Healthy Apple Muffins
Amazing, healthy apple muffins made with maple syrup and whole wheat flour! No one will guess that this simple cinnamon apple muffin recipe is healthy, too.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
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It’s apple muffin time! You all really seem to love my banana muffins, pumpkin muffins and carrot muffins and the blueberry muffins in my cookbook. Today, apple muffins are joining the club.
Like the others in the bunch, these muffins are made with 100 percent whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened with maple syrup or honey. They are nice and fluffy, with just enough sweetness to be irresistible.
Granted, I already have an apple oatmeal muffin recipe on the blog from four years ago, but I have significantly upped my muffin game since then. These muffins are the better of the two, by a long shot.
I based these healthy apple muffins off my carrot muffins, replacing grated carrots with fresh apple, and replacing half of the Greek yogurt with applesauce.
These muffins contain apple, three ways: freshly grated and chopped apple for the perfect texture, and applesauce for infused apple flavor. They’re the best apple muffins I’ve ever had.
Healthy Apple Muffin Notes
- These apple muffins taste even better after resting for a few hours, if they last that long.
- I particularly enjoy them with a spread of peanut butter.
- Check my recipe notes for how to use honey instead of maple syrup, and some ideas for how to make the muffins vegan.
I think it’s time for another! Please let me know how you like these muffins in the comments. I love hearing from you.
Baking Tips for Success
How to Measure Flour
How you measure your flour is important. Why? If you measure incorrectly, you could end up with up to 50 percent extra flour, which will make your muffins dense, dry and flavorless. Use the spoon and swoop method:
- Gently stir your flour to loosen any clumps.
- Spoon your flour into the measuring cup with a big spoon or a flour scoop. Do not scoop up the flour directly into the measuring cup.
- Level off the top of the cup with a knife. Repeat as necessary.
Baking Powder & Baking Soda Are Not the Same Thing
…and they are not interchangeable. Both are leaveners that help your baked goods rise (baking powder contains some baking soda, but that’s a long story).
This recipe relies on a combination of baking powder and baking soda to produce light and fluffy muffins. For ideal results, always follow the recipe and measure carefully.
How to Stir Your Batter
This muffin batter is super simple to stir together by hand, and that’s how I recommend making these muffins. Why? Whipping your batter will make the flour’s gluten protein too strong, yielding tough muffins.
I know it can be tempting to use a stand mixer or hand mixer when it’s within reach. Please don’t! Follow the instructions below and you’ll end up with light, fluffy muffins.
Watch How to Make Apple Muffins
Healthy Apple Muffins
Amazing, healthy apple muffins made with maple syrup and whole wheat flour! No one will guess that this simple cinnamon apple muffin recipe is good for you, too. Recipe yields 12 muffins.
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup grated apple
- 1 cup apple diced into ¼” cubes
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey*
- 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt (I used full-fat but any variety should do)
- ½ cup applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any grease).
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Blend well with a whisk. Add the grated apple (if it is dripping wet, gently squeeze it over the sink to release some extra moisture) and chopped apple. Stir to combine.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil and maple syrup and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then add the yogurt, applesauce and vanilla and mix well. (If the coconut oil solidifies in contact with cold ingredients, gently warm the mixture in the microwave in 30 second bursts.)
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). The batter will be thick, but don’t worry! Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake muffins for 13 to 16 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
- Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my healthy carrot muffins.
*If you are baking with honey: Honey tends to brown quickly, so to avoid overdone muffins, bake muffins at 325 degrees Fahrenheit until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 23 to 25 minutes.
Make it vegan: Replace the eggs with flax eggs and replace the yogurt with vegan buttermilk—try mixing 1 ½ teaspoons vinegar with a scant ½ cup non-dairy milk. Let it rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the other liquid ingredients. (You could also try using more applesauce in place of the yogurt but I’m not sure it’s acidic enough to counteract the bitter taste of the baking soda.)
Make it dairy free: See “buttermilk” option above.
Make it egg free: Use flax eggs instead of regular eggs.
Make it gluten free: Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Flour make gluten-free all-purpose blends that work well.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Are the cooked muffins freezable? And fot how long?
Thanks
Sure! Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.
Hi i made this apple muffin recipe step by step . However my cake stuck to my baking tray and crumbled to pieces when i scooped it out of my muffin tray when it came out of the oven. Please help
Oh no! Did you grease your pan? How long did you bake them for?
Yes i greased my pan and also added muffin liner however the muffin didnt become fluffy in the oven . It just went down in the middle of each muffin and also crumbled to pieces when i tried to scoop it out of the pan
Can i share a pic of my muffin ?
How many calories per muffin?
Hi Anita! The nutritional information is below the notes of the recipe. Click to expand and make sure you allow cookies in your browser.
Made this gluten-free using King Arthur Measure-for-Measure flour, and these muffins were AMAZING. Followed all the directions exactly, except that I let the batter sit in the muffin tins for 30 minutes before popping them in the oven, as I’ve found that tends to make gluten-free batter set up better. These muffins were light and fluffy–perfect!
I’m glad you love them, Kelsi! Thanks for your review.
Kate,
Can I use almond flour in place of the wheat flour?
Unfortunately, almond flour isn’t a great 1:1 substitute. I recommend a gluten free flour blend if you can’t do wheat.
Ok thank you!
I just popped into your site and saw the recipies of healthy muffins and they really look yummy apart from healthy. Thanks so much for your recipies , they are made with simple ingriedients that takes no extra effort to make
I’m happy you like them, Grace!
Does anyone know what the next carb value for this muffin is? Thank you.
Hi Susanne! Nutrition information is below the notes section. Make sure you allow cookies in your browser as this is a plug-in.
I’ve made these a couple of times and they’ve always been a hit , so thank you so so much for the recipe however it’s been a while since I made them last and i thought today it would go just like any other time . I usually sub honey for agave syrup but anyway they came out tasting awful this time around . I’m gonna. Keep trying until I get them right again !
You’re welcome, Jonathan! I appreciate your review.
They came out very moist, almost too greasy. Next time I’ll try with less oil.
These muffins are yummy! My daughter loved them. But how do we adjust the quantity of ingredients to make mini muffins?
I made these with whole wheat flour and extra virgin olive oil without the sugar on top as a mini muffin cooked for 12 mins. I think they are wonderful but my 5 year old was uninspired. Woes of a picky eater.
Hello. When I click on the nutrition info, nothing shows up even though I have cookies enabled. Could someone tell me the calorie amount per muffin? Thanks.
These are delicious! I have a big old apple tree and around this time of year I’m always looking for apple recipes. My son loves these muffins so we’ll keep coming back to this recipe. I made some substitutions based on what I had on hand (and my general inability to follow a recipe) and definitely compromised the healthy a bit as a result. I used room temp butter instead of oil and sour cream instead of yogurt. I also topped with a streusel instead of just sugar. Amazing!
Thank you, Tamara! I’m happy you loved it.
I’ve learn some good stuff here. Certainly price bookmarking for revisiting.
I surprise how so much attempt you set to create such a great informative site.
I don’t have whole wheat flour, can I substitute for all purpose? I don’t bake much… actually ever so I have no idea but these sound delicious I have to try.
That should work, but will change the nutritional value significantly.
Loved that the muffins were not too sweet and the recipe was super easy to follow. Will try adding oats next time. Thank you!
These are delicious. Do you by any chance have a calorie count for 1 muffin? Thanks.
Hi Felicia! The nutritional information can be found below the notes section. Be sure to click to expand and that you allow cookies in your browser.
Hi. I just want to know if i can substitute the honey or maple syrup with brown sugar and /or granulated sugar? Thanks in advance!
I’m not sure as the honey/maple syrup help with the moisture too. If you try it, let me know!
These were perfect
Hi Kate,
Any thoughts on subbing the apple sauce for more Greek yogurt?
Thanks!
Madison
I believe others have used it in this recipe, I suggest looking at other reader comments. I haven’t tried it with more apple sauce.
These are absolutely fantastic. I did 2/3 cup of granulated stevia instead of the maple syrup (baking for diabetics!) They came out glorious, as always. Any time I don’t know what to make for breakfast, I look at your blog. You never disappoint! Adding this to the repertoire :)
How are these with regular flour? Or coconut or almond flour? Whole wheat is one type of flour I don’t have in my pantry.
Hi Kris! See the recipe notes for flour. :) A GF flour blend will work here. All purpose should work too, although I haven’t tried it. Unfortunately, coconut and almond flour don’t usually work well as a 1:1 substitute.
Awesome recipe- would not change a thing! And it made more than 12 muffins for me :-)
These muffins are amazingly delicious! Thank you for the recipe. I was looking for a simple apple recipe for my child’s kindergarten class as they learn about Johnny Appleseed. His teacher needed apple muffins and I decided to try this recipe because it was the only one where it used maple syrup. My child is on a very strict diet of gluten and dairy free foods so here’s what I used in substitution:
– arrowhead mills organic gluten free all purpose flour
-coconut vanilla yogurt (for full fat plain yogurt)
-unsweetened apple sauce
– i used gala apples and instead of grating the apples, I peeled and diced them into small pieces
These turned out super delicious and my kids and husband want me to make more!
One thing I noticed the high temperature cooked the outside of the muffins more than the inside. So next time, I’ll lower the temp to 350 degrees at 15-20mins.
These muffins are SO DOPE. I added 1 cup oats instead of 1/2 cup flour and its a really nice bite. Also upped the cinnamon but overall i absolutely love these muffins. I’ve made them one a week for about three weeks. Everything on this blog is a winner!
This is a wonderful recipe! I made it with coconut oil and maple syrup. Also, I did not have any yogurt or applesauce on hand. Left out the apple sauce and used sour cream for the yogurt. My house smelled delightful while they were cooking and the muffins tasted even better than they smelled. Thanks for another great recipe!
Very good! Forgot to sprinkle sugar on top, but didn’t miss it! Made 12 muffins and one small loaf.
Can you use McIntosh apples in this recipe?
I prefer what I have here, but you can try it!
Can you use McIntosh apples in this as opposed to the Granny Smith apples? so just went apple picking and have a ton of Macs to use up!
I’ve made these muffins a few times and I still love them! Do you usually have apple pieces that are still visible by the end? When I make this recipe, after I mix everything together, there are still apple ‘lumps’.
That’s ok, as long as it still turns out!
I just made your Healthy Pumpkin muffins recipe and they are excellent.
I want to make the Healthy Apple muffins, but I want to use dried apple . Can I leave out the grated apple or substitute for the grated apple?
Sharon
I’m not sure with the dried apple without trying it, as the muffins do get some moisture from the apple.
Just a general comment:
Over the past months my husband and I have been transitioning to a whole food plant-based diet and have come to look to you as a dependable source for healthy, flavourful and adaptable recipes. With few exceptions we have been very pleased with our results.
Many thanks!
JT
You’re welcome, Jan!
Thank you so very much for all of the wonderful Plant Based recipes you share.
We are constantly inspired by your helpful hints and tasty combinations.
I’ve just started Weight Watchers and would like to add these muffins to my repertoire. I’ve been unable to find the nutritional analysis in order to create a food profile for these muffins on the WW site. Can you help me – I need the total calories, saturated fat , protein and sugar. With thanks
Hi Catherine! The nutritional information is below the notes of the recipe. You need to click to expand and then ensure you have cookies enabled in your browser. Let me know if you still have issues!
These muffins are amazing! Just made them and everyone loved them❤️Debbie Santangelo
Thank you, Debbie!
I loved this recipe and particularly will remember cutting the fruit 2 ways plus applesauce- how smart! !
Please post some great high fiber meal and snack options for the long winter to keep us all healthy and happy.
Thank you!
I made these last night! Yummy! Thanks Kate!
Wow! Thank you for this healthy recipe! I made these muffins with egg replacer and vegan greek yogurt alternative. They tasted great!
Thank you for sharing, Joshua!
So, like most people, I decided to make a few adjustments so they would have some oats in them and not technically have any added sugar. (Which, of course, depends on how strict you are, lol.) So for the maple syrup I subbed 10 dates, and I subbed 1/2 cup of the flour for 1/2 cup quick oats. I didn’t bother to pulse the oats or make them into oat flour. I just stirred them in as they were. I put all the wet ingredients into a blender so it would blend my dates into the mixture since I was too lazy to make date paste. I still mixed it into the dry ingredients by hand. They came out perfectly! I also added a dash of pumpkin pie spice just for a little extra zing. Next time I’ll also add some flax seeds, which I normally toss in a tbsp of into all my baking recipes, but I left them out this time in case they didn’t come out right, I wanted to be able to troubleshoot.
Thanks for sharing, Amanda!
Yummy! These were so soft and fluffy. Perfect fall breakfast!
Bookmarked this to make it over the weekend! Apples are the best baking ingredient for fall! So hearty and filling!
These might be my favorite muffins now! So good. I added some raisins to mine and used King Athur’s gluten-free flour. Kids and adults all enjoyed these. Will definitely make them again. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Hi Kate,
Just made this healthy apple muffin recipe. I had to use regular flour, can’t eat alot of wheat at the moment. I also added 2 cups of apples, came out amazing. The muffins are so moist and delicious, I had to add a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the same dish to make it heavenly..Thank you I will be making this again, and just shared the recipe with my sister..
Thank you for sharing, Jean! I appreciate your review.
Made these with honey crisp apples and homemade apple sauce. Best muffins EVER!!!! Thank you!
I love to hear that! Thanks for your review, Michelle.
I had new harvest gala apples gifted to me so made a double batch today and they turned out beautifully. Thanks for a great recipe. I followed it exactly and used olive oil and maple syrup. So tasty!
You’re welcome, Suzanne!
How would you freeze/unfreeze these? I haven’t made them yet, but I know I will have way too many extras.
Hi! You can put them in a freezer safe container, airtight. Let them cool to room temperature before freezing. You can either let them thaw on on the counter, or gently heat them in the microwave.
Hello Kate,
I already made this recipe which was wonderful ! Soft and delicious with full of apple fleveur.
I never liked cup cake recipes full of butter and sugar. And it always turn out dry.
I’ve like to know how many gram is 1 cup of flour ? My cup was 160 g. And I read 1 cup could be 120 g etc on the web.
This recipe is the best cup cake recipe that I found. I put some poppy seed inside too.
Thank you so much for your great recipes ! I also tried cookies and delighted, I couldn’t believe it got no butter and very little sugar inside.
Thank you for sharing!
Oh my, these were SO good! I used your suggestion to make them dairy free, otherwise followed the recipe exactly and it made 18 muffins. They definitely tasted whole wheat-y (didn’t have white whole wheat so maybe that makes a difference), but they were so apple-y and the texture was amazing, it didn’t really matter. Will definitely be making these again!
I’m glad you loved it, Katie!
The apple muffins are wonderful. How many calories per muffin? Thanks for this recipe.
Made these & they did not disappoint! Love that I can eat them guilt free too. Such good use of apples. So yummy! Will make again.
I’m happy you love them, Laura!