Elderberry Muffins Recipe (2024)

This is the best Elderberry Muffins recipe, and it comes complete with a crumble topping. It makes delicious muffins with an interesting name. An elderberry muffin makes a flavorful addition to your best breakfast recipes. This is a vegan muffin recipe, made without eggs or dairy.

My neighbor has an elderberry bush that is producing tons (not literally… the berries are kind of small) of berries. He finally (I mean graciously) relented to my whiny requests to let me pick some of them.

Have you ever seen an elderberry? Have you ever wondered what elderberries taste like?

Here are some up a little closer.

Elderberries are known to have medicinal value and have shown to relieve symptoms of the flu. Good thing I froze some for use this winter.

Elderberries are high in Vitamin C, fiber, and flavonoids. Who knew so much could be packed into such itty-bitty berries.

If you’re like me, you know you’ve heard about them before, but just can’t recall where. Here are some interesting tidbits to refresh your memory:

• In the Harry Potter books, the elder wand (made from an elderberry bush) was the much sought after wand in the book, Deathly Hallows.
• Elton John sings a famous song Elderberry Wine
• When my daughter asked where I was and she found out I was out picking elderberries, she quoted the line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, “Your mother smelled of elderberries.” The real quote is “Your father smelled of elderberries” but her rendition seemed more appropriate.

Elderberries were known in folklore to ward off witches. Hmm, sounds like another good reason to keep them around.

After reading more about them, I was convinced they would make a splendid muffin, similar to a blackberry or blueberry muffin. The results were delicious.

How to Make Elderberry Muffins

We love making elderberry muffins around here. I think you will too. Here are the steps to make them:

1. Mix crumble topping ingredients (flour, nuts, brown sugar, and vegan butter). This will be crumbly. Set aside.
2. Make the muffins by stirring together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) in a large bowl.
   
3. In a separate bowl, mix applesauce, soy milk, apple cider vinegar, sugar, melted vegan butter, and vanilla.
4. Place elderberries in a small bowl and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of the flour mixture. Gently stir the elderberries to coat them with the flour mixture.
5. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Add the berries. It’s ok for the batter to be lumpy because you don’t want to over mix so the muffins will be fluffy.
6. Pour the batter into muffin cups and sprinkle with the crumble topping (optional, but highly recommended).
   
7. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for several minutes before serving.

If you have an elderberry bush of your own, you’re lucky. If you spot one in your neighborhood I encourage you to befriend its owner. Offer a batch of muffins in exchange for some of their berries.

Or plant a bush so you can enjoy this tasty and healthy berry in your future recipes. I’ve been trying out lots of elderberry recipes this week and will have more to share with you soon. It’s like our own Elderberry Wine Festival!

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See Also

Soft Sweet Potato Bread with Honey (Yeast Recipe)

Enjoy!