Have you ever tried an apple muffin? If you haven't you NEED to! These are actually vegan apple cinnamon muffins and they're packed with so much flavor. The combination of the two main ingredients is heavenly as they compliment each other so much.
These treats are really beginner friendly and they take less than 30 minutes to bake inside the oven which is really convenient when you want a quick snack. Eat them while they're still a little warm and enjoy!
A toasty and crumbly cinnamon streusel is what the muffins are topped with, sitting delicately upon airy and fluffy texture. They're golden brown, they're tasty and I know you're going to adore them.
Since you like a good muffin recipe, you will also like my vegan pistachio blueberry muffins, vegan raspberry muffins and vegan blueberry cream cheese muffins which are some other favorites of mine.
Jump to:
Why You Will Love These Muffins
- A Comforting Topping - The streusel on top is the most comforting part. Yes, they're delicious on their own, but with the streusel topping, they're on another level.
- The Best Texture - Words that I'd use to describe these muffins would be pillow-soft and fluffy. Muffins can be dense or light but I personally prefer the second option. I made my vegan cranberry orange muffins and vegan peanut butter chocolate chip muffins recipes so that the crumb was light and moist.
- Packed With Apples - These muffins are generously filled with sweet, chopped Granny Smith apples which I love. When I have fruit-filled muffins, I don't like them to feel empty. They need to have a nice balance of fruit and muffin.
- Allergy Friendly & Plant Based - This vegan apple cinnamon muffins recipe is wholly vegan and dairy free.
Ingredient Notes
Vegan butter - Whichever type of dairy-free butter you decide to use, make sure that it is at room temperature before using it. It needs to be softened and used for the crumble topping. If it is too hard, you won't be able to easily crumble the sugar and flour into it.
Ground cinnamon - This is the fine, powdered cinnamon that you will find in most grocery stores. I love to use it in many of my recipes around fall time, as it's so cozy and comforting.
Granny Smith cooking apples - My favorite apples for when I'm baking. There are plenty of good options out there but these are deliciously tart and sour. Perfect for baked goods like muffins. I used them to great effect in my vegan apple cinnamon cake and my vegan apple oatmeal cake recipes.
Ripe banana - A single ripe and spotty banana makes the perfect egg replacer for this recipe. It is a big part of the reason as to why these treats have such a light texture and shouldn't be left out.
Apple cider vinegar - As well as the banana, this underrated ingredient also really improves the texture of the muffins.
Vegetable oil - Although I usually recommend using canola oil for many of my cakes such as my vegan cinnamon loaf cake, I love to use vegetable oil for vegan muffins, as I believe it gives them the best possible texture.
See recipe card for full information on individual ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- One thing that significantly enhances the muffins is adding nuts to the muffin batter. Walnuts in particular work perfectly with apples, as you may have already seen in my vegan apple walnut crumble cake recipe. Other nuts that you can try are chopped almonds, chopped hazelnuts and chopped pistachios.
- If you don't like the taste of Granny Smith apples, you can change the type of cooking apple for this recipe. Braeburn apples are also firm like Granny Smith's but they're also a little sweeter. I have found that they make a perfect substitute.
How To Make Apple Cinnamon Muffins
For the full method, please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
1: Grease the cupcake liners with oil.
2: Make the cinnamon streusel topping. Set aside.
3: Remove the core and the skin from the apples.
4: Chop the apples into small chunks.
5: Whisk together the wet ingredients.
6: Add the dry ingredients. Fold until smooth.
7: Also fold in the apples.
8: Pour the muffin batter into the cupcake liners.
9: Sprinkle on the cinnamon streusel and bake the muffins.
10: Let them cool and serve.
Expert Tips
Chop the apples small - I usually chop my Granny Smith apples into 1cm cubes but 0.5cm cubes are even better. Any bigger than 1cm and the apples will simply be too large for these muffins.
Don't over-mix the muffin batter - When making the muffin batter, fold the flour and dry ingredients until they are just folded in. Over-mixing the batter will prevent the muffins from being light and fluffy.
Recipe FAQs
I haven't tested this out but you can try to substituting it out for unsweetened applesauce, 1:1. See how they turn out for you.
Store these golden brown muffins inside an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
Using paper liners are actually great for this. They support moisture retention inside muffins and other baked goods and they'll also stay fresh for longer!
More Vegan Fall Bake Recipes
If you tried this Vegan Apple Cinnamon Muffins Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
Vegan Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Streusel
Ingredients
For the cinnamon streusel topping:
- 30 g all-purpose flour
- 25 g brown sugar
- 1.5 Tablespoons vegan butter softened room temperature
- 0.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the muffin batter:
- 2 large Granny Smith cooking apples
- 1 large ripe banana (mashed)
- 180 g granulated sugar
- 240 ml soy milk
- 2.5 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 75 ml vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 275 g all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Preparation:
- Preheat your oven to 200 Celsius (392F).
- Line a 12-hole or two 6-hole muffin trays with cupcake liners. Grease them with oil then set aside.
- Remove the core and skin from the two apples.
- Chop them into 1cm cubes. Set aside until needed.
Make the cinnamon streusel:
- In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Next, press your vegan butter with your hands into mixture to form a streusel. Place the streusel crumble in the fridge while you make the batter.
Make the muffin batter:
- In a mixing bowl, whisk your mashed banana, granulated sugar, soy milk, apple cider vinegar, vegetable oil and vanilla extract.
- Now fold in the dry ingredients: the all-purpose flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon and salt.
- Fold the batter but avoid over-mixing it. When almost all the flour has been combined, fold in the chopped apples.
- Pour your apple cinnamon muffin batter into each of the cupcake liners evenly. Top each of them with some cinnamon streusel.
Bake the muffins:
- Bake the muffins in the center of your oven for 25 minutes. When they come out, they should be golden brown. A skewer should also come out clean.
- Let the apple muffins cool in the trays for 10 minutes. Transfer them over to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
- I usually chop my Granny Smith apples into 1cm cubes but 0.5cm cubes are even better. Any bigger than 1cm and the apples will simply be too large for these muffins.
- When making the muffin batter, fold the flour and dry ingredients until they are just folded in. Over-mixing the batter will prevent the muffins from being light and fluffy.
Marnie says
Really really liked this recipe however i my family wanted more when they were gone! A higher yield next time 😂
Jules says
Looks great