A culinary miracle! Apple Cake Muffins that are gluten-free, vegan, refined sugar-free, and oil free, but still bursting with flavor and richness. Much like their traditional predecessor–German Apfelkuchen–these muffins are moist and delicious!
Apple Cake Muffins
Apple Cake Muffins
Such a perfect marriage of flavor and texture that I really couldn’t have chosen any other name. I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic of my connection with Germany lately. Can you tell? My last post was a strudel and this one, well. . . My predominantly German ancestry led to an interest in (and many trips to) Germany and much of Europe. I spent time living in northern Germany as an exchange student and naturally developed relationships that have lasted decades.
Ingredients
Mashed Banana
Oil-free Muffins
It is so rewarding to create a recipe that is downright nutritious and yet so wonderfully rich—especially when creating a rendition of a favorite recipe that evokes such fond memories of my time in Europe. To give it that Nutritionicity effect, I started by using almond flour instead of a wheat flour. The almond flour, apples and cinnamon connect perfectly, like a beautiful melody. But the real magic occurs when you also add ripe banana to avoid using oil, and flax seed as an egg replacement. Together all of these flavors make a symphony of nutritious deliciousness!
Cut Apple
Cubed Apple
A Healthy Dose of Goodness
Sit back and enjoy the sweet apple flavor cloaked in a cinnamon and buttery goodness, all while treating your body to a dose of plant-based protein, omega 3s, multiple vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and a healthy dose of fiber!
Mixing In Apple
Helpful Hint
Also, a little helpful hint, I fill the two empty muffin cups with 2-3 tablespoons of water. This provides extra moisture and protects the unfilled cups in your muffin tin.
Dipping Batter Into Muffin Tin
Apple Cake Muffins
Apple Cake Muffins
I hope you delight in these Apple Cake Muffins. May you have many good memories attached to them as well. Enjoy!!
If you are loving muffins right now, check out my Easy Strawberry Blender Muffins and Peanut Butter Pumpkin Muffins
A culinary miracle! Apple Cake Muffins that are gluten-free, vegan, refined sugar-free, and oil-free but still bursting with flavor and richness. Moist and delicious just like their traditional predecessor - Apfelkuchen!
Ingredients
- Dry
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup arrowroot
- 4 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- Wet
- 1 tablespoon golden flax seed meal
- 2 1/2 tablespoons water
- 1 large extra ripe banana mashed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 large apple peeled, cored and diced (approx. 1/4 inch cubes)
Instructions
- 1) Prepare "flax egg". Stir together flax seed meal and water in small bowl and set aside.
- 2) In a medium bowl combine dry ingredients: almond flour, arrowroot, coconut palm sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
- 3) In a separate bowl mash banana thoroughly. I begin mashing with a fork then use a whisk to break down the remaining pieces. Add in "flax egg" and vanilla and whisk together.
- 4) Peel, core and dice apple to approx. 1/4 inch cubes and set aside.
- 5) Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Then gently stir in apple. If batter is too thick 1-2 tablespoons of nut milk or water may be added.
- 6) Line muffin cups with paper liners (10) and scoop batter into muffin tin. Bake at 350 F degrees in preheated oven for approx. 23 minutes on the middle rack. Muffins are done when you see brownish peaks and a toothpick inserted comes out dry. Cool muffins in tin for 30 minutes on a cooling rack.
Notes
Helpful Hints! If you use arrowroot in recipes, I strongly recommend buying it by the bag as it is much cheaper. A 16 oz. bag of Bob's Red Mill is approx. $6.00. If you purchase it in the spice section of the grocery store a 1.87 oz. bottle is approx. $2-3.00.
I fill the two empty muffin cups with 2-3 tablespoons of water. This provides extra moisture and protects the unfilled cups in your muffin tin.
Apple Cake Muffins Collage
Even though I, too, have somewhat of a German orientation–
I am 1/4 German and 3/4 Irish) I made these tasty muffins yesterday with *pears* due to our over-abundance (yes, over!) of pears given to us by our neighbor this week. Regardless, they turned out quite well
and I will be making more for the freezer today.
HI Jackie!! Thanks so much for sharing! Pears — what a yummy idea. I will definitely be trying that. I love pears. 🙂
HI!! 🙂
Do they freeze well ?
I was planning on doing some baking and stock up in the freezer..
You may have mentioned it already, so I apologize if you already answered that question!
Heidi!
Hi Heidi! I have not tried freezing them yet. I can’t seem to make them last that long 🙂 Might have to do a double batch too. I do think that they should freeze well. If they are super moist when you remove them from the freezer you could always warm them in the oven or toaster oven to evaporate some of the moisture. I hope this helps! 🙂
I waa wondering if applesauce would work instead of bananas. My family is allergic to bananas.
Hi Melissa! I have not tried applesauce in these muffins but I am pretty confident that it would substitute without issues for the banana. 🙂
Hi! Could I use this recipe for a cake? Do you think it would hold together well?
Hi Jessee! It’s so funny you ask. Just last week I was wondering that myself! I am going to try it as a cake very soon and I will add a comment and let you know how it goes! 🙂
Hi Jessee! I tried the batter as a cake in a greased 8×8 inch pan and it turned out great! The only modification I made was to increase the baking soda by 1/4 teaspoon. The batter is very thick (since it is intended to be muffins) so I just used a spatula to spread it in the pan. I did not thin the batter and the cake turned out just right — nice and moist like the muffins and it held together well when sliced and served. The baking temperature remains the same and mine needed about 20 minutes until it was done baking (when a toothpick came out dry). I recommend letting it cool in the pan, on a wire rack before serving. I hope this helps!! 🙂
Allergic to almonds.what can I sub for them?
I have not tried any substitutions for almond flour in my Apple Cake Muffins but I am happy to make a few suggestions! First, if you are not concerned with them being gluten-free you can always substitute whole wheat or white flour. If a gluten-free option is necessary/desired, I would suggest trying gluten-free oat flour. There are varying schools of thought on using gf oat flour for the entire flour component, so if you want to combine the gf oat flour (on a 50/50 ratio) I would suggest blending it with either gluten-free sorghum flour or rice flour. I hope this helps!!
What if you substitute King Arthur GF flour? I use it when I’m in a hurry or don’t feel like blending a few different flours. It’s easy since it’s a 1/1 ratio.
Hi Patricia, Substituting with King Arthur GF multi-purpose flour is a good flavor option. I have not tried it, but I am guessing that using that flour would require adding some oil to the recipe. The almond meal flour has a lot of natural fat that it brings to the mix while the King Arthur flour has none. Substituting with gluten-free oat flour does not provide nearly as much fat as the almond flour, but it does have some. Thanks!!
Great Mind!
Hi Mayanja, You are too kind! Many thanks. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
This is a great healthy recipe that everyone in my family loves! I use a whole egg, substitute corn starch for the arrowroot, and do not peel the apples, and it they turn out perfectly moist and delicious. Love this recipe, thank you!
I am so happy that your whole family loved the Apple Cake Muffins!! I know it is not easy to find recipes that will please every member of the house at the same time. : ) It’s great that you were able to customize the recipe to fit your needs–flexibility is always a good thing!
what ingredient could be used instead of bananas? I don’t like bananas 🙁
Hi Maxie, you could probably substitute 1/4 cup oil (I would probably use either grapeseed or walnut oil). I have not tried putting oil in this recipe but this should work. The banana flavor was really hard to detect in these muffins. This was part of the reason that I was so happy with the way the recipe turned out as I have people in my house that also don’t like bananas and didn’t know it was in them He,He : ) I hope this helps! Let me know how it goes -Jana
Have you ever tried pumpkin puree in place of the banana?
Hi Patricia, Thanks again for a great suggestion!! Funny you should mention pumpkin puree, I am using it this afternoon in a recipe that I am making the final *tweaks* on. : ) To answer your question – no, I have not tried replacing the banana with pumpkin puree in the Apple Cake Muffins. The banana brings a buttery-like sweetness, reminiscent of apple pie, but pumpkin tends to bring a more earthy flavor to the mix. I think the pumpkin puree is a great alternative to banana but it will probably change the flavor of the muffins considerably. Please let us know if you decide to give it a go!
As soon as I saw these I had to try them. MMMM!!
So glad you tried them and liked them! The best part is they are so good for you : )