Need a satisfying snack or healthy breakfast that the entire family can enjoy? Then these Healthy Applesauce Muffins are for you! Sweetened with fruit and spiced with cinnamon, these natural muffins need to be in your kitchen this week, too!
Jump to:
- Why you Need to Make these Oatmeal Muffins with Applesauce
- What you Need to Make this Healthy Breakfast Muffin Recipe
- How to make this Applesauce Oatmeal Muffin Recipe
- Recipe Notes + Expert Tips
- FAQs for These Healthy Muffins with Applesauce
- Other Healthy Apple Recipes You May Enjoy
- Healthy Applesauce Muffins
Why you Need to Make these Oatmeal Muffins with Applesauce
Apple picking in 90 degrees weather in Southern California is not typically how I picture apple picking, but nonetheless we make the hour drive every year and enjoy every second!
If you’re in the San Diego area, I highly recommend making a trip out to Julian to enjoy the family friendly activity (COVID compliant too!) of apple picking!
For just $20, you can take home nearly 5 pounds of apples and lots and lots of memories!
The best part, you get to make your new favorite recipe with applesauce: Healthy Applesauce Muffins!
What you Need to Make this Healthy Breakfast Muffin Recipe
Ingredient Tips
- Date Syrup: Using this fruit-derived syrup (plus apple sauce) makes these muffins refined sugar free! The flavor is more similar to molasses which makes it perfect for this fall recipe. For more ways to use it up, check out my Chickpea Cookie Dough and Gingerbread Cookies!
- Apples: Apples vary in sweetness! Choose a variety like Gala or Fuji with a little more sweet than tartness to keep the flavor of this recipe.
- Oats: Use the quick cooking, rolled oats. This creates a more uniform texture that kids will be sure to enjoy, too!
Ingredient Swaps
- Date Syrup: While I highly recommend giving it a try, if you don’t have date syrup you can sub in brown sugar or maple syrup. Note, this will not be added sugar free.
- Gluten Free: You can sub in a gluten-free flour like almond or coconut for the whole wheat flour if you want to make this gluten-free. Be sure your oats are certified gluten free as well!
- Vegan: Use your favorite plant based milk and a flax egg to keep these muffins vegan friendly.
- Spices: We love the cinnamon and ginger flavor combo but if you keep apple pie spice on hand, it usually contains some combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, and/or cloves. Feel free to sub what you have, just make sure it totals 1 1/2 tsp (and keep the nutmeg and/or cloves to 1/4 tsp max as they can be very strong!)
How to make this Applesauce Oatmeal Muffin Recipe
(1 + 2) Combine all dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.
(3) Mix the wet ingredients into a larger bowl.
(4) Because the date syrup is dark, the batter will look dark!
(5) Stir the dry ingredients into the wet.
(6) Fold in the chopped and diced apples.
(7) Portion into 12 muffin tin liners.
(8) Top each with a thin slice apple cutout (if desired!) Place into the oven to bake.
(9) Remove and let cool 10 minutes before serving.
Then, viola! Homemade Healthy Applesauce Muffins are yours to enjoy!
Recipe Notes + Expert Tips
Trust me, there are very few things you can do to mess up this recipe! It’s literally the easiest thing to make. Here’s a few tips to ensure you get the golden delicious muffin you want, every time!
- Due to the batter being dark, it will be difficult to tell doneness by looking for browning. Check your muffins by poking a toothpick into the center of a muffin situated near the center of the muffin pan. If it comes out clean, they’re done!
- If you want to make this a full breakfast meal, I highly recommend pairing this with a cup of Pumpkin Spice Yogurt!
- For serving, accompanying with coffee for the adults (or chai tea) is a delicious choice!
FAQs for These Healthy Muffins with Applesauce
This proverb that’s gotten passed down from your parents (and probably their parents) absolutely has it’s place! There are many things to be mindful of when enjoying a balanced diet but for now, let’s talk apple nutrition!
Apples are nutrient dense foods, meaning they have high nutrient content (vitamins like vitamin C, minerals like potassium, fiber, etc.) for a relatively low amount of calories. Apples are also a very accessible fruit as they’re widely available across the country and have thousands of varieties with different taste and texture attributes.
So, including apples as part of a healthy diet, and even baked into your favorite goodies, can definitely bring one a step closer to staving off chronic diseases! As with most fruits and veggies, whole foods are preferred so when possible, try to reach for whole apples as opposed to apple juice, dried apple snacks, or apple flavored gummies/candies (although they have their place, too!)
Sure! If you’d rather have a bread to slice up, follow the procedure as directed and pour into a parchment lined or lightly greased loaf pan. Note the cooking time will be longer, 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees F, but you can use the same method to check for doneness (a toothpick to the center).
Also note that this recipe does make 12 single serve muffins, so note that the portion sizes may be more difficult to monitor when slicing a bread!
For a quick frosting, if desired, look no further than the yogurt-based frosting used for my Sweet Potato Muffins, by whisking together 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt with 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar!
Other Healthy Apple Recipes You May Enjoy
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Healthy Applesauce Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup rolled oats quick cook
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup date syrup
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk of choice
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 2 small Jonathan apples finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in a medium bowl.
- To a larger bowl, combine the date syrup, applesauce, vanilla, milk, oil, and egg. Whisk together.
- Slowly fold the dry into the wet ingredients. Stir in the chopped apples.
- Fill a 12-cup muffin pan with liners. Portion batter evenly into muffin liners. Top each muffin with an apple cut out if desired for garnish. I use my daughters mini veggie cutters for this!
- Bake muffins for 28 minutes.
- Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 7 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Apples: Apples vary in sweetness! Choose a variety like Gala or Fuji with a little more sweet than tartness to keep the flavor of this recipe.
- Oats: Use the quick cooking, rolled oats. This creates a more uniform texture that kids will be sure to enjoy, too!
- Date Syrup: While I highly recommend giving it a try, if you don’t have date syrup you can sub in brown sugar or maple syrup. Note, this will not be added sugar free.
- Gluten Free: You can sub in a gluten-free flour like almond or coconut for the whole wheat flour if you want to make this gluten-free. Be sure your oats are certified gluten free as well!
- Vegan: Use your favorite plant based milk and a flax egg to keep these muffins vegan friendly.
- Spices: We love the cinnamon and ginger flavor combo but if you keep apple pie spice on hand, it usually contains some combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, and/or cloves. Feel free to sub what you have, just make sure it totals 1 1/2 tsp (and keep the nutmeg and/or cloves to 1/4 tsp max as they can be very strong!)
- Due to the batter being dark, it will be difficult to tell doneness by looking for browning. Check your muffins by poking a toothpick into the center of a muffin situated near the center of the muffin pan. If it comes out clean, they’re done!
- If you want to make this a full breakfast meal, I highly recommend pairing this with a cup of Pumpkin Spice Yogurt!
- For serving, accompanying with coffee for the adults (or chai tea) is a delicious choice!
Nutrition Per Serving
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