Healthy Apple Muffins are grain-free and naturally sweetened with fruit. This paleo apple muffin recipe is oil-free, dairy-free and contains no added sweeteners!
Light, fluffy and warmly-spiced with cinnamon, this delicious apple cinnamon muffin recipe is a lovely breakfast or snack!
As you may have seen in my Healthy Pumpkin Cake recipe last week, I’ve been using bananas for sweetening baked goods.
In fact, I’m working on a brownie recipe (don’t worry, it’s coming soon!) that is sweetened only with bananas.
Depending on what else is in the treat, sometimes the banana flavor peeks through and sometimes it doesn’t at all!
In the case of these muffins, you do get both banana and apple flavors shining through with that warm cinnamon for a cozy, comforting fall treat.
Even more intriguing is the fact that only 6 ingredients are needed for these luscious babes! PLUS, you’d never know they’re all-things gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and nutritious.
Let’s discuss these healthy apple muffins further, shall we?
Ingredients for Healthy Apple Muffins:
Ripe Bananas: These apple muffins are entirely sweetened with fruit! Two ripe bananas and one apple to be specific. Be sure your bananas are plenty ripe, with a lot of brown spots. This signifies they will be very sweet and moist. The moisture and creaminess of ripe bananas help make a baked good extra tasty. When mashed, the bananas should measure out to 1 cup.
If you don’t like bananas or are allergic, I provide a banana-free version of this recipe below.
Apple: 1 medium-sized apple gets peeled then grated up for both sweetness and apple flavor. You can use your favorite apple, but I typically go with gala or fuji.
Eggs: Used for holding the muffins together and making them nice and fluffy, we use a couple of eggs.
Almond Flour: The grain-free flour of choice in these paleo apple muffins is super fine almond flour. Almond flour makes the texture nice and light. It contains healthy fats, fiber, and a small amount of protein.
Ground Cinnamon: Making the muffins taste like fall exploded all up in them, ground cinnamon gives warm flavor and enhances the apple experience as well.
Baking Powder & Sea Salt: Baking powder helps leaven the muffins and sea salt brings out the flavors. It also makes the muffins taste sweeter without the need for added sugar.
Optional Add Ins: Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, raisins, and/or top with unsweetened shredded coconut!
Can I Make These Muffins Without Banana?:
You certainly can! If you aren’t into banana, don’t have any on hand, and/or are allergic, no sweat. Omit the bananas and replace them with 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted and cooled) and 1/4 cup pure maple syrup. Keep everything else in the recipe the same.
Let’s bake a batch!:
How to Make Healthy Apple Muffins:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin tray with 9 muffin papers.
Mash the bananas in a measuring cup until very creamy. Be sure you have around 1 cup of mashed banana.
Transfer the mashed banana to a mixing bowl and add the eggs and grated apple. Whisk everything together until very well-combined.
In a separate bowl or measuring cup, stir together the almond flour, sea salt, baking powder, and ground cinnamon until combined.
Transfer the flour mixture to the mixing bowl with the banana-apple mixture and stir well until combined.
Fill the muffin holes up ¾ of the way full with muffin batter. Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until muffins are golden brown and feel firm when gently poked.
Allow muffins to cool at least 30 minutes before unwrapping and eating.
Recipe Adaptations:
- Use hazelnut flour instead of almond flour. Don’t replace the almond flour with coconut flour – coconut flour requires more eggs and liquid than almond flour, so the whole recipe will require adjustments.
- Add chopped walnuts or pecans.
- For sweeter muffins, add 3 to 4 tablespoons of coconut sugar or your favorite granulated sweetener.
More Healthy Muffin Recipes:
- Grain-Free Morning Glory Muffins
- Avocado Chocolate Muffins
- Gluten-Free Blueberry Sourdough Muffins
- Paleo Butternut Squash Muffins
- Coconut Flour Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Paleo Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Paleo Hummingbird Muffins
Healthy muffins for life!
My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!
If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!
Healthy Apple Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 medium-sized ripe bananas 1 cup mashed
- 1 medium-sized apple peeled and grated
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups Super Fine Almond Flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin tray with 9 muffin papers.
- Mash the bananas in a measuring cup until very creamy. Be sure you have around 1 cup of mashed banana. Transfer the mashed banana to a mixing bowl and add the eggs and grated apple. Whisk everything together until very well-combined.
- In a separate bowl or measuring cup, stir together the almond flour, sea salt, baking powder, and ground cinnamon until combined. Transfer the flour mixture to the mixing bowl with the banana-apple mixture and stir well until combined.
- Fill the muffin holes up ¾ of the way full with muffin batter. Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until muffins are golden brown and feel firm when gently poked. Allow muffins to cool at least 30 minutes before unwrapping.
Nutrition
Very good and simple to make. Loved the batch i made w fujis. They kept well in a tin. Thank you
SO happy you like them, Lynne! Thanks so much for the note! xoxo
Hi, can I use oat flour vs almond flour? Thank you for the recipe btw. I can’t wait to make these!!!
Hi Aly! I haven’t tested the recipe using oat flour, but I imagine it will work. You may need to add some extra liquid (oil or coconut milk) if the oat flour is more absorbent, but I think they should be very tasty 🙂
Can I freeze these muffins?
Hi Sandy!
Yes, absolutely! In fact, I always freeze them. Simply stick them in a freezer safe container or zip lock bag. I just microwave mine to heat them up, but you can always allow them to thaw completely if you prefer. 🙂
@Julia, how long can you freeze them?
Hi Ellie!
I find most baked goods are best within 3 months of being frozen. While they can last longer if they’re well-sealed, I find the flavor is best and no freezer burn within a 3-month window. Hope this helps!
Can I use bananas that I froze? Ike get them to room temp?
Hi Brittany! Excellent question! I’ve never tried it myself, but I’m sure people do it all the time. I would do a quick google to see if there’s anything else you need to do since thawed bananas tend to be a bit liquidy. Hope you enjoy! xoxo
Awesome muffins I only made half of the recipe and made 6 and add pecans they taste delicious 💓💓👍
They are AMAZING ,
Best muffins ever my whole family loves them
I’m so happy to hear it, Ellie! They’re just so simple and nourishing! xo 😀
Since using bananas, do the muffins have a banana flavor or is it not noticeable?
Hi Amanda! The muffins do have a slight banana flavor! Let me know if you have any more questions! xoxo
Hi, if I want to make these as mini muffins, how long would I bake them and at what temperature? They look delicious.
Hi Diana! I haven’t tested this recipe myself using a mini muffin pan, but based on my googling, it looks like you should bake mini muffins at 350 degrees F for about 11 minutes. I hope you love them! xo
I cannot use bananas to high n sugar for me. Can I use applesauce in place or any suggestions.
Hi Judy! You can use 1 cup of applesauce instead of the banana. The muffins won’t be as sweet, but they should still taste yummy. If you want them to taste sweet, I would add 3-4 tablespoons of brown sugar or regular cane sugar. Hope you enjoy! xo
Hi, can this be made with Bob mills gluten free flour? My husband is allergic to almond flour. Thanks
Hi Tonya! If your husband can do oats, I have a recipe for apple muffins that uses oats instead: https://www.theroastedroot.net/healthy-apple-oatmeal-muffins/ Otherwise, you could definitely use bob’s red mill GF flour but you may need to make other changes to the recipe because it is more absorbent than almond flour.