Applesauce Muffins are big, delicious, and fluffy! They feature a soft, moist interior and a crunchy, sweet cinnamon-sugar topping.
Try some other popular muffin recipes next — Healthy Banana Muffins, Healthy Zucchini Muffins, or Healthy Blueberry Muffins!
Applesauce Muffins
Applesauce is such an underrated ingredient to add to baked goods—I love it in Applesauce Cake, Applesauce Brownies, and this amazing Applesauce Bread! And now, it’s starring in muffins!
These muffins are big, fluffy, and bakery-style, but made with healthier ingredients than most bakery muffins. They have less sugar and a variety of nutritious ingredients, which I’ll discuss below.
Ingredients
- Applesauce: Adds moisture, sweetness, and flavor. Use unsweetened for less sweetness, sweetened for more, and cinnamon-flavored for a spicy kick.
- Honey Vanilla Greek Yogurt: I like Greek Gods® Honey Vanilla for its thickness and protein.
- Large Egg: Adds protein, flavor, and richness.
- Coconut Oil: A healthier oil with a hint of coconut flavor.
- White Whole-Wheat Flour: Has more protein, fiber, and nutrients than regular white flour, with fewer calories and carbs.
- Apple Pie Spice: Use homemade or store-bought, usually found with spices, especially in fall.
Healthy Applesauce Muffins Quick Tips
- Cool the coconut oil: Melt it, but let it cool down before mixing with other ingredients to avoid lumps.
- Use room-temperature ingredients: This helps everything blend better.
- Pick tasty yogurt: Use vanilla or apple-flavored Greek yogurt. Full-fat is best to keep muffins from getting watery.
- Grease the muffin tin well: Skip muffin liners as the batter sticks. Grease the tin thoroughly for easy muffin removal.
Quick Tip
To make muffins the same size, try using an ice cream scoop or a 1/3-cup measuring cup. That keeps the size consistent and also reduces drips and spills.
Variations
Applesauce Muffin Variation Ideas
- Cinnamon Twist: For an extra cinnamon-rich applesauce muffin, use cinnamon-flavored applesauce, add extra ground cinnamon to the batter.
- Add chopped apples in the muffins: I recommend following this Apple Muffins recipe and if you’re set on applesauce replace the oil with applesauce.
- Nutty Streusel: Add finely chopped pecans or almonds into the streusel mixture to give the muffins a deliicous nutty crunch on top.
Applesauce Muffin Storage
More Snack Ideas
- S’mores Energy Bites with marshmallows and chocolate chips
- Chewy Granola Bars with peanut butter and honey
- Chia Seed Pudding vanilla-orange flavored
- Trail Mix five different variations
- Healthy Brownies made with Greek yogurt
Healthy Applesauce Muffins
These Applesauce Muffins are big and fluffy, packed with wholesome goodness that beats bakery-style muffins! They’re soft and moist inside, topped with a sweet, crunchy cinnamon-sugar blend.
Equipment
- Muffin pan with 12 cavities
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour or white whole-wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice see note 1
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup applesauce sweetened or unsweetened, see note 2
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt or apple-flavored Greek yogurt, see note 3
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
Topping
- 1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice or ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar not packed
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Coat 12 cavities of a muffin pan with cooking spray and lightly flour. Do not use muffin liners as these muffins will stick to them. Melt coconut oil in microwave and let cool to room temperature. Remove Greek yogurt and egg from fridge to reach room temperature.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, apple pie spice, and cinnamon. Mix well.
- In another bowl, whisk together applesauce, room-temperature egg, Greek yogurt, cooled coconut oil, vanilla extract, and brown sugar until well combined.
- Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined. Over-mixing yields denser muffins.
- Fill 10 to 11 muffin cavities evenly with batter—each cavity being a little over 3/4ths the way full. Fill empty cavities halfway with water to ensure even baking. Bake for 17–23 minutes or until a fork inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and cool muffins in pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
- From the “Topping” section, mix apple pie spice with brown sugar in a small bowl. In another bowl, place melted coconut oil. Dip warm muffins in coconut oil, then in sugar mixture. Spoon extra sugar on top and press in. Repeat for all muffins.
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: Apple pie spice is a mixture that combines cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, and cloves to create a comforting blend that can be used in so many recipes! I have a homemade apple pie spice recipe, or you can buy it in the grocery store. You’ll find it with the other spices in a grocery store. For a more spiced/flavorful muffin, add up to 1 teaspoon to the batter.
Note 2: If you aren't used to lower-sugar treats, use sweetened applesauce. If you want these muffins to be more nutritious and less sweet, use unsweetened. Cinnamon-flavored applesauce is also nice for a more spiced muffin.
Note 3: Whatever yogurt you use, make sure you like it plain, or it won’t add a lot in way of flavor to these muffins. I recommend getting a vanilla-flavored Greek yogurt instead of plain. I also recommend full-fat yogurt, so these muffins don’t end up overly watery. For a stronger apple flavor, try a full-fat apple-flavored Greek yogurt.
Storage: Once completely cooled, store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature. Applesauce Muffins are best eaten within 2–3 days. Cool muffins completely before wrapping and freezing. To freeze, wrap muffins individually in plastic wrap and then place in large freezer bags. To thaw, set out at room temperature, or heat frozen muffins in the microwave.
Nutrition
Calories: 328kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 189mg | Potassium: 101mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 34IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Was it cornstarch that was called for? It’s an odd addition for a baked good. I was assuming you meant baking soda, but went ahead and used cornstarch. They turned out very dense
There is both cornstarch and baking soda in this recipe!
They were very good and I felt I was being so healthy!
Yay! So happy you enjoyed! 🙂
Could you use sour cream instead of yogurt? And all purpose flour ?
The recipe calls for white (all purpose) flour so that’ll work great 🙂 I don’t see why sour cream wouldn’t work, but haven’t personally tested that!
Looking forward to make these recipes
Very good
I added a few sultanas
Used melted butter on top
I made these for my family yesterday! Everyone loved them so much I decided to make another batch today! This time I used some over ripe bananas that I had leftover from last week’s grocery run instead of applesauce. I just pulled them out of the oven and my baby doesn’t want to wait for them to cool. We’re currently eating them hot but the favor is amazing! Thanks for the recipe!
Have you seen the parchment paper liners? They are awesome and nonstick.
Do you use unsweetened applesauce? Thanks!
Either will work 🙂
hey girl these look so tasty!
Looking forward to trying this recipe, my dear!
Have a lovely Sunday 😉