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These Apple Oatmeal Muffins are naturally vegan and absolutely full of apple flavor from sautéed apples, apple cider, and applesauce! These healthier muffins are sure to be a breakfast favorite.
Fluffy, soft, flavorful: these Apple Oatmeal Muffins are truly so fantastic. Their perfection is in their simplicity. I mean it when I say these muffins are super addicting, flavorful, and delicious.
I first made these as an excuse to bake for a school project for my social entrepreneurship class. My group and I had to participate in a business plan competition as part of the class. So, of course, when I heard that people got to vote for the people’s choice award, I knew I had to bake something to help sway people’s votes my way.
My business plan revolved around providing wider access to affordable, healthy produce, so I aimed to create a baked good that centered around being easy, hearty, and delicious, to reflect the business I presented. For the night of the competition, I ended up making this recipe 5 times because I kept thinking I didn’t have enough mini muffins.
Over the course of those 5 times, I made little tweaks and edits to the recipe to get to the fluffy, flavorful, and easy-to-make muffins that you see in front of you. The version that has landed below is my favorite version. Sautéing the apples isn’t totally necessary, but it sure is delicious! The sauteed apples add an extra dimension of flavor to the apple oatmeal muffins.
As for how they went over…people were raving over these vegan apple oatmeal muffins. One guy stopped by our table and ate six right in a row. He continued to pop another in his mouth every time he walked by. Something about them was just addicting. After the event (p.s. I lost the people’s choice award, but my business plan won 1st!), we had a bunch left over (remember those 5 batches…?) and my housemates and I devoured them in no time.
These apple oatmeal muffins are so flavorful from the applesauce, cider, and chopped apples. They are full of great texture from the oats and so soft and sweet from all those things combined.
You will totally have NO idea that these are dairy-free and vegan. These are a perfect on-the-go snack, they’re lunchbox ready, or pop them in the freezer and microwave one for breakfast! Enjoy!
Want more vegan apple recipes?
- Paleo Vegan Apple Crumble Pie
- Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Crisp
- Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Cinnamon Scones
- 10+ Apple Dessert Recipes
Apple Oatmeal Muffins (Vegan)
Ingredients
For the apples
- 1 medium apple, peeled and chopped into 1/4” cubes
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the batter
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, replace both flours with oat flour to keep gluten-free
- ¼ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup rolled oats
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar or coconut sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅓ cup refined coconut oil, melted
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ⅓ cup apple cider or non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
- In a small saucepan, saute the apples, brown sugar and cinnamon for about 5 minutes over medium heat. The apples should begin to soften and caramelize slightly. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Stir together flours, oats, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Add in the applesauce, vegetable oil, and cider or milk. Stir until just moistened. Fold in chopped apple. Fill muffin cups ¾ full.
- Bake for about 18 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Can we list the nutrition facts about these muffins? Thank you!
Hi Susan, you can put the recipe link here to calculate the nutritional info: myfitnesspal.com/recipe_parser. Hope you love the muffins!
I was wondering if you there is an acceptable substitute for the whole wheat flour that is gluten free. I would use cup 4 cup in place of the white flour. I’m never sure of a substitute for whole wheat though.
I love your recipes and they are always a hit with my family too!
So glad you’re enjoying my recipes, Carol! I would just use cup 4 cup for both of the flours, white and whole wheat :) enjoy!
Oooooooh. These are yummy! Satisfying, subtle, and sweet. Couldn’t wait for them to cool. I totally didn’t measure some of the dry ingredients exactly. Used a mix of mostly dark brown sugar and white sugar. Added half a top of apple cider vinegar and an egg. Did not have baking powder or applesauce. Boyfriend approved
So glad to hear they were a hit even with the changes! Enjoy :)
He has asked for them again! Haha. Gonna try banana instead of egg
Have made these three times now. Seriously the best muffins I’ve ever made. I make my own brown sugar with extra molasses, and use a little more apple sauce, plus I sub olive oil for vegetable oil which actually doesn’t affect the taste in these. SUPERB. moist. Delicious. A hit with everybody that’s tried them. Thanks!
That makes me SO happy to hear, Kaci! Thanks so much for your feedback.
These muffins are fabulous! My kids LOVE them, and my son is picky when it comes to muffins. I used twice the apple sauce amount and left out apple cider/milk. I did also add maybe 1/2 tsp of a fall spice blend. Will be making again & again. Thanks!
So thrilled you and your family are loving them, Jaclyn. Thanks so much for sharing your feedback! :)
These sound fantastic! Is there something I can use as a substitute for the oil?
Hi Janine, you could try replacing with more applesauce.
Ok wow, these are delicious !!! I used maple syrup in place of sugar and added a tablespoon of vanilla to the batter and they are incredible !! Thank you so much for this recipe !!! Mmmmm
So glad you’re loving the muffins, Mariam!
These were REALLY good. Loved the recipe. The only thing I would consider changing is the sugar amount, I think the were a little too sweet for me. Next time I’ll probably reduce the sugar a bit. But above all, really moist and flavorful. Thanks so much for the amazing recipe
Thanks for the feedback Nidia!! I actually prefer these with less sugar too – I just made some small adjustments to the recipe to reflect that. So glad you enjoyed them!
Thanks, they were really good! I substituted the sugar for maple syrup, I grated the apple, and I added vegan chocolate chips and hempseed!
Thrilled you enjoyed them, Dominique! Thanks for the feedback :)
These are amazing! I made them last night for my boyfriend to take for breakfast in the mornings and ate four while they were still hot. I took some to work today to share the deliciousness and everyone loved them so I’m making more tonight! Also, I did not have any whole wheat flour so I just used all all-purpose flour. I also added one teaspoon of vanilla when I added the liquid. I’m going to try making some with vegetable oil tonight instead of coconut oil as one of my coworkers is allergic, hopefully they’ll be just as good!
Thank you for an awesome recipe!!! This is definitely going to be a staple in my kitchen.
I used vegetable oil for years in these, so that should totally work! So glad they were a hit. Thanks for the feedback, Marissa :)