These Applesauce Muffins are simple and delicious muffins made with no eggs, no dairy, and no added sugar but with of taste!
While the whole recipe is just below, don’t miss all my tips further down, including ingredient swaps, my cooking tips, and step-by-step shots!
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Applesauce Muffins
These Applesauce Muffins are simple and delicious muffins made with no eggs, no dairy, and no added sugar but with of taste!
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Servings: 12 muffins
Calories: 141.4 kcal
Ingredients
- 2 cups Self-Rising Flour - (note 1)
- 1 ⅓ cups Unsweetened Applesauce - (note 2)
- ⅓ cup Light Olive Oil - (note 3)
- ⅓ cup Almond Milk - (note 4)
- 2 teaspoons Cinnamon - or pumpkin pie spices (note 5)
Optional – recommended for sweeteness, but not necessary
- ½ cup Unrefined Cane Sugar - (note 6)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 12-hole muffin pan with silicone cups – the best for this high-moisture muffin recipe – or, if using paper liners, but make sure you oil them well with oil spray.
- In a mixing bowl, add applesauce, oil, milk, vanilla, and sugar if used. Stir to combine.
- Stir in self-rising flour until it forms a smooth, consistent applesauce muffin batter.
- Fill the muffin cups to 3/4 of their level using a cooking dough scoop to grab the batter and release.
- Bake the muffins on the center rack of the oven for 30-35 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.
- Cool down on a cooling rack immediately for about 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
Note 1: or 2 cups of all-purpose flour or white spelt with 3 teaspoons of baking powder. You can make it gluten-free by following my gluten-free guide and using my special GF blend.
Note 2: Sweetened applesauce works to increase the sweetness of the muffins.
Note 3: Any mild-flavor oil works for this recipe, but you can’t swap the oil for more applesauce or yogurt, as the muffin would be super gummy.
Note 4: Or any milk you like.
Note 5: Or pumpkin pie spices.
Note 6: To boost sweetness, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar. You can use unrefined cane sugar, coconut sugar, demerara sugar, or brown sugar, but no liquid sweetener.
Oven Mode: I use the fan-forced (convection) mode. If you have to use conventional mode, I recommend increasing the temperature by 25°F (15 °C). The baking time should be the same, but it might take a few more minutes.
Storage: Store the muffins in an airtight cake box at room temperature for up to 4 days. Freeze for up to 1 month in Ziploc bags and thaw the day before at room temperature.
Nutrition
Serving: 1muffin (no added sugar) | Calories: 141.4kcal | Carbohydrates: 18.5g | Protein: 2.6g | Fat: 6.5g | Saturated Fat: 0.9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4.5g | Sodium: 10.1mg | Potassium: 42.4mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2.6g | Vitamin A: 9.3IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 15.9mg | Iron: 0.3mg | Magnesium: 6.2mg | Phosphorus: 21.8mg | Zinc: 0.2mg
Ingredients and Substitutions
This paragraph gives you all my tips about picking the right ingredients. For the full recipe with measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post!Go to Full Recipe
You only need five simple ingredients to make this recipe. Here’s how to pick and swap them.
- Self-Rising Flour – This is the primary dry ingredient that creates the structure of the muffins. It contains leavening agents and salt already mixed in, which makes the recipe a bit easier. You can also use all-purpose flour with some baking powder and salt added.
- Unsweetened Applesauce – This ingredient provides natural sweetness, moisture, and bulk to the muffins without needing to add sugar. It also acts as a binder, replacing eggs in traditional muffin recipes.
- Light Olive Oil – This adds moisture and a tender crumb to the muffins. Any mild-flavored vegetable oil, like canola or sunflower oil, also works well.
- Almond Milk – This adds moisture and helps to bring the batter to the right consistency. You can also use soy milk, oat milk, or any other plant-based milk.
- Cinnamon – This spice adds a warm, cozy flavor that pairs perfectly with the applesauce. You can also use pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or a mixture of your favorite warm spices.
- Unrefined Cane Sugar – This provides additional sweetness and helps with browning and texture, especially for those who prefer a sweeter muffin. You can also use coconut sugar or brown sugar for a similar result.
How to Make Applesauce Muffins
Carine’s Baking Tips
Let me share a few more tips for a perfect applesauce muffins.
- Avoid Overmixing – Stir the flour into the wet ingredients only until no dry streaks remain. Overmixing the batter can cause the muffins to become tough and gummy.
- Properly Store – To keep your muffins fresh for longer, make sure they are completely cool before placing them in an airtight container. Storing them while still warm can trap moisture and make them soggy.
- Enhance Flavor – For an extra layer of flavor, you can stir in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract or a pinch of salt when you mix the wet ingredients.
- Quick Freeze – Once the muffins are baked and completely cooled, you can flash-freeze them on a baking sheet for 30 minutes before transferring them to a sealable freezer bag. This prevents them from sticking together and makes them easy to grab one at a time.
- Customize Toppings – Before baking, you can sprinkle the tops with a little coarse sugar, oats, or a few chopped nuts for added texture and visual appeal.
- Adjust For Sweetness – If you are adding sugar, consider reducing the amount of applesauce if it is sweetened. This will help you find the perfect sweetness level without changing the texture of the muffins.
can you sweeten with chopped dates
thank you. I will be making soon.
I use dates as my preferred sweetener instead of sugar.
If you remove the sugar, they will be very gummy and moist, even more if you use pieces of dates instead.
You can add pieces of chopped dates in the batter. You can’t swap applesauce for dates.
It’s way delicious !
The recipe made 24 mini muffins and 6 regular muffins .
perfect for kids lunchs !
It’s my first recipe of the site and not the last one !
easy to read ( i’m the french canadian )
Thank you so much! Ou devrais je dire merci beaucoup! J’ai hate de lire votre prochain commentaire.
White whole wheat was my choice because I’m prediabetic thanks!!
Is very good
Thank you !
Can I use paper liners or just place batter in muffin tin ???
You can try, but they are very moist and tend to stick to paper liners.
Hi Carine,
Tell me dear Carine, can I replace thé Apple sauce by puree ?
Thank you for your response.
Regards
Gînette lhie
I suppose yes, I haven’t tried yet, but I guess it will work too. Let me know how it goes Ginette.
These look delicious! If I were to make them into mini muffins, how long do you suggest I start the cooking time at? Thank you!
In a mini muffin pan, I usually bake my muffins between 16-20 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center of one muffin, if it’s too wet, keep baking by 5 minutes burst.
These sound great. Does the recipe require vanilla extract? It is mentioned in the instructions and shown in the photo of ingredients but isn’t included in the list of ingredients. Thank you!
It’s optional, you can skip it.
Instead of applesauce, could I use pumpkin purée?
I don’t know, probably, the texture might be a bit more dense. You can also use my pumpkin muffin.
The recipe worked well except for I cannot use wheat Flour, I have a problem with a gluten have a problem with being wheat. Although I’ve been trying different methods of using different items for making different types of flour. This isn’t the same consistency as regular flour is. But oh well that’s the way things work out these days so thank you For the recipe
Have you tried using my gluten-free conversion guide to replace wheat in all my recipes? It’s here. It will show you that you can’t indeed swap wheat by same amount of all-purpose gluten-free flour, you also need a few other adjustment to reach a similar texture.