Best Healthy Applesauce Muffins Recipe
Try this easy and healthy wholewheat applesauce muffins recipe – naturally sweet, low in sugar, perfect for kids and a nutritious snack.
Whenever I want something easy, wholesome and quick to bake, muffins are my ideal choice. Preparing muffin batter is simply a no-fuss task. They get baked fairly quickly and the best part is, you can enjoy them right away which is definitely a bonus when you have kids around. You can check out my other Kid Friendly Healthy Baking Recipes here.
More About Applesauce Muffins
These muffins are made with wholesome ingredients, no refined sugar and no butter. It contains wholewheat flour, rolled oats and jaggery powder. For good fats, it contains extra virgin olive oil. You can also make these dairy free.
Applesauce adds moisture and gives a soft apple flavour. However, if you want more of apple flavour, you can also add chopped apples along with applesauce. For easy to make applesauce check out the recipe here, Homemade Creamy Cinnamon Apple Puree.
For more flavour and texture, you can also add optional add-ins like dark chocolate chips, raisins, chopped apple or dried berries.
Ingredients and Substitutes
1. Applesauce: Use homemade unsweetened cinnamon applesauce. You can check out the recipe for Cinnamon Applesauce here. You can also substitute applesauce with grated apple. You just have to ensure the grated apple is finely grated or has puree like texture. You may also have to adjust the liquid in the recipe, as grated apple can be drier than applesauce. In that case you can add 1/8th cup of milk of your choice, yogurt or sour cream.
2. Extra Virgin Olive Oil: You need some fat for the muffins. So do not compromise on the oil because less oil muffins tend to be dry and rubbery. You can substitute olive oil with any other good fat oil like virgin coconut oil.
3. Wholewheat Flour: These are made with 100% wholewheat flour. I have not tested this recipe with any gluten free flour.
4. Rolled Oats: You can use rolled oats or quick oats for this recipe. However, I like rolled oats better because of their taste and it gives a certain bite to the muffin.
5. Jaggery Powder: These muffins are not overly sweet. Too sweet muffins takes away the subtle flavour of applesauce. Jaggery powder gives a wonderful earthy flavour and pairs beautifully with apples. You can substitute jaggery powder with unprocessed cane sugar or coconut sugar.
6. Egg: Apart from nutrition, egg adds a brilliant texture. You can totally make these muffins eggless. It will not affect the tenderness.
Substitute of Eggs:
- You can use flaxeggs instead of eggs. Take 1 tbsp of coarsely ground flaxseeds and mix them in 4 tbsps of water. Let it sit for 10 to 12 minutes or till it gets a gel like consistency and use it place of 1 egg. So, if the recipe calls for 2 eggs, take 2 tbsps of flaxseeds and 8 tbsps of water.
- You can also use 1/4th cup of Greek yogurt or buttermilk or milk to replace 1 egg.
7. Milk: I have used regular A2 cow’s milk. However, you can use milk of your choice. It could be almond milk, coconut milk or any other nut milk. As a matter of fact, I have made these muffins using homemade coconut milk and it pairs wonderfully with apples.
8. Baking Soda and Baking Powder: These are leavening agents.
9. Cinnamon, Salt and Pure Vanilla Extract: These are flavour enhancers I have used. Beside these, you can also choose flavour of your choice like dry ginger powder, five spice powder or nutmeg powder can also taste great.
10. Dark Chocolate Chunks: I have used 70% dark chocolate chunks here. However, it is completely optional. You can instead add raisins, walnuts, dried berries of your choice or skip it altogether.
Step by Step Instructions
For detailed recipe, please jump to the recipe card below
For Batter
1. Firstly, preheat the oven at 180 C ten minutes prior to baking.
2. Secondly, sieve wholewheat flour, baking soda and powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add rolled oats and set aside.
3. Add olive in a bowl, followed by jaggery powder. Whisk the mixture for 1-2 minutes using an electric beater till the jaggery dissolves. You can also use a manual whisker.
4. Now add egg and whisk again till the mixture becomes light and foamy. Another 2 minutes.
5. Now add vanilla extract and mix again.
6. Tip in applesauce and whisk until it completely gets incorporated in the batter.
7. Now add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in batches. Alternate between flour mix and milk. First add flour and then little milk. Gently mix the batter. Then add another batch of flour and milk and gently cut and fold the batter.
8. At last, add dark chocolate chunks as much as you like and gently mix again. This step is optional, although I highly recommend it.
Baking
9. Portion the muffin batter into the lined muffin pan. I used silicon liners because they are so much easier to work with. No greasing or dusting is required. Only fill each muffin cavity about two thirds of the way up, because they will rise while baking.
10. Place on the oven’s center rack, and bake for twenty minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out mostly clean. Let cool in the muffin tray and then transfer to the wire rack.
11. Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a 2-3 days, then transfer to the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Pro Tips
- Jaggery Powder: Ensure that the jaggery powder is smooth and fine to avoid grainy batter. You can sieve the powder to get rid of grainy bits.
- Batter: If the batter looks thick, add a tbsp or two of Greek yogurt or water, milk of your choice. The amount of liquid will depend upon the wholewheat flour you are using. Only add extra liquid in small quantity at first if the batter looks thick.
- Folding: Always fold the batter in cut and fold method. Do not whisk or mix the batter. This will result into a dense cake.
- Nuts: If using any nuts like walnuts, add them to the dry ingredients first then mix dry ingredients to wet ingredients otherwise adding nuts to the final batter will make them settle at the bottom. Adding nuts to the dry ingredients first will evenly distribute them in the batter.
- Airy Batter: To make texture of muffins light and airy, sieve wholewheat flour 2-3 times. This will help to incorporate more air in the flour.
Storage Tips
Store leftover muffins in an airtight covered container. Due to the perishable ingredients, I recommend refrigerating for optimum freshness.
You can also freeze the applesauce muffins for up to three months. Thaw before eating, and reheat in the microwave. Your house will have a delicious smell of cinnamon and sugar.
Best Healthy Applesauce Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Applesauce cup measurement 250 ml
- 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil/Coconut Oil
- 1/3 cup Jaggery Powder
- 1 medium Egg check above for egg substitute
- 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup Milk of your choice
- Dark Chocolate Chunks or Chips (70%) optional; as much as you like
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup Wholewheat Flour
- 1/2 cup Rolled or Instant Oats
- 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 2 pinch Salt
- 1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder add more if applesauce is not cinnamon flavoured
Instructions
For Batter
- Preheat the oven at 180 C ten minutes prior to baking.
- Sieve wholewheat flour, baking soda and powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add rolled oats and set aside.
- Add olive in a bowl, followed by jaggery powder. Whisk the mixture for 1-2 minutes using an electric beater till the jaggery dissolves. You can also use a manual whisker.
- Now add egg and whisk again till the mixture becomes light and foamy. Another 2 minutes.
- Now add vanilla extract and mix again.
- Tip applesauce and whisk it completely gets incorporated in the batter.
- Now add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in batches. Alternate between flour mix and milk. First add flour and then little milk. Gently mix the batter. Then add another batch of flour and milk and gently cut and fold the batter.
- At last, add dark chocolate chunks as much as you like and gently mix again. This step is optional, although I highly recommend it.
Baking
- Portion the muffin batter into the lined muffin pan. I used silicon liners because they are so much easier to work with. No greasing or dusting is required. Only fill each muffin cavity about two thirds of the way up, because they will rise while baking.
- Place on the oven’s center rack, and bake for twenty minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out mostly clean. Let cool in the muffin tray and then transfer to the wire rack.
- Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a 2-3 days, then transfer to the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Jaggery Powder: Ensure that the jaggery powder is smooth and fine to avoid grainy batter. You can sieve the powder to get rid of grainy bits.
- Batter: If the batter looks thick, add a tbsp or 2 of Greek yogurt or water, milk or almond or coconut milk. The amount of liquid will depend upon the wholewheat flour you are using. Only add extra liquid in small quantity at first if the batter looks thick.
- Folding: Always fold the batter in cut and fold method. Do not whisk or mix the batter. This will result into a dense cake.
- Nuts: If using nuts like walnuts, add them to the dry ingredients first then mix dry ingredients to wet ingredients otherwise adding nuts to the final batter will make them settle at the bottom. Adding nuts to the dry ingredients first will evenly distribute them to the batter.
- Airy Batter: To make texture of muffins light and airy, sieve wholewheat flour 2-3 times. This will help to incorporate more air in the flour.
Give this healthy muffins recipe a try and let me know how they turned out for you. I would love to hear your thoughts and any tasty twists you added in the comments below! 🙂
