Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Trail Mix Vegan Muffins

I love trail mix. I love it so much that it’s not something I should buy or make.

But making muffins that are trail-mix inspired is totally fine.

They’re some of easiest and least fussy muffins to make. No mixer, one bowl, and literally a two minute batter.

The batch makes 9 modest-sized muffins, perfect for your cravings, but you’re not swimming in muffins for days.

The muffins happen to be vegan, but they definitely don’t taste like health food. They’re satisfying, filling, and comforting.

Frequently vegan muffin and quickbread recipes get around the egg issue by either using nut butter or bananas. I’ve also snuck in pumpkin and avocado. Anything dense, fatty, or creamy generally works to bind batter and mimic eggs.

However, in this recipe, I relied solely on the thickening power of oats to bind the batter. It worked like a charm and the resulting muffins have tons of texture and lots of chewiness from the oats.

You must use old-fashioned whole-rolled oats, not quick cook or instant. That latter is finer and behaves more like flour, which would render the muffins way too dry and dense.

The recipe is very adaptable based on what you like in your trail mix or have in your pantry. As written, the recipe is vegan, nut-free (no peanut butter), soy-free, and banana-free. I never knew how many people disliked bananas (and raisins) until I started blogging.

I used my favorite raisin medley blend from Trader Joe’s. If you prefer other dried fruit like craisins, dried cherries, dried mango, or apricots, use 1/3 cup of whatever you like.

Don’t like dried fruit and prefer nuts? Add 1/3 cup of your favorite chopped or sliced nuts like almonds, cashews, or walnuts.

I used mini chocolate chips because their small size helps them stay suspended in the batter and not sink to the bottom. I’m sure regular-sized baking chips will work. Use any chips you enjoy from butterscotch to white chocolate or peanut butter chips, noting that not all chips are vegan if that’s a consideration.

I used coconut oil and love baking with it for muffins, cakes, bread, cookies and more. I used Nutiva Coconut Oil from iHerb.com. Code AVE630 at checkout saves you $10 off your order. I love iHerb for everything like probiotics, bulk cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, liquid vanilla stevia drops, bulk white stevia powder, medicinal fancy-grade honey, chia seeds, face cleanser, nutritional yeast, and mini chocolate chips.

I cannot taste the coconut oil, but if you’re concerned, sub with vegetable or canola oil.

The muffins are hearty, sweet enough without being too sweet, and have ample texture from the raisins and oats. They’re chewy and not overly dense, a nice surprise given there’s no eggs.

If you happen to run out of eggs and butter, and have a muffin or trail mix craving, enjoy.

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