Blackberry Chocolate Cupcakes

These 8-ingredient vegan Blackberry Chocolate Cupcakes are moist, fluffy, and packed with melty vegan chocolate chips and juicy blackberries or the berries of your choice (fresh or frozen)!

Moist and Versatile Blackberry Chocolate Cupcakes

While we’ve shared several muffin recipes that we’d happily eat for breakfast (like these oil-free banana muffins or pineapple walnut muffins), sometimes we’re in the mood for something a little more decadent. Luckily, that’s where options like these vegan blackberry muffins with double chocolate come in!

These vegan blackberry muffins are moist, fluffy, and bursting with fresh, tart blackberries and sweet, decadent dairy-free chocolate flavor. In fact, the combination of sweet-tart berries with the rich, sweet vegan chocolate makes these blackberry muffins so wonderfully delicious they’ll disappear in no time!

Plus, you can enjoy these vegan double chocolate berry muffins year-round by swapping out your berries of choice (raspberries, blueberries, chopped strawberries, etc.) and using them from fresh or frozen! With the rest of the recipe comprising inexpensive pantry staples, this recipe is an impressive low-budget treat for any dairy-free chocolate berry cake fan!

Even better, this vegan double chocolate blackberry muffin recipe is ridiculously simple, too—all you need is one bowl, no special equipment (just a whisk!), and a handful of simple ingredients. They are also freezer friendly, making for a great make-ahead snack, dessert, or even breakfast if you want (we won’t judge!)

Want to try more vegan berry bakes? Check out these blueberry banana muffins, peach blueberry muffins, or this raspberry bread pudding!

The Ingredients

• Flour: Use all-purpose flour or a 50/50 combination of AP flour and whole wheat flour.
• Sugar: Use regular sugar, organic cane sugar, or an unrefined alternative like coconut sugar or date sugar.
• Cocoa powder: Use unsweetened cocoa or cacao powder. Dark cocoa will also work if you have some and be even more decadent.
• Dairy-free chocolate chips: We used semi-sweet chocolate chips, though bitter-sweet or even vegan white chocolate chips/chunks would also work.
• Baking Powder: To provide lift and texture to the vegan blackberry muffins.
• Salt: Just a pinch will enhance the flavors in these dairy-free chocolate blackberry muffins.
• Water: To get the batter to the correct consistency.
• Oil: Use neutral cooking oil like vegetable oil, canola oil, avocado oil, or melted coconut oil.
• Vanilla extract: Use natural vanilla for the best flavor.
• Berries: You can use fresh or frozen berries. We used blackberries, but you could also adapt this plant-based recipe to chocolate raspberry muffins, chocolate blueberry muffins, etc.

Optional add-ins & Recipe Variations

This vegan double chocolate blackberry muffin recipe is surprisingly versatile. Here are just a few ways to experiment:

• Instant coffee: Just a teaspoon of instant coffee powder (or espresso powder) will enhance the vegan chocolate flavor without tasting like coffee. Increase the amount for a vegan mocha muffin.
• Ginger: A small amount of finely chopped stem ginger pairs wonderfully with blackberries and dairy-free chocolate.
• Almond extract: A few drops of almond extract are all you need to highlight the blackberry flavor further. This also works very well with plant-based chocolate blueberry muffins.
• Jam/coulis: For even more decadence, core the muffins once baked, and spoon a small amount of your berry jam or vegan coulis of choice into each muffin.
• Dairy-free White chocolate glaze: Chocolate berry cake pairs particularly well with white chocolate. Add a dairy-free white chocolate drizzle over the muffins for a sweeter treat.
• Frosting: If you want to treat these like plant-based blackberry chocolate cupcakes, no problem. We highly recommend using blackberry buttercream.
• Blackberry glaze: Instead of frosting, you could drizzle the vegan blackberry chocolate cakes with a simple berry glaze using blackberry juice and icing sugar.

Whether you want to make a frosting or glaze, it’s best to puree then sieve the berries before adding the puree to the mixture for smooth icing.

• Lavender: For a delicate floral aroma, add a small amount of ground culinary-grade lavender to either the vegan blackberry muffin batter or the frosting.
• Citrus: Add the zest of an orange or lime to the vegan double chocolate muffins for extra depth of flavor.
• Nuts: Add a handful of pistachios or crushed almonds for extra crunch and heart-healthy fats.

How to Make Vegan Blackberry Chocolate Cupcakes?

1) First, preheat the oven to 375F/190C and prepare a muffin tin with liners (or grease the muffin tin).

2) Then, in a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt), and mix to combine.

3) Add the water, oil, and vanilla and stir until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter, as it can overwork the gluten and lead to dense vegan blackberry muffins.

4) Then, carefully fold the blackberries (or berries of your choice) and vegan chocolate chips into the batter. You can leave the berries whole or slightly mash them, depending on how big you want the pieces distributed through the muffins.

5) Divide the dairy-free chocolate berry batter between the muffin liners. Then, bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean (a few crumbs are fine, but no wet batter).

6) Finally, allow the vegan chocolate berry muffins to cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes (or entirely if you plan to add a frosting)—enjoy!

How to Store?

If you’d like to plan ahead. You can prepare the muffin batter a day in advance, minus the baking powder and berries, and store it covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator. When you want to bake the blackberry muffins, remove the batter from the fridge for at least 30 minutes to come to room temperature, fold in the berries and leavening agent, and bake.

Once baked, you can store the muffins on the counter (loosely covered) for 2-3 days. Alternatively, store them in the refrigerator for 5 days.

If you want to freeze the vegan chocolate blackberry muffins, then lay them out on a large baking tray to flash freeze before transferring them to a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.

Either allow the muffin/s to thaw in the refrigerator overnight, on the counter for several hours, or in a microwave (30-40 seconds)/toaster oven.

How to Serve?

The combination of rich vegan chocolate cake with berries makes these more of a dessert (or vegan valentine’s day treat) than a breakfast muffin. However, feel free to enjoy one alone or with a side/topping of your choice, such as:

• Toast the muffin and top with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream (or even berry ice cream/ nice cream)
• Warm and slather with vegan butter.
• Spoon over a dollop of dairy-free yogurt and a sprinkle of granola/nuts for breakfast/brunch (alongside all your brunch faves like pancakes, fruit, smoothies, etc.).

FAQs

Can I make these gluten-free?

We haven’t tried, though our best recommendation is to experiment with all-purpose gluten-free flour. King Arthur’s and Bob’s Red Mill would be our brands of choice.

If you try, let us know how it worked out in the comments.

Do I have to thaw berries if using them from frozen?

There is no need, though frozen berries may be ‘heavier’ in the batter, so we recommend only folding 2/3 into the batter and then pressing the remaining berries into the top of each muffin before baking.

Can I make these oil-free?

We haven’t tried. However, unsweetened applesauce or vegan Greek yogurt would be our go-to oil replacers. You may find that the resulting cakes are denser. Let us know if you try.

Could I use Dutch Processed Cocoa instead of regular cocoa powder?

Good question! While it should be possible, Dutch cocoa has a neutral pH, unlike regular cocoa (which is acidic), so it can interact differently in bakes. Luckily, it should work fine when paired with baking powder.

Top Recipe Tips and Notes

• Don’t overmix the batter: Overworked gluten can lead to tough, dense, and oddly shaped muffins.
• Make sure the baking powder is in date: Otherwise, the muffins won’t rise the way they should.
• Adjust the sugar amount: Feel free to slightly reduce the sugar in the recipe to personal preference. We haven’t tried substituting the sugar for a sugar-free sweetener, as it’s likely to affect the cake texture.
• Treat these as muffins or cupcakes: Enjoy them frosting-free, or make a more decadent vegan chocolate blackberry cupcake treat with the addition of buttercream icing (we recommend berry flavored!)
• Use your berry of choice: Blueberries, raspberries, cherries, blackberries, etc., will all taste great inside the vegan double chocolate muffins.
• Use fresh or frozen berries: We prefer to use frozen for delicate berries (like raspberries). However, fresh or frozen should work (no need to thaw first).
• To make mini vegan chocolate blackberry muffins: Test that they’re baked after 15 minutes. Or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• To make a loaf: While we haven’t tried, it should be possible. Simply increase the baking time until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (check on it first at 35 minutes and every few minutes after).

More Vegan Muffin and Quick Bread Recipes

• Carrot cake muffins
• Vegan apple cinnamon bread
• Vegan peach bread
• Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
• Simple banana muffins
• Zucchini bread

Photos by Alfonso Revilla

Blackberry Chocolate Cupcakes

5 from 33 votes

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 25 minutes mins

Total: 35 minutes mins

Servings: 12 muffins

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These 8-ingredient vegan double chocolate blackberry muffins are moist, fluffy, and packed with melty chocolate chips and juicy blackberries or the berries of your choice (fresh or frozen!). For a versatile, egg-free, dairy-free breakfast, snack, or dessert!

Equipment

• Measuring Cups
• Measuring spoons
• Mixing Bowl

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 cup of sugar
• ▢ ¾ cup of cocoa powder
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon of baking powder
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon of salt
• ▢ 1 ½ cups of water
• ▢ ½ cups of canola oil
• ▢ 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• ▢ 1 cup of fresh or frozen blackberries
• ▢ ½ cup of dairy-free semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare 12 muffin cups with liners.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add water, oil, and vanilla and stir until just combined. Take care not to over-mix.
• Fold in blackberries and dairy-free chocolate chips.
• Spoon batter into muffin pan.
• Bake for 25 minutes or a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Notes

• Don’t overmix the batter: Overworked gluten can lead to tough, dense, and oddly shaped muffins.
• Make sure the baking powder is in date: Otherwise, the muffins won’t rise the way they should.
• Adjust the sugar amount: Feel free to slightly reduce the sugar in the recipe to personal preference. We haven’t tried substituting the sugar for a sugar-free sweetener, as it’s likely to affect the cake texture.
• Treat these as muffins or cupcakes: Enjoy them frosting-free, or make a more decadent vegan chocolate blackberry cupcake treat with the addition of buttercream icing (we recommend berry flavored!)
• Use your berry of choice: Blueberries, raspberries, cherries, blackberries, etc., will all taste great inside the vegan double chocolate muffins.
• Use fresh or frozen berries: We prefer to use frozen for delicate berries (like raspberries). However, fresh or frozen should work (no need to thaw first).
• To make mini vegan chocolate blackberry muffins: Test that they’re baked after 15 minutes. Or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• To make a loaf: While we haven’t tried, it should be possible. Simply increase the baking time until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (check on it first at 35 minutes and every few minutes after).

Nutrition

Calories: 280kcalCarbohydrates: 42gProtein: 4gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gSodium: 255mgPotassium: 125mgFiber: 3gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 26IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 83mgIron: 2mg

Additional Info

Author: Honor

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Method: Oven

Diet: Vegan

Tried this recipe?Please tag us at @PlantBasedOnABudget! 🙂