You’ll love these simple applesauce muffins because not only are they incredibly quick and easy, they’re deliciously moist, flavorful, and satisfying. Packed with wholesome ingredients like whole wheat flour, oats, and applesauce, these healthful muffins are naturally free from refined sugar and contain no dairy if using non dairy milk. There’s no mixer required and you can play around with the add-ins for varying flavors and textures. Enjoy!
When I’m looking to bake something quick, easy, and wholesome—I always rely on muffins. Banana muffins, bran muffins, or these apple cinnamon oatmeal cups are my top choices because they’re simple, relatively healthy, and adult + child approved. Preparing muffin batter is a no-fuss task and you can enjoy muffins right away, which is definitely a bonus when baking for or with kids. (By the way, here are many kid-friendly baking recipes.)
These applesauce muffins join my top favorites and I know you’ll love them too!
Why You Will Love These Applesauce Muffins:
- Recipe is quick & easy
- Muffins are satisfying, soft, & moist
- No mixer required
- Use convenient, ordinary ingredients
- Healthful & wholesome just like these healthy apple muffins
- No refined sugar
- Dairy free if using a dairy free milk
- Optional add-ins for texture and flavor (raisins, nuts, chopped apples)
By the way, if you’re looking for a more indulgent apple muffin, try these apple cinnamon muffins.
Recipe Testing Whole Wheat Applesauce Muffins
Well well well. What ended up as a fairly easy muffin recipe began as complicated mess of sticky flavorless muffins. I started testing this applesauce muffin recipe using the base of my blueberry oatmeal muffins. Adding applesauce did the batter no favors and the entire muffin tasted bland and gloppy (technical terms). I adore that recipe and now know that it’s best to leave it alone.
So I turned to my whole wheat banana walnut muffins as a starting point. The batter includes oats as an add-in, so it’s less of an oatmeal muffin and more of a standard muffin with some oats in it—if that makes sense. I swapped applesauce for the mashed banana, added more oats, and slightly reduced the baking soda. (1 full teaspoon is simply not needed.) As it turns out, I think I prefer these applesauce muffins because I don’t always have brown & spotty bananas on hand. Convenience is key!
Key Ingredients in These Whole Wheat Applesauce Muffins
- Applesauce: Use unsweetened applesauce. If all you have is sweetened, that’s completely fine, just be sure to slightly reduce the maple syrup in the recipe. See recipe note below.
- Melted Coconut Oil: Without some fat, these muffins taste dry and rubbery. I love using melted coconut oil like we do in these healthier chocolate banana muffins, but vegetable oil or melted butter works too.
- Maple Syrup: The applesauce muffins aren’t overly sweet because using too much sugar takes away from the applesauce flavor. Maple syrup replaces refined sugar and pairs wonderfully with the applesauce.
- Whole Wheat Flour: These are 100% whole wheat muffins made with all whole wheat flour. If needed, you can switch out with all-purpose or white whole wheat flour. Or, use a mix of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour like I do for peanut butter banana muffins. I have not tested this recipe with any gluten free flour alternatives. If you have leftover whole wheat flour from making English muffins, this is the perfect place to use it!
- Oats: Use whole oats or quick oats in this recipe and there’s no need to soak them prior to using in the batter like we do with blueberry oatmeal muffins.
- Add-Ins: Like zucchini muffins, today’s thick muffin batter welcomes add-ins such as raisins, chocolate chips, dried cranberries, or chopped nuts. Based on sweetness of the add-in, it’s best to use either 3/4 or 1 cup as detailed in the notes below. You could also use 1 and 1/2 cups of chopped apples (about 2 medium). We love them with raisins because they remind us of bran raisin muffins which are made with wheat bran—an ingredient I don’t usually have on hand.
You also need cinnamon, baking powder & baking soda, salt, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. Before baking, you can sprinkle the tops of the muffins with oats and/or coconut sugar or coarse sugar for a little crunch. I like adding it to pumpkin muffins, too.
(Note in the photo below the melted coconut oil looks like ice water since not all of the oil had been melted—I melted it more after taking this photo.)
Best Applesauce To Use
The best applesauce to use for baking is typically unsweetened. In this recipe, you can use homemade or store-bought and the consistency doesn’t make a difference—thick, thin, smooth, or chunky. Applesauce with cinnamon is also a great choice, but if you don’t want too much cinnamon flavor, I would slightly reduce the cinnamon in the recipe.
My best advice is to use whatever applesauce you enjoy eating!
Imperative Success Tip: Make sure you grease the muffin liners before adding the batter or skip the liners and grease the muffin pan. This batter sticks to the liners, but greasing helps. After the muffins cool completely, they do not stick as much.
The muffins above look like they have chocolate chips, don’t they? Chocolate chip lovers will be disappointed to learn those are raisins. HA! (Oh-so-good with raisins!)
Can I Add Apples?
Yes, apples are a wonderful choice as the add-in. See recipe note below.
Print
Applesauce Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 21 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These moist and flavorful whole wheat applesauce muffins come together with a handful of healthful and wholesome ingredients. See notes if you wish to replace the raisins.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (260g) whole wheat flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2/3 cup (57g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/3 cups (320g) unsweetened applesauce, at room temperature*
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (70g) coconut oil, melted (or vegetable oil or melted butter)
- 1/3 cup (80ml) pure maple syrup, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (80ml) milk (dairy or nondairy), at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (110g) raisins*
- optional: 3 Tablespoons oats and/or 1 Tablespoon coarse sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or use cupcake liners. If using cupcake liners, spray the liners because when warm, these muffins stick.
- Whisk the flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl until combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the applesauce, eggs, oil, maple syrup, milk, and vanilla together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stir a few times, then add the raisins. Fold everything together gently just until combined and no flour pockets remain.
- Spoon the batter into liners, filling them all the way to the top. Top with oats and a light sprinkle of coarse sugar, if desired. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 15-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20-21 minutes, give or take. (For mini muffins, bake 11-13 minutes at 350°F (177°C) the whole time.)
- Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling or enjoy warm.
- Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days, then transfer to the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions:Â For longer storage, freeze the muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then heat up in the microwave if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-Count Muffin Pan | Muffin Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Oats:Â This recipe uses whole rolled oats, but you can use the same amount of quick oats if needed. You can also skip the oats if desired, but I recommend adding a little more flour to help soak up some liquid, such as 3 Tablespoons (about 24g).
- Applesauce: It’s best to use unsweetened applesauce. If using sweetened, slightly reduce the maple syrup down to 1/4 cup (60ml). You can use homemade or store-bought applesauce and the consistency doesn’t make a difference– use thick, thin, smooth, or chunky. Applesauce with cinnamon is also a great choice, but if you don’t want too much cinnamon flavor, I would slightly reduce the cinnamon in the recipe.
- Maple Syrup: You can use honey for the maple syrup, but the flavor will be different.
- Raisins/Add-Ins: Feel free to leave the muffins plain, but they’re excellent with add-ins such as raisins, 3/4 cup (about 110g) dried cranberries, 1 cup (about 120g) chopped walnuts or pecans, 1Â and 1/2 cups (165g) peeled & chopped apples (about 2 medium apples such as Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Gala, Pink Lady), or 3/4 cup (about 135g) chocolate chips.
- Initial High Temperature: The hot burst of air will spring up the top of the muffin quickly, then the inside of the muffin can bake for the remainder of the time. This helps the muffins rise nice and tall.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: It’s best if any cold ingredients are brought to room temperature before starting. The coconut oil will slightly solidify if other ingredients are too cold and you may notice greasy oily pockets in the baked muffins.
- Nutrition Information: Using VeryWellFit calculator and calculated using coconut oil, unsweetened almond milk, and raisins, these muffins come out to 181 calories, 7.2g fat, 27g carbs, 3.3g fiber, 9g sugar, and 4g protein each.
Can I substitute the whole wheat flour for the same amount of all purpose flour?
Definitely!
This recipe for not too sweet applesauce muffins is a WINNER in our household. Very tasty, moist and fluffy. Our youngest members liked the little sprinkle of coarse sugar on top. We all loved them. Thank you. This will go in our Make This Again, Please file.
I was looking for a less sweet recipe for snack-time muffins, and these were both lightly sweetened and moist the way a muffin should be. I DID forget to spray the liners and the muffins stuck but I didn’t hear any complaints from my kids!
I used half almond flour and half whole wheat flour, they turned out great! I love them! Lovely recipe!
I made these as written, with 1 cup of rather tart, chopped apple and 1/2 cup of chopped pecans as my add-ins. I like that the muffins are not too sweet, although next time I will not forget to top them with the sugar and oats for sweetness perfection.
These are my favorite apple muffins. I also add nutmeg and a little all spice. They make our home smell fantastic and they taste awesome. Thanks Sally
My daughter loves these muffins for school snack (she’s a teacher)
I would be saying that these muffins were awesome IF I hadn’t made the Healthy Apple Muffins last week, with the grated apple. These are fine, nice and moist, nothing wrong with them at all, and they look pretty with the oats and sparkly sugar on top. But if you’re trying to decide between making these and the apple muffins, I’ll tell you that the extra step of grating the apples is totally worth it.
I’m not sure if it is the whole wheat flour in this recipe and the fact I’ve never baked with whole wheat flour, but I’m not a fan of these. The only change I made was using butter instead of the coconut oil, and my muffins came out a little dry and not super flavorful. I even used cinnamon apple sauce and added apple chunks, and ultimately I won’t be making these again. They definitely taste healthy, if that is what you are going for!
Hi Lauren, I’m sorry to hear that you were disappointed with this recipe. In general when it comes to baking, oil keeps baked goods more moist than butter does, and especially when using a very drying ingredient like whole wheat flour. I hope you have better results with the next recipe you try!
I loved this recipe! Actually I LOVE ALL YOUR RECIPES!!! I did make them slightly differently though. I did add shredded apples as you suggested and I also added some dried cranberries instead of the raisins and also some chopped pecans and 3 Tablespoons of hemp seeds to increase the protein value, then instead of baking them in muffin tins, I actually made them in a waffle iron!! I just put it on the highest setting on my Belgian Waffle iron and when they were done. I came out with 6 large, delicious, filling waffles. I just served them with some butter but they actually didn’t need anything at all. They were perfect as is! My family went crazy for them and they were really fun to eat!
I made this for my roommates and I. I added pecans and about half of a chopped apple.
I’d prefer to use sugar than maple syrup or honey. Can you suggest proportions if I used brown and white sugars instead?
Hi Mary, Regular granulated or brown sugar would work as a substitution for maple syrup. (There is enough liquid in the batter).
I love this recipes and all of your recipes…thank you for putting the ingredients in weight. I went to baking school and I believe it is the only way to get exact measurements….
These are in our top 5 muffin rotation (all Sally recipes of course!). Absolutely wonderful. We make exactly as written, with apple and raisin add-ins.
Can I use a loaf pan instead of a muffin tin? After I make your recipe I will provide a rating. We are eating your whole wheat banana bread right now. So delicious!
Absolutely! We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but you can use the timing from this apple cinnamon bread as a guide.
These are moist & delicious!
I used UK Mixed Spice in mine.
Thank you, Sally! Every recipe of yours that I’ve made has been tasty. Keep ‘em comin’, please.
These turned out perfectly! I had to use half AP flour (ran out of whole wheat) but used the same total amount of flour by weight. I also combined the old-fashioned rolled oats with wet ingredients and let them soak a bit to soften them up. A little sweet, lovely texture and taste.
I was disappointed, my muffins are really dry. The only adjustment I made was to substitute some of the whole egg with egg yolk because I had some leftover to use up.
Changing the egg may have had something to do with it. If you try the recipe again, though, you can add some more milk or a little more coconut oil.
Can I substitute buttermilk instead of regular milk? I look forward to trying this recipe!
Hi Laura, buttermilk would be fine here.
I was skeptical of this and afraid it would be dry but had a big old bag of whole wheat flour I was trying to use up. So glad I gave it a try! Dense, good flavor (I did use the raisins for something extra), filling, and not dry at all. Thanks for something new for the breakfast rotation!
Would mashed banana work instead of apple sauce?
Hi Fred, for mashed banana, we’d recommend following our banana muffins or whole wheat banana muffins recipe instead.
Loved these! Such a great aroma, look and flavor. Followed the recipe very closely, and they looked just like yours! Thanks for the amazing recipe!
I’ve made these muffins several times. I’m not a raisin fan so I prefer to use chopped apples. I also use date syrup instead of maple syrup to make them even healthier. I’ve used both quick and old fashioned oats and actually prefer quick oats because they bake up softer. I love the adaptability of this recipe! You can change it up in hundreds of ways and they always bake up perfectly delicious and healthy!
I love this recipe! Just wondering if you can use buttermilk instead of regular milk? And if yes, how much?
Hi Dina, buttermilk would be fine here.
These muffins were really tasty! I added toasted walnuts/pecans along with one whole granny smith apple chopped into pieces the size of a fingernail. Instead of coconut oil, I used avocado oil. Quick and very easy to whip up, will be making this again.
I followed the recipe exactly, and these were lovely. A gentle hug in muffin form.