These cozy apple oat muffins are made with a warm blend of ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, offering a perfect balance of spice and sweetness. A delicious breakfast treat packed with wholesome ingredients.
Why You’ll Love This
While catering brunches, the muffin basket was usually the first to empty. Creating the perfect muffin involves careful attention to flavor and texture. Over the years, through restaurant work, catering, and cooking for family, we believe we’ve found an ideal formula. From choosing the right flours and leavening agents to adding moisture and achieving just the right sweetness while keeping them healthy! Check out some of our other muffin recipes on the blog, like Morning Glory Muffins or Pumpkin Muffins, and read the comments! These apple oat muffins are great for fall and have homey flavors reminiscent of gingerbread.
Apple Oat Muffin Ingredients
- Apples: A bright-flavored apple, like Honeycrisp, granny smith, pink lady, or gala.
- Applesauce: Adds to the apple nature of the muffins, while creating a moist texture.
- Oats: For a wholesome and nourishing base, while adding rustic texture.
- Whole wheat pastry flour: Creates soft texture and enhances the flavor with nutty, earthy notes. Use all purpose or half wheat flour & half white flour to substitute.
- Brown sugar: For the perfect balance of sweetness. I also love using coconut sugar.
- Cinnamon and cloves: For warm, cozy flavor.
- Baking powder and baking soda: These leavening agents result in light and fluffy texture.
- Avocado oil or olive oil: Keeps the muffins moist and tender.
- Eggs: A binding agent to prevent overly crumbly muffins.
- Molasses: You can use maple syrup for a milder flavor and sweetener, but I highly encourage the molasses!
- Vanilla extract: Adds subtle sweetness while enhancing the other flavors and spices.
- Fresh grated ginger: Adds a bright subtly sweet, zesty bite. Can use ground ginger.
- Walnuts (optional): Use toasted walnuts for a nutty crunch.
- Crumble topping (optional): Oats, flour, brown sugar or coconut sugar, unsalted butter, salt, and cinnamon. Adds a lovely crunchy topping for even more of a cinnamon apple flavor!
How to Make Apple Oat Muffins
Preheat oven to 400F and grease a 12-cup muffin pan with an oil spray or butter (or use muffin liners).
1. Prepare the crumble topping. Using a fork, mix the oats, whole wheat flour, sugar, butter, pinch of salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl until crumbles form.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. Gather a large mixing bowl and add the flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir everything together.
3. Whisk the wet ingredients. Whisk eggs, molasses, applesauce, vanilla, and ginger together in a medium bowl. Add diced apples and walnuts and mix.
4. Fold the batter. Pour wet ingredients into the flour mixture and fold gently, carefully mixing until just combined. Don’t over-mix!
5. Fill the muffin tin. Scoop batter into the greased muffin tin, filling each a 1/2 inch from the top.
6. Bake. Bake at 400F for 5 minutes, then decrease the temp to 350F and bake 12 minutes. When done, the internal temp should be 205F. Or simply do a toothpick test.
Chef’s Tips
- Avoid over-mixing the batter. This can result in an overly dense, chewy texture. For light and moist muffins, fold the batter, don’t mix.
- Use diced apples. It is faster to grate apples but don’t do it! It can make the texture of the muffin mushy.
- Use a thermometer. An internal thermo pen should read 205F when the muffins are done. You can always do a toothpick test instead, but this is ideal for achieving optimal texture!
- Nuts are optional, but add delightfully crunchy texture! And when toasted, enhance the nutty, cozy flavor. You could try pecans too!
Storage
Store the Apple Oatmeal Muffins in an airtight container on the counter at room temperature for 4 days.
You can also meal prep these for an easy grab-and-go option during busy weeks. The muffins will freeze for 3 months. To reheat, pop in the toaster oven for 5 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
Enjoy as is, or serve warm with a little butter. These make a tasty breakfast, or can be warmed and served with Ice Cream for dessert!
FAQs
I’ve found that oil and sugar are two key ingredients to achieve moisture. I also use applesauce in this recipe for deliciously moist texture!
I prefer oil because butter solidifies when cooled and can result in a slightly denser texture. Sometimes I use both for flavor and texture.
Overmixing! This crushes the air bubbles in the batter and prevents fluffy texture.
I hope you enjoy this apple oat muffin recipe! Let us know what you think in the comments!
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Description
Healthy Apple Oat Muffins with a warm blend of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg, offering a perfect balance of spice and sweetness. A delicious breakfast treat or snack packed with wholesome ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan with spray or butter
- Mix the crumble topping– to a small bowl add oats, flour, sugar, butter, pinch of salt and cinnamon. Use a fork to mix until it is mixed well and crumbles form.
- Mix dry ingredients- In a large mixing bowl stir together flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Whisk wet ingredients- In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, molasses, applesauce, vanilla, and ginger. Add diced apples and walnuts.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry flour mixture. Fold the batter gently, mix until just combined. Avoid overmixing.
- Scoop into a greased (butter or oil) muffin tin or use muffin liners. For a standard muffin tin fill each tin a 1/2 inch from the top.
- Bake at 400 for 5 minutes, decrease to 350F and bake 12-13 minutes until puffed and golden. An internal thermometer should register 205F when they are done. You can also test with a toothpick.
Notes
Pick an apple with a bright flavor like Honeycrisp, granny smith, pink lady, or gala apples.
Use diced apples. It is faster to grate apples but don’t do it! It can make the texture of the muffin mushy.
Can use maple syrup instead of molasses for a more mild flavor. (But I highly encourage the molasses!)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin (without walnuts)
- Calories: 232
- Sugar: 14.8 g
- Sodium: 121.9 mg
- Fat: 10.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 32.1 g
- Fiber: 3.2 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 31 mg