The Best Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

Instructions

1. If you're planning to make the streusel topping, start by melting the vegan butter in a small saucepan over low heat, then let it cool at room temperature.
2. Position an oven rack at the middle of your oven, then preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C).
3. Prepare muffin tins with 14 liners.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt, then mix well.
5. Add your pumpkin puree, almond milk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla to the bowl, and mix just until there's no unmixed flour remaining. Be careful to avoid overmixing; you want your batter to have some lumps, as shown in the photo.
6. Add your batter to 14 muffin liners, filling the liners almost to the top. If you have a kitchen scale, you can place the bowl on top and measure out 90 grams of batter per muffin.
7. For the streusel (optional): In the cleaned mixing bowl or another small bowl, add the flour, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice and stir to combine.
8. For the streusel (optional): Add the melted vegan butter and use a fork to stir until just clumpy. Be careful not to overmix, otherwise it could end up as a paste instead of crumbly.
9. For the streusel (optional): Sprinkle the streusel topping over each muffin and gently press it into the top.
10. Bake your muffins at 425°F (220°C) for 5 minutes, then, without opening the oven door, adjust the oven temperature to 350°F (180°C) and continue baking for 14-17 minutes longer. The muffins are ready when the tops begin to turn golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
11. Remove the muffins from the oven, then place the tray on a wire rack for about 20 minutes to cool. Then remove the muffins from the tray and place them directly on the wire rack until they're completely cooled.
12. For the lemon icing (optional): While your muffins are cooling, mix together the icing ingredients until smooth. You want a texture that's thick enough to dry on the muffins, but thin enough to drizzle or squeeze. If it's too thick, add 1 teaspoon of almond milk. If it's too thin, add additional powdered sugar.
13. For the lemon icing (optional): To drizzle the icing over the muffins, I recommend pouring it into a squeeze bottle with a thin nozzle. Squeeze the icing out while moving the bottle quickly back and forth over the muffins.

If you're measuring your flour using cups, be sure to use a spoon to add the flour to the cup, then level it off using the back of a butter knife. Don't scoop the cup directly into the flour.

Your streusel topping may get soft the next day. You can crisp it up by reheating in the air fryer or the oven. For this reason, you may want to wait to add the lemon icing drizzle until you're ready to eat your muffins.

Be sure to let these muffins cool completely before eating, otherwise they may stick to the liner.