Vegan Apple Muffins

As much as I love banana muffins, we often don’t have enough in the house for baking, but always have local apples on hand. These vegan apple muffins are excellent almost year round, with fresh or stored apples, and are lightly sweet with a nice warmth from the spices.

Mixed in one bowl and ready in less than half an hour, these are a good weekly-bake muffin. The base is whole grain flour and applesauce so you get a good high fibre snack that will keep you full for longer.

For some more delicious apple snacks, try my vegan apple cake with hazelnuts, gluten free apple crumble bars, and healthy baked apples with dark chocolate and granola.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Applesauce: this should be unsweetened. You can make your own by coring apples, chopping roughly, and cooking with a splash of water until soft. Puree and use as normal.
• Spelt flour: these are made with 100% whole grain spelt flour, and the type I get is quite coarsely milled, so the texture of the muffins is slightly bran-like. If you’re not a fan, use half light spelt flour. Regular wheat flour can be substituted 1:1.
• Milk: I always use oat milk, but any pourable non-dairy milk will work. If the muffins don’t need to be vegan, dairy milk is also fine.
• Coconut sugar: while I haven’t tried this, I think cane sugar or plain sugar should be fine in place of coconut. I don’t recommend using a liquid sweetener.
• Olive oil: another light-tasting oil can be used instead of olive if you prefer. I haven’t tested these with a solid oil like coconut.

Step by Step

With everything mixed in one bowl and no sifting required, it’s a very easy recipe with minimal dishes needed. Keep a few tips in mind and you’ll be on your way to perfect apple muffins in no time.

1. Mix the wet ingredients: whisk the applesauce, milk, oil, and vanilla in a large bowl to combine.
2. Add everything else: add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Gently fold in the chopped apple.
3. Transfer the batter: spoon the muffin batter into a greased or lined 12-cup muffin tin.
4. Bake, cool, and serve: bake until golden, then cool on a wire rack before serving.

Recipe Notes

Use a tasty apple for the muffins, you won’t regret it. My favourite is Boskoop but Cox is pictured, and it’s also very good here. Granny smith is of course popular for baking but I’m not a fan – you want something with a good fragrance and strong apple taste, not just tart.

I haven’t tried making these gluten-free. If you want to try that, I’d recommend working from my gluten-free pumpkin muffins, sub applesauce for the pumpkin puree and use apples rather than chocolate. You may need to reduce the amount of applesauce slightly.

How to Store

Storage: these can be kept in a sealed container at (cool) room temperature for a day or two, but for longer storage should be kept in the refrigerator.

Freezing: place cooled muffins in an airtight container and freeze for up to three months. They may be slightly sticky on top when thawed but the taste doesn’t change.

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Expert Tips

• Don’t over mix: spelt flour needs a light hand. Mix until just combined and no longer to ensure the muffins don’t come out chewy and tough.
• Cool before unwrapping: if you find that your muffin papers are sticking, let the muffins cool fully before taking the papers off. Alternatively, oil the muffin cups lightly instead of using papers.
• Make your own applesauce: if you can’t find unsweetened applesauce or prefer not to buy it (it’s cheaper and so easy to make!) simply make your own before mixing up the batter. Make extra and keep it refrigerated to have later.

More Vegan Muffin Recipes

Raspberry Yogurt Muffins
Lemon Cranberry Muffins
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
Banana Blueberry Muffins

If you make these Vegan Apple Muffins or any other muffin recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.