Inspired by the Ayurvedic beverage golden milk, the flavor of these spiced vegan muffins is a lot like carrot cake plus the added warmth of turmeric. Healthy enough for breakfast, Golden Milk Muffins are oil-free, sweetened with maple syrup, and made with oat flour and lite coconut milk.
*Originally published August 2018; republished with new photos and recipe adjustments March 2020.
Full disclosure: I've actually never had golden milk the beverage. But since it's made with coconut milk, cinnamon, and ginger, I figured a golden milk-inspired muffin would taste amazing. And it does!
The flavor of these moist, oil-free muffins will remind you a LOT of carrot cake (minus the cream cheese frosting), with turmeric's signature flavor softly lingering in the background.
I love that these muffins are pantry-friendly. I'm a big fan of oil-free muffins made with bananas, but having perfectly ripe bananas on hand at the exact same time you want to bake muffins can feel like waiting for stars to align. But I almost always have a can of lite coconut milk in the cabinet, and that means I can whip up a batch of these tasty muffins anytime!
How to Make Golden Milk Muffins
The process for making Golden Milk Muffins is as easy as 1-2-3-4-5! Here's a quick summary:
- Preheat the oven and prepare a muffin pan.
- Whisk all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients together in a smaller bowl.
- Chop some walnuts (or just break them up by hand), and measure out the raisins, if using.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and whisk until combined. Stir in the nuts and raisins.
- Spoon the batter into the pan, sprinkle more nuts on top if you like, and bake.
Seriously easy. And seriously delicious!
Tips for successful muffins
- Some dry ingredients have a tendency to clump, especially coconut flour, baking soda, and baking powder. So anytime I'm baking with these I go ahead and reach for a sifter. It's also a good idea to sift in the spices to make sure there are no clumps of turmeric, cinnamon, or ginger in your muffins.
- Once all the dry ingredients are in the bowl, whisk them very well, more than you might normally. You want the spices to be evenly distributed.
- Always make sure the oven is fully preheated and your muffin pan is ready before you add the wet ingredients to the dry. This is important anytime you're working with baking soda. Once it's combined with the wet ingredients you want to work quickly to take advantage of the leavening power.
Optional Stir-ins and Glaze/Frosting
We especially loved these with the sweet raisins and crunchy walnuts added to the batter, but that's totally up to you. You could always skip one or both of those if you're not a fan or if you just want to reduce the calories and/or fat.
Same goes for the nuts on top. I think walnuts look great on top of muffins (and Mark is basically the walnut version of the Cookie Monster)! You can omit them, or use a variety of different seeds for a nut-free muffin! These would be great with pumpkin seeds.
The turmeric-coconut glaze you see in the photos only takes about 3 minutes to stir together, but it's totally optional. These muffins are perfectly moist and delicious without it!
You really only need the glaze if a) you're feelin' fancy, b) you're a big fan of coconut, or c) you want an additional layer of turmeric flavor. You could also sub cinnamon for the turmeric!
I hope you enjoy these moist, perfectly sweet, oil-free Golden Milk Muffins! If you try the recipe I would love to hear from you. Be sure to comment below, and let us know what you think! You can also tag me in a photo on insta anytime with @myquietkitchen.
Learn more about turmeric from Dr. Greger's many videos over at NutritionFacts.org.
More healthy vegan muffins:
Pistachio Muffins
Spiced Mug Muffin (aka healthy mug cake)
Loaded Breakfast Muffins
Coconut Garam Masala Muffins
Oil-Free Pumpkin Muffins
Blueberry Banana Muffins
Vegan Golden Milk Muffins
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups oat flour (160 g)
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
Wet ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cups lite coconut milk (the canned variety)
- ⅔ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Stir-ins and topping:
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup raw walnut halves, chopped, plus another handful or two for sprinkling on top, optional
Optional coconut butter-turmeric glaze:
- 2 Tablespoons coconut butter
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoon non-dairy milk, divided
- pinch of ground turmeric, or to taste - Sub cinnamon, if desired.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a 12 cup muffin pan or use liners or a silicone pan to prevent sticking.
- Add the oat flour to a large bowl. Sift in any of the remaining dry ingredients if they appear clumpy (this is especially helpful with baking soda and powder). Whisk all the dry ingredients together very well. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, maple syrup, vanilla, and vinegar.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry, and whisk until smooth. Stir in the raisins and chopped walnuts, if using.
- Evenly divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with additional chopped walnuts, if desired.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the muffins are firm when lightly pressed. Alternatively, insert a tooth pick into the center of a muffin to check for doneness. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
- To make the glaze, put the coconut butter in a small bowl or mug and microwave for just 10 to 15 seconds or until melted. Use a fork to whisk in the maple syrup and about 2 teaspoons of milk. Add a small amount of turmeric and whisk again until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, add another teaspoon of milk. Taste and adjust sweetness and turmeric as desired.
Notes
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and specific products and ingredients used. We calculate this information using the online calculator cronometer.com.
Lynn
Will this recipe work w/almond flour replacing the coconut flour? Also, I have 5 cans of FULL fat coconut milk on hand, so should I dilute one with water? I love your recipes 👍
Lori
Hi Lynn, thank you! I'm so happy you're enjoying the recipes.
I haven't tried almond flour in this one, but yes, I do think that swap will work well. And for the coconut milk, I think just *barely* watering down the full-fat one will be perfect. You could shake it well, measure out about 1 cup, this fill it up to the 1 1/4 line with water. Hopefully that will work!
jacquie
thanks so much for the quick reply. I will try it out and get back to you.
jacquie
I like the idea of adding tumeric to muffins along with the other spices. They look like they would be wonderful but I think likely a bit to sweet for me. do you think they would still work if i cut the maple syrup in 1/2? If it was sugar, I would of just have decreased it but since it is adding mositure as well I was sure. Any suggesetions? thanks.
Lori
Hi Jacquie,
Great Q, and yes we can definitely make that work! I think the easiest way to make up for the moisture would be to add 2 or 3 more tablespoons of coconut milk. And depending on how much you like spices, with the reduced sweetness you might want to decrease each of the spices just a bit to keep it balanced.
Hope that helps. Let me know how they turn out!