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Applesauce muffins are light and delicious, and so easy to make with brown sugar, cinnamon, and unsweetened applesauce. Sprinkled with more brown sugar before baking, they’re crunchy on top and soft in the middle, perfect as an easy breakfast or snack.
Muffins are quick to prepare, freezer-friendly, and perfect to take on the go. Try my bakery-style banana nut muffins and cozy apple pie muffins, too!
These homemade applesauce muffins aren’t just a speedy baking idea. They’re soft, flavorful, and so satisfying spread with butter in the morning! Every bite is extra moist thanks to the unsweetened applesauce in the muffin batter, which takes literal minutes to make.
As someone who turns to baked goods like banana bread muffins, raspberry muffins, and cinnamon scones for a wholesome, quick, and easy breakfast for myself and the family, these applesauce muffins are kid-approved and so delicious. You’re going to love them!
Why You Should Be Making Muffins With Applesauce
- Lighter and wholesome. Like my blender banana oatmeal muffins, these applesauce muffins are lower in refined sugar, while still sweet and satisfying.
- One bowl. This recipe uses simple ingredients, one bowl, and no mixer! Clean up is quick, and most of what you need is already in the pantry.
- Easy to adapt. You can easily make these muffins dairy-free with oil instead of butter, and customize them with add-ins like nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips.
Applesauce Muffins Ingredients
- Butter – Salted or unsalted, melted and cooled before you start. To make these muffins dairy-free, swap the butter with vegetable oil, coconut oil, or canola oil.
- Brown Sugar – Adds a deep, rich flavor and sweetness. Granulated sugar will work, but you’ll miss out on a lot of that caramelized flavor. I also like to sprinkle additional brown sugar on top of the muffins before baking.
- Applesauce – Use unsweetened apple sauce. With the sweetened kind, the muffins turn out overly sweet.
- Vanilla – Pure vanilla is best, or an equal amount of real vanilla paste.
- Eggs – They should be brought to room temperature first.
- Flour – Measure the flour using the spoon and level method if you don’t have a kitchen scale. Don’t scoop right from the bag, which can lead to too much flour in the recipe. Instead, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off afterward.
- Baking Powder – Not to be confused with baking soda, which isn’t the same thing. Refer to the expiration date on your baking powder to ensure it’s fresh.
- Spices – I amp up the cozy flavors with warm cinnamon and nutmeg. You could also substitute these individual spices with apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice.
The Best Applesauce to Use
I recommend baking these muffins with unsweetened applesauce, either store-bought or homemade. Smooth, thin, or chunky won’t make a difference in the finished applesauce muffins.
If sweetened applesauce is all you have, consider reducing the amount of brown sugar slightly. The same goes if you’re using applesauce with cinnamon. In this case, I’d reduce or leave out the ground cinnamon in the recipe.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Don’t overmix the muffin batter. Too much mixing deflates the air pockets and overdevelops the gluten in the batter. The result is dense, flat muffins. No, thank you!
- Grease the muffin pan. If you’re not using muffin liners, I suggest spraying the muffin tin generously with cooking spray or greasing the wells with butter to prevent sticking.
- The muffins are done when the edges are lightly browned, and the inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Add crunch. In addition to brown sugar, sprinkle chopped nuts, like pecans or walnuts, on top of the muffins before you bake them.
- Easy add-ins. Speaking of nuts, you can also add them right into the batter. Other mix-in ideas include dried cranberries, raisins, shredded coconut, or dark chocolate chips. I’d recommend sticking to 1 cup of add-ins or less, to not overwhelm the batter.
Serving Suggestions
Enjoy a warm, buttered applesauce muffin with coffee or tea as a sweet breakfast or light snack. Or, spice things up with a homemade cinnamon dolce latte or dirty chai latte. I also love these muffins spread with a little plum cardamom jam or my Grandmother’s strawberry jam.
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Applesauce Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
For the topping:
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
- Make the batter. Combine the butter and sugar in a bowl. Beat with a hand-held mixer until the sugar is dissolved. Add the applesauce and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well with the hand mixer after each addition.
- Add the dry ingredients. Stir in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg into the butter-egg mixture. Stir until just combined.
- Bake the muffins. Divide the muffin batter between the paper liners, filling each up to ¾ full. Top the muffin batter with brown sugar. Bake the muffins for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool. Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Equipment
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
How to Make Applesauce Muffins
These moist applesauce muffins are the perfect match with my morning cortado as I breeze out the door in the morning! They’re quick and easy to make following the steps below, and they store well (see the following section for details).
- Mix the muffin batter. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl, then add the applesauce and vanilla. Continue to mix, adding the eggs, one at a time, until you have a smooth batter.
- Add the dry ingredients. Next, stir in the flour, baking powder, and spices.
- Bake. Divide the muffin batter evenly between the wells of a lined 12-cup muffin pan. Fill each liner about ¾ full, so the batter doesn’t overflow. Bake at 375ºF for 20-22 minutes, until they pass the toothpick test.
- Cool. Remove the baked muffins from the pan and place them onto a wire rack to cool. Or, do as I do, and sneak a muffin while it’s still warm and slather on some butter!
Storage and Freezing
- Let the muffins cool. Allow the muffins to cool completely on the wire rack before you transfer them to an airtight container for storage. This avoids condensation, which can make the muffins soggy. I usually line the bottom of the container with a paper towel to help absorb any excess moisture.
- Keep them at room temperature. These muffins will last for up to 4 days at room temperature. You can store them for up to 1 week in the fridge, though they’re best served at room temperature.
- Freeze. These applesauce muffins freeze like a dream. Store them in a freezer-safe container or resealable bag with the air pressed out. Freeze for up to 2 months and thaw the muffins at room temperature before serving.
