Applesauce Vegan Muffins
Dark, moist, and scattered with raisins and fresh apple bits, these Applesauce Vegan Muffins are perfect for breakfast or a snack. So scrumptious and easy to make, no one will ever guess they are actually healthy. Make ahead of time and freeze for quick breakfasts on the go!
These pleasantly plump healthy vegan muffins are loaded with fresh apples, cinnamon, and raisins and have absolutely zero dairy or oil. This recipe is so good, that it was even published on the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies website.
I have lots of other vegan muffin recipes like Sweet Potato Vegan Muffins and Chocolate Zucchini Dairy-Free Muffins so be sure to check those out as well. They are all completely oil-free and made with wholesome ingredients. There’s even a gluten-free option listed with my Banana Oat Plant-Based Muffins.
Reasons you will love these muffins
- Healthy and Wholesome: Made with plant-based ingredients, these muffins are a nutritious option that’s free from dairy and eggs, perfect for anyone following a vegan or clean-eating lifestyle.
- Easy to Make: This simple recipe comes together quickly, making these muffins an ideal choice for a hassle-free breakfast, snack, or dessert that’s both satisfying and delicious.
- Moist and Tender Texture: The applesauce keeps these muffins incredibly moist and tender, creating a soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture that’s hard to resist.
Ingredients you will need
- Flour & rising agents- Whole wheat flour provides a nutritious, fiber-rich base for healthy vegan muffins, while baking powder and baking soda work together to create a light, fluffy texture. A pinch of salt enhances the flavors, ensuring your muffins are both delicious and wholesome.
- Applesauce- Adding natural sweetness and moisture while reducing the need for added fats or oils. Applesauce helps to keep the muffins tender and moist. If you can’t find it in your local grocery store, try making your own applesauce with our recipe.
- Plant Milk- To keep this recipe dairy-free, we use almond milk, and other options include soy milk, oat milk, and others. We have a great guide on how to make your own cashew milk that is super simple.
- Vinegar- Adding vinegar to vegan muffins helps activate the baking soda, creating a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide bubbles. This reaction helps the muffins rise and results in a light, fluffy texture.
- Sweetener- My preference is brown sugar, but other options could include date sugar, maple sugar, or pure cane sugar.
Tips & suggestions
- Gluten-Free- These muffins are not gluten-free, but this link to the Minimalist Baker will help adjust it for those who want to give it a try.
- Sweetener- This applesauce recipe calls for brown sugar, and many people are avoiding refined sugars. For those who use only natural sweeteners, homemade date paste or date sugar can be used in this recipe.
How to make applesauce muffins
The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.
STEP #1: Begin by preheating the oven to 350°F. Then wash your apples and core and dice them. They can be peeled if desired, but I like to leave the peels on because they add lots of fiber and get pretty soft during the baking process.
I like leaving on the peelings because of the added insoluble fiber and other nutrients that help to make these muffins a great healthy option. Once your apples are cored and diced, set them to the side.
STEP #2: In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and sugar (if using).
STEP #3: In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients including homemade unsweetened applesauce, almond milk, vanilla, vinegar, and date paste (if using as a sweetener substitute). If you are feeling creative, try making your own almond milk in about 10 minutes.
A number of people have messaged me over the years saying they aren’t able to find unsweetened applesauce in their area. The good news is that homemade applesauce is really easy to make in your own kitchen if you want to give it a try, and the only ingredients are apples, water, and lemon juice.
STEP #4: Pour the well-blended wet mixture into a large bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to make a nice thick muffin batter.
Add the diced apples, raisins, and crushed walnuts and mix well.
STEP #5: Spoon or scoop the batter into a silicone muffin baking non-stick pan or paper muffin cups. I recommend the silicon pan because these muffins tend to stick to paper cups after baking.
When I am making muffins, pancakes, or waffles, I like to use a trigger ice cream scoop to portion out the batter. It makes much less of a mess and each scoopful tends to be the exact amount of batter needed.
STEP #6: Place the muffin pans in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. If you’re using a silicone nonstick pan, you’ll want to place it on a baking sheet for support.
Test for doneness by pushing a toothpick into the center of one of the muffins. When it comes out clean, the muffins are ready.
Remove from oven, allow to cool, and serve.
*Originally published April 2016.
Frequently Asked Questions
You really can use any type of apple preferred for this muffin recipe, but I like to recommend that a sweet variety is used. There are many great options like fuji, gala, Golden Delicious, and others. However, if you like more tart muffins, Granny Smith is a good one to use.
Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Yes. I highly suggest making a double batch and keeping some on hand for surprise guests or for a quick breakfast on your way out the door.
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Applesauce Vegan Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 cup brown sugar or other granular sugar
- 1.5 cups apple sauce (or 15 oz)
- 1/2 cup plant milk almond, cashew, etc
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup apples diced
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup crushed walnuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Then wash your apples and core and dice them. They can be peeled if desired, but I like to leave the peels on because they add lots of fiber and get pretty soft during the baking process. Once your apples are cored and diced, set them to the side.
- In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and sugar.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients including applesauce, almond milk, vanilla, vinegar, and date paste (if using). Making your own is really easy if you want to give it a try using the recipe above.
- Pour the well-blended wet mixture into a large bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to make a nice thick muffin batter.
- Add the diced apples, raisins, and crushed walnuts and mix well.
- Spoon or scoop the batter into a nonstick muffin pan. I don't recommend paper muffin cups because they stick to the paper.
- When I am making muffins, pancakes, or waffles, I like to use a trigger icecream scoop to portion out the batter. It makes much less of a mess and each scoopful tends to be the exact amount of batter needed.
- Place the muffin pans in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. If you’re using a silicone nonstick pan, you’ll want to place it on a baking sheet for support.
- Test for doneness by pushing a toothpick into the center of one of the muffins. When it comes out clean, the muffins are ready.
- Remove from oven, allow to cool, and serve.
Video
Notes
- Storage- muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
- Freezing- Since these muffins freeze well, I highly suggest making a double batch and keeping some on hand for surprise guests or for a quick breakfast on your way out the door.
- Gluten-Free- These muffins are not gluten-free, but this link to the Minimalist Baker will help adjust it for those who want to give it a try.
- Sweetener- This applesauce recipe calls for brown sugar, and many people are avoiding refined sugars. For those who use only natural sweeteners, date sugar or maple sugar can be used in this recipe.
Nutrition
Disclaimer
To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
About Terri Edwards
Hi guys! I’m the content creator behind EatPlant-Based and a licensed Food for Life instructor with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. I’m passionate about sharing healthy recipes and tips to help others care well for their health and the bodies God has given us. I’m so glad you’re here! Read More…
Hi, can you make a cake instead? If so, what size pan would I use and at what temperature?
These are delicious and satisfying! Great recipe…thank you!
Gloria, if you are the one that posted the picture on Instagram this morning, your photo is fabulous! I’ve shared the link to it all over Facebook and Twitter. So glad that you like these! If you’re like me, they’ll be a snack later today too!
Thank you for the recipe! I made these yesterday and they are delicious! So fluffy! And easy to make. 🙂
For who would be curios of a method to make homemade apple sauce: (this makes 2 cups and a bit, depending on the size of the apples) I chop 4 apples in the food processor with a bit of water (5-8 tablespoons) and the juice of one lemon, then I put it in the microwave for 7-8min occasionally stopping and steering until all the apple is cooked. Or you can make it on the stove until the apples are cooked. I use this whenever there is a call for apple sauce in a recipe and it works great.
My son is allergic to wheat, would there be a substitute for the flour? (Almond, brown rice or sougrham?)
Yes, here is a link that might help. http://www.natureseats.com/blog/recipe-blog/item/almond-flour-flour-conversion
How do you make Apple sauce? I have your recepie book and it uses Apple sauce alot. I live in Ireland and have never come across it. Also we don’t have Sukanat sugar either. Any suggestions? Many thanks Orla
Orla, I had no idea that Ireland doesn’t have apple sauce. Interesting to find out. Here’s and easy recipe for it.
Apple Sauce-http://allrecipes.com/recipe/51301/sarahs-applesauce/
Sucanat is just a less refined sugar. Any sugar/sweetener would work just fine.
Hope this helps!
Can you post a date paste recipe?
Absolutely! I’ve added to the bottom of recipe as well.
Date Paste Recipe-
1. Soak 1/2 cup of dates in 1/2 cup of water overnight or approximately 8 hours.
2. Remove dates from water and set the water aside.
3. Puree dates in food processor or blender.
4. Add a few tablespoons of soaking water to the date puree and continue to blend. Blend until the date paste is creamy.
5. Add more soaking water if needed.
Hi Terri,
I was hoping to find a Pinterest button to save recipe for later. Did I miss it? Thanks
Hi Diane! If you are on a desktop, there is a Pinterest button that floats in the top left corner of the page, in the green leafy background. There’s Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and + button for other social media outlets.
UPDATE: After I saw your message, I checked my phone and realized that there were no social media buttons showing. That must have happened when I changed my blog theme over a few weeks ago. Thank you for letting me know! I have now installed a plug in to fix it. If you are on a phone or other handheld device, the share buttons are now across the top of the post, right above the picture, as well as below. Hope this helps, and thank you for following!
This recipe sounds great! When I feel better and can make them I will☺️What is the serving size for breakfast? I’m hoping 2 Thank you VERY much, for your work!
I personally would eat 2 muffins with fruit for breakfast. I hope you feel better soon!
Thank you for this recipe, Terri! Simple and perfect for this Fall season. Just baked them and they are delicious!!!
You’re welcome, Barbara! So glad you are enjoying them this morning!
I can’t whait to make these for my grandson.
Awesome! You made me smile! 😀
Do you know the cup measurement for the applesauce? I don’t have a scale to weigh it. Thanks!
Yes, 15 oz is around 1-1/2 cups. Hope you enjoy!
These are delicious!! Thank you!
So glad you like them! They save well, so we eat them for days.
I expect we add the raisins at the same time as we add the apple. Oopsie alert! 🙂
That’s exactly right, and I will make note of it in the recipe. Thanks for the heads-up!
I like this blog. I’m so sick to death of blogs that have a lot of dialog about their lives and how their day is going and you have to scroll through dozens of unnecessary photos, (and ads if they are trying to make money). Kudos to the author for excellent organization of this blog! First thing you get is the actual recipe and it’s easy to quickly print! There is product endorsement, at the end and plenty of photos but not ad nauseam. The recipes all sound great too! Thank you!
Wow! Thank you so much for the positive feedback! I am glad you like the layout of my blog. I agree that too many ads and needing to scroll way down the page to find the actual recipe to print can be a turn-off. Trying to make it as user-friendly as possible and love hearing that it’s heading in the right direction. Thanks again!
I agree with you 100%. I cannot stand all those blogs where before the recipe they talk about all their life history, there’s really no need for this.
OMGoodness! These look fabulous!
And BONUS: I already have all these ingredients! Can’t wait to make these! Thanks!
Thank you Terri! The muffins look very appetizing!
You’re welcome, Nadege! Enjoy!