Evaluation of Plant-Based Milks in Vegan Muffins: Functional, Structural, Rheological and Nutritional Characterization

As the demand for dairy-free bakery products increases, identifying plant-based milk alternatives that sustain product quality is essential. This study investigated the effects of eight milk types-soy, hazelnut, walnut, quinoa, flaxseed, coconut, oat, and almond-on the functional, nutritional, and sensory properties of muffins. A control prepared with cow's milk served as reference. Rheological results showed that quinoa- and flaxseed-based batters exhibited stronger viscoelastic behavior, whereas oat and coconut milks reduced consistency. Physical parameters such as baking loss, volume index, and symmetry revealed no significant structural differences (<i>p</i> > 0.05), confirming that milk substitution did not affect baking performance. Color analysis indicated distinct chromatic variations, particularly in almond and coconut muffins with higher color difference (<i>ΔE</i>) and hue values. Phenolic and antioxidant assays demonstrated enhanced total phenolic content and Cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) activity in quinoa and coconut variants. CUPRAC activity reached 0.89 micromoles Trolox equivalents per gram (µmol TE/g) in almond and 0.63 µmol TE/g in control muffins, whereas oat and hazelnut muffins exhibited the lowest activities, with 0.37 and 0.44 µmol TE/g, respectively. Amino acid profiling showed elevated glutamic acid and arginine in walnut, nearly doubling the control. Sensory scores (≥5) indicated high acceptability, confirming that selected plant-based milks can replace cow's milk while enhancing functional and bioactive quality.