Easy vegan apple muffins which use only 7 key ingredients and one bowl! These muffins are fluffy, moist and just like those from your local bakery.
This muffin recipe is adapted from my popular, tried and tested apple bread and apple cake with a pecan crumble.
What to expect from these muffins
These vegan apple cinnamon muffins are:
- Easy, no fuss and use common pantry ingredients
- Have a simple crunchy topping (chopped apple and granulated raw sugar)
- Look and taste like they're from a bakery
- Can be made gluten-free!
- Perfect as a morning or afternoon snack. They can also be frozen to enjoy weeks later!
Ingredients you'll need
These muffins use only common pantry ingredients including:
Notes about the ingredients
Plain or all-purpose flour. However, wholemeal and spelt flour also works well in these vegan apple muffins.
Brown, coconut, or cane sugar for sweetness and moisture. I used half coconut sugar (for flavor) and half regular sugar (for sweetness). Using all coconut sugar results in less sweet muffins.
Light-tasting vegetable oil, such as sunflower, avocado or a mild olive. I prefer using oil instead of vegan butter or solid coconut oil because it allows the muffins to stay tender for longer and moist at room temperature. In contrast, butter and coconut oil are solid at room temperature so can make cakes feel more 'dry'.
Apple, either roughly chopped or finely chopped. I used sweet apple varieties (Royal Gala and Fuji) which added some natural sweetness. However, if you prefer more 'sour' apples, you can still use Granny Smith apples or other varieties!
Baking powder. I included 3 teaspoons of baking powder to create really FLUFFY baked goods. But it isn't too much where you can taste it after baking.
Apple cider vinegar (optional but recommended). This reacts with the dairy-free milk to form vegan buttermilk which gives the muffins a fluffier texture! You can substitute this with lemon juice.
Even though these are eggless apple muffins, you don't need any store-bought egg replacers!
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to make vegan apple muffins
I always prefer one-bowl recipes and these apple muffins are no exception!
So, simply add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and mix until there are no big lumps. Watch out for lumps of baking powder!
Then add all the wet ingredients (except the apple) to the bowl and stir until just BEFORE it's combined. There should be some pockets of liquid or dry ingredients. This helps prevent us from overmixing the batter :).
Add the chopped apple and fold the mixture until combined. The muffin batter should be quite thick - the apple leaks juice while baking so the batter needs to be a little more thick than usual.
Baking the apple muffins
One of my baking 'hacks' is using an ice cream scoop to divide muffin or cupcake batter. It's easier, neater and allows each muffin to be roughly the same size.
For a yummy and pretty touch, I'd recommend sprinkling some extra chopped apple and raw demerara sugar on top. The apple adds a little color to those brown muffins and the sugar adds some crunch.
If you'd like jumbo cafe-style muffins, this recipe will make 8-10 muffins. For average-size muffins, this recipe will make 12.
Customizing these muffins
Yes, you can use whole wheat flour or spelt flour instead of plain and coconut sugar instead of regular sugar. I've also listed a gluten-free option in the notes of the gray recipe box.
Some of my readers have substituted the oil with applesauce and said it worked well (I haven't tried it myself).
Instead of topping the muffins with apple and sugar, you can top them with an oat crumble, such as the one in my apple berry oat crumble muffins recipe.
You can also add berries, white chocolate chips, pecans or walnuts to the muffin batter!
For another Fall muffin, see my pumpkin muffins or for a Summery muffin, check out my blueberry muffins.
More cozy vegan apple recipes
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Easy Vegan Apple Muffins
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 2 ⅓ cups (290g) all-purpose plain flour, (note 1 for gluten free)
- ¾ cup (145g) packed brown sugar, coconut sugar or granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
Wet ingredients
- 1 (~180g) medium-sized apple, chopped roughly or finely
- 1 cup (250g) dairy-free milk
- ½ cup (125g) neutral flavored oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
Topping (optional)
- ½ (~90g) medium-sized apple, chopped roughly or finely
- 2 tablespoons raw demerara sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a muffin/cupcake tray with liners. (note 2)
- Add all the dry ingredients to a medium or large bowl. Mix until there are no lumps. Add all of the wet ingredients to the bowl (except the apple) and mix until just before it's combined. Add the chopped apple and fold until the apple is evenly dispersed.
- Use an ice cream scoop or a large spoon to divide the batter into your muffin tin.
- Optional: Scatter the remaining chopped apple and granulated coarse sugar on top.
- Bake the muffins in the oven for 20-25 minutes OR until a skewer can be inserted into the middle and there is no wet batter on it, though some crumbs are fine (note 3).
- Cool the muffins in their tray for 10 minutes then allow them to cool on a wire rack.
- Enjoy the muffins warm or at room temperature! The muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer up to 1 month. The crunchy raw sugar topping will soften after 1 day.
Notes
- To make gluten-free muffins, substitute the plain flour with 1 ½ cups (150g) almond meal and 1 cup (160g) gluten-free all-purpose flour
- This recipe will make 12 standard muffins or around 8-10 larger cafe-sized muffins.
- For cafe-sized muffins, bake them for at least 25-35 minutes (depending on the size of your muffins) or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Nutrition
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These are amazing - I made them gf and they turned out perfectly.
That's so wonderful to hear, thanks for your feedback Caitlin!
I want to make these and wanted to know if I can use applesauce instead of the oil and it will come out OK?
Thanks
Lori
Hi Lori, other readers have successfully made these muffins with applesauce instead of oil and enjoyed them. However, I haven't tested it myself so am not 100% sure what they will taste like. I hope that helps!
Tasty and easy! It took about half an hour from gathering ingredients to washing the bowl, and I'm not a particularly fast baker. Thanks for including weight measurements.
So happy that you enjoyed making and eating these muffins! Thanks Kaitlin 🙂
Great recipe! In anticipation for vegan family members who are visiting next week and a bounty from our apple trees I tried this using half vegetable oil and half olive oil. I love the results 👌
I'm so glad you enjoyed these apple muffins, Mags! I hope you enjoy spending time with your family :).
Delicious! Very moist!
I'm so glad you enjoyed these Anna!
Easy recipe and delicious muffins! It had all the requirements for the vegan gluten free muffins I wanted to make. Thank you!!
It's wonderful that you enjoyed the gluten-free version of these muffins! Thanks so much Lyndall!
Such an easy and delicious recipe. I used brown sugar and raw sugar. I used Soy milk. I also used the ACV and also, for some unknown reason, added 1/4 tea Baking Soda (Bi carb soda) . I also used Canola oil. And 1 and 3/4 apples to make up the weight. Just used the ingredients I had at hand. Very nice and fluffy.
So glad that you enjoyed these muffins Maraika! Thanks for all the info on how you made your muffins and I'm happy they turned out well for you!
Love this recipe. I was looking for a long time for a recipe without egg but easy. Thank you so much for posting this great recipe.
My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed these muffins 🙂
Best muffins ever! Thank you for sharing this delicious and easy recipe! 🤗😋😋😋
Aw I'm so glad you enjoyed these and thanks so much for the rating too!
Delicious and super easy to make. Couldn’t recommend more!
So glad you enjoyed these! Thanks for your lovely feedback 🙂
The muffins turned out nice! fluffy and crispy on the top! I would prefer them to be a bit sweeter for my taste. I used coconut sugar as suggested, but maybe I will try brown sugar next time to see if they turn out sweeter. Thank you so mucn for the recipe!
Glad you enjoyed these muffins! Yes, brown sugar will definitely make these sweeter or a 50/50 combination of coconut sugar and regular sugar which is what I used :). Thanks for your comment!
Perfect! The ingredients are simple and the muffins are big and tasty. I used almond milk and also added a spoon of vanilla extract and apple fiber powder.
I'm so glad you enjoyed these! And I'm so intrigued about apple fibre powder now, I'll have to look that up 🙂
Thank you for the recipe! Is it better to add the ACV which was mentioned to be optional? 🙂
The ACV helps make the muffins softer so I'd recommend it but it's not necessary. Hope that helps!
Thank you Anthea!
It's the weekend, so felt inspired to bake another minibatch! I made my own gluten-free flour blend: 50% oat flour, 20% coconut flour and 30% buckwheat flour. Everything else - according to the recipe. WOW! It formed a crumble at the top, stayed moist and fluffy on the inside!
Note that it might look too runny once combined, but allow a few minutes to set. Trust me on this one.
Oooh that's great it worked with that flour combination - I wouldn't have thought about that! And a crumble on top sounds like the best of two worlds with minimal effort. Very very cool. Thanks so much for the tips 🙂 xx
Another great success! I made a quarter of the batch, which yielded four muffins. Made these with spelt flour, so used a bit less than the recipe calls for. These turned out fabulously fluffy, moist, with a crisp around the edge. In other words, absolute perfection!
I'm going to try subsidising some parts of the flour with almond and oatmeal mix. Also, would like to give it a go with part buckwheat flour. I think that would give it a nice depth of flavour too.
Highly recommend!
Aw, I'm happy you loved these Vai! Glad they worked with spelt flour (I'll try that for healthy breakfast muffins next time). And adding buckwheat, almond and oat flour sounds so so tasty and wholesome. Thank you always for your lovely comments xxx
These really were so easy to prepare & they tasted absolutely delicious. Used GF flour (husb has celiac) and substituted applesauce for oil. Very fluffy & delicious, will definitely make these again. Thank you so much, Anthea!
Glad that you could make these with GF flour and applesauce worked for you! Thanks so much for your feedback, I appreciate it a lot 🙂
Made these the other day- very fluffy, moist & tasty! Thanks very much for the recipe, Anthea 🙂
So glad you enjoyed these Michelle! And thanks for taking the time to leave a comment - I appreciate it a lot! 🙂
Looks yummy! Do you think It would work with only oat flour?
Thank you! From experience, oat flour isn't a great 1:1 sub for plain/all-purpose flour in cakes but it needs to be combined with some of starch.