These Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Muffins are moist and fluffy, subtly spiced, and packed full of juicy apples! They're relatively healthy too, as they're refined sugar free and are a good source of protein and fibre. The recipe is versatile and easily customisable and comes together in one bowl. They're great for breakfast, brunch, dessert or a snack and are perfect for meal prep!
How to prepare the apples
I prefer the apple chunks in these muffins to be tender but still have a little bite, so I decided not to cook them first before adding to the mixture. And I didn't peel them because I love how the skins add little pops of colour, and this also makes them healthier and easier!
However, if you have any problems with any of the above and prefer your apples to be super soft and silky, you can always peel the apples and cook them in a pan beforehand.
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mix together all the ingredients in a glass mixing bowl.
Tip: Make sure to use a measuring jug to measure out the exact amount of plant-based milk!
- Divide the batter between muffin cases in a muffin/cupcake tin.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
Substitutions you can make
- You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground sunflower seeds or use 30g (¼ cup) coconut flour instead of 150g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds.
- You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you're not gluten-free.
- You can omit the cinnamon or replace with another similar spice such as cardamom or ground ginger.
- You can cut down on the amount of maple syrup or omit it entirely if you want to make them no added sugar.
Ingredients you can add to the batter
- Desiccated coconut.
- Chopped walnuts or pecan nuts.
- Raisins.
- Dried cranberries.
- Chopped dates.
How long do these keep for?
Although these muffins do taste best when fresh, they keep well covered in the fridge for up to a few days, and freeze well too, which makes them great for a quick breakfast. If you have just taken them out of the fridge of freezer, I'd recommend warming them up in an oven toaster if you have one.
More vegan muffin recipes
- Carrot Muffins
- Blueberry Banana Bread Muffins
- Chocolate Muffins
- Blueberry Muffins
- Muffin Tin Sushi Cups
- Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Orange Poppy Seed Muffins
- Lemon Muffins
- Raspberry Muffins
- Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Cranberry Muffins
- Strawberry Muffins
- Matcha Muffins
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I'd really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Watch how to make it
Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Muffins
Ingredients
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 200 ml (⅘ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch salt
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 3 apples , cored and diced (around 700 g/24 oz in total)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil).
- Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the vinegar, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and ground almonds.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
- Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it's looking too dry.
- Add the apples and carefully stir in.
- Transfer the mixture between muffin cases in a muffin tin.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Video
Notes
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog - thank you.
Laura M Tuccitto
Hi Rhian!
I love these muffins and have been making them every week since being in lock down because of this pandemic. I always do half almond flour and half whole wheat flour because that's what I have on hand and they come out fantastic. However, now I want to test a gluten intolerance and I bought GF flour from Trader Joe's that says it's 1 to 1 but does not contain Xanthan Gum. I am very new to GF baking. How much Xanthan Gum do you recommend adding to this recipe? Thanks so much!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that! You don't have to add any xanthan gum to this recipe, in fact they will turn out better without xanthan gum!!
Eileen
These muffins look delicious, but I was wondering if you could make them, or similar without oil. My body cannot tolerate more than a tiny amount of any oil or fat, but I would love to be able to make some sort of cake or muffins. I have so many allergies and food intollerances that it is hard to fins any tasty treats that I could eat,.
Rhian Williams
You can replace the oil with a few tablespoons applesauce!!
Mary
Hi. I only added two apples but added raisins fir the extra. Very moist. I also made my own crumble on top out of almond flour coconut butter and a bit of monk fruit. They turned out great. Love all your recipes I’ve made to date. Thank you!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!
Alfira
Your recipes are amazing. I just made the vegan cheese cake... unbeLievably good. Can’t wait to try this one
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!
Martin
Hey Rhian! I tried the recipe, but it didn't bake/thicken. I even left it in the oven for 10 more minutes and the texture is still the same as before baking. I substituted the apple cider vinegar with lemon juice because I didn't have the vinegar at home - but that's not the binding agent. Any idea what could've gone wrong? I kept everything else the same. Thanks, Martin
Rhian Williams
Hi Martin, sorry to hear that. It sounds like the type of gluten-free flour you used might have been the problem - what flour/which brand did you use?