Healthy Whole Wheat Apple and Applesauce Muffins

Are you looking for healthy apple or applesauce muffins?

There are lots of ways to make muffins healthy. The key is to find the balance between taste and health so that the muffins taste delicious, not heavy or rubbery.

Some of my favorite ways to make muffins healthier include using whole wheat flour in place of some or all of the all-purpose flour, substituting applesauce for some of the oil and adding healthy ingredients like apples, oats, nuts and cranberries.

Healthy Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

Here are two great recipes – one for whole wheat applesauce muffins and another with healthy whole wheat apple muffins with several variations including one for apple oat muffins.

I hope you’ll give these healthy apple muffins a try and let me know what you think.

Whole Wheat Applesauce Muffins

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 20 to 25 minutes
Yield: 12 muffins

I’ve found that using half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour is the best way to reach a happy healthy balanced with many muffin recipes. You get the benefits of whole wheat flour without having your muffins turn out too dense and heavy.

Turbinado sugar is a natural brown sugar that is dryer and has larger crystals than typical brown sugar so it is nice for sprinkling on top of the muffins before baking.

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar, for sprinkling on top if desired

Directions

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, flax seeds, cinnamon, allspice, baking soda and salt.

In a second bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, egg, applesauce, oil and vanilla until well blended.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until blended.

Divide the batter equally among the cups of the prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle with the turbinado sugar if desired.

Bake in the preheated oven until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let the muffins cool in their pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, then remove them from the pan and place them on the wire rack to cool.

Homemade Whole Wheat Apple Muffin with Pecan Topping

Easy Healthy Apple Muffin Recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 12 muffins

Great easy healthy muffins made with whole wheat pastry flour, which gives more tender results than standard whole wheat flour. I’ve included several suggested variations for you too. One of my favorites is to add 1 cup of fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped, when I make these delicious muffins in the fall.

Turbinado sugar is a natural brown sugar that is dryer and has larger crystals than typical brown sugar so it’s nice sprinkled on top of the muffins before they bake.

Ingredients

2-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chopped red apples (unreeled)
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Recipe Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease cups of a 12-cup muffin pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla until well blended.

Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just moistened. Gently stir in the apples.

Divide the batter equally amount the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with the turbinado sugar.

Bake in the preheated oven until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer the muffins to a rack to cool.

Variations

Apple Oat Muffins: Substitute 1 cup quick cooking oats for 1 cup of the whole wheat pastry flour.
Apple Cranberry Muffins: Add 1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped with the apples.
Cinnamon Pecan Topping for Muffins: Mix together 2 tablespoons of firmly packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup chopped pecans and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Sprinkle with the nut mixture instead of the turbinado sugar before baking.