Apple Oatmeal Muffins

Want oatmeal for breakfast but you’re running out the door? Make up a batch of these apple oatmeal muffins! Alex and I used to not be muffin people. You see: most muffins are just an excuse to eat cake for breakfast. Right? They’re chock full of lots of sugar and all purpose flour: which are not bad in themselves, but lead to a major crash hours later! If you’re anything like me, you want to save your sugars and flours for dessert instead. (Like this decadent chocolate cake.) Breakfast is all about hearty, wholesome choices: which is where these apple oatmeal muffins come in! Want another apple muffin? Our apple muffins with streusel have a crunchy streusel topping that’s to die for.

What’s the secret? Oat flour + rolled oats.

So, what’s the secret to making apple oatmeal muffins healthy and breakfast friendly? Oats. Rolled oats! Instead of using all purpose flour, you’ll use a blend of rolled oats and oat flour. And while they’re not quite as fluffy as a standard muffin, the texture is beautifully moist and perfectly spiced! The cinnamon and allspice are the perfect combination with the sweet tart apple. And instead of sugar, we’ve used maple syrup: it’s a more gentle sweetener and makes them refined sugar fee. How to make oat flour? These days, it’s pretty easy to find oat flour in the store. But Alex and I never buy it because we like to make it at home! It’s so simple if you have a food processor or high speed blender. Here’s how to make it:

Place 1 cup oats in a high speed blender or food processor. Turn it on and blend for a few minutes until ground into a fine flour! 1 cup oats will make 1 cup oat flour. (Yep, it’s 1 for 1.) Here are lots of oat flour recipes if you want to make more!

Notes on how to make apple oatmeal muffins

There’s not a lot of technique involved in making these apple oatmeal muffins. If you’ve ever made a muffin or pancake or waffle, you’ll know the drill: mix the dries, mix the wets, combine. Then bake! Here are a few more notes about this apple oatmeal muffins recipe:

Use organic apples if you can. Apples are one of the top produce items to buy organic. This is a great place to use them! (PS head to our apple recipes for more ways to use them.)For vegan, use a flax egg. This oatmeal muffins recipe is dairy-free. If you’d like to make it totally vegan and plant based, you can use a flax egg in place of the egg.For the oil, use any neutral oil. We like using oil in muffins because it’s easier than melting butter or coconut oil (yep, we’re lazy!). You can use grapeseed, sunflower, or vegetable here. You also can use melted coconut oil, and if you eat dairy you could use butter for a more savory flavor.

Nutrition benefits of oats

There are lots of great things about eating these apple oatmeal muffins! Since they are made mostly of oats, they bring all the benefits of eating a big bowl of oatmeal. According to the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, oats:

Are high in fiberCan reduce the risk of heart diseaseCan be helpful for weight control

More oatmeal muffins

Alex and I are a little obsessed with oatmeal muffins! They’re perfect for healthy breakfasts and snacks, smothered with a little peanut butter or almond butter. Our son Larson loves them in his lunch box at school! And we love them for snacks. Here are a few more of our oatmeal muffin recipes:

Healthy Banana Oatmeal Muffins A fan favorite, these oatmeal muffins are super moist and come together quickly in a blender!Applesauce Muffins The batter is whizzed in a blender and they come out fluffy and perfectly cozy spiced.Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins Similar to our banana muffins, these oatmeal muffins feature bananas and tart blueberries! Healthy Zucchini Muffins These zucchini muffins are another take on the oatmeal muffins: this time using shredded zucchini. Add chunks of apple as an optional filling.