not throw it away.
Thank you!
These are in the oven… so excited to try them! I love chai tea!
★★★★
Chai lattes are my favorite way to use it up (blended with mlmond milk and a little sweetener, hot or iced)! Or just more muffins. I hope they come out PERFECT 🙂
Made these with my kids (2 and 3) and they love them. My son in particular could not get enough. They are so healthy, I was happy to let him eat more than usual. Thank you!
★★★★★
That makes me so very happy to hear🤗 I love that you guys enjoyed them, thanks Dani!
Can you sub any other sweetener? Date syrup?
Swapping a granulated for a liquid sweetener doesn’t always work out so well, date sugar would work though!