Easy Vegan Apple Muffins
Easy vegan apple muffins made with just 7 key ingredients and come together in one bowl! These muffins are fluffy, moist and just like those from your local bakery.
Why You’ll Love These Muffins
These vegan apple cinnamon muffins are:
- Easy, no fuss and use common ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry!
- 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!
If you’re looking for a next-level muffin recipe with a crumble topping, check out my jumbo vegan apple muffins!
Ingredients You’ll Need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Apples. I used sweet snacking apples for these muffins (such as Royal Gala and Fuji) as they add some natural sweetness. If you prefer less sweet muffins, feel free to use Granny Smith apples or a similar variety. This recipe will work if you use roughly chopped apples or finely chopped apples. The latter releases more liquid, so you will need to bake the muffins for an extra 5 minutes.
Light brown sugar for moisture and depth of flavor and granulated sugar to keep these muffins light.
Neutral-flavored oil such as avocado oil, mild olive oil or sunflower oil. Oil ensures these muffins stay moist at room temperature and fresher for longer. Melted vegan butter and coconut oil will also work but they tend to solidify at room temperature and can make baked goods feel drier than intended.
Apple cider vinegar (optional) reacts with the dairy-free milk to form vegan buttermilk, which gives the muffins a more tender texture. You can substitute this with lemon juice.
Even though these are eggless apple muffins, you don’t need any store-bought egg replacers!
Prepare the Batter for these Vegan Apple Muffins
I always prefer one-bowl recipes and these apple muffins are no exception!
First, add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix until there are no big lumps. Ensure there are no lumps of baking powder, otherwise your muffins will taste metallic! Then add all the wet ingredients (except the apple) and stir until just BEFORE it’s combined. There should be some pockets of wet or dry ingredients as we’ll be mixing the batter more later.
Finally, add the chopped apple and fold the batter until just combined. Initially, the muffin batter should feel quite thick, but will loosen slightly after a few minutes. We also need a thick batter because the apple pieces will naturally leak juice while baking.
Baking the Apple Muffins
One of my favorite baking ‘hacks’ is to use an ice cream scoop to divide muffin batter. It minimizes mess and is an easy way to ensure each muffin is around the same size.
For flavor and presentation, you can sprinkle some extra chopped apple and raw demerara sugar on top of each muffin. The apple adds some color to the muffins and the sugar adds a lovely crunch.
Customizing These Muffins
Yes! Check the notes in the recipe card for details.
Yes, replace all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour or spelt flour and replace both sugars with coconut sugar. All of these ingredients are more absorbent or drier than the original, so if you use them, you may need to add an extra dash of milk to your batter and reduce the baking time.
Some readers have substituted the oil with applesauce and said it worked well. However, I haven’t tested it myself, so I can’t vouch for results.
These muffins would also be delicious with berries, white chocolate chips, pecans or walnuts folded into to the muffin batter. Add them at the same time as the chopped apple and make the muffins for at least another 5 minutes.
Instead of the apple and sugar topping, you can top these muffins with an oat crumble, such as the one in my apple berry oat crumble muffins recipe.
For more cozy Fall muffins, see my pumpkin muffins or banana muffins.
Yes! If you’re baking these muffins in a standard 12-cup muffin pan, this recipe will make around 8-10 jumbo muffins. Fill each well to the top and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Alternatively, check out my jumbo apple muffin recipe. Each muffin is about twice the size of one muffin in this recipe!
More Cozy Vegan Apple Recipes
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Easy Vegan Apple Muffins
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 2 ⅓ cups (290g) all-purpose plain flour, spoon and leveled (note 1 for tips and gluten-free option)
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar, or more granulated sugar (note 2)
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar, or more brown sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients
- 1 (~180g) medium-sized apple, chopped into 1/2 inch or 1cm chunks (note 3)
- 1 cup (240g) dairy-free milk, room temperature
- ½ cup (110g) neutral flavored oil
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping (optional)
- ½ (~90g) medium-sized apple, chopped into 1/2 inch or 1cm chunks
- 2 tablespoons raw demerara sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with muffin liners. (note 4)
- Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix until well combined. Add all the wet ingredients (except the apple) and mix until just before everything is combined. Add the chopped apple and fold until it's evenly distributed.
- Use an ice cream scoop or a large spoon to divide the batter into your muffin pan.
- Optional: Scatter the remaining chopped apple and coarse sugar on top of each muffin
- Bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes until the tops are lightly golden brown. They're ready when you can insert a toothpick into a muffin and it comes out with no wet batter (a few moist crumbs are fine, note 5).
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- 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 spoon and level your flour, fluff up the flour in its container, use a spoon to add flour to a measuring cup, then level it off with a knife. Using a measuring cup to scoop flour out of a container will pack in too much flour and result in dry and dense muffins. For the best results, use the gram measurements and an electric kitchen scale.
For gluten-free muffins, substitute the plain flour with 1 1/2 cups (150g) almond meal and 1 cup (160g) gluten-free all-purpose flour. Alternatively, these muffins work well with only King Arthur’s gluten-free measure for measure flour. The batter will be thick and I recommend baking them for 24-28 minutes. - You can also replace some or all of the sugar with coconut sugar if you prefer less sweet muffins. Coconut sugar has less moisture than brown and granulated sugar so your muffins will be a little drier.
- You can use peeled or unpeeled apples for this recipe.
- This recipe makes 12 standard muffins (if you fill each cup about two-thirds) or around 8-10 larger cafe-sized muffins (if you fill each cup to the top).
- If you make larger cafe-sized muffins, bake them for around 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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These are great! They rise well, they’re soft and fluffy and they are very tasty. I didn’t think such a recipe would be so good, but it is!
Hi Julianne! Sorry for the late reply, but I’m so glad that you enjoyed these muffins! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a comment here 🙂
Fantastic recipe! These muffins are tall, moist, and fluffy. I only had white sugar so I plan to try again with coconut, mine are yummy but a little pale 🙂
Hi Stephie, I’m so glad that you enjoyed these! Yes, your muffins will be a little more golden with coconut sugar (or brown sugar), but it sounds like they worked out well nevertheless! Thanks so much for the review 🙂
I’m not sure what else I could have done- love how simple this recipe is, but I was surprised by how doughy/dense and dry these were. I kept them in the oven at temp for 20 minutes. Any advice on how to improve these? Busy mom here, so would love to use this recipe on the regular to have a snack to go, but was disappointed in these.
Hi Rachel, I’m sorry that these didn’t work out for you like they have for others. Muffins can be dense/dry if you packed your measuring cups with too much flour. If you use your cup to scoop flour of the container, it can add an extra 50% of flour than intended and throw off a recipe. Try using the spoon and level method to add flour to your measuring cup (more details are in Note 1 in the recipe box). Or it can happen if you reduce the sugar a lot. I hope that helps.
I wanted to bake these so bad, but the only fruit I’ve had on hand were pears, so I used those and grated tonka beans instead of ground cinnamon.
As topping I made the crumb of your Banana Muffins, also with grated tonka beans.
And I followed your advice of filing any other mold in the muffin pan.
These were the best muffins I’ve ever had!
Crispy, fluffy, moist, high top. Perfect!
Thank you very much for this recipe!
Hi Ria, ooh your muffins sound *delicious*!!! I love the combination of ingredients that you used and I’m thrilled that you were able to use this recipe as a base. Thanks so much for your feedback:)
I cooked down some cranberries and apples in brown sugar and added a swirl of that mixture to each muffin- so good!
That sounds sooo delicious!! And I’m thrilled that you enjoyed the muffins!
Used lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar and a bit less sugar because I had less in the cupboard (but added a teaspoon of honey). So light and fluffy! Will definitely be making again.
Hi Linda, oh that’s great to hear! Thanks for the info about your minor changes too. Thanks so much for your feedback!
Perfect vegan autumn treat!
I made these with spelt flour, and erythritol instead of sugar – absolutely delicious.
I also used random apples from my mum’s garden, but definitely recommend picking the tart variety. It gives it that nice balance of tanginess and sweetness.
Hi Vai, sorry for the super late reply! I’m so happy that you enjoyed these muffins with your tweaks and thanks for the tips about using tart apples! Thank youuuuu x
Fantastic… family ate half of them right away!
Oh that’s amazing! Thanks Bob!
Really nice flavor. Used the suggested almond & GF flour substitution. Did not do the topping. Mine were slightly undercooked so next time will add a few min to the baking time.
Glad that you enjoyed the gf option and thanks for your feedback Amanda!
Perfect
So happy you enjoyed the muffins!
So yummy! I just made these and absolutely love them! I used lemon juice because I didn’t have apple cider vinegar. Thank you for the substitution suggestions 🙂 Great recipe!
I’m so glad you loved these muffins JoJo!! Thanks so much for your kind review and taking the time to comment here 🙂
I made these today. My very first vegan recipe and I am very impressed. The only problem I had is that the muffins were very crumbly and fell apart once I started to eat one. I wonder whether it’s because I used gluten free spelt flour and therefore needed a binding agent? I also didn’t add the apple cider vinegar as I didn’t have any at home. Could this also have been the issue? In terms of binding agents for gluten free flours, I’ve read one could use flaxseed meal with water..would this be a good idea for this recipe? Thanks so much for your help and advice.
PS: I should have added that I used spelt flour because I could not almond meal. I wanted to make the recipe nut free too 🙂
Hi Gaby, it’s great that this was your first vegan recipe! I haven’t heard of gluten-free spelt flour before but gluten-free vegan baking always needs a binder, whether it’s xantham gum (which is usually in gf all-purpose flour), flaxseeds, psyllium husk or something similar. I hope that helps!
Made these with my grandchildren 1 of whom is dairy intolerant. Easy to follow recipe and the girls loved making them. Delicious.
Hi Chris, that’s wonderful news! Thanks so much for the feedback 🙂
These muffins were so delicious, fluffy and soft. I wouldn’t change anything at all. Thanks so much!
That’s amazing Breanna, thanks so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it 🙂
Easy to put together. A little heavy on the baking powder which leaves an after taste.
Glad you found these easy to prepare. With the baking powder, I find that only happens if the baking powder isn’t evenly mixed in, if the flour or sugar was undermeasured, or if you don’t add the vinegar (as it helps neutralize the taste and properties). This recipe actually contains less baking powder than self-rising flour so it shouldn’t be too much. I hope that helps!
This is a great tasting, very flavourful apple spice muffin! Moist and delicious!! I made the recipe as written and used coconut sugar and whole wheat flour/ half oat flour. I will probably not use as much sugar next time just for my taste, otherwise fantastic recipe! Thanks!
Oh that’s wonderful to hear and I’m glad it worked with half oat flour too! That’s totally understandable with the sugar – I get that everyone is different tastes :). Thanks so much for your feedback Andrea!
Made as mini muffins, baked for 15 min. Didn’t brown up quite the same but were great for the kids!
Ooh mini muffins sound amazing! That’s interesting about the browning but I’m glad the kids enjoyed them. Thanks for your comment!
Hi. Had a question, a see that this recipe is pretty much equal to the apple bread. Expect the muffins have less sugar and a tad less flour. Is this because the bread version is more like a sweet cake and the muffins just a less sweet version of the bread?
Hi Claire, the recipes are slightly different for a few reasons. The apple muffins have less flour and sugar so the batter can comfortably fit in 12 muffin cups without overflowing. Also, the apple bread recipe has more flour because the grated apple can make the bread overly moist, compared to the chopped apple in this recipe. I hope that helps.