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Home » Recipes » Vegan Baking

Vegan Apple Muffins

Published: Sep 19, 2022 · Modified: Sep 19, 2022 by Lexi

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These vegan apple muffins are the perfect autumn breakfast treat. They're packed with fresh apples and warming fall spices, and topped with a buttery oat crumble. Better yet, they're quick and easy to make and store well in the freezer so you can reheat and enjoy all fall.

Overhead view of vegan apple muffins in a tin.
Jump to:
  • Why We Love This Recipe
  • Ingredients
  • Ingredient Notes
  • Step-by-step Instructions
  • Tips and FAQs
  • Other Muffin Recipes to Enjoy
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Reviews

Why We Love This Recipe

  • Maximize seasonal produce: These vegan apple muffins are packed with fresh, seasonal apples. They're the perfect way to utilize those perfect looking apples in your grocery store (or even better, picked fresh from the orchard). Pro tip: they're extra delicious with this hot apple cider!
  • Easy snack: Not only are these muffins delicious but they're perfect for an on-the-go treat. Great for a quick breakfast or snack, and you can freeze and reheat for long term storage!
  • Allergy friendly: these apple muffins are dairy and egg free, and the recipe is super easy to make gluten free with one swap. You can modify them to be nut free if needed as well!
  • Easy to make: These vegan apple muffins come together in a few simple steps and only require about 15 minutes of prep work.
  • Bakery style muffins: we fill our muffin liners almost to the top for giant, fluffy, bakery style muffins with a crunchy, sweet oat streusel topping. If you're making these for kids, feel free to make smaller muffins.

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make these vegan apple muffins:

Overhead view of vegan apple muffins, including flour, applesauce, and sugar.
You can use gluten free or regular all purpose flour in this recipe.

Ingredient Notes

  • Apples: our favorite apples for baking include Honeycrisp, Granny Smith and Pink Lady. We'd avoid Red Delicious or McIntosh, both of which tend to get super mushy and mealy in baked goods.
  • Flax egg: you'll need to use ground flax meal here, not whole flax seeds. Be sure to let this thicken up for 10-15 minutes before incorporating into the wet ingredients to make sure that it reaches the right consistency. You can read more about flax eggs and why we use them here.
  • Applesauce: We use this as a substitute for eggs and for a bit of natural sweetness (and more apple flavor!). Be sure to use unsweetened applesauce in this recipe.
  • Oats: make sure to use old fashioned whole rolled oats in these vegan apple muffins, NOT instant or quick cooking oats.
  • Flour: If you're not gluten free, use regular all-purpose flour. If you are, be sure to use a 1-to-1 (a.k.a. measure for measure) gluten free flour, which contains special ingredients like xanthan gum that help to mimic regular flour. We almost always use Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour – it works like a charm and you can find it at most grocery stores! 
  • Nondairy milk: for best results, let the milk sit out until it reaches room temperature before adding to these vegan apple muffins. We typically use oat milk in this recipe, which has a neutral flavor and creamy texture.
  • Walnuts: we use unroasted, unsalted walnuts in this recipe. You can also sub with pecans, pumpkin seeds, or another nut/seed of choice. (Or, leave them out altogether.)
  • Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV): it may seem like an odd or unnecessary ingredient, but the vinegar reacts with baking soda to help create lift in vegan baked goods. It's essential, so don't skip it!

Step-by-step Instructions

PREP: Preheat the oven to 350˚F/175˚C. Line muffin tins with liners.  

(1) Stir together flax meal and water and set aside to thicken for 10-15 minutes while preparing the rest of the ingredients.

(2) Add oil, applesauce, milk, vanilla, apple cider vinegar and both sugars to a large mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer or whisk to beat until well combined.

On the left: flax seed stirred together. On the right: mixing together wet ingredients.
Flax eggs act as a binder in these vegan apple muffins.

(3) In another bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

(4) Stir the flax eggs into the wet ingredients. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix until well combined. 

On the left: stirring together dry ingredients. On the right: combining wet and dry ingredients.
You can use a hand mixer or a whisk/spatula to make this batter.

(5) Fold in the apples and walnuts to the batter.

(6) Scoop muffin batter evenly into each liner, filling just over ¾ of the liner.

On the left: mixing in apples and walnuts. On the right: scooping batter into muffin tin.
Fresh apples and walnuts add lots of texture.

(7) Make the topping in a small bowl by stirring together oats, brown sugar, melted butter and cinnamon.

(8) Top each muffin with an even amount of oat topping. Bake for 25-27 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  

On the left: mixing together topping. On the right: adding toppings to the unbaked muffins.
Don't skip the crumble topping - it's delicious!
Overhead view of finished apple muffins.
They're done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean!

Tips and FAQs

  • Gently press the streusel into the muffin batter so it doesn't fall off (and make a mess) when eating.
  • Storage: store leftover muffins in an airtight container for up to 4 days at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Be sure to let the muffins cool completely before storing.
  • Freezer storage: for long term storage, store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3-6 months. (As long as there's no freezer burn, they're fine to eat!) Reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds, until warmed through.
  • Adapt for mini muffins: if using a mini muffin tin, start checking the muffins for doneness between 10-15 minutes.
  • Use liners: You can opt to grease the muffin tin instead of using liners, but we find that the muffins can still stick even with a greased tin, so the liners just make life easier.
Overhead view of vegan apple muffins in a tin.

Other Muffin Recipes to Enjoy

  • Front view of raspberry white chocolate muffin on a plate.
    Raspberry White Chocolate Muffins
  • Close up of a pumpkin muffin sliced in half with a pat of butter.
    Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
  • Banana walnut muffin in a muffin tin with a bite taken out.
    Gluten Free Banana Muffins
  • side view of two stacked vegan strawberry muffins with pink backdrop.
    Vegan Strawberry Muffins

Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with us through social media by following us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or by subscribing to our newsletter.

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Overhead view of vegan apple muffins in a muffin tin.

Vegan Apple Muffins


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 7 reviews

  • Author: Lexi
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 18 muffins 1x
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

These vegan apple muffins are the perfect autumn breakfast treat. They're packed with fresh apples and warming fall spices, and topped with a buttery oat crumble. Better yet, they're quick and easy to make and store well in the freezer so you can reheat and enjoy all fall. 


Ingredients

Units Scale

Muffins:

  • 2 flax "eggs" (2 tablespoons ground flax meal + 5 tablespoons water)
  • ½ cup vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil)
  • ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
  • ¼ cup nondairy milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup granulated white sugar
  • ½ cup light brown sugar
  • 2 cups all purpose flour (or gluten free 1:1 flour)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup peeled and diced apple
  • ¾ cup finely chopped walnuts

Topping:

  • ½ cup old fashioned whole rolled oats
  • ⅓ cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vegan butter, melted
  • ¾ teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F/175˚C. Line muffin tins with liners.  
  2. Stir together flax meal and water and set aside to thicken for 10-15 minutes while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
  3. Make the topping in a small bowl by stirring together oats, brown sugar, melted butter and cinnamon. Set aside. 
  4. Add oil, applesauce, milk, vanilla, apple cider vinegar and both sugars to a large mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer or whisk to beat until well combined.
  5. In another bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
  6. Stir the flax eggs into the wet ingredients. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix until well combined. 
  7. Fold in the apples and walnuts to the batter.
  8. Scoop muffin batter evenly into each liner, filling just over ¾ of the liner. Top each muffin with an even amount of oat topping.
  9. Bake for 25-27 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  

Notes

Apples: our favorite apples for baking include Honeycrisp, Granny Smith and Pink Lady. We'd avoid Red Delicious or McIntosh, both of which tend to get super mushy and mealy in baked goods.

Flax egg: you'll need to use ground flax meal here, not whole flax seeds. Be sure to let this thicken up for 10-15 minutes before incorporating into the wet ingredients to make sure that it reaches the right consistency. You can read more about flax eggs and why we use them here.

Gently press the streusel into the muffin batter so it doesn't fall off (and make a mess) when eating.

Storage: store leftover muffins in an airtight container for up to 4 days at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Be sure to let the muffins cool completely before storing.

Freezer storage: for long term storage, store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3-6 months. (As long as there's no freezer burn, they're fine to eat!) Reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds, until warmed through.

Adapt for mini muffins: if using a mini muffin tin, start checking the muffins for doneness between 10-15 minutes.

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25
  • Category: Baking
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 muffin
  • Calories: 227
  • Sugar: 16.2 g
  • Sodium: 149 mg
  • Fat: 11.2 g
  • Carbohydrates: 30.4 g
  • Fiber: 1.7 g
  • Protein: 2.7 g

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @crowded_kitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #crowdedkitchen

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Comments

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    Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

  1. Rachel says

    October 16, 2022 at 10:42 pm

    These turned out great! I increased the amount of flax egg bc, being my first time doing flax eggs, I wasn't sure if the mixture was thick enough...I think it was a bit TOO thick once I did that! But it still turned out great. I used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar, and a little less white sugar than called for (and subbed with monkfruit) and it was perfect for my tastebuds.

    Reply
  2. nancy says

    September 25, 2022 at 1:57 pm

    tasty vegan apple muffins is perfect for this season. i love how healthy and tasty it is.

    Reply
  3. kushigalu says

    September 24, 2022 at 9:41 pm

    WOW! Your pics are amazing and those muffins look just WOW! Perfect fall recipe.

    Reply
  4. Alana says

    September 24, 2022 at 9:39 pm

    These muffins were so amazing! Perfect amount of apple and fall flavor. Can’t even tell they’re vegan.

    Reply
  5. Tara says

    September 24, 2022 at 8:49 pm

    This is like fall in a warm, comforting muffin. Brown sugar and nutmeg add just the right balance to the apple. Yum!

    Reply
  6. Janessa says

    September 24, 2022 at 7:07 pm

    These look fantastic! I love the idea of a streusel topping- definitely need to make these soon.

    Reply
  7. MJ says

    September 24, 2022 at 5:05 pm

    Our apple tree produced an abundance of apples this year, and this is one of the recipes I made to use up the apples. So glad I found it! The whole family loves these muffins!

    Reply
  8. Ally says

    September 24, 2022 at 1:05 pm

    These muffins were so delicious, especially that crumble on top. Definitely making again!

    Reply
    • Lexi says

      September 24, 2022 at 1:06 pm

      Thanks, Ally! Glad you enjoyed!

      Reply
Lexi and Beth toasting with wine.

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