Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Cinnamon Muffins

There is no better way to welcome the fall season than with these Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Cinnamon Muffins. Whether you eat them for breakfast, a snack, or as a dessert, these muffins are the best recipe for those fresh apples you picked last weekend!

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Why this recipe works

One of my favorite fall activities is apple picking, and this recipe is the perfect answer for the question of what to do with all of those fresh apples.

These Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Cinnamon Muffins are light, fluffy, and so tasty with crisp fresh apples in each bite and a sweet, crumbly cinnamon topping. Using pantry staples with just a few special ingredients, there simply is no better way to celebrate the fall season than with these Apple Cinnamon Muffins.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

• Xanthan Gum – If your gluten-free flour blend already contains xanthan gum, you do not need to include it in the recipe. I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour which already contains xanthan gum.
• Apple Cider Vinegar – Since this recipe is vegan and does not contain eggs, the apple cider vinegar helps the muffin rise and is therefore necessary in this recipe. You can use white vinegar in its place if you don’t have apple cider vinegar.
• Vegan Unsalted Butter – Be sure that your butter cubes are cold, otherwise you will not get the right texture for your streusel topping. Also, if you do not need this recipe to be vegan or dairy-free, you can use regular unsalted butter.

Step-by-Step instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease or place liners in a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together gluten-free flour blend, xanthan gum (if flour blend doesn’t already contain it), baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together vegetable oil, applesauce, granulated sugar, brown sugar, unsweetened almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract until smooth.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined.
5. Stir in chopped apples until they are evenly distributed throughout the batter.
6. Use a spoon or scooper to place the mixture into your prepared muffin cups. Using a cookie or ice cream scoop should help ensure that your muffins are similarly sized. If you want to be really accurate about it, you can use a kitchen scale to weigh how much batter to put into each tin. I like to fill mine to about 3/4 full.

7. Now it’s time to make the cinnamon topping that will go on top of the mixture prior to baking. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, gluten-free flour blend and ground cinnamon.
8. Cut your cold butter into cubes about two centimeters in size. With your hands, work in the cold butter until the mixture consists of clumps the size of small peas.
9. Using your hands or a small spoon, evenly sprinkle the cinnamon streusel topping over each muffin.
10. Bake the muffins at 375F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. They should be golden brown in color. Cool muffins in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to finish cooling on a cooling rack.

Expert Tips

• Most firm apples will work well in this recipe, however, I used Granny Smith apples in this recipe because they are crisp and tart, yet sweet. Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, and Gala are also great options.
• If you are vegan, make sure the sugar that you choose is vegan as some sugar is processed with bone char, making it not vegan.
• This recipe is vegan, however, if you do not need the recipe to be vegan or dairy-free you can use regular butter in the cinnamon streusel topping.
• Be sure not to overmix your batter. Mix all ingredients until just incorporated.

Recipe FAQs

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Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Cinnamon Muffins

There is no better way to welcome the fall season than with these Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Cinnamon Muffins. Whether you eat them for breakfast, a snack, or as a dessert, these muffins are the best recipe for those fresh apples you picked last weekend!

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Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 22 minutes minutes

Total Time: 32 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 muffins

Calories: 263kcal

Author: Megan

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Ingredients

For the Muffins:

• ▢ 2 cups gluten-free flour blend (280g, I used Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour (blue bag) which already contains xanthan gum)
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (if your blend does not already contain it)
• ▢ 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ 1/2 cup vegetable oil (113g)
• ▢ 1/2 cup apple sauce (unsweetened)
• ▢ 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup brown sugar
• ▢ 1/4 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups chopped apples (I used Granny Smith)

For the Cinnamon Topping:

• ▢ 1/3 cup light brown sugar (packed)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon gluten-free flour blend (9g)
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ 1 tablespoon vegan unsalted butter (cold and cut into small pieces)

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease or place liners in a 12 cup muffin pan and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together gluten-free flour blend, xanthan gum (if using), baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, mix together vegetable oil, applesauce, granulated sugar, brown sugar, unsweetened almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract until smooth.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until combined.
• Stir in chopped apples.
• Evenly spoon mixture into muffin cups.
• To make the cinnamon topping, in a small bowl mix together brown sugar, gluten-free flour blend and cinnamon.
• With your hands, work in the cold butter until the mixture is the size of small peas.
• Sprinkle streusel topping evenly over the muffins.
• Bake at 375F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
• Cool in muffin pan for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Notes

• Most firm apples will work well in this recipe, however, I used Granny Smith apples in this recipe because they are crisp and tart, yet sweet. Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, and Gala are also great options.
• If you are vegan, make sure the sugar that you choose is vegan as some sugar is processed with bone char, making it not vegan.
• If your gluten-free flour blend already contains xanthan gum, you do not need to include it in the recipe. I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour which already contains xanthan gum.
• Be sure that your butter cubes are cold, otherwise you will not get the right texture for your streusel topping. Also, if you do not need this recipe to be vegan or dairy-free, you can use regular unsalted butter.

Nutrition

Calories: 263kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 166mg | Potassium: 114mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 12IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 1mg

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This recipe was originally published on September 16, 2011 and updated on October 8, 2021 with new tips, tricks and photos to help you make these gluten-free vegan apple cinnamon muffins perfectly every time!

I’m Megan

A gluten-free food blogger from Chicago and lover of all things food, showing you gluten-free can be easy and delicious, too. Let’s make gluten-free stress free together! Read more…