These easy apple muffins are studded with juicy chunks of apple and toasty nuts. I love enjoying them with tea or coffee on a cool fall morning.
My mom made these apple muffins for us last week while she was visiting. And I made them again for breakfast this morning. These muffins aren’t too sweet, and they’re not too indulgent. Rather, they’re the perfect pick-me-up to start a slow morning or a great healthy snack on a cool fall afternoon.
They’re on the healthy side, made with spelt flour or whole wheat flour, coconut oil, and almond milk. My favorite part of them is the juicy chunks of apple on the inside that make them wonderfully moist.
Change Up These Apple Muffins!
I love this apple muffin recipe as-is, but you could definitely play with the mix-ins or spices to vary your morning muffins. Here are some suggested variations:
- Use dried cherries, cranberries, or raisins in place of the nuts, or try a combination of the two.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, cardamom, or ginger.
- Make them apple crumble muffins by brushing the tops with butter and sprinkling them with brown sugar!
If you love this apple muffin recipe…
Try this cinnamon apple crumble, an apple pie, or apple crisp next!
Apple Muffins
- 1 cup spelt flour (or whole wheat, or if gluten free use oat flour*)
- ¾ cup gluten-free blend (or all-purpose flour)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 egg
- ⅓ cup sugar, white or brown
- ¼ cup coconut or canola oil
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, chopped apple and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, egg, sugar, and oil. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir just until combined. Divide batter into the muffin tins and bake for 18 minutes or until tops spring back when touched. Don’t overbake.
- Cool for ten minutes before removing from the tins. Lightly sprinkle coarse sugar on tops of muffins. The second time I made these (not pictured), I brushed on a little melted butter and sprinkled some brown sugar on top.
*make sure your oat flour is gluten free, some brands are not because they process their oats alongside other grains. (ie. the Bob’s Red Mill brand is gluten free).
Looks delicious! I love apple muffins but have never made them myself. Might have to add this my brunch menu this weekend!
they look really yummy. i would be interested to try your recommendation of half oat flour and half almond flour. i usually bake with all almond flour which yields good results, but they’re always very moist. thanks for the suggestion!
Loved all your posts, this is one of the most beautiful webpage i have seen with so much variety. Kudos! 🙂
thanks Renu!
simple, homemade food is the best medicine:) take care.
Muffins always make me feel better. I hope you feel better too!
These look amazing! Sorry to hear you’re not feeling well…hope you get better soon!
I baked these this morning for my family. The recipe was easy to throw together (it helped that I have all ingredients on hand). For a gluten free recipe (I used oat flour and a mix of gf flours), the muffins were really moist and, as advertised, not too sweet. Thank you!
Hi Victoria,
So glad you liked them!
These look absolutely wonderful! 🙂
This sounds wonderful! I am making these this weekend.
They look like just the thing to brighten up any morning. Lovely. x
These sound great! I will be making tomorrow along with your vegan banana bread recipe. It’s beginning to warm up here in AZ so I am trying to get all of my baking urges out before it gets too hot! I did have a question about the muffin recipe. In the ingredients you list 1/3 cup of sugar, but then you mention agave nectar in the instructions. If I use agave nectar do I still use 1/3 cup? Thank you.
Hi Rebecca, that was a mistake, I just fixed it. You can use either or (not both). I tend to like baking with organic sugar rather than agave, but I’ve done both.
Hope you had a great time at SXSW! And I hope you feel better very soon.
These muffins look wonderful. I’ve been craving muffins lately, so I think these better go on the list for this week. Thanks!
Looks wonderful! Hope you feel better soon.
I love muffins! And I really want to start making them as breakfast throughout the week. These look so delicious!
I hope you had fun on sxsw and do not regret feeling a bit tired. Your pictures are beautiful and if this muffins taste like it look, it must be delicious. Plus I don’t like it too sweet.
Looks like the perfect reaction to a “too much” weekend! : )
These look like just the right kinda cure, plus long naps, and snuggling up under some blankets on the couch. Feel better you party animals!
These sound wonderful! Do you have a favorite gluten free flour blend? I have been experimenting with different combinations a lot lately, and am always curious what others prefer.
I’ve been using the Bob’s Red Mill blend (which by the way tastes terrible raw, but fine once it’s baked). I have friends that swear by Pamela’s and Cup4Cup, although both of those contain milk powder and I have to watch my intake of dairy. I’ve been meaning to try Ashley of Oh Ladycakes’ gluten free/vegan blend (I just haven’t gotten around to it yet): http://www.ohladycakes.com/2012/01/how-to-make-gluten-free-flour.html
I should also add that I’ve had good outcomes with muffins & breads using half oat and half almond flour.
I like Better Batter. I have used it with Jeanine’s recipes and others and it is great. It is a bit hard to find in stores but is online.
Now I am hungry, they look superb
Looks delicious! I hope you feel better.