I’m not sure about your kids, but sheesh during the holidays the quantity of food my kids seem to eat rises exponentially! I find baking like these healthy apple muffins fill their tummies up giving me a little reprieve from the constant holiday snacking!
Why This Recipe Works
- Loaded with rolled oats, filling, providing sustained energy.
- Absolutely delicious comforting apple flavours
- Everybody loves these muffins
- Perfect for breakfasts, snacks, and lunchboxes.
Ingredients
- Grated apple and unsweetened apple sauce
- Rolled oats
- Flour, and baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Brown sugar
- Milk or diary free milk alternative
- Vanilla essence
- Oil
Substitutes
- Grated apple: I like to use firm sweet apples such as Jazz, Tango or Pink Lady, but all apples including granny smith will be fine.
- Apple sauce: This can be substituted for an egg, or flax eggs, the muffins will work but the apple flavour will not be as intense.
- Milk: Any milk or dairy free milk alternative can be used, (soy milk, almond milk, rice milk)
- Mild olive oil: This can be substituted for melted butter or any mild flavoured oil.
- Brown sugar: This can be substituted with any granulated sugar.
- Flour: This recipe does work with a gluten-free baking mix
I am an ambassador for Countdown supermarket, they support my blog by providing ingredients for recipe creation and testing. I used rolled oats, mellow olive oil, cinnamon, and no-added-sugar apple sauce from their range in this recipe.
Some of you my regular readers may have noticed the ingredients and process for this recipe have changed a little. I’ve updated this recipe so that it makes a more classic and absolutely delicious apple muffin. This means this recipe now contains a little refined sugar.
My original egg, dairy, and refined sugar-free healthy apple cinnamon muffin recipe is still on my website, it is now called apple toddler muffins. Or check out my apple sauce muffins, spinach muffins or baby-led weaning muffins for younger children.
Step by step instructions
Below are illustrated step-by-step instructions to make my apple muffins, if you prefer just the written instructions then head straight to the printable recipe card or check out the video below.
Step one: Prep rolled oats and apples in advance: Grate the apple. Soak the rolled oats and grated apple and vanilla in the milk. This is best done for at least 20 minutes, you can totally do it overnight if you want as well. Soaking the rolled oats makes the muffins soft and fluffy.
Step two: preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius approx 350 F. Prepare a 12 cup muffin tin, grease it or line with paper cups. I actually use a silicone muffin tray so I don’t need to grease or line the muffin tray.
Step three: Place the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, cinnamon and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl, use either a whisk or fork to combine them.
Step four: Combine the wet ingredients: Add the apple sauce and oil to the soaked oats and mix well.
Step five: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently combine until just mixed.
Step six: Portion batter into the muffin tin.
Step seven: Bake for 25-30 minutes. The muffins will be golden when cooked and will bounce back when gently pressed in the centre. Allow to cool in the tray for 5 minutes before removing.
Top Tips
Here is how you can make this healthy apple muffin recipe perfectly every time!
- Be sure to soak the rolled oats If you skip this step the oatmeal muffins will have a very dense and chewy texture.
FAQs
Yes in many baking recipes, such as cakes and muffins ¼ cup of apple sauce can replace one egg.
Absolutely, these muffins once cooled can be popped into an airtight container and frozen for up to 3 months.
This recipe does contain refined sugar and as these muffins are made from oats that can be a bit dense and chewy than other muffins. If your child is under one year of age I would look for another baby muffin recipe.
I have loads of other muffin recipes to check out on my web, my pear muffins, blueberry muffins and feijoa muffins are great classic muffin recipes. My kids love my savoury muffins and my avocado banana muffins are always popular. You can find my healthy muffin recipes for kids in this roundup.
Healthy Apple Muffins
Equipment
- muffin tray
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats 160g
- 1 ½ cups milk 375ml
- 1 large apple 200g
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 cup flour 130g
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 80 g brown sugar This is one third of a cup, the internet seems to not like the symbol. 80g, any granulated sugar can be used.
- ½ cup mild olive oil Can be subbed for ½ a cup of melted butter this is approximately 120g a 113g stick of butter will be close enough.
- ¼ cup apple sauce If you don't wish to use apple sauce you can sub one egg.
Instructions
- preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius approx 350 F
- Prepare a 12 cup muffin tin, grease it or line with paper cups
- Grate the apple. Soak the rolled oats and grated apple and vanilla in the milk. This is best done for at least 20 minutes, you can totally do it overnight if you want as well. Soaking the rolled oats makes the muffins soft and fluffy.
- Place the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, cinnamon and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl, use either a whisk or fork to combine them
- Add the apple sauce and oil to the soaked oats and mix well.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently combine until just mixed.
- Portion batter into the muffin tray.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. The muffins will be golden when cooked and will bounce back when gently pressed in the centre. Allow to cool in the tray for 5 minutes before removing.
Video
Notes
Substitutions
- Apple sauce: This can be substituted for an egg, the muffins will work but the apple flavour will not be as intense.
- Milk: Any milk or milk alternative can be used, (soy milk, almond milk, rice milk)
- Mild olive oil: This can be substituted for melted butter or any mild flavoured oil.
- Brown sugar: This can be substituted with any granulated sugar. If you would like to make this muffin with no added sugar, you can increase the apple sauce to 1 cup and skip the sugar. The muffins will be a little denser than if the granulated sugar is included.
- Flour: This recipe does work with a gluten-free baking mix
Tips
- Be sure to soak the rolled oats If you skip this step the oatmeal muffins will have a very dense and chewy texture.
Storage
- Store at room temp in an airtight container for up to 3 days
- Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months (they defrost beautifully in a lunchbox)
Any thoughts on freezing these muffins?
You can freeze them
Came out lovely and moist. I used the egg option as apple sauce is not too common where I live. Great recipe and love that it’s not too sweet. I set aside an additional tablespoon of brown sugar (not because the recipe needed it, just because I had about a tablespoon’s worth of sugar left in the pot and wanted to finish it!) and sprinkled it over the muffins just before putting them in the oven. Turned out lovely. Will definitely make it again!
These are DELICIOUS! Well loved by the kids and parents.