Bearberry Muffins

Also known as strawberry tree muffins, these vegan muffins are filled with wild harvested bearberries and chocolate chips and are topped with a streusel crumb topping. This easy recipe can be made with any type of fruit.

This recipe makes 11-12 vegan berry chocolate chip muffins.

Table of Contents

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• Ingredients
• Vegan Muffin Recipe
• Ingredient Substitutions
• Contact Me with Questions
• Similar Recipes

I just moved to Roseville, which is a suburb about 20 minutes outside of Sacramento, CA, and not only do I have THREE strawberry trees in my backyard, but they’re also all over the neighborhood (on the sides of sidewalks, not in people’s yards). David reminded me that we saw a statue of a bear eating berries when we were in Madrid, and that the berries were called madroños in Spain.

I think they taste like a cross between a strawberry and a pear, so I was calling them pear berries on instagram. But, when I was online looking for existing madrona recipes (there aren’t many), I realized that these berries have a bunch of different names. Here are a few:

• bearberries
• madroños
• Arbutus unedo berries
• Koumara
• Corbezzolo
• Cain Apple
• Caithne

While the price point is the big selling factor for me (can’t beat free), I learned that they’re also super healthy. They’re loaded with antioxidants, vitamin C, beta-carotene, niacin, and tocopherols. If that’s not a good excuse to eat these muffins, then I don’t know what is. Haha.

Oh, but here’s a little protip for you. Don’t let your doggo eat any of these berries unless you want to be woken up at 3:30am to the sound of her puking. Give her dried pumpkin dog treats instead. You’re welcome.

If you like baked goods with fruit, you might also like my chocolate orange cake and my pluffins.

Streusel Topping Ingredients

• ½ cup (60g) unbleached flour
• ¼ cup (22.5g) rolled oats
• 3-4 tablespoons vegan butter
• 3-4 tablespoons (40-50g) organic or raw sugar

Bearberry Muffin Ingredients

• ⅔ cup nondairy milk
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 medium ripe banana, mashed with the back of a fork
• ⅓ cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup (100g) organic or raw sugar
• 2 cups (240g) unbleached flour
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup of bearberries, washed and chopped
• ½ cup vegan chocolate chips

Bearberry Muffin Directions

Preheat oven to 350º.

Oil all 12 cubbies of a muffin tin.

Mix the ⅔ cup nondairy milk with the tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and set aside.

Mix ½ cup flour, ¼ cup oats, 3-4 tablespoons vegan butter or margarine, and 3-4 tablespoons sugar in a bowl with your hands until it clumps together like a crumbly streusel topping. Set in the fridge until you’re ready to add it to the top of your muffins.

Mash a ripe banana in a medium-large bowl using the back of a fork.

Add ½ cup sugar, ⅓ cup oil, a teaspoon vanilla, and the nondairy milk/vinegar mixture, and mix well.

Add 2 cups flour, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ¼ teaspoon sea salt to the top of the wet ingredients.

Mix all the ingredients until you no longer see any flour (check the bottom, because dry ingredients like to play hide and seek).

Stir a cup of chopped bearberries and ½ cup of vegan chocolate chips gently into the batter.

Scoop the batter into the cubbies of the oiled muffin pan, filling them almost all the way, but leaving enough room for the streusel topping.

Top with the streusel topping you made earlier. Use it all up even if you don’t think you need it all.

Bake for 23-25 minutes.

Set the muffin pan on a cooling rack to cool for 15 minutes in the pan before removing them. DON’T TRY TO REMOVE THEM BEFORE THAT. I am not joking when I tell you that no matter how careful you are, you’re bound to decapitate one of your precious muffins, and then think of the guilt you’ll have to live with.

Carefully use a silicone spatula and remove the muffins from the muffin pan.

Comments or Questions?

If you make this recipe, I would love it if you’d snap a pic, post to instagram, and tag me @vegandollhouse. It seriously makes my day/week/month!

Please message me (instagram or email) if you have any questions or feedback about the recipe.

Ingredient Substitutions

• Flour: I used unbleached, all-purpose flour when I made these. If you prefer to use whole grain flours, replace the white flour in this recipe with cake flour, wheat flour, spelt flour, or whole wheat pastry flour. It will taste healthier with some of these flours though. You can also replace the flour in this recipe with your favorite gluten-free flour blend if you’re making these muffins for someone who avoids gluten.
• Oats: If you don’t have rolled oats, use quick oats. If you want these to be gluten-free, use gluten-free oats.
• Vegan Butter: I use organic earth balance. If you avoid soy, they make a soy-free earth balance.
• Vegan Sugar: I used organic sugar because it’s super cheap at Costco. You can use any number of vegan sugars: sucanat, coconut sugar, raw sugar, organic sugar, or demerara. If you’re not sure if your sugar is vegan, you can contact the company and ask. Or just avoid conventional white sugar or granulated sugar, and you should be ok.
• Nondairy Milk: You can use almost any kind of vegan milk in these muffins. Just buy the cheapest vegan milk you can find. Or substitute any amount with water or nondairy creamer. You can also mix and match different nondairy milks. Milks I have used with success include macadamia milk, almond milk, oat milk, or soymilk. If you use soy milk, I recommend buying organic or non-GMO. I do NOT recommend using Ripple brand milk. Something about the pea protein absorbs the liquid and makes baked goods dense, dry, and VERY healthy tasting.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: You can replace the 1 tablespoon (15g) apple cider vinegar with the same amount of white vinegar, lemon juice, or lime juice. You just need some sort of acid to interact with the alkalinity of the baking soda to make the muffins rise.
• Oil: I recommend safflower, sunflower, avocado, or coconut oil for baking cakes. These oils are good for high heat, which helps you avoid transfats. But, you can use any other plant-based oil. Examples are vegetable oil, canola oil, and grapeseed oil. People even bake with olive oil, but I don’t recommend it.
• Vanilla Extract: If you don’t have vanilla extract, you can omit it, but the muffins will taste much better if you include it. I use 100% pure vanilla extract or flavorings because they’re higher quality. If the ingredients don’t specifically say vanilla bean, you might be eating chemicals that were created to replicate the taste of vanilla. Yes, the world is a weird place.
• Baking Soda: Out of baking soda? Replace the ½ teaspoons (3g) baking soda with an extra ½ tablespoon (8g) baking powder.
• Baking Powder: I use the non-aluminum baking powder, because I need all the brain cells I have left. Out of baking powder? Replace the tablespoon (15g) of baking powder in this recipe with 1 teaspoon (6g) of extra baking soda.
• Bearberries: You can use a cup of any variety of berries you have in place of the bearberries. Or if you don’t have a full cup, use less. Vegan Chocolate Chips: I use Pascha chocolate chips because they organic, vegan, and fair trade. You can find less expensive vegan chocolate chips at Trader Joe’s. The chocolate chips are also optional, so you can omit them. However, if you do, the recipe might make fewer muffins.

Similar Recipes

If you like fruit-filled pastries, you should check out this list of vegan desserts that are made with fruit.

If you’re looking for other muffin recipes, I have a vegan chocolate chip muffin recipe that is super easy and yummy. I also have a recipe for making muffins with plums, which I also call pluffins haha.

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I mostly cook with organic ingredients, but only specify organic when it’s necessary to ensure the item is vegan.

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