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Healthy Apple Muffins (GF & Refined Sugar-Free)

Healthy apple muffins are sugar-free and gluten-free
How to make a healthy fruit-sweetened muffin.

Looking for a nutritious and flavorful snack? These healthy apple muffins are deliciously refined sugar-free. Add nuts or seeds for a boost of protein.

Healthy Apple Muffins

I’m always looking for healthy snack options. Sure, store-bought granola bars are easy. But they’re also packed with tons of sugar (or sugar alternatives) and very little nutrition. They’re also more expensive and have a lot more packaging than homemade snacks.

These healthy apple muffins are naturally fruit-sweetened and perfect for whatever nuts and seeds you feel like adding.

It’s actually a recipe that my 13-year-old son created based on my apple cake recipe. He really likes baking. If there’s a pie for dessert, it’s probably because he made it!

Soaked and Fermented Flour

Since this is a fermentation-focused blog, most (all) of my baked goods start with a pre-ferment. However, I really recommend pre-fermenting the flour.

  • Prefermenting improves the texture by breaking down the oats so they become stickier.
  • Fermenting converts the complex carbohydrates making the muffins more digestible.
  • I use pre-fermenting as a way to make me commit to actually baking something. I set up my ferment in the morning… so I have to bake muffins that night!
  • Don’t preferment if you’re using wholewheat flour. However, it will work with any low-gluten, whole grain flour, including rye, buckwheat, millet, etc.

Here’s how to ferment the flour. There are only 2 steps because it really is that easy.

  1. Mix the flour with the yogurt and vegetable oil in a glass bowl or measuring cup. You can also use cultured buttermilk, milk kefir, or vegan yogurt alternatives.
  2. Cover with a tea towel, and leave it to sit out at room temperature for at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours.
Muffin pan with healthy apple muffins.
Print

Healthy Apple Muffins

Healthy Apple Muffins
Print Recipe

Looking for a healthy breakfast or snack? This apple muffin is fruit-sweetened and packed with nutrition! Perfect for adding whatever seeds and nuts you want.

  • Author: Emillie
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 12 muffins 1x
  • Category: Baking
  • Cuisine: Healthy
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 1/2 cups of oat flour (or other whole grain flour)
  • 1 cup of yogurt (or non-dairy alternative)
  • 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 cups of grated apple (about 2 medium apples)
  • 1/4 cup of raisins
  • 1/4 cup of chopped nuts or seeds (optional)

Instructions

  1. Start by mixing the flour, yogurt, and vegetable oil in a large bowl. Leave it to rest for at least 15 minutes so that the flour can fully hydrate. This is particularly important with oat flour, which tends to absorb a lot of moisture.  If you’re using other whole grain flours, you can skip this step. If you want to try prefermenting your flour, see the section above.
  2. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F (180 C). Mix the eggs and vanilla into the batter. Then add the cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
  3. Next stir in the grated apple and raisins. Feel free to add in some nuts or seeds for a bit of protein. See notes for details.
  4. Prepare a muffin tin by greasing or lining each of the muffin cups. Divide the batter between the muffin cups.
  5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Notes

  • If you have a sweet tooth you may want to add 1/4 cup of brown sugar, which will give this muffin a more traditional flavor.
  • This recipe will make 10 large muffins or 12 medium-sized muffins. For my kids’ lunches, I often make 18 smaller muffins, which fit nicely into their lunchboxes.
  • Chopped walnuts or pecans are traditional for an apple muffin. However, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, or millet will add a bit of crunch. I don’t recommend using sunflower seeds because the baking soda will cause them to go green.

Keywords: sugar-free, snack, breakfast, dessert, treat, healthy, vegetarian

Filed Under: Baked Goods, Fruit-Sweetened Treats, Gluten-FreeTagged With: Apple, Muffin

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Comments

  1. Carissa

    October 4, 2022 at 9:11 pm

    I have an oat flour starter. We can’t really do yogurt. Can I somehow replace the yogurt with sourdough starter and oat milk??

    Reply
    • Emillie Parrish

      October 7, 2022 at 7:57 am

      Definitely. I haven’t tried that swap with this recipe so I don’t know the exact proportions. Maybe do 1/2 cup of sourdough starter with 1/2 cup of oat milk? Then you’ll need to decrease the flour by about 1/2 cup. You could also skip the ferment and just use oat milk with 1 Tbsp of ACV for acidity. If you try either of these options, let me know how it goes! Cheers, Emillie

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Emillie, an island-dwelling fermentation enthusiast. Fermenting For Foodies features healthy recipes designed to feed your microbiome.
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