These sunny vegan corn muffins are exactly what they sound like. A little sweet, rich corn flavor, with lemon zest folded in to spike them with sunshine. Crispy edges, soft middle, great crumb for splitting open and spreading with vegan butter.
The lemon zest is what makes these different from a standard corn muffin. It doesn’t make them taste like lemon. It brightens everything up so the corn flavor pops. Sunny is definitely the right word!
Make these on lazy weekend mornings, busy weekday mornings, or for a brunch spread. They keep at room temperature for a couple of days and freeze well for longer. They’re absolutely delicious cut in half and toasted, too.
What Makes These Vegan Corn Muffins So Perfect?
There is a lot to love here. These muffins come together in one bowl, no mixer required. The ingredients are simple and accessible and stuff you probably already have.
The flour-to-cornmeal ratio is what gets you real corn flavor without the gritty bite of an all-cornmeal muffin. I like to use fine ground cornmeal for these to keep them fluffy.
Plain old granulated sugar keeps the crumb tender without crossing into dessert territory (some commenters will say they’re too sweet, do not listen to them, pair them with a bowl of chili if you want to test it).
They have just enough baking powder for a tall domed top. Then soy milk and soy yogurt for structure and that golden brown crumb you don’t get from other vegan milks. Vanilla extract is clutch, too. Some corn muffin recipes leave it out but I never would, it adds that warm bakery smell. And then that fresh lemon zest is that bright note you just need in the morning.
Photos by Hannah Kaminsky
If You Like These Vegan Corn Muffins, Try These Other Morning Bakes
Sunny Vegan Corn Muffins FAQ
Can I turn this corn muffin recipe into cornbread? Yes, but it’s the sweet kind. Pour the batter into an 8-inch square or round pan and bake at 400°F for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. They are on the sweet side for corn bread, so if you like that with your chili then go for it!
Can I sub applesauce for the soy yogurt? For sure. Use the same amount. The texture will be a little more crumbly but still great, no big deal.
Can I use a different vegan milk? Yup yup yup. Almond, oat, cashew, and coconut all work.
Can I add corn kernels? Yes, use 1/2 a cup fresh or frozen. I like to saute them first. Saute in cast iron just to get a little sear then fold in at the end of mixing for a confetti effect.
Can I add berries? Of course! Add a cup of fresh blueberries or raspberries or blackberries, fold them in at the end of mixing.
How long do they keep? 2 to 3 days at room temperature in a covered container, or freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat in a 300°F oven for 5 minutes to bring back the crispy edges.
How did I end up here? You searched for vegan corn muffins, sunny corn muffins, or maybe just looked up what to bake on a Sunday morning. You did a great job.
Sunny Corn Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup fine cornmeal
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup soy milk
- ½ cup neutral oil canola, safflower, avocado
- 2 tablespoons soy yogurt or applesauce
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Make a well in the center and add the oil, soy milk, soy yogurt, vanilla, and lemon zest. Mix until just combined. Don’t overmix.
- Fill each muffin cup about ¾ full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool a bit but they taste great warm.
do you know of anything that we could substitute for the soy yogurt… my daughter is not allowed to have soy, but these sound great and we’d love to try them.
I used apple sauce and it worked great.
I sometimes just leave it out altogether and don’t sub anything. It tastes and feels basically exactly the same!
These are the bomb! Thanks 🙂
This is a dumb QUESTION , but can I use almond meal instead of corn meal LOL , thats all i could find at trader joes !:D
That’s odd that they had almond but not the more common corn! You can, it won’t be the same…but I bet it will be good. Maybe a hint of almond extract (1/4 t) to play up the almond?
How crumbly should the batter be? Mine was about an 8 on the crumbly scale, so I sort of squished them into little balls before plopping them into the muffin tin. Does this mean that they’re more dense than they would otherwise be, and should I have been less questioning and just followed the recipe?
Hmm. the batter shouldn’t be crumbly at all. It should be a thick liquid batter.
[…] And lastly, one of the PPK Sunny Corn Muffins. We like a sweet cornbread, so these are ideal. I just omit the vanilla. These cornbread muffins […]
I shall try again! They were still really tasty, and the fam loved them.
They truly are perfect and delicious! Thank you Isa!
how many regular size muffins does this recipe make?
[…] Adapted from PPK recipe […]
These are delicious — then again, I expect nothing less from Isa. Her recipes always turn out just right. I only had 1/3 cup of sugar, so I used that and added 2 tbsp of granulated stevia (since Stevia is sweeter than sugar I didn’t quite use an equal amount to the recipe). They turned out great — perfect taste and texture.
[…] I made (drum roll please!) Sunny Corn Muffins recipe by Isa Chandra from Post Punk Kitchen. Again, I went straight for it after work. As I said […]
[…] the lazy people who didn’t click the link or for those who are seeing this for the first time. Here is the recipe for the Sunny Corn Muffins […]
Does using rice milk instead of soy milk in baking make a difference? My son has a soy and nut allergy.
Nope, go for it!
These are tasty and the texture is great, but whoa mama are they sweet. Next time I’m going to cut the sugar and vanilla in half and see if that is more to my taste.
This is my standby, go to, most requested cornbread recipe, especially @ non vegan gigs. It is sweet & bright- almost like a more sophisticated twinkie. Extra fantastic with super spicy chili. Thank you! I owe you guys some of my great cook reputation.
[…] muffins are as follows: apple crumb, lemon poppyseed, sunny corn (with blueberries), mocha chip. All recipes come from Isa Chandra’s cookbook Vegan with a […]
Funny question … we made the corn muffins, they are beautiful and we enjoyed them … but if they made us gassy (both of us!) what did I do wrong? Thanks!! (We used almond milk instead of soy milk and did 1 1/2 times the recipe overall, and used half the sugar)
also, what is apple sauce a substitute for, usually? thanks!!
[…] muffins, but whatever, still delicious! The recipe for the cupcakes/muffins is adapted from the PPK, and the frosting is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the […]
These turned out great. Subbed applesauce for all of the oil and yogurt, used 1/2 c sugar, no vanilla or zest, and almond milk instead of soy. Batter seemed thick so I added a scoop more applesauce and extra splash of almond milk. Baked in about 14 min., perfection! Low fat, vegan, delish! Thanks for the great recipe!
Dee-licious with Earth Balance slathered on! I was out of yogurt so I used Vegenaise, turned out just fine. Also used 1/2 cup whole wheat flour since my house ended up with a lot somehow, and I want to use it up. This was a good candidate for it!
holy moly i just made these and theyz wuz boomb!!!!!! had great crumb texture while maintaining moisture. i didn’t have v yogurt so i used my roommate’s apple sauce instead. didn’t have enough oil so i subbed some of the oil with EB and olive oil. soy yummy. ya!
[…] muffins are as follows: apple crumb, lemon poppyseed, sunny corn (with blueberries), mocha chip. All recipes come from Isa Chandra’s cookbook Vegan with a […]
[…] any case, I cobbled together a few recipes and in the end, just ran with it. Into my batter with masarepa (and masa harina since I […]
[…] seen lots of American recipes for corn muffins (Isa Chandra’s, for a start) but, being neither a fan of corn nor having easy access to corn meal, I wanted to […]
[…] seen lots of American recipes for corn muffins (Isa Chandra’s, for a start) but, being neither a fan of corn nor having easy access to corn meal, I wanted to […]