Our gluten-free apple muffins are made with gluten-free flour, Greek yogurt and have extra fiber from flaxseed. These healthy muffins for kids make a nutritious grab-and-go breakfast, after-school snack, or dessert.
Loaded with apples, these are a favorite for both kids and parents! You’ll love our apple muffins as they are low in sugar, customizable, and use pantry staples. As an added bonus, your house will fill with a cinnamon and apple aroma that’s sure to have everyone headed to the kitchen.
These muffins are prepped, baked, and ready to eat in just 25 minutes. Encourage your kids to tag along in the kitchen while you create this recipe – they will have so much fun learning how to make muffins from scratch! Even the youngest of chefs can stir the batter, sprinkle the cinnamon, and toss in the diced apples.
For more delicious muffin recipes, check out Spinach Muffins with Banana and Blueberries, Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins, and Healthy Banana Muffins – they have all been kid-approved!
Our apple muffins use simple ingredients that you likely have on hand. Gather the ingredients before starting the recipe then follow the step-by-step instructions. Check out the recipe variations below to see how these muffins can be customized to fit your family preferences!
Equipment
- muffin tin
- large bowl
- measuring cups and spoons
- whisk
- medium-sized bowl
- stir spoon
- nonstick cooking spray
Ingredients
- 2 cup plain Greek yogurt, we like Fage 2%
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, may use light brown
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
- 3 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
- 1/4 cup ground flax seeds
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 medium apple, peeled and diced
How To Make
With the Greek yogurt and applesauce in this muffin recipe, the end result is a moist muffin boosted with protein and packed with flavor. The addition of diced apples adds just the right sweetness. In 4 simple steps, the muffins are prepped and ready to bake!
Preheat the oven
Start by preheating the oven to 425°F. Then, spray the muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray to prevent these muffins from sticking to the pan.
Whisk the wet ingredients
Next, whisk together the Greek yogurt, applesauce, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and almond extract in a large bowl.
Blend the dry ingredients
Setting the wet ingredients aside, blend the flour, flax seeds, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium-sized bowl.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring until almost combined as over mixing can result in a chewy and tough muffin. Slowly, add the diced apples to the muffin batter. Stir until just incorporated. Then, scoop into the muffin tin.
Bake
Bake at 425°F for 8 minutes then turn the temperature down to 350°F and bake for an additional 7 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Pro Tip: Cooking at a high temperature at first helps the muffins have a nice domed appearance once cooked. The initial high heat creates a rapid rise during the first few minutes of cooking.
Tips and Substitutions
- Spray the muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray as this works best. You can use muffin liners, but without oil these muffins tend to stick to the liner.
- Fill each muffin tin 3/4 full with batter to prevent the muffins from spilling over the edge.
- Peel the apples before dicing and mixing them into the batter.
- Grate the fresh apple vs chopping to add shredded apple to the batter.
- Use any store-bought applesauce variety or made a homemade batch of homemade applesauce.
- Swap the whole wheat flour for white whole wheat flour if preferred.
- Add dried fruit – cranberries, apricots, cherries, blueberries, raisins or golden raisins to the batter when the apples are mixed in.
- Mix in nuts such as pecans, walnuts or slivered almonds when the apples are added.
- Stir in finely shredded raw carrots and/or zucchini into the batter for an easy way to get more veggies into your kids.
FAQ
Any baking apple such as Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Jonagold or Cortland are best. These apple varieties will soften but not turn to mush during baking.
The initial hot temperature helps the muffins to rise to form the muffin tops. Lowering the temperature then bakes the inside of the muffin without burning the tops.
Apple muffins can be stored in an air-tight container or ziplock bag up to 5 days on the counter or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Learn How To Freeze Muffins – frozen muffins make for a great lunchbox or grab-n-go snack.
More Easy Apple Recipes
- Apple Cinnamon Pancake Recipe
- Brussels Sprout Apple Salad
- Butternut Squash Soup with Apple
- Easy Sautéed Apples
- Canning Applesauce
CKC Features both Gluten-Free Guidance and Kids Cooking Instructions: If you’re new to eating gluten-free we understand it’s overwhelming trying to figure out which foods may contain gluten and which ones don’t. All of our gluten-free recipes marked with this symbol ✅ represent foods that need to be checked for gluten or cross-contamination.
The ⭐️ symbol in the recipe below denotes the steps in which kid cooks may need a helper (depending on age). If there is no ⭐️ symbol, that step (or recipe) doesn’t require a helper.
Gluten Free Apple Muffins
Equipment
- medium-sized bowl
- nonstick cooking spray ✅
Ingredients
- 2 cup plain Greek yogurt ✅we like Fage 2%
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup dark brown sugar may use light brown
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons almond extract ✅
- 3 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup ground flax seeds ✅
- 1 teaspoon baking soda ✅
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon ✅
- 1 medium apple, peeled and diced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray the muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
- Whisk the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, applesauce, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and almond extract.2 cup plain Greek yogurt, 1 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1 cup dark brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 3 large eggs, 2 teaspoons almond extract
- Blend the dry ingredients. In a medium-sized bowl, blend the flour, flax seeds, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.3 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup ground flax seeds, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring until almost combined. Add apples. Stir until just incorporated. Scoop into muffin tin.1 medium apple, peeled and diced
- ⭐️ Bake. Bake at 425°F for 8 minutes then turn the temperature down to 350°F and bake for an additional 7 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Notes
Tips
You can use muffin liners, but these muffins without oil do tend to stick to the liner. Spraying the pan works best. Only fill each muffin tin 3/4 full to prevent the muffins from spilling over. Peel the apples before dicing and mixing them into the batter.Storage
Up to 5 days on the counter or 3 months in the freezer. CCK Features both Gluten-Free Guidance and Kids Cooking Instructions: If you’re new to eating gluten-free we understand it’s overwhelming trying to figure out which foods may contain gluten and which ones don’t. All of our gluten-free recipes marked with this symbol ✅ represent foods that need to be checked for gluten or cross-contamination.The ⭐️ symbol in the recipe below denotes the steps in which kid cooks may need a helper (depending on age). If there is no ⭐️ symbol, that step (or recipe) doesn’t require a helper.
Nutrition
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