These apple muffins are quick and easy to make in one bowl! This whole wheat muffins recipe is made with applesauce, fresh apples and cinnamon. Make a batch of these delicious muffins for your freezer.
Muffins are a busy mom’s best friend. They’re freezer-friendly, portable, and perfect for make ahead breakfasts.
We love these banana muffins and chocolate black bean blender muffins so much, that I decided to create this apple muffin recipe next!
These cinnamon apple muffins are the perfect thing to satisfy your cozy fall baking cravings. We love this muffins recipe so much that I’ve made four batches in the past two weeks!
Why you’ll love these apple muffins
- The batter for these easy apple muffins is made in just one bowl. Less dishes is always a good thing.
- These muffins bake up soft, and they’re filled with sweet bites of fresh apple.
- This is a great make ahead breakfast recipe. You can also put a frozen muffin in your kids’ lunch boxes and it will defrost by snack or lunch time.
I plan to keep a stash of these apple muffins in my freezer all autumn long. I usually grab one for a morning snack, along with a piece of fruit.
Making this applesauce muffin recipe is so simple. Let me walk you through the steps.
How to make apple muffins
- Melt the butter in a large bowl in the microwave. If you do not have a microwave, melt it on the stove.
- Add the remaining wet ingredients to the bowl and whisk to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients, except for the whole wheat flour, to the bowl. Whisk to combine well.
- Mix in the flour using a rubber spatula. Stop mixing when the flour is not quite mixed in.
- Mix in the apples, being careful not to over-mix the batter. When making muffins you want to mix until just combined for the best texture.
- Scoop the batter into greased muffin pans and bake.
You can serve these muffins warm from the oven or at room temperature. If you freeze them, let them defrost at room temperature for about an hour. You can also defrost them in your microwave using low power or the defrost setting.
Serve these apple muffins plain or spread with almond butter or peanut butter. For breakfast, add a piece of fruit and yogurt or a Instant Pot hard boiled egg to round out the meal.
Recipe Tips
- You can use any type of baking apple that you like in this recipe. Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady or Braeburn would all work well. You do not need to peel the apple.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon maple extract for maple flavor. I tried this with one batch and loved the sweet maple and apple together!
- Be careful to not over-mix your muffin batter for the best texture.
- Make homemade applesauce with my Instant Pot Applesauce recipe.
More muffin recipes
- Apple Banana Muffins
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Blueberry Banana Muffins
- Even more Muffin Recipes
For more delicious fall baking, try my Apple Bread and favorite Apple Pie Recipe next!
Apple Muffins
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1/4 cup
- 1/2 cup honey or pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup milk, dairy, almond, etc.
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 large baking apple, chopped (1 1/2 cups, no need to peel)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray muffin pans (regular size or mini) with cooking spray. I like to use coconut oil spray.
- Place the butter in a large bowl and melt it in the microwave. You could also melt the butter in a pot on the stove.
- Add the honey or pure maple syrup, applesauce, plain Greek yogurt, milk, eggs and vanilla to the bowl with the butter. Whisk until well combined.
- Add the baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Whisk until well combined.
- Add the white whole wheat flour. Use a rubber spatula to mix it in until almost combined.
- Add the chopped apple, reserving a few apple pieces for the tops of the muffins, if desired. Use the rubber spatula to mix in the apple until just combined.
- Scoop the batter into the greased muffin pans, filling each well about 2/3 full. If you reserved some of the apple pieces, press them into the tops of the muffins.
- Bake regular size muffins for 16-18 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Bake mini muffins for about 12 minutes.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Store muffins in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nice recipe! I subbed some of the honey/maple syrup with brown sugar, just because I find those ingredients really expensive. I added a little bit more applesauce to make up for the liquid that would have been in the honey.
I am looking forward to these with breakfast! Or let’s be honest, FOR breakfast, on the drive to work.
I hope you love them, Heather!
Thank you for sharing wonderful healthy recipes
You are very welcome! I’m glad you enjoy the recipes!
Just made these and they turned out amazing! Thanks!
I am so happy to hear that!!
Can these be kept out on the counter if eaten within 3 days? Is there a reason they need to be refrigerated?
Hi Janet, Yes, these should be fine on the counter for 3 days. I do recommend trying out freezer storage for muffins, though! If you put them in the freezer the day you bake them, they taste fresher when thawed than if you leave them on the counter. 🙂
I quickly made these this morning. They turned out moist and delicious. Of course, I made a few tweaks! I cut the whole wheat flour to one cup and added 1/2 cup of rolled oats. I had buttermilk in the fridge and used it instead of regular milk.
The muffins are light and delicious! Thanks for the recipe. I also liked using only one bowl . . .
I made these and they were amazing! Perfect for my significant other following gallbladder surgery. My question is could I keep the base and instead of apples and cinnamon can I put in blueberries?
Yes, that will work fine. Enjoy!
Just wondering if I can use regular white flour, I don’t have any white whole wheat on hand.
Thank you
Yes, regular all purpose flour will work. Enjoy!
Super good, my whole family loved the big chunks of apple on the inside!
Hi Kristine,
Is it okay if we use lactose free yoghurt instead of Greek yoghurt? Or is there any other substitute for the Greek yoghurt if we want to make these diary free ?
For the milk , I only have coconut milk handy. Would that alter the taste a lot ? I do have lactose free milk as well so if that works better I could use that .
It’s hard for me to say without testing out those substitutions myself. You could try the lactose free yogurt or applesauce in place of the Greek yogurt. I’m not sure how much coconut milk would alter the taste. You would have to try it. Lactose free milk would work well.
This was delicious! I was searching for healthy apple recipes after picking a TON of apples with the kiddos ? I liked that it was 1 bowl and NO peel. Moist, delicious no extra butter needed when eating them. Don’t miss the sugar at all. My first time baking with whole wheat flour gives it a nice flavor. I used Cortland apples and I mixed honey and maple syrup to get the 1/2 c and substituted sour cream for plain Greek yogurt as I didn’t have any. I also used paper cupcake liners and the muffins stuck to liner I’m guessing I wouldn’t have this problem if I greased the muffin tin? Thank you for great easy recipe!
Is it 4 Tblspns butter or 1/4 c? There’s “1/4” listed on your recipe, right after butter and not sure what it’s referring to…..thanks.
4 tablespoons of butter equals 1/4 cup, so you can use either depending on how your butter measurements are marked on the sticks of butter. I’m sorry that it was confusing.
This recipe is absolutely delicious and so easy! Would you mind terribly if I added cranberries to it,? How much can I safely add without ruining the integrity?
Hi Mary,
You could try adding 3/4 cup of cranberries to start.
I got scared and used 1/2 cup . I chopped them up and sprinkled a bit of white sugar on them… my feedback DELICIOUS!!! Thank you sooo much. I will be experimenting with other fruits ..
Hi! Can you use sugar free maple syrup in the recipe instead of pure maple syrup?
I haven’t tried that, but I recommend using pure maple syrup rather than artificial maple syrup.
Have you ever tried to substitute oat flour for the whole wheat to make them gluten free? Or a gluten free flour mix?
No I haven’t tried substituting other flours in this recipe. Generally 1:1 gluten free flour mixes can be substituted for all-purpose flour and my thought is that would work ok in this recipe.
Is 350 degrees the correct baking temperature? I left them in for 26 minutes and they were still under done inside. I bake muffins all the time, usually at 400 degrees. They have a lovely flavour. I will try baking them again at a higher temperature.
I baked these at 350 but if you find 400 works better for you then I’d try that. 🙂
Can plain yogurt be substituted for Greek yogurt?
Yes, that should work fine.
These ended up really good. I followed the recipe exactly (shocker, I know) and they are moist and flavorful and really good.
I will be trying walnuts and flax seed.
Thanks!
They were very good and I felt I was being so healthy!
This recipe looks amazing. I only have whole wheat flour, should I use half wheat half regular flour? I really want to make this because I have so many apples
Yes, that will work great! Enjoy!