These deliciously soft and moist homemade applesauce muffins will quickly become a staple recipe at your breakfast table. And the recipe can be completely oil free!
My new favorite muffin recipe
Five out of five stars
I could eat these every day
There’s no way these muffins are so healthy!!!
As some of the reader reviews above show, people seriously cannot get enough of the secretly healthy applesauce muffins!
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Above, watch the step-by-step applesauce muffin recipe video
Easy applesauce muffins
The wholesome muffins are great for packing into a lunch box, and they can be vegan, gluten free, egg free, dairy free, whole food plant based, and oil free.
It’s possibly one of the most delicious and healthiest muffin recipes you’ll ever make, and they pair well with savory recipes too.
Try the muffins for dinner alongside my favorite Lentil Soup or Mushroom Stroganoff, or this easily customizable vegetarian Coconut Curry.
You can also double the recipe if you want and freeze leftovers for a rainy day, to always have a nutritious snack or healthy breakfast on hand any time you’re in a rush or don’t feel like cooking.
Kids, toddlers, teens, and adults all love these clean eating muffins, because they taste like apple pie and are packed with nutrition at the same time.
Also be sure to try these healthy Pumpkin Muffins
Applesauce muffin ingredients
Soft and cinnamony, these classic muffins are made with just a few basic ingredients.
They have no butter or eggs, and you can customize the recipe by adding in a handful of raisins, chopped walnuts, flax seeds, or shredded coconut, or by pressing a few blueberries into the top of each muffin right before baking.
To turn them into oatmeal applesauce muffins, simply use oat flour as your flour of choice, or they can be whole grain with the benefit of extra fiber if you use spelt or whole wheat flour.
The muffins can be refined sugar free if you use date sugar or coconut sugar. Or to make them lower in carbs and completely sugar free, you can use xylitol or granulated erythritol.
For low fat or weight watchers muffins, the oil can be substituted with additional applesauce, pumpkin, mashed banana, or even peanut or almond butter.
The photos in this post are actually of the oil-free version made only with applesauce!
Leftover applesauce? Use it to make Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
How to make applesauce muffins
This healthy snack recipe is super quick to throw together.
Start by whisking all of the liquid ingredients together and greasing or lining a muffin pan with muffin or cupcake liners.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir all of the dry ingredients in a bowl, then combine with the liquid mixture to form a muffin batter.
To ensure everything is evenly mixed, I like to use different bowls for the liquid and dry ingredients. However, it can be a one bowl muffin recipe if you prefer.
Portion the muffin batter into the lined muffin pan. It should make about eight or nine regular size muffins. Only fill each tin about two thirds of the way up, because they will rise while baking.
Place on the oven’s center rack, and bake for twenty minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out mostly clean. Let cool.
If you want to make applesauce mini muffins, follow the instructions above and bake them for only ten minutes. I recommend this mini muffin pan.
Muffin storage tips
My favorite muffin trick is to cover them overnight on the counter or in the refrigerator. The liners peel off easily the next day, and their flavor and texture will be even better the next day.
After a day, store leftover muffins in an airtight covered container. Due to the perishable ingredients, I recommend refrigerating for optimum freshness.
You can also freeze the applesauce muffins for up to three months. Thaw before eating, and reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop if desired.
They will make your entire house smell like cinnamon sugar!
Applesauce Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup applesauce
- 3 tbsp oil OR applesauce or mashed banana
- 2 tbsp milk of choice
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp white or cider vinegar
- 1 cup spelt, white, or oat flour (for flourless, try these Keto Muffins)
- 1/4 cup sugar or unrefined sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp each: baking soda and baking powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- optional handful raisins, crushed walnuts, shredded coconut, etc.
Instructions
- *If you want to make mini muffins, bake only 10 minutes. I recommend this mini muffin pan.Whisk all liquid ingredients together. Preheat oven to 350, and line a muffin tin. In a new bowl, stir remaining ingredients very well. Pour dry into wet, and stir until just evenly mixed. Fill each liner about 2/3 of the way, leaving a little room because they will rise. Bake on the center rack, 20 minutes or until muffins have domed and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out mostly clean. Let cool. (If you loosely cover overnight on the counter or refrigerated, the liners peel off easily the next day and flavor and texture are even better.) Leftovers can be frozen if desired. Be sure to rate the recipe below if you try it!View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Muffin Recipes
Or these healthy Bran Muffins
Easy Whole Wheat English Muffins
Recipe in the Hello Breakfast Cookbook
I tried them last week. I was amazed!! I already baked them three times more, and I will bake them again very soon. These amazing, moist, guilt free muffins.. I have been making them without adding any sugar (only the fructose from the apples I used for my home made apple sauce) and they still taste great! I love this recipe because, added bonus, apples are local and we have them all year in Italy, unlike bananas (I adore Katie’s healty banana bread btw) This recipe is genius! And you can customize them with nuts, vegan home made nutella…the sky is the limit!!! They taste good with everything!
Forgot to say I tried the oil free version (more apple sauce..) delicious!
Thank you so much for making them 🙂
What a wonderful applesauce muffin recipe!
My husband is on a low sodium diet
after a heart attack so I made these
without salt and used low sodium baking
powder and they are delicious!
Thanks!
Thank you for making them 🙂
We loved these, I made 3 batches and froze most of them and pull 6 out to defrost as we eat the last of them. No butter needed and so moist, we liked them better at room temperature than warm.
Love these. Moist. Simple. Deliciously home-made and the whole house smells great. I got 12 smaller muffins from my batches, which is what I wanted, b/c my muffin tin is a 12 batch. :-). I’ve done with and without oil. I prefer to add just a small amount of oil, about a teaspoon and make up the rest with applesauce or banana. Just a smidge of oil gives a better overall texture I think. Otherwise, followed the recipe exactly.
❤❤
Used homemade applesauce and white whole wheat flour and they turned out perfectly! Thank you for another healthy recipe 😊
These were delicious. I followed the recipe exactly and it was super easy. Next time I might try replacing the oil with more applesauce and adding 2 T flax meal. I think I’ll be making double batches of these regularly. Thank you for the recipe, Katie.
Ps it would be great in the future to have a built in conversion tool on your site as I’m used to metric conversions in Europe.
Thank you for making them! We aren’t sure how to put up a conversion tool (and would worry it might be inaccurate) but can always give gram measurements for items that don’t come in a package that says it on the label, so please never hesitate to ask!
Have enjoyed these and so delicious! My husband must
have low sodium foods so I leave out the salt and use sodium
free baking powder and white flour with no oil added. Mine never
look as brown as yours. ????
Thank you so much for making them! Could just be the white flour? These are spelt, if we remember correctly!
I have made these 3 times within the past month ! Easy to make a full or half batch. They turn out great made with oat flour, extra cinnamon, unsweetened applesauce, banana instead of the oil. Your recipes are regularly made in my house ! Thank you for sharing your gift of cooking / baking !
This was my first time trying baking with applesauce! AND my first time baking with stevia instead of sugar! AAANNNNDDDD my first time baking with a gluten-free flour!!
These turned out AHHHH-MAAAZZZZING!!! They are super moist and delish! This is my new favorite muffin! AND it was so easy peasy and quick! I am disabled, so ease is a MUST for me.
I give this recipe 5 stars because it’s so easy, quick and delicious.
Thank you for sharing this recipe with the masses….
Thank you so much for trying them!
I needed to use up some unsweetened applesauce and I’m so glad I found this recipe! I doubled the recipe and tried one while it was still warm…so good! I’ll be making these again!