These easy matcha green tea muffins are perfect for your next brunch or matcha latte. Like my banana bread muffins and cinnamon muffins, they take very little effort and time to make too!
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📖 Recipe Overview
- Quick & Easy To Make - Suitable for bakers of all skill levels. You don't need any special equipment and it only takes about 15 minutes of hands-on prep time. Then it's just waiting for them to bake and cool!
- Light & Fluffy Texture - With a bouncy and fluffy crumb thanks to using oil instead of butter.
- Big Matcha Flavor - These muffins are made without eggs and get their moist consistency from dairy-free yogurt which also does not overpower the flavor like recipes which use bananas to replace eggs.
Looking for more green desserts? Try my vegan recipes for pistachio cookies, pistachio cake, mint ice cream bars, and pistachio tiramisu.
🛒 Ingredients Needed
As promised, you only need a few ingredients to make these easy vegan muffins. Here's everything you need to grab, followed by some notes on possible substitutions below:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Matcha Powder - I recommend ceremonial grade matcha if possible. In a pinch, you can use culinary grade which is usually cheaper, but also not as vibrant and a little on the bitter side. Check out my no-bake matcha cheesecake if you're looking for more ways to use up your tin of matcha!
- Vanilla Pod - Although this step is optional, I really do recommend going extra with the vanilla. It adds a lovely flavor to the muffins and gives them vanilla matcha latte vibes!
- Granulated Sugar - Regular granulated sugar works best for this recipe as brown sugar and coconut sugar have a carmelized flavor which will overpower the matcha taste. If you're US based, go for organic sugar to ensure that it's suitable for vegans.
- Vegan Yogurt - As always, I recommend thick Greek-style yogurt for baking. I use Alpro which is readily available in large supermarkets. You can also swap in vegan sour cream, or thick coconut yogurt.
- Vegan Buttermilk - This is a simple homemade mixture of dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. Soy milk is best here, but you can replace it with almond milk or oat milk if you prefer.
- Olive Oil - If you prefer a more neutral flavor, go for sunflower oil or rapeseed oil instead.
🥣 How To Make Matcha Muffins
Here are the step-by-step images of how to make this recipe:
Step 1: Sift all of the dry ingredients into a medium bowl (plain flour, matcha tea powder, raising agents, and sea salt). Whisk until evenly mixed.
Step 2: Slice the vanilla pod down the center to expose the fresh vanilla seeds inside. Use your fingertips to rub the vanilla into the sugar.
Step 3: To the bowl with the vanilla-flavored sugar, add the remaining wet ingredients (oil, non-dairy yogurt, vanilla extract, and homemade buttermilk) and whisk until combined.
Step 4: Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spatula in 2 parts. Carefully fold until there are no more visible pockets of flour.
Step 5: Use a cookie scoop or an ice cream scoop to distribute the muffin batter into the muffin wells. Fill them all the way to the top and bake.
Step 6: Once baked, let the muffins rest in the pan for 5 minutes. Then carefully lift them out of the muffin tin and on to a wire rack to finish cooling.
🍵 Variations
You can find more possible ingredient swaps in the ingredient notes section further up this post. Here are some more ideas for mix-ins and different topping options:
- Chocolate - Add up to 100g of vegan chocolate chips to the batter while adding the dry ingredients.
- Citrus - Rub a teaspoon of freshly grated lemon zest into the sugar while mixing in the vanilla for a fresh twist.
- Almonds - Top the muffins with some flaked almonds before baking for gorgeous toasted almond muffin tops. You can also add a half teaspoon of almond extract to the muffin batter.
- Powdered Sugar - Swap the crustalised vanilla sugar topping for a simple dusting of powdered sugar once the muffins have cooled.
- Sugar glaze - Add a simple vanilla glaze like in these pistachio muffins.
- Crumble topping - Pistachio and matcha go together wonderfully. Add the pistachio crumble from this muffin recipe before baking.
💡 Recipe Tips
Use good quality matcha. While you can absolutely use culinary grade matcha, I do find that ceremonial grade matcha gives a more bright color and delicious flavor.
Sift the dry ingredients. This adds lightness to the batter by incorporating more air, and helps to remove any residue or lumps from the dry ingredients.
Do not over-mix the batter. Fold the dry ingredients in two parts, and stop mixing once there are no more visible pockets of flour. Overmixing tends to give dense and gummy bakes!
Skip a well. Make sure you only fill each second cavity of your muffin pan. This allows more hot air to circulate around the muffins while they bake, giving them more space to bake and rise evenly.
Fill the muffin liners all the way to the top. This promotes tall bakery-style muffins with beautiful muffin tops!
Rest the muffin batter. Although optional, I found that resting the muffin batter for 30 minutes to an hour before baking helped the muffins to rise taller then baking them straight away.
💬 FAQs
Place the muffins in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Let them sit at room temperature for an hour before serving if stored in the fridge.
I have not tested this recipe with GF flour. If you decide to give it a go, make sure you use an all-purpose gluten free blend that contains xanthan gum. I also recommend resting the batter for 30 minutes before baking.
Matcha has an earthy, grassy, nutty, and slightly bitter flavor. Sugar is the best way to balance the flavor of matcha, as this rounds off the bitterness and actually enhances the green tea flavor.
In this muffin recipe, I've included quite a lot of vanilla as I find this really complements the matcha flavor and helps to mellow out and cut through any sharpness of the tea.
Yes, you can freeze them in an airtight container or a ziplock bag. Take them out of the freezer and let them defrost for a couple of hours at room temperature before serving.
🧁 More Vegan Muffins
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Description
Equipment
Ingredients
- 280 g (2 ¼ cups) all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons matcha powder, *see note 1
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 225 g (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar, *see note 2
- 1 vanilla pod, *see note 3
- 100 ml (⅓ cup + 4 teaspoons) olive oil, *see note 4
- 120 g (½ cup) vegan Greek-style yogurt, *see note 5
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 batch (1 cup / 240ml) vegan buttermilk, *see note 6
Instructions
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to fan-forced 190°C(375°F) or conventional 210°C(410°F).Line half of the cavities in the muffin tray with muffin liners - I recommend only filling every second cavity as this promotes high muffin tops! The recipe will make 10 muffins - so if you only have one muffin pan I recommend baking them in 2 batches, just make sure you let the pan cool between batches, and keep the muffin batter rested in the fridge until ready to use for the second batch.
- Sift the dry ingredients: To a medium mixing bowl, sift the flour, matcha powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Flavor the sugar: Slice the vanilla pod down the center and add it to a large mixing bowl with the sugar. Use your fingertips to rub the vanilla into the sugar crystals. Remove the vanilla pod, and separate out 25g (2 tablespoons) of the vanilla sugar for the topping.
- Mix the wet ingredients: To the large bowl with the vanilla sugar, add the olive oil, yogurt, vanilla extract, and vegan buttermilk. Whisk to combine.
- Make the muffin batter: Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 2 parts. Fold the ingredients into the batter between each increment until there are no pockets or streaks of flour. Do not be tempted to over mix! *see note 7
- Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, distribute the batter amongst the muffin liners. Sprinkle some of the reserved vanilla sugar on top.
- Bake at fan-forced 190°C/375°F or conventional 210°C/410°F for the first 5 mins. Then turn down the temperature to 170°C/340°F or conventional 190°C/375°F and continue to bake for another 15 minutes.Check they are done by piercing them with a toothpick or a knife, the knife should come out almost clean- a few crumbs are fine. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes, then carefully lift them out of the tray and transfer them to a cooling rack to cool further for 30 minutes.
- If desired, you can dunk the tops of the muffins in any remaining vanilla sugar.
- Storage: Place the muffins in an airtight container and store them at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Let them sit at room temperature for an hour before serving if stored in the fridge. You can freeze them in an airtight container and defrost them for a couple of hours before serving.
Notes
- Matcha Powder: You can reduce the amount to 2 tsp for a more subtle green tea flavor.
- Granulated Sugar: 25g of sugar is reserved for the topping, if you're skipping this reduce the total amount to 200g.
- Vanilla Pod: This is optional but recommended, sub with an extra teaspoon vanilla extract if needed.
- Olive Oil: If you prefer a neutral flavored oil, use sunflower seed oil or rapeseed oil instead.
- Vegan Greek-style yogurt: I use Alpro, you can sub with vegan sour cream or thick coconut yogurt.
- Vegan Buttermilk: Soy milk is best for making homemade vegan buttermilk, but you can use almond milk or oat milk if needed.
- For super high muffin tops, cover the muffin batter in the bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour before baking.
Nutrition
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