Start your day off right with this tender and flavorful oatmeal apple muffins recipe! Made with gluten-free flour and rolled oats, these delicious apple muffins have a tender, fluffy texture, and they're loaded with cinnamon and real apple chunks. They're a delicious breakfast or quick snack for the whole family!
These healthy apple muffins are one of my favorites! The vegetable oil, milk, and applesauce ensure they're perfectly moist and tender with a delicious flavor from the fresh apple chunks! Like this apple cobbler and this gluten free apple cake, the warm cinnamon apple flavor is comforting and satisfying, and this is a great way to celebrate the abundance of apple season. Since the recipe is so quick and easy, you can even make these apple cinnamon oatmeal muffins every week for a healthy breakfast on those busy mornings!
Looking for more gluten-free muffin recipes? Try these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins, Almond Flour Blueberry Muffins, or these citrusy Lemon Chia Seed Muffins.
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Ingredients for Oatmeal Apple Muffins
For muffins:
- Gluten-free flour blend: This recipe was tested with my custom gluten free flour mix.
- Gluten-free oats: This recipe was tested with Bob's Red Mill gluten free oats. Make sure your oats are certified gluten free.
- Brown sugar: This adds the perfect sweetness and caramel-like flavor.
- Cinnamon: Choose your favorite ground cinnamon.
- Baking powder & soda: These two leavening agents will react in the batter to help the muffins rise.
- Salt: A little bit of salt enhances sweetness and flavor.
- Eggs: Allow the eggs to come to room temperature first.
- Almond milk: Any dairy-free milk can be used.
- Unsweetened applesauce: Use unsweetened to avoid extra sugar.
- Vegetable oil: Vegetable oil is the secret ingredient for moist muffins every time.
- Vanilla extract: Choose one of the best gluten-free vanilla extracts.
- Granny Smith apple: Peel and chop your apple to distribute them evenly I recommend Granny Smith apples or another firm and tart variety.
For streusel:
- Gluten-free oats
- Gluten-free flour blend
- Brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Vegan butter: Melt the butter to glue the mixture together.
Measurements for each ingredient, along with instructions for making the muffins are in the recipe card below.
Note about rest time
The rest time for the batter is important for hydration of the gluten free ingredients and oats.
How To Make Oatmeal Apple Muffins
Step One: In a large bowl, add the gluten-free flour blend, gluten-free oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until combined.
Step Two: In a medium bowl, add the eggs, almond milk, applesauce, oil, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
Step Three: Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until completely combined, about 20 seconds.
Step Four: Stir in the chopped apple. Set batter aside to rest for 30 minutes.
Step Five: Prepare streusel by adding oats, gluten-free flour blend, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter to a small bowl. Stir to fully combine.
Step Six: Preheat oven to 400F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by spraying well with cooking spray. Fill muffin cups ¾ of the way full with batter. Sprinkle each top with about 1 Tablespoon of the streusel.
Step Seven: Bake muffins for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.
Substitutions
- Feel free to use any type of non-dairy (or dairy) milk.
- If you'd like to avoid eggs, try using an egg substitute, like a flax egg or chia egg.
- You can use either rolled or quick oats if you prefer.
Variations
- Replace the cinnamon with apple pie spice for apple pie flavor.
- Consider replacing the brown sugar with coconut sugar for a lower glycemic impact.
- Stir in some dark chocolate chips or some coconut shreds for extra texture.
- To skip the vegetable oil, melt some coconut oil and allow it to cool before mixing it into the muffin batter.
Equipment
To make this delicious apple muffin recipe, you'll need:
- Large, medium, and small mixing bowls
- A mixing spoon
- Muffin pan
Find these tools in my Amazon store.
Storing Oatmeal Apple Muffins
These apple cinnamon muffins are delicious served warm from the oven. Allow any leftovers to cool to room temperature, then store them in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
Food Safety
Only allow the eggs to stay on the counter for a maximum of two hours. Sanitize your workspace and clean your hands well after using them.
💭Pro Tips for Making Oatmeal Apple Muffins Recipe
1. Measure properly
Always remember to measure by weight where weight is given, and allow the ingredients to come to room temperature before baking.
2. Prepare the pan
Use muffin liners or spray the muffin pan very well with cooking spray.
3. Make a double batch
These muffins freeze very well, so you can make a double batch and freeze the extra for a quick breakfast or snack in the future.
Oatmeal Apple Muffin Recipe FAQs
This apple oatmeal muffin recipe should not be dry since it's made with vegetable oil and applesauce - two high-moisture ingredients. If you find these muffins to be dry, double-check your measurements. If you used cups instead of a scale, you may be unintentionally adding too many dry ingredients. If you substituted any ingredients, you may notice variations in texture or flavor, too. For best results, follow the recipe as written.
In general, you want to choose a firm, tart apple for baking. Look for varieties like Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and Honeycrisp. Other varieties can work, too, but they may become overly soft or lose some of their apple flavor in the oven.
There are so many different types of gluten-free flours, and they all have their pros and cons! The thing to remember about baking muffins is that they need enough structure to hold the muffins together. This usually requires a mixture of flours and starches to get the best results. For these apple oat muffins and other gluten-free muffin recipes, I recommend using this homemade gluten-free flour mix. It's strong enough to use in bread yet is tender enough for these apple muffins, my one-bowl banana muffin recipe, or my gluten-free pumpkin muffins. Make a big batch and keep it in your fridge for easy baking!
More Gluten-Free Muffin Recipes
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Recipe
Easy Oatmeal Apple Muffin Recipe: Gluten Free
Ingredients
For muffins:
- 195 grams gluten free flour blend about 1 ½ cups
- 100 grams gluten free oats about 1 cup
- 150 grams brown sugar about ¾ cup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup almond milk
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup Granny Smith apple peeled and chopped
For streusel:
- 50 grams gluten free oats about ¼ cup
- 16 grams gluten free flour blend about 2 Tablespoons
- 25 grams brown sugar about 2 Tablespoons
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons vegan butter melted
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the gluten free flour blend, gluten free oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until combined.
- In a medium bowl, add the eggs, almond milk, applesauce, oil, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until completely combined, about 20 seconds.
- Stir in the chopped apple. Set batter aside to rest for 30 minutes.
- Prepare streusel by adding oats, gluten free flour blend, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter to a small bowl. Stir to fully combine.
- Preheat oven to 400F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by spraying well with cooking spray.
- Fill muffin cups ¾ of the way full with batter. Sprinkle each top with about 1 Tablespoon of the streusel.
- Bake muffins for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.
Notes
- Measure by weight where weight is given.
- Bring all ingredients to room temperature.
- The rest time for the batter is important for hydration of the gluten free ingredients and oats.
- This recipe was tested with Bob's Red Mill gluten free oats. Make sure your oats are certified gluten free.
- This recipe was tested with the gluten free flour mix here.
- Granny Smith apples are recommended for this recipe.
- For best results, peel the apple before chopping.
- Any dairy-free milk can be used.
- Muffins can be served warm from the oven.
Emily
I tried the recipe today and it turned out really nicely! What are your thoughts of using the dough to make a bread instead? Thanks!
Christine
Hi Emily,
Oooo, it's a possibility! Maybe at 350F for at least 45 minutes - maybe longer, but start checking.
If you try it, let me know how it goes!
Christine