Made with wholesome ingredients like whole wheat, oats, almond flour, and apples, these Healthy Apple Oat Muffins are perfect for a hearty breakfast to start your day off on a good note!
Muffins are such an easy make-ahead breakfast (ok, granola too) that nearly everybody can get behind. Because I serve muffins so frequently, I like to make them a little bit more wholesome while still being super delicious. I hate to admit to it, but I'm definitely a muffin-is-a-muffin-not-a-cupcake type of person, and I'm always looking to see what nutrient-dense ingredients I can add to my muffin recipes. This Apple Oat Muffin includes whole wheat flour and oats (healthy fiber!), almond flour (protein!), maple syrup (less refined!), and apple (fruit!) in three different forms, to make it the perfect breakfast contender.
The resulting muffin is super comforting, filling, and serious on the apple in all the best ways.
So let's get to making it! You can jump around the article using the menu below, or you can just head right to the bottom for the complete recipe.
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Ingredients Needed and Substitutions
Here is a brief overview of the ingredients needed for this recipe. The recipe card lists the full recipe with quantities below this article. If substitutions are available for this recipe, they'll be listed here. If you don't see a substitution you are looking for, please leave a comment below.
- oats (use either old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats)
- apples + apple sauce + apple cider (yes all this apple product makes for a really delicious muffin, see the note below about the best type of apples to choose)
- whole wheat flour (this can be replaced with regular all-purpose flour but you will have to increase the amount to 2 cups or 240 grams)
- Maple syrup (you can replace this with ½ packed cup or 110 grams brown sugar with great success, but I don't recommend white sugar because it doesn't have as nice of a depth of flavor as maple syrup or brown sugar)
- almond flour (see note below or in the recipe card for how to swap this out if you need to)
- butter (this can be swapped with any oil suitable for baking, but reduce it to 6 tablespoons)
- egg
- baking powder + baking soda
- salt
- cinnamon
Optional Add-Ins
While this muffin is already pretty hearty, I think adding some chopped nuts (walnuts would be good here!) or even raisins could add another complementary flavor and texture element to the finished muffin. They could be mixed in with the apples at the end before scooping into the tin.
Why Almond Flour?
Muffins are typically served with breakfast--at least in my house-- and as a mom, I'm always thinking of ways to bulk up my family's first meal with nutrition that will fuel them for the day. That is one of the reasons almond flour is added to this recipe; it makes it a little bit more breakfast-appropriate.
Second, almond flour adds a subtle yet delicious flavor element to the muffin. And finally, almond flour helps keep the muffins moist!
If you do not want to use almond flour, you can omit it and replace it with an additional ¼ cup (or 40 grams) of whole wheat flour.
Best Type of Apple to Use
Any apple that you like the taste of and that will work here. Honeycrisp or Fuji are my go-to for this muffin, but any number of other apples can work too. Here are a few more suggestions:
- Cortland
- Gala
- Braeburn
- Pink Lady
- Ginger Gold
- Jonagold
Don't Use Anything Other Than Apple Cider
Fresh apple cider is unfiltered apple juice made from crushed whole apples. It is similar to apple juice, except it is not shelf-stable, is minimally processed, and has a much more robust and often tangier apple flavor. It can be found nearly year-round these days in most grocery stores' fresh produce or fresh juice section.
Only use fresh apple cider. Do not use "apple juice", or the "cider" alcoholic beverage, and most importantly, do not use apple cider vinegar!
Step-By-Step Recipe Overview
This is a quick visual overview of the steps needed to make this recipe. If you are looking for the full recipe, keep scrolling!
Step 1: Mix together the dry ingredients.
Step 2: Whisk together the wet ingredients.
Step 3: Add the dry ingredients to the wet.
Step 4: Fold in the apples.
Step 5: Divide into 12 muffin tins and top with oats.
Step 6: Bake!
Kelli's Best Tips
Like most muffin recipes, this is as simple as it gets. Typically, in my other muffin recipes (like these Banana Muffins or Strawberry Muffins), I prefer to make it a one-bowl situation. However, that wasn't possible with this recipe due to the texture of the oats and almond flour, so instead, this recipe follows a standard quick bread method of mixing the wet and dry and then combining them.
- It is worth repeating: do not use apple cider vinegar instead of the called for apple cider.
- Weighing your flour is the most accurate way to measure. I always provide tested gram measurements where it makes sense. If you aren't going to weigh it, make sure to spoon it into the cup and then level it off. If you scoop the flour out with the measuring cup and then level it, it could change the outcome of the final product.
- Peel the apples: I love to leave the peel on the apple when possible, but unfortunately, not with this recipe unless you don't mind green apple skins. When apple skin is combined with baking soda, a natural chemical reaction occurs, which makes a green pigment (chlorophyll) more pronounced, and I think we can all agree that little specks of green in the muffins, while harmless, are not pleasant.
- Don't overmix: Overmixing will result in gluten build-up and a tough muffin. For this recipe, I don't fully mix the flour together before adding the shredded apples, to ensure a tender crumb.
Storage
These muffins will keep well, covered in an air-tight container for 1-2 days at room temperature. As the days go on, they will become more moist.
For serving after day 1, I find they are best reheated in a toaster oven until warmed through.
These do not freeze well.
More Muffin Recipes
More Apple Recipes
Making the recipe? Be sure to leave a comment with a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on your experience! Have a question? Leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can!
PrintFull Recipe
Healthy Apple Oat Muffins
- Prep Time: 00:10
- Cook Time: 00:20
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
Description
Made with wholesome ingredients like whole wheat, oats, almond flour, and apples, these Healthy Apple Oat Muffins are perfect for a hearty breakfast to start your day off on a good note!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (90 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats (divided)
- 1-½ cups (228 grams) whole wheat flour
- ½ cup (50 grams) fine almond flour
- 1-½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1-½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (115 grams) fresh apple cider (see notes)
- ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- ⅓ cup (110 grams) maple syrup
- ¼ cup smooth apple sauce
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large baking apple, peeled and shredded (about 180 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and place parchment paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together ¾ cup of oats, whole wheat flour, almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the apple cider, melted butter, maple syrup, apple sauce, egg, and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and gently fold them in, until they are nearly combined, with some white streaks of flour left. Fold in the shredded apples. Do not overmix.
- Scoop ¼ cup batter into each paper muffin liner.
- Sprinkle the remaining oats evenly on top of the batter..
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool slightly before serving.
Notes
Do not use apple cider vinegar instead of the called-for fresh apple cider.
Honeycrisp or Fuji are my two top choices for apples to use.
If you do not want or can't use almond flour, you can omit it and replace it with an additional ¼ cup (or 40 grams) of whole wheat flour.
Weighing your flour is the most accurate way to measure. I always provide tested gram measurements where it makes sense. If you aren't going to weigh it, make sure to spoon it into the cup and then level it off. If you scoop the flour out with the measuring cup and then level it, it could change the outcome of the final product.
These muffins will keep well, covered in an air-tight container for a 1-2 days at room temperature. As the days go on, they will become moister. For serving after day 1, I find they are best reheated in a toaster oven until warmed through.
Joyce
making theses I hope they turn out ok. I didn't have a few ingredients.so I subbed . no apple cider used cranberry juice, only had regular flour so used almost 2. cups used maple pancakes syrup. no apple sauce so just used two shredded.apples so now waiting to see how they taste and we'll be.