Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Moist & Flavorful: The applesauce keeps these muffins incredibly moist and adds a lovely apple flavor that pairs perfectly with the warm spices.
- Easy to Make: With just a few simple ingredients, these muffins come together in no time. They’re perfect for beginners and seasoned bakers alike.
- Cozy Cinnamon Sugar Topping: The cinnamon sugar topping adds a sweet, crunchy texture to the top of each muffin, making them extra special.
- Versatile: Enjoy them plain, or get creative by adding mix-ins like nuts, raisins, or even chocolate chips!
Applesauce Muffins Ingredients
- Flour: Keeping thing simple with all purpose flour. You can easily swap with measure-for-measure gluten free flour.
- Baking soda & salt: For just a little flavor and rise.
- Warm spices: The blend of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves really bring out the flavor in these apple spice muffins.
- Vegetable oil: a neutral tasting oil works best (avocado or canola)
- White & brown sugar: the blend of these two sugars make for the best dessert!
- Unsweetened applesauce: this adds moisture and makes the muffins sweet and fluffy.
- Eggs: helps bind ingredients together
- Cinnamon & Nutmeg: These warm spices are a perfect match for the applesauce, giving the muffins that cozy fall flavor.
How to Make Applesauce Muffins Step by Step
- Preheat & prep. Start by preheating the oven to 400F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease the muffin cups with non-stick spray.
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine your flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.
- Mix wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine your sugars and oil. Then mix in your applesauce and eggs.
- Combine. Now it is time to add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Scoop the Batter. Use an ice cream scoop to spoon about 1/4 cup of the batter into each muffin cup filling each one up 3/4 way.
- Bake & Cool. Put the muffins in the oven and bake 5 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for 10-14 minutes, or until the muffins are done. The interior should reach at least 205 degrees F., the tops should spring back when gently pressed, and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out with just a few moist crumbs. Let the muffins cool 1-2 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Serve & Store. Enjoy warm muffins right away, or store leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days or in a freezer bag in the freezer up to 2 months.
- Mix cinnamon topping. In a small bowl, combine the ingredients and stir with a fork until everything is well combined. It should be crumbly and powdery.
Tips on Applesauce
- Stick with Unsweetened. I would not recommend getting sweetened applesauce since it adds more sugar and less volume.
- Favorite brands. My go to is always Motts!
- Do not use flavored applesauce. Stick with regular unsweetened applesauce and not flavors like cinnamon or berry.
FAQ
Can I substitute the vegetable oil with a different type of oil? Absolutely! You can use melted coconut oil, canola oil, or even a light olive oil in place of vegetable oil. Each will bring a slightly different flavor and texture, but all will work well in this recipe.
Can I use sweetened applesauce instead of unsweetened? Yes, you can use sweetened applesauce, but keep in mind that it will make the muffins sweeter. You might want to reduce the amount of granulated sugar by a tablespoon or two if you prefer a less sweet muffin.
Can I make these muffins gluten-free? Definitely! You can substitute the all-purpose flour with a gluten-free flour blend. Make sure the blend includes xanthan gum or another binding agent to help the muffins hold together.
How can I store these muffins? Store your muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also refrigerate them for up to a week or freeze them for up to 3 months.
How do I reheat frozen muffins? To reheat frozen muffins, you can let them thaw at room temperature or pop them in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds. You can also reheat them in the oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 10 minutes to get that fresh-baked texture.
Storage and Freezing
- To Store: Keep your applesauce muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, refrigerate them for up to a week.
- To Freeze: These muffins freeze beautifully! Once cooled, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and place them in a freezer-safe bag or container. They’ll keep for up to 3 months. To reheat, just pop them in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds, and they’ll taste like they were freshly baked.
If you make these Applesauce Muffins, I would really appreciate a comment and rating down below, under the recipe card. Don’t forget to take a picture and tag me over on Instagram, Tik Tok, or Pinterest. For more ideas, check out my Fall Recipes page.
Applesauce Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 4 tbsp flour
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease the muffin cups with non-stick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger until well combined.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, applesauce, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold together with a spatula until just combined. Be careful not to overmix; the batter should be slightly lumpy.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.
- In a separate bowl mix your ingredients for the crumb topping.
- Sprinkle the crumbs over the muffin mixture.
- Put the muffins in the oven and bake 5 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for 10-14 minutes, or until the muffins are done.
- Let the muffins cool 1-2 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
