Walnut Applesauce Muffins
These vegan, oil-free, and gluten-free muffins are a breeze to make and have a delicious fluffy bready texture and sweet and crunchy muffin top. Can easily be made nut-free as well if desired.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Breakfast
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups instant/quick oats (gluten-free)
- ¼ cup buckwheat flour*
- 2 tbsp potato starch**
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder (gluten-free)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp of the following spices: cloves, nutmeg, allspice***
- ⅛ tsp salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¾ cup maple syrup
- 1 tbsp unsulphured blackstrap molasses
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Fold-Ins:
- 1 cup walnuts halves, chopped****
- other options: chopped apples, raisins, cranberries, etc. (see notes if using)****
Instructions
1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Line a muffin tray with silicone cupcake liners, or grease the tray well with a bit of oil or non-dairy butter instead if you prefer. Set aside.
2. Briefly process all dry ingredients in a food processor to combine into a flour.
3. Add wet ingredients and process again to combine the mixture into a batter.
4. Add the fold-ins and pulse a few times briefly just to incorporate them into the batter (be careful not to process too much as you don't want them to blend into the batter).
5. Scoop the batter into prepared muffin pan (Note: if you want small rounded muffins, fill just to the top. If you prefer a larger crunchier muffin top, top the muffin mixture up a little higher than the liner. The number of muffins you get depends on how high you top each muffin tray cup).
6. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 1 hour (bake for an additional 5 mins if using fresh fruit, or until a pick inserted in the center comes out dry). Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack, then enjoy!
Notes
*Can also use rice flour instead (as I've done in this muffin recipe). Other grain-based flours will likely work well as well.
**Can alternatively use tapioca starch, arrowroot, or corn starch.
***Or if you prefer to skip these spices, feel free to just add an additional tsp of cinnamon instead.
****If you're planning on using fresh fruit fold-ins, such as apples or cranberries, I recommend only using ½ a cup, and reducing the walnuts to ½ a cup as well. Too much fresh fruit can make the consistency a bit mushy. If using dry fruit, like dried cranberries or raisins, a small amount can be added in addition to the walnuts (like ¼ cup), or in place of some of the walnuts (say ½ cup dried fruit, ½ cup walnuts, or a ratio of your choosing). Alternatively, of course can use other nuts or seeds in place of walnuts, if preferred.
Keywords: applesauce muffins with walnuts (vegan, gluten-free, oil-free)