Applesauce Muffins

These tender and moist Applesauce Muffins are the perfect start to fall mornings. They are full of warm, cozy flavors and made even more delicious with a crunchy cinnamon oat topping. Enjoy one for breakfast, brunch, or afternoon snacking! Not only are these muffins absolutely scrumptious, they are great for making in advance and enjoying through the week. They even freeze well!

Fall is in full swing, so naturally, I have one thing on my mind: comfort food. And nothing spells comfort food like these healthy applesauce muffins. Consider them a hug from fall. That’s right, when autumn rolls around, these babies are in high demand. My whole family adores them. They didn’t even last two full days!

In reality, they are perfect as a year-round breakfast treat, but with the comforting cinnamon apple flavor, I immediately associate them with cool autumn mornings. Let’s bake!

Ingredients For Applesauce Muffins

These applesauce muffins are made with simple, fresh ingredients that I bet you already have in your pantry.

• Applesauce. The star of the show! These muffins contains a full cup of unsweetened applesauce. It not only gives the muffins the most wonderful apple flavor, but it also makes these muffins super moist.
• Cinnamon. Let there be no apple recipe without cinnamon! Apples and cinnamon are life partners, and I have no intention of separating the two, so apple cinnamon muffins we shall bake.
• Honey. We’re only using 4 tablespoons to give these muffins the perfect sweetness and the slight honey flavor is an added bonus.
• Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. Higher in fiber and protein than white flour, and it tastes so mild, you’ll never suspect the swap. These will also work great with all-purpose and white whole wheat flour.
• Olive oil. You only need 2 tablespoons of oil to give these muffins the perfect light and airy texture that you want in a muffin.
• Baking essentials. Last, we have the normal baking essentials that are just necessary for the perfect muffin – eggs, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and salt.
• Crisp topping. Don’t even get me started on the topping. Guys. It’s buttery, crunchy, sweet, and downright delicious. It is the perfect addition to the moist and apple cinnamon-y muffins. It is optional, but HIGHLY recommended. The nutritional info includes the topping, so yay!

How To Make Applesauce Muffins

This recipe is very straight forward, you only need one bowl and you likely have all the ingredients already in your kitchen. When making muffins, it’s important that all the ingredients are at room temperature before getting started because it ensures that everything mixes together evenly without having to over-mix the batter. Over-mixing causes the muffins to get tough, which we don’t want.

• First things first, preheat your oven to 350ºF. Then, prepare a muffin pan by spraying the cavities with cooking spray or lining them with parchment paper liners.
• Now, in a large mixing bowl, stir dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon).
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients to the center (eggs, honey, applesauce, olive oil and vanilla).
• Mix wet ingredients together and then combine all ingredients. Stir only until just combined.

• Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, filling them 3/4 full.
• If using the cinnamon sugar topping, mix all topping ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Top each muffin evenly with the topping.
• Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days and in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Tips For Making Muffins

• Don’t overmix your batter. Mix just until everything is combined.
• You can use an ice cream scoop or a spring loaded scoop to fill the muffin tins. This helps you to get even amounts of batter in each tin.
• Don’t overbake your muffins. Dry muffins are not good muffins. Bake them just until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, or once you can touch the top of the muffin and the muffin springs back.
• Let the muffins sit in the tin for about 10 minutes before removing to serve.
• You can either bake muffins in a greased muffin tin or with paper liners.

I hope you guys enjoy these muffins as much as my family does! They’re tender, perfectly sweet, slightly crisp from the topping (in the best way!), and so VERY wonderful! Keep these muffins on hand for a quick, on-the-go breakfast or snack. They would also make a lovely holiday gift or treat for fall parties.

Enjoy These Other Delicious Fall Breakfast Ideas:

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

Pumpkin Protein Pancakes from How Sweet Eats

Healthy Pumpkin Coffee Cake from Jessica Gavin

If you try these muffins, let me know! Leave a comment and if your family loves them as much as mine does, be sure to give it a five star ⭐️ rating! Also, tag @kimscravings on Instagram with a picture of your creation. It’s so fun to see what you’re cooking! Be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive more healthy delicious recipes straight to your inbox.

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Applesauce Muffins

Yield: 12 Muffins

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

These tender and moist Applesauce Muffins are the perfect start to fall mornings. They are full of warm, cozy flavors and made even more delicious with a crunchy cinnamon oat topping. Enjoy one for breakfast, brunch, or afternoon snacking!

Author: Kim

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons (84 g) honey or maple syrup
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used two 4 ounce containers which came to 223 g)
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) light olive oil (or other oil)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

• 3 tablespoons (24 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons (10 g) quick oats
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons (24 g) brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) light olive oil (or other oil or melted butter)

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare a muffin pan by spraying the cavities with cooking spray or lining them with parchment paper liners. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon).
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients to the center (eggs, honey, applesauce, olive oil and vanilla). Mix wet ingredients together and then combine all ingredients. Stir only until just combined.
• Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, filling them 3/4 full.
• If using the cinnamon sugar topping, mix all topping ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Top each muffin evenly with the topping.
• Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days and in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Notes

Photos by Sasha at Eat Love Eats.

• Don’t overmix your batter. Mix just until everything is combined.
• You can use an ice cream scoop or a spring loaded scoop to fill the muffin tins. This helps you to get even amounts of batter in each tin.
• Don’t overbake your muffins. Dry muffins are not good muffins. Bake them just until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, or once you can touch the top of the muffin and the muffin springs back.
• Let the muffins sit in the tin for about 10 minutes before removing to serve.
• You can either bake muffins in a greased muffin tin or with paper liners.

Author: Kim

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Serving: 1muffin, Calories: 152kcal, Carbohydrates: 23.9g, Protein: 2.8g, Fat: 5.6g, Saturated Fat: 0.9g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.9g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3.4g, Trans Fat: 5.6g, Cholesterol: 30.8mg, Sodium: 100.4mg, Fiber: 1.2g, Sugar: 10.6g, Vitamin A: 1.3IU, Calcium: 2.9mg, Iron: 3.4mg

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