Learn how to make the BEST Easy Vegan Strawberry Cruffins recipe from scratch. Flakey like a croissant and shaped in a muffin form, these Cruffins are free-from eggs, dairy and can also be made low sugar! And you’d never know! Prepare for breakfast or pair with a cup of coffee / tea whenever you want a delicious treat!
Vegan Strawberry Cruffins
When you’re craving a croissant, but don’t want to spend all day doing the laminations, then you NEED this super easy vegan cruffins recipe. It has a super easy dough which is flakey and soft, perfect when filled with swirls of strawberry jam inside. This recipe tastes like a mash up of a doughnut and croissant with a hint of cinnamon roll. They’re such a fun treat for Spring and Valentines, you’re going to love making these cruffins!
Looking for more fruity recipes, check out my delicious Vegan Lemon Curd Cake, Healthy Blueberry Oat Bars, and No-Bake Passionfruit Cheesecake. Check out more fruity bakes here.
What is a cruffin?
So what is a cruffin exactly? As it states in it’s name, a cruffin (sometimes spelled croffin) it combines a croissant and muffin into one unique treat. It’s much easier to make than a croissant in my opinion. The pastry is made by proofing (also known as proving) and baking laminated dough in a muffin tin. The cruffin is then filled with a variety of filings such as jams, creams, curds, crème pâtissières and then garnished.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
A bakery style treat that can be made in your own kitchen in under 4 hours, and perfectly light, fluffy and packed of fruity flavour. Is there anything more not to love about these cruffins?!!
- Vegan – This recipe doesn’t contain any animal derived ingredients.
- Easy to make – A simple method which results in impressed cruffins.
- Accessible ingredients – Easy to find ingredients, most of which you may already have in your kitchen cupboards / pantry.
- Light and fluffy, with a crisp outside.
- Can be made low sugar with some adjustments to ingredients (see FAQ) for details.
- Easy to make – The only thing you need is a spare few hours.
- Deliciously fruity – Swirls of fresh strawberry jam in each bite is heavenly.
- Fun to make – From start to finish, these cruffins are super fun to make, shape and decorate!
- Great paired with a cup of fruit tea / coffee!
What makes this recipe vegan?
This recipe uses a simple homemade yeasted dough base instead of using a store-bought croissant dough or homemade croissant dough. This recipe isn’t complex to make at all, in fact, it’s relatively easy. The hardest part is waiting for the dough to prove before baking. They are just THAT irresistible, trust me! But TOTALLY worth the wait and little effort!
The dough is free from any animal derived ingredients. It uses dairy-free butter and applesauce for the egg replacer. The remaining ingredients are all considered vegan and plant-based, so you won’t need to swap anything else out! I do want to add a little disclaimer, just to make sure, it’s always worth checking the ingredients you use to make sure they’re vegan friendly.
How to make Vegan Strawberry Cruffins:
Get the full written recipe, ingredient measurements and method at the the bottom of this page in the recipe card. You can also press the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post!
- Prepare the dough
You’ll begin with mixing warm milk with active yeast until frothy. Combine and knead with all the other ingredients until smooth and elastic. Cover and set aside somewhere warm to prove.
- Shape
Turn out on a floured worktop, divide into. Roll each ball into a long rectangle, spread over jam, roll up (long side first), cut in half and twist into a cruffin shape. Place in a greased muffin tin. Prove for a second time.
- Bake
Bake until puffed up & golden brown in colour. Remove from the oven, cool then roll in sugar.
- Filling
Add strawberry jam to a piping bag, snip off the tip. Pipe jam down the middle of the cruffin, followed by vegan cream.
- Serve
Dust with some icing sugar and fresh strawberry slice, serve and enjoy.
Vegan Strawberry Cruffin FAQ
Can this recipe be made gluten-free?
- Unfortunately this recipe can’t be made gluten-free. It needs the gluten / wheat to help with the elastic, chewy and airy texture. Don’t worry, I am in the process of recipe testing a gluten-free cruffin recipe as we speak… follow my instagram for updates! Check out my variety of gluten-free recipes here.
Why is apple sauce used?
- The apple sauce is the egg replacer in this recipe. Not only does it taste delicious, it also helps keep the cruffins super moist! It’s one of my favourite egg replacers.
What muffin tin to use?
- You want to use a regular muffin tin for this recipe nothing fancy. I’ve linked to the one I use here. It’s the perfect depth. The depth of your tin will determine the shape and height of your cruffin.
Can I make this recipe low sugar?
- You can by making a few adjustments. Use a low sugar strawberry jam such as the brand The Skinny Co. You also want to use a natural sugar alternative for the coating, such as Truvia. The sugar inside the cruffin is natural from maple or agave. You can swap this out with a low sugar syrup if preferred.
Can these be made in advance?
- I would say yes and no. They CAN be made in advance and kept fresh in a sealed container at room temperature, but only for a day maximum. Any longer than that and you risk them turning dense and chewy.
How to store the cruffins once baked?
- I highly recommend you enjoying them within the first 24 hours of them being baked. This is when they’re the most soft and fluffy.
If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you & happy baking! Make sure to tag me in your photos on Instagram , TikTok and Facebook! Pin this recipe for later, you can use the button on the recipe card, above or below this post, or on any of the photos. Happy baking all!
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Easy Vegan Strawberry Cruffins
- Total Time: 3-4 hours
- Yield: 8–10 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Flaky like a croissant, shaped in muffin form, these Vegan Strawberry Cruffins are free from dairy and eggs, with strawberry jam.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 120ml of dairy-free milk (soya, almond or oat for example)
- 7g of active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 80g of maple syrup / agave syrup
- 120g of apple sauce (see notes*)
- 115ml of sunflower oil (a neutral flavoured oil)
- 420g of all purpose / plain flour
- 1 jar of strawberry jam
+
- 30g of caster sugar (for coating)
- 60ml of dairy-free whipping cream (I use The Coconut Collaborative Double cream)
- Icing sugar (for dusting)
Instructions
Method (cruffin)
- Pour the dairy-free milk into a saucepan and heat. DO NOT boil or simmer as if it’s too hot, it’ll kill the yeast. You just want it warmed!
- Pour the warm milk into a large sized mixing bowl and sprinkle over the yeast. Stir, cover with a tea towel and allow to sit somewhere warm for at least 10 minutes (refer to notes). You’ll know it’s activated when it smells yeasty and the mixture is frothy.
- Add the maple syrup, apple sauce and oil into the yeast mixture and stir to combine.
- Sieve in the flour. Knead with a stand mixer and dough hook attachment. If you don’t have a stand mixer, knead with clean hands on a clean worktop, with some added flour to prevent sticking. Knead only until a smooth dough comes together and it’s elastic. If you add too much flour or over-knead, the dough will become very tough.
- Place the dough into a a medium sized bowl greased with some oil. Cover with a tea towel and place in a warm area for at least 1 hour to double in size.
- Turn out the dough on a clean, floured worktop. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls.
- Roll out each individual ball of dough into a rectangle shape, approximately 5 x 12 inches long.
- Spread strawberry jam over the dough in a even layer. Starting from the long end, roll the dough into a log. Use a sharp knife to cut the long in two. Roll each log into a spiral shape. Place into a lightly greased muffin tin. Repeat for the other cruffins (refer to video for example).
- Once the muffin tin is filled with the swirly dough, cover with a tea towel and place someone warm for 40 minutes to rise for a final time before baking. This will help them get super light and fluffy.
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees c fan. Place the tin in the middle of the oven and bake the cruffins for approximately 20-24 minutes, or until they’re a gorgeous golden brown colour.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- Fill a bowl / plate with caster sugar, roll each cruffin in the sugar to get an even coating.
Serving / filling
- In a bowl, whip up some dairy-free whipping / double cream until thick in a bowl with hand whisk or stand mixer with balloon whisk attachment. Transfer into a piping bag and snip off the tip.
- Add a few tablespoons of strawberry jam into a pipng bag and snip off the tip.
- Poke a hole down the middle of the cruffin and pipe in some jam and cream. Finish off with a fresh strawberry slice.
- You can even dust them with some powdered / icing sugar.
Notes
To store: Keep fresh in a sealed container and enjoy within a 1-2 days of making. Best enjoyed fresh. Store without the cream!
Activating the yeast: The warm milk and yeast mixture will want to sit somewhere warm to activate. If you live in a warm climate, place on your kitchen worktop or conservatory to prove. If not (like me), you can heat your oven to 50 degrees c fan , turn off the oven and place in the tin. Leave the door open slightly, this will create a warm atmosphere for proving. Alternatively, if your oven has a dough proving setting, turn this on and place inside.
Apple sauce: Make sure to use a smooth apple sauce. If you’re is chunky, simple add to a small blender / food processor and whizz up until smooth then use.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Pastry
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
These look great, can’t wait to try them! Does the recipe make 12 cruffins? Since you cut each log into 2?