These quick, easy, moist, and flavorful applesauce muffins contain unsweetened natural applesauce, walnuts, rolled oats, cinnamon, and brown sugar. They are a great on-the-go satisfying breakfast or snack.
Make a batch today and freeze half for later in the week. If you like this recipe, try apple cookies, apple cinnamon bread, and applesauce cake.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Spices: ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. You can also add a pinch or two of ginger and ground cloves.
- Applesauce: preferably unsweetened. If using sweetened applesauce, reduce the brown sugar to 1/4 cup.
- Oatmeal: old-fashioned rolled oats
- Nuts: substitute pecans, hazelnuts, almonds, macadamia, or pistachio nuts for the walnuts.
How to make Applesauce Muffins
Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Then, in a large bowl, beat the eggs and add the applesauce, vegetable oil, and brown sugar, stirring to combine.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture in several increments, stirring a few times. Then add the rolled oats and chopped walnuts and stir just until everything is incorporated.
Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling almost all the way up. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for about 5 minutes before removing them from the muffin tin. Please find the full recipe, including recipe quantities, at the bottom of the post.
How to freeze these apple sauce muffins
First, let the muffins fully cool by removing them from the tin about 5 minutes after they come out of the oven. Place the muffins on a wire cooling rack, and do not wash the tin yet. Once the muffins have thoroughly cooled, place them back in the tin. Place the tin on a flat-level surface in the freezer. Once fully frozen, please put them in a heavy-duty freezer zipper bag, removing as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Preparation Tips
- For accurate measuring, always scoop the flour into the measuring cup with a spoon. Then, level it off with a table knife, pushing the excess back into the flour canister.
- Use paper liners in your muffin tin so you don’t have to grease the pan. With liners, the muffins will never stick, the pan is easier to wash, and the muffins stay somewhat protected in their little package. I like the unbleached chlorine-free baking cups.
- Do not overmix the batter. Mix just until combined and no further. Overmixing the batter can cause overactive gluten, leading to tough and gummy muffins.
How to make a muffin light and fluffy
- Always bring any eggs, butter, and milk to room temperature.
- Increase the baking temperature (around 425 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first 5 minutes, then reduce to 350 for the remainder of the cooking time.
- For a higher rise, I like to use a combination of baking powder and baking soda.
- Do not overmix the batter. This can result in dense, chewy muffins that are not light and fluffy.
- White flour produces a lighter, fluffier muffin than whole grain or whole wheat flour. That is not to say that some whole wheat muffins are not absolutely delicious. It just depends on what you want the result to be from your muffin.
Storage and Reheat
Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week. To reheat, pop them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds.
More Muffin Recipes
Applesauce Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ⅓ cups all natural unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup rolled oats
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Add baking cups to a standard size 12-count muffin tin.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the applesauce, vegetable oil, and brown sugar, stirring to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in several increments, stirring a few times. Add the rolled oats and chopped walnuts and stir just until everything is incorporated.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling almost all the way up. Bake for 5 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for 11-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes before removing them from the muffin tin to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
- For accurate measuring, always scoop the flour into the measuring cup with a spoon. Then, level it off with a table knife, pushing the excess back into the flour canister.
- Use paper liners in your muffin tin so you don’t have to grease the pan. With liners, the muffins will never stick, the pan is easier to wash, and the muffins stay somewhat protected in their little package. I like the unbleached chlorine-free baking cups.
- Do not overmix the batter. Mix just until combined, no further. Overmixing the batter can cause overactive gluten, leading to tough, gummy muffins.
Nutrition
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Ntensibe Edgar
Wow…I must make these! They are very easy and I haven’t tasted applesauce before!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Edgar! Enjoy!!
Ramil Hinolan
These muffins are so moist and sweet. I enjoyed them with my morning coffee. Thanks for the great recipe.
Glamor Medical
Oh, I will absolutely be trying this. My cousin makes chocolate chip cookies with applesauce and they are out of this world.
Heather
I’ve heard of people using applesauce for baking but I haven’t tried it myself yet. I can’t wait to try these muffins!
Maureen
This was absolutely delicious and I love that they are so easy to make. Thanks for a tasty breakfast!
Christian Foremost
Looks absolutely delicious! I bet this would be a nice treat with coffee early in the morning!
Autumn Murray
These applesauce muffins were delicious. My daughter and I really enjoyed making them. We are going to make them again and freeze half the batch.
Fransic verso
It look yummy and love to make muffins because they are good snacks. We did the strawberry ones and they taste so good. We will try this soon as well. Thank you for sharing!
Beth Pierce
The pleasure is all mine!
briannemanzb
This muffin is a new favorite in our house. They are so delicious!
Tweenselmom
Omg I miss applesauce so much! I can’t wait to taste this again, saving this recipe right now!
Juliane
WOW! These were really delicious. I had to freeze half the batch before my husband ate them all.
Sandra
OMG! These muffins quickly disappeared at my house! Everybody enjoyed it! Thanks!
Erik
Love the flavor in this! Such a wonderful texture, too.
Beth Pierce
Thanks Erik!
Erin | Dinners,Dishes and Dessert
These applesauce muffins are delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!
Amanda
I made a big batch of these muffins for breakfasts this week and my kids loved them!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Amanda! So glad that they liked them!
Catalina
Mmmmm…. these muffins are exactly what I need right now! They look so inviting!