APPLE CINNAMON MUFFINS (GLUTEN FREE + VEGAN)
Moist and tender, these apple cinnamon muffins are made with almond flour, oats and naturally sweetened with pure maple syrup! Vegan and gluten free recipe.
I haven’t attempted muffins until I ran across this beautiful photography + food blog called The Vanilla Bean. After oohing and ahhing over all the photography as I scrolled through her blog, I was inspired to veganize these gluten-free Apple Cinnamon Muffins, although the recipe didn’t need much reworking and it came out wonderful. You can find the original recipe at here. Go make yourself some gluten-free vegan muffins and come back and take a look at her blog, it’s truly gorgeous!
Almond Flour Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Gluten free and vegan, these almond flour apple cinnamon muffins have a nice moist center with lots of flavor in each bite. Bits of apple and walnut adding texture, and cinnamon wrapped all around. Without being overly sweet they are a great way to start your day, or to snack on any time you’re feeling hungry.
I really had good luck with this recipe and was so happy with the outcome. They are very moist, tender and a little crumbly, and oh so delicious! I could even sit and eat the batter, never making muffins it’s so good!
All her tinkering and snacking has paid off. Best of all, I didn’t have to change much making this an easy recipe to veganize. Like she suggests in her recipe, these muffins can go various ways:
- use pears instead of apples
- or add in grated carrots along with the apples
I love versatility in recipes, it keeps it fresh and usable. It’s really a great muffin to have in your vegan, plant-based library. Cheers to good eats!
Apple-Cinnamon Muffins Ingredients
Here is everything you will need to make this almond flour apple cinnamon muffins, including substitutions where noted:
- almond flour – I don’t recommend subbing with any other flour for this recipe
- quick oats –
- flax egg – can also sub with applesauce
- baking powder
- cinnamon
- maple syrup – sub with coconut nectar or date syrup
- oil – neutral oil or coconut oil in its liquid state
- non-dairy milk – use almond milk, cashew milk, oat milk, soy milk, or your favorite plant milk
- vanilla
- diced apples
- walnuts or pecans, optional
- sugar – white, brown, or coconut sugar
How To Make Almond Flour Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Here is a quick look at the process of making gluten free apple cinnamon muffins. See the bottom of this post for the full printable recipe.
- Start by making your flax egg. Let it set for 10 minutes to thicken.
- Next, make the crumble topping by combing the sugar, cinnamon and chopped oats in a small bowl.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients together, then add in the wet ingredients, mix well. Lastly, add the diced apples, mixing one again.
- Scoop muffin batter into pre-lined muffins tin holes (shown below), just to the top. Sprinkle each muffin top with the sweet, cinnamon crumble topping.
- Bake in preheated oven of 375 degrees F. for 17 – 20.
- Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
And that’s all it takes to make vegan, gluten-free apple muffins with cinnamon. They bake up moist, tender, and simply delicious!
Recommended equipment: I love my USA Pan Muffin Tin, and these parchment paper muffin liners (affiliate links) are great too!
How To Store
Freshly baked muffins will keep well loosely covered, on the counter for 4 – 5 days. Or once completely cooled, keep them in the refrigerator for up to 8 – 10 days. If storing in a container, let muffins cool completely before storing.
Can You Freeze Almond Flour Muffins?
Yes! Let the muffins cool completely before wrapping and freezing. To freeze, wrap securely in foil or freezer wrap, or place in freezer bags. Muffins can be stored for up to 3 months in the freezer.
I hope you LOVE these almond flour apple cinnamon muffins as much as I do! They are:
- Easy to make
- Moist and tender
- Vegan
- Dairy & egg free
- Nutritious & delicious
More Easy Muffins Recipes
- Pumpkin Oat Muffins + Crumble Topping
- Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Pumpkin Muffins
- Vegan Blueberry Muffins
If you try this gluten free muffin recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintAPPLE CINNAMON MUFFINS (GLUTEN FREE)
Flavorful and easy to make, these moist and tender apple cinnamon muffins are made gluten-free using almond flour. It’s a healthy breakfast, snack or treat to enjoy any time of day!
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: Makes 10 Muffins 1x
- Category: Muffins, Snack, Breakfast
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups almond flour*
- 1/2 cup quick oats
- pinch of mineral salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 flax eggs or 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup light flavored olive oil
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk, or non-dairy milk of choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 medium apple (about 3/4 cup), finely diced or grated
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
garnish
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar, pure cane sugar or turbinado
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- tablespoon quick oats, optional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin tin using 10 liners.
Flax egg: In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal with 6 tablespoons water. Let set for 10 min to thicken.
Topping: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon, set aside.
Combine dry ingredients: In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, oats, salt, baking powder and cinnamon, give a stir to mix.
Add in the wet ingredients: To the dry ingredients, add the flax egg, maple syrup, oil, plant milk and vanilla, mix until just combined. Stir in the apples, mix again. Batter will not be runny and should be on the thicker side.
Fill muffin tin: Scoop and fill each muffin cup just to the top. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar topping. Bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean and muffins are lightly browned on top. Let cool a bit, remove muffins to finish cooling on a cooling rack.
Makes 10 muffins
Storing: Freshly baked muffins will keep well loosely covered, on the counter for 4 – 5 days. Or once completely cooled, keep them in the refrigerator for up to 8 – 10 days. If storing in a container, let muffins cool completely before storing.
Notes
*You can make your own almond flour at home by grinding your almonds in a food processor. It’s very easy, takes about five minutes. Use 1 1/2 cups raw or toasted almonds to make 2 cups almond flour. For this recipe use 1 3/4 cups to make 2 1/4 cups almond flour.
If you don’t have quick oats on hand, throw some rolled oats into a food processor and pulse until chopped.
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT: I love my USA Pan Muffin Tin, and these parchment paper muffin liners (affiliate links) are great too!
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I love this recipe. The olive oil was throwing me for a loop at first but this is a great recipe. I’ve made these muffins many times now…so glad it’s fall again! The apple cinnamon brings such a cozy vibe 🍎🍁
Absolutely delicious!! Even my non-vegan/non-gf family loved them! I used the apple sauce and I also had to cook the muffins longer than 20 minutes, as others mentioned in the comments. But the end results were fantastic!!
★★★★★
These sound delicious and I am excited to try them. Do you think I could sub out coconut oil for the olive oil?
I used coconut oil and they came out totally fine!
I also used regular all purpose flour because I didn’t have any almond flour and they’re still really good. A bit dense, but good
Can you use Rice flour or GF flour? I can’t have almonds.
I have not tried this recipe with rice flour or GF flour blend so I can’t recommend using them in this recipe at this time. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!
Can i substitute flaxseed with chia seed?
Yes, you can make a chia egg!
These are my go to muffins every week. Much enjoyed by all the family. Last time I subbed extra oats instead of all ground almonds as I was short and they turned out as yummy as ever.
Have found a jar of mincemeat in the back of the fridge so am going to try that instead of apple. Crossing fingers!
I didn’t have flax seed to make the flax egg so I substituted a thing of apple sauce! Kept everything else the same, and cooked them for closer to 25 minutes at 375. The middle was a little undercooked but they solidified after I let them sit for 10 minutes after taking them out. If I make them again, I will probably cook them longer. Tasted delicious and my whole family wanted more! Will for sure be making again!
I subbed in a combination of the flour I had on hand (about 1+1/4 cup gluten free 1:1 baking flour and 1 cup coconut flour) in place of 2+1/4 cups almond flour, and my muffins turned out very dry and crumbly. Besides using soymilk in place of almondmilk, I followed all other instructions… it must have been the different flour, right?
Sorry you had issues, but I agree that the flour is the culprit. This recipe calls for almond flour so subbing with other flours is a bit tricky. I have had others sub with oat flour, but using much less, 1 1/4 cup, and had good results. Coconut flour is a very thirsty flour and most likely was the reason they turned out too crumbly. I hope the flavor was at least good and you can manage to enjoy them even if they are a bit crumbly. I do hope you try again with almond flour, which really adds a wonderful flavor!
Awesome recipe! I made this recipe 3 times, the first time as a test for an event for a nonprofit where we provide breakfast, but I ate all of them over a week and had to make more! Delicious, healthy and works for gluten free and vegans! Yeah!
I followed the recipe exactly but they don’t seem to be cooking through :( I’ve baked them for 40 mins now and they still seem totally raw. The only thing I did slightly differently was that it only made 9 muffins instead of 10. Any idea why this happened?? Thank you!! They smell divine regardless!
They should stiffen in the center once cooled. Let me know if that is the case for you.