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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.
These are one of the best vegan recipes I’ve tried! I was making them for my partner who is on a diet for cholesterol and prefers to eat vegan but isn’t strictly so. I replaced the coconut oil with Benecol plant-based butter substitute to reduce the saturated fat and used the cider option. They were perfectly moist and fluffy, and not bland like the vegan banana bread I last tried (not from this site). Partner was quite happy. Guess I’ll have to look at Bakerita’s banana bread recipe too!
Hi Chris! I’m so thrilled to hear that you and your partner loved these, I hope you find so many more recipes that you love on my site :)
I doubled this recipe and used 2 cups oat flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat. I try to use oat flour as much as possible. I also use 1/3c brown swerve and 1/3c maple syrup for sweetener. I’m always looking for recipes I can use healthier alternatives in and this one was fantastic! I also had no apple cider but I had a bottle of Martinelli’s sparkling blush left from Christmas which is 100% apple juice with cherry concentrate. It turned out perfect!
Side note, I forgot to put the oil in it as well and it still was wonderful. I didn’t even realize it called for oil till the muffins were done baking and I started reading comments
Thanks so much for the feedback, Asia! So glad you loved the recipe.
This sounds great!
Can I use regular canola oil instead of coconut?
Hi Ally, that should be fine for this recipe!
can i use olive oil instead of coconut oul
Yes that should work!
Just diagnosed with alpha-gal syndrome. I’m the long standing baker in my family , and a big fan of butter. Those days are now over. And this recipe is a no regrets hands down winner. Doesn’t matter that it contains no butter and meets my now stringent dietary needs. It’s delicious and enthusiastically received by myself and my family. I was concerned the coconut oil would overwhelm the flavor, but this is not the case. Moist, tasty apple/cinnamon flavor. I freeze them, and use the microwave set on 50% power for 1 minute to bring them back to freshly made life. Perfecto and recommended!
So thrilled that you’re enjoying the recipe, Scott! Thanks so much for sharing your helpful feedback :)
These are delicious! I didn’t have apple cider so used oat milk and it tasted great but hope to try the apple cider next time. I like how hearty these are and how they’re a healthier muffin recipe. Thank you for the recipe!
So glad you enjoyed them, Natalie! Thanks for the feedback.
These are one of my current favorites! I just shared it with my customer text list, and food is not my niche.
I grind oats to use as the flour because I need more protein. Thank you for a yummy vegan recipe that is easily made gluten free!
So glad you love it and glad that the oat flour worked well! Thanks for the feedback, Jenny.
All time favorite! Question: can this recipe be used to make a loaf?
Hi Kay, I haven’t tried it but it would likely be fine! You’d just need to bake for longer and take care to make sure it’s baked all the way through.
I made these muffins 5 years ago… Better late than never, uh?? I LOVED THEM AND MY FAMILY LOVED THEM TOO! My family visited from Peru and we met in Houston. Everyone was delighted! Thank you much for this delicious recipe… Moist, sweet enough not oversweet, wholesome oats! We did use a little less sugar, since we try to avoid processed sweeteners. Overall you are amazing!
So thrilled they were a hit!! Thanks so much for the kind review. Hopefully you make them again soon, haha!
These are so delicious! Brought these to work and coworkers loved them as well. Will definitely keep making these and thank you for the recipe!
I’m so happy to hear this! Thanks so much for your feedback, Natalie.