Applesauce muffins

Applesauce muffins are one of our favorite healthy muffin recipes! They bake up super moist, full of great apple and cinnamon flavor, and easy to grab for breakfast or a snack.

My daughter loves baking for our family (she especially enjoys making gluten-free Chocolate Chip Scones and Orange Cranberry Scones), and although she has become a great baker herself, she and my son still ask me to make Banana Muffins, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins, and Carrot Zucchini Muffins with Apples often enough for me to add muffins to my monthly meal plan.

Now, my kids LOVED applesauce when they were younger, but as teens, they’re not huge fans (unless they’ve had their braces tightened, in which case they live on applesauce and yogurt for the whole week). But let me tell you, they really, really like the applesauce in these muffins.

Trust me, these amazing applesauce muffins will be a family favorite for the kids, teens, and adults alike!

WHY MAKE APPLESAUCE MUFFINS

We love applesauce muffins because they’re moist, delicious, and so fun to eat! They’re also:

• Quick and easy breakfasts for mornings on the go, or easy grab-and-go snacks.
• Great for batch baking! You can double or triple muffin batches and freeze them ahead of time, so all you have to do is pull a few at a time from the freezer to thaw and devour. Yep, I said devour – because that’s just how good these applesauce muffins are!
• Uses pantry ingredients that you likely have on hand.
• Convenient. I don’t always have ripe bananas on hand for Banana Bread Muffins, but applesauce is easy to pull out of the pantry.
• Plus, applesauce muffins are a yummy option to make in the winter, when fresh fruit is limited to citrus (and you’re tired of oranges).
• Great taste and texture. Without having apple chunks in the recipe, the wholesome apple flavor from the applesauce really shines!

APPLESAUCE MUFFINS RECIPE INGREDIENTS NOTES

Wet ingredients:

• Maple Syrup. Equal amounts of maple syrup and honey give this applesauce muffins recipe just enough sweetness.
• Honey. The honey flavor really comes through, so if you don’t like it, just use all maple syrup instead.
• Eggs. For lift and as a binder to hold everything together.
• Butter. Use melted butter, slightly cooled.
• Coconut Oil. Melt the coconut oil if it is solid to start.
• Vanilla. Vanilla extract helps deepen the other flavors when baking. Here’s how to make your own.
• Applesauce. I use unsweetened plain applesauce, but you can use sweetened if that’s what you have. I definitely think cinnamon flavored would be great here too!
• Plain Greek Yogurt. Regular yogurt is too thin for this applesauce muffin recipe. Stick with Greek yogurt or substitute sour cream.

Dry ingredients:

• Flour. I use all-purpose flour, but you can also use whole wheat flour if that’s what you have in your pantry.
• Baking Soda. For light and fluffy applesauce muffins. (No baking powder in this recipe)
• Salt. If you’re going to use salt, make sure it’s a good one like Ava Jane’s Kitchen that doesn’t have microplastics! You can get a free 8oz. bag of sea salt right now (just pay shipping and handling!).
• Ground Cinnamon. The perfect warm and cozy complement to the applesauce – apple and cinnamon muffins are one of my favorites!

INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO MAKE APPLE MUFFINS RECIPE

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 375F.

Step 2. Prepare the muffin tin by greasing each cup or lining with paper muffin cups if you prefer (you can also spray paper liners with cooking spray).

Step 3. In a large bowl, combine maple syrup, honey, eggs, melted butter, melted coconut oil, vanilla, unsweetened applesauce, and yogurt and whisk very well. Set aside.

Step 4. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, then sift into the wet ingredients mixture. Stir just until combined. Do not overmix.

Step 5. Measure ¼ cup of muffin batter into each prepared muffin tin cup. As written, the apple muffins recipe makes 18 muffins.

Step 6. Bake for 17-20 minutes (mine took 21 minutes) or until tops of muffins are firm to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes on a cooling rack before enjoying.

Store applesauce muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months (I like to use gallon plastic storage bags and then reuse them until they fall apart).

APPLE CINNAMON MUFFINS TIPS

• It’s cheaper to buy applesauce in big jars rather than individual cups, but there will be some left over. You can make double or triple muffin batches and freeze to use up your applesauce, or use your leftover applesauce as a side for Maple Glazed Pork Chops.
• If you only have regular plain yogurt, you can strain it to make Greek yogurt. Be sure to use the whey!

APPLESAUCE MUFFINS RECIPE VARIATIONS

These apple cinnamon muffins are delicious as written, but you can switch things up for even more apple-y goodness!

• Apple Muffins with Raisins. Add ¾ cup of raisins with the dry ingredients.
• Double Apple Muffins. Fold in 1 cup of peeled and chopped apple chunks after adding the dry ingredients.
• Walnut Applesauce Muffins. Add 1 cup of chopped walnuts with the dry ingredients, or sprinkle them on top of the muffins before baking. Pecans are tasty too!
• Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins. Replace ½ cup of flour with ½ cup of oats flour.
• Applesauce Carrot Muffins. Add ½ cup of shredded carrots with the dry ingredients.
• Gluten Free Applesauce Muffins. Use your favorite gluten-free 1-to-1 flour (I like Bob’s Red Mill).
• Mini Muffins. Use a mini muffin tin instead – you’ll need to halve the recipe or bake multiple rounds if you only have one mini muffin pan. Reduce the baking time to 10-13 minutes.

CAN I EAT CARBS LIKE CINNAMON AND APPLE MUFFINS FOR BREAKFAST?

One big thing I’ve learned on my nutrition journey is that carbs are NOT the enemy.

The internet has painted a negative picture of carbs over the years, when the reality is that we NEED carbs to fuel our bodies. They are literally the body’s source of energy. They’re also required for gut health, hormone regulation, and proper digestion.

Whether you’re chasing kids, studying for tests, driving teens around, or managing a law firm, your body needs energy!

There are two things to consider when it comes to carbohydrates:

1. Quality matters. It’s easy to overeat potato chips, but hard to overeat baked potatoes!
2. Balance matters. You need the right ratio of carbs to fats to proteins (aka macros).

Once I learned which carbs my body responded best to, and how much my body needed every day, I was able to freely enjoy carbs at breakfast, knowing I was doing something good for my body.

APPLE AND MUFFINS FAQS

MORE HEALTHY AND EASY MUFFIN RECIPES

• Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Banana Nut Muffins with Crumb Topping
• Buttermilk Oatmeal Muffins
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins