Vegan Apple Muffins

This recipe for vegan apple muffins is tasty and easy. Fresh apples, raisins (or dried cranberries) and nuts in an applesauce-sweetened batter add up to a wholesome dessert, snack, or breakfast.

To serve: These fruity muffins need no embellishment when fresh out of the oven, but when a day or two old, you might enjoy splitting them in half and spreading with vegan butter or plant-based cream cheese.

These muffins are fantastic as an after-school or midday snack, a quick breakfast, or change of pace from sandwiches for a portable lunch. Coffee, tea, vegan hot cocoa, or cold plant-based milk are all good accompaniments. Try serving a good vegan cheddar-style cheese with these muffins!

Flour options for apple muffins

Whole wheat pastry flour, which has long been my favorite for quick breads, cakes, and cookies, has lately been harder to find — though I’m not sure why this is. Bob’s Red Mill still makes it, and offers an explanation of what it is, and how it differs from regular whole wheat flour.

This being said, there are several other flours that will work well in baked goods like this:

• A combination of half all-purpose flour and half white whole wheat
• Light spelt flour
• Einkorn flour

The latter, recently revived from an ancient whole wheat with a lower gluten content, is a lovely flour to bake with. Learn more in A Guide to Baking with Einkorn Flour. No matter what flour or combination you use, these muffins will be tender and moist, bursting with fresh and dried fruit.

Recipe is from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas. Photos by Hannah Kaminsky, BittersweetBlog.com.

Explore more …

• 31+ Vegan Muffin Recipes, Sweet & Savory
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Continue to Content

Yield: 10 to 12

Vegan Apple Muffins

Print

These muffins are as wholesome as they are tasty and easy, with fresh apples, raisins (or dried cranberries) and nuts in an applesauce-sweetened batter.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (see options in Notes)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup natural granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or ground ginger
• 1 cup applesauce
• 2 tablespoons safflower oil
• 1/3 cup plain or vanilla plant-based milk, or as needed
• 2 medium apples, peeled and diced (any all-purpose variety)
• 2/3 cup dark or golden raisins, or dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F.     
2. Combine first 6 (dry) ingredients (plus the optional pumpkin pie spice) in a mixing bowl and stir together. 
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the applesauce, oil, and enough plant-based milk to make a smooth, slightly stiff batter. Stir until completely mixed. Stir in the diced apple, raisins, and optional nuts.    
4. Divide the batter between 10 (for slightly larger muffins) or 12 foil-lined muffin tins. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a small knife inserted into the center of a muffin tests clean. Cool on a plate or rack and serve warm or at room temperature. 

Notes

Use any of these flours: All-purpose; a combination of all-purpose and white whole wheat flours (1 cup of each; light spelt; einkorn; or whole wheat pastry flour.

See lots more wholesome vegan desserts & sweets.