These healthy and gluten-free apple cinnamon muffins are moist, sweet, and full of delicious apple flavor. Packed with fresh apples and warm cinnamon they make the perfect treat that the whole family will love.

The Best Gluten Free and Dairy Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins

The classic combination of sweet, yet slightly tart, apples and warm cinnamon never gets old. Whether it’s in a pie, scones, or these delicious apple cinnamon muffins, it cannot be beat. These healthy gluten free apple cinnamon muffins are made from wholesome oat flour, fresh apples, applesauce and cozy spices. They are gluten free, dairy free, so easy to make and perfect for a quick breakfast or afternoon snack. Plus, they’re made without any oil and still perfectly moist.

muffin ingredients

Apple Cinnamon Muffin Ingredients

Unsweetened apple sauce: This helps to keep the muffins moist without any extra oil. To avoid adding any extra sugar to the muffins, use an unsweetened apple sauce.

Honey: The combination of honey and apples is absolutely delicious.

Brown sugar: A touch of brown sugar adds just the right amount of sweetness to these muffins.

Oat flour: Oat flour is naturally gluten free, inexpensive, and easy to make from scratch. To make your own oat flour, just add a few cups of gluten free oats to a high powered blender and blend on high until the oats have turned into flour.

Spices: These muffins use a combination of apple pie spice and cinnamon.

Honey crisp apple: I love using honey crisp apples for this recipe because it is sweet yet still slightly tart for the best balance of flavor.

batter with chopped apples

How to Make Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Step One: Start by adding the applesauce, eggs, honey, and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Next, fold in the oat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, apple pie spice, and cinnamon until well mixed.

Step Two: Fold the finely diced apples into the batter and stir until well combined.

Step Three: Fill the wells of a greased or lined muffin tin with the muffin batter until each well is around two-thirds of the way full.

Step Four: Bake the muffins at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops of the muffins spring back when pressed.

Step Five: Serve them warm and drizzled with a simple icing of powdered sugar in almond milk if your prefer!

batter in muffin tins with apples

How to Store, Freeze, and Reheat the Muffins

Because these muffins don’t have any preservatives and are made from real food ingredients, you’ll need to store them in the fridge for safe keeping. If you do not think you’ll be able to eat all of the muffins within 2-3 days, you can freeze them! To freeze your muffins:

  • let them come to a complete cool on a wire baking rack

  • once cool, place them in a freezer safe storage bag or container and label

  • place them in the freezer for a few hours until frozen solid

When you are ready to reheat and eat a muffin you can do it one of two ways. My preferred method is to wrap one or two muffins in foil and let them reheat in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes until they are warmed through. They will taste just like a fresh batch straight out of the oven. If you are short on time, you can also pop a muffin straight from the freezer into the microwave for 30 seconds to heat through.

apple cinnamon muffins cut in half

Tips, Tricks, and Frequently Asked Questions

  • I have only tested these muffins with oat flour. If you do not have oat flour, you can make your own or try using gluten free all purpose flour.
  • Feel free to substitute coconut sugar for brown sugar if you prefer.
  • Don’t have a honey crisp apple? A Granny Smith apple would work well, too!
  • Want to add a little icing to your muffins? Blend together a little almond milk and powdered sugar to make a delicious and simple icing.
  • To prevent sticking, grease your muffin tin well or use muffin liners.

apple cinnamon muffins stacked with icing

More Delicious Recipes to Love

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gluten free apple cinnamon muffins with icing

Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins

  • Author: Ashlea Carver
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Gluten Free
  • Author: Ashlea Carver
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Add the apple sauce, eggs, honey, and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Next, fold in the oat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, and cinnamon until well mixed.

  3. Fold the finely diced apples into the batter and stir until well combined.

  4. Fill the wells of a greased or lined muffin tin with the batter until 2/3rds of the way full.

  5. Bake the muffins at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops of the muffins spring back when pressed. Serve warm and enjoy!

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Recipe by: Ashlea Carver / All the Healthy Things | Photography by: Casey Colodny / THE MINDFUL HAPA

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19 Comments

  1. I made these muffins for a friend fall get together today. They worked with everyone’s dietary needs. They were a great hit. They were so easy to make, too.






    1. Natalie Perkins (ATHT) says:

      I’m so glad everyone loved this one, Jill! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!

  2. Amanda Peterson says:

    Yummy, these are so good and easy to make!! Thanks!






  3. I thought the muffins were very good. I used Tiger Nut flour which enhansed the flavor and I increased the apple to about 1 cup took a little longer to bake but worth it

  4. A great gluten-free, low fat recipe. Will definitely make again. Thank you!






  5. These were wonderful! I love how you really taste the apples and they are not too sweet. The perfect morning snack for my kiddos. Thank you!






    1. Ashlea Carver says:

      You’re welcome, Kaydence! I’m glad you loved the recipe!

  6. These are wonderful! I love how they are so full of apple flavor and not too sweet






    1. Ashlea Carver says:

      So glad you enjoyed them, Kaydence!

  7. These are SO good! Probably the best gf (or any for that matter) muffins I’ve made. I’ve made two batches in 3 days and will just learn my lesson and make a double batch next time. Delicious!!






    1. Ashlea Carver says:

      Yay! so happy to hear that, Miranda! thank you for taking the time to leave a review!

  8. These turn out every time. I love that they are made with oat flour, which is easy to make and affordable. Thank you!






    1. Ashlea Carver says:

      You’re so welcome, Jean! Happy you love the recipe!

  9. Janice Decker says:

    Would these muffins work with flax eggs?

    1. Ashlea Carver says:

      I haven’t tested them with a flax egg, Janice but it’s worth a shot!

  10. WOW. These are delicious! They are the perfect fluffy texture and the flavors are amazing. I love the apple chunks as well. I didn’t have enough applesauce so I added in some leftover canned pumpkin and it worked well. I love having these warmed with a little bit of butter – yum!






  11. This recipe is delicious! I love the apple taste and how easy the oat flour is to make. The apple rate was really nice. I used 1/4 c. pumpkin for half of the sugar as well. Thanks!






  12. I do *a lot* of gluten free baking and LOVED these muffins! A nice switch up from all things pumpkin with the apple and cinnamon flavor. So good for an easy breakfast / snack!!!