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Gluten-Free Applesauce Muffins

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Well, I don’t have all my gfe “spring cleaning” behind me as I had hoped I would before I kicked off this year’s March Muffin Madness event, so I’ll be alternating muffin posts with other giveaway posts. Hope you won’t mind! Today I’m sharing my new recipe for gluten-free Applesauce Muffins.

Gluten-Free Applesauce Muffins Gluten Free Easily

 

So much of what I make in my house is inspired by what I have on hand. That’s true even when I’m creating or including recipes for a series, such as this March Muffin Madness event. I like to show folks that baking/cooking gluten free is really not rocket science; it’s just combining ingredients to a tasty end.

Such was the case when Son popped in last weekend and was looking for something sweet to eat. When I peeked in the pantry, lots of unsweetened applesauce was staring at me. I’m out of my Two-Ingredient Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix and haven’t been in a hurry to pick up the ingredients to make more. I had plenty of almond flour and Son eats grain free most of the time.

That’s my preference, too, at the moment. But at the last minute, I decided to throw in a little oat flour that I had in the fridge to give the muffins a tad more heft and keep them from being too moist with the large amount of applesauce.

I had taken a peek at Linda’s (Gluten-Free Homemaker) gluten-free Applesauce Muffins recipe and while hers was a bit different in composition than what I had in mind, I liked that she used toasted nuts. Suddenly, I remembered Hail Merry’s Orange Rosemary Pecans that I’d been sent to review. I already knew that I liked these flavored pecans as standalone treats, but how would they taste in an Applesauce Muffin? Well, the answer was “perfect!” but honestly I’m certain this recipe will taste great with any toasted nuts added.

March Muffin Madness, gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, gfe

Son and I enjoyed these muffins for breakfast and he took the rest home with him. It’s a recipe that I’m sure that I will make again and again. Would you like to make these muffins? You can see the recipe further down below, but perhaps you need some almond flour to make them? I’m giving away a 5-lb bag of Honeyvile Blanched Almond Flour to one lucky gfe reader!

UPDATE: The giveaway of the 5-lb bag of Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour is now closed. 

Honeyville, blanched almond flour, almond flour

Update: You can see the complete March Muffin Madness recipe roundup here.

Gluten-Free Applesauce Muffins Gluten Free Easily gfe

Gluten-Free Applesauce Muffins Recipe

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Gluten-Free Applesauce Muffins

These gluten-free Applesauce Muffins score big in both the healthy and delicious categories. They're loved by both family and friends!

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease or line muffin cups with liners.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, mix wet ingredients. Stir in dry ingredients.
  3. Fill muffin cups almost to the top, about 7/8 cup full. (Muffins will not rise very much during baking.)
  4. Bake for about 18 minutes. If liners were not used, let cool in muffin tin about 10 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool.

Notes

If using large eggs versus extra large eggs, you may be able to reduce the amount of coconut/palm sugar just a bit. If you don’t eat oats, feel free to use quinoa flour or quinoa flakes that you have blended into a flour-like consistency. Personally, I don’t care for quinoa flour, but I like quinoa flakes, so I usually just run mine through my mini-chopper until the consistency is finer.

Courses Breakfast, Dessert

March Muffins Madness, gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, gfe

 Originally published March 26, 2012; updated September 6, 2017.

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Comments

  2. they look awesome and of course the recipe went right to the printer and is part of the “things I must bake” stack of papers 🙂

    Have been having a ton to do at work, so not much extra curricular activities in the kitchen 😉

    Reply

  4. These look yummy! I’ve been eating mostly grain-free lately so I’m pleased to see them. And I can ALWAYS use more almond flour!

    Reply

  5. Ooooh, these look yummy! I’ve recently gone virtually grain free, in the hopes that some lingering symptoms disappear, so that bag of almond flour would really come in handy – thanks for the chance to win!

    Reply

  6. Almond flour is tough to find in stores 🙁
    These muffins look great! Can the eggs be substituted?
    Thanks!
    Wanda

    Reply

    • Hi Wanda–I’m guessing the eggs *possibly* can be substituted using flax eggs or chia eggs, but since there’s so much applesauce in this recipe already, I wouldn’t use that particular substitution. 😉 Bananas might work, too. Not sure. Please let us know if you give any of them a try and what the results are—good or bad. I’m hoping for good though!

      And by the way, welcome to gfe! 🙂
      Shirley

      Reply

    • Hi Jayne–You can sub regular granulated sugar for the coconut or palm sugar. And *probably* even brown sugar or a mix of the two. FYI–The coconut or palm sugar gives more of a brown sugar flavor, but its texture is more like granulated sugar.

      Enjoy! 🙂
      Shirley

      Reply

  18. Hi Shirley – I’d love to try this almond flour, and it would go perfectly with the Almond Flour cookbook that I received! Again, thanks for all you do, and have a great week 🙂 Donna

    Reply

  21. I am a sucker for muffins Shirley! Applesauce is one of my fave muffin ingredients 🙂 Yours look lovely, lucky Son. Can you believe I have yet to try Honeyville Almond flour!?

    Reply

    • No, I can’t believe that you haven’t tried Honeyville yet, Maggie! You need to get on board the Honeyville train. 😉 LOL Unless you are making your own that you are pleased with, or have another great brand you can get. 🙂

      xo,
      Shirley

      Reply

  23. I am loving this recipe and all of the health factors involved. And now you totally have me intrigued to try out some of the Hail Merry products! Those orange rosemary pecans sound unbelievable (and perhaps dangerously addictive).
    Miss you like crazy, my friend. Slowly catching up with everything this week, though!
    xoxo
    k

    Reply

  28. These look delicious, Shirley! I’ve never used coconut sugar…. I wonder if it’s available at Whole Foods? I’d love to receive the Blanched Almond Flour! How nice!

    Reply

    • Susan–Thanks! I’m pretty sure that Whole Foods does carry at least on brand of coconut sugar or palm sugar. It’s a wonderful thing! 🙂 So is almond flour. 😉

      Shirley

      Reply

  29. I used abt 2/3 Cup of GF dry oatmeal (instead of Oat flour) and 1 teaspoon of psyllium to give them a little ‘stretch’ and they were great!

    Reply

    • Hi Al–An actual review—woohoo! Thanks so much for letting us know your changes and how they worked out! Great news! 🙂 I have yet to find pysillium locally. I’m just going to have to order some online as you and so many are raving over it. 🙂

      Thanks for sharing!
      Shirley

      Reply

      • Shirley, I find psyllium either at my local health food store–and now even the local grocery chains (Shaw’s or Hannaford) carry containers of psyllium husk. Before going gluten-free I used psyllium as a fiber supplement and now I use it as a baking additive–who knew it was so versatile!

        Keep up the great work! I love your site!!

        Reply

        • Hi Al–It look like you are new here–welcome! 🙂 Thanks, too, for the psyllium info, as well as the kind words. I’m not sure our local stores are advanced enough to carry psyllium, but I will inquire further for sure. If psyllium can work the magic you and so many others say that it does 😉 , I must have some!

          Shirley

          Reply

  30. I’d love to try the Honeyville almond flour. I’ve been using Bob’s Redmill, but pretty much everyone seems to feel Honeyville is much better.

    Reply

    • Suzanne–Once you try Honeyville almond flour, you won’t even refer to Bob’s Red Mill as almond flour. They are worlds apart.

      Don’t think I’ve ever welcomed you to gfe officially … thanks so much for being a reader! 🙂
      Shirley

      Reply

  33. I love your recipes, Shirley, and I would love to try the almond flour! I was just reading about Honeyville almond flour the other day! 🙂

    Reply

  34. I’ve seen others recommend this brand and I have yet to try it. Hoping to win and try it out. I can’t wait to try these muffins, they look yummy!

    Reply

  35. You bake like I do – with the whole “what do we have kicking around here?” mentality! I love it. And I love these muffins – they sound hearty and delicious.

    Reply

    • Alta–LOL When we already have our minds set, life can be so boring, plus that would mean many more trips to the grocery store for me I think. I’m a fan of the well-stocked pantry and “going from there,” so to speak. 🙂

      Thanks, dear!
      Shirley

      Reply

  36. These are amazing, Shirley! Your ingredients are fantastic. Great job! I really like the direction you’re going with you recipes. Sharing these for sure!

    Hugs,
    –Amber

    Reply

  42. This recipe seems to have come at exactly the right time for me – I have been eating mostly grain free for a couple of years, but here in the UK there are very few good resources for recipes, it seems the US is leaps and bounds ahead. I have even put away my scales, and now mostly use cup and spoon measures rather than attempting to convert everything.

    However there are several ingredients which have proven hard to source, so I have been ‘collecting’ items as and when I come across them, such as quinoa flakes and coconut sugar. 🙂

    Only today, due to the lack of ‘unsweetened’ apple sauce here, I have stuck some apples in my slow cooker, (US = crock pot?) and got my preserving jars ready to fill up with the appley goodness!

    The only thing I have yet to find is almond ‘flour’. If I don’t win I will have to try the recipe with the next best substitution I can find, and use ‘ground’ almonds as I think it’s the best we can hope for here. Hopefully they will work out just as tasty, but I still hold out hope that I will be lucky enough to get my paws on some genuine, exactly as in the recipe, almond flour. 🙂

    Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

    • Hey Louise–I’d call all that serendipitous for sure. 😉 Many of my friends make their own almond flour using their spice grinders, coffee grinders, or food processors (just don’t over process or you’ll have almond butter instead). They like being able to make it as they need it and not having to store large amounts of almond flour in the fridge (or freezer).

      Good luck! I think you will enjoy these. 🙂
      Shirley

      Reply

      • Thanks for the great tip, Shirley – it just so happens I have replaced my broken food processor with one that has a ‘mill’ attachment, so I will do that.

        However I’ve read something somewhere about how we need to soak nuts overnight to get rid of something in them that makes them harder to digest (I forget the word).

        Would you do this then dry them before grinding, or just use them straight out of the packet..?

        (I have IBS amongst other things, so I’m all for ‘easy digestion’!) 😉

        Thanks again!

        Reply

        • Hi Louise–I don’t know that folks soak nuts before making flour, but it’s a good question. Maybe some others will weigh in. Hope so!

          Shirley

          Reply

        • If the nuts are blanched, they dont “need” soaking. The inhibitors are in the skins. If you soak the nuts, yes, you would need to dry them out completely, before grinding.

          I personally find sprouted (soaked and dehydrated) nuts to be *more* difficult to digest…so I stopped doing it.

          Reply

    • Gaile–If you’re in the U.S., I recommend ordering it from Honeyville’s site (honeyvillegrain.com) or Amazon’s site for larger amounts. Nuts.com also offers almond flour in 1-lb packages if you want to try some out first before buying a large amount. Or as I was just saying to Louise, you can pretty easily make your own. Many of my friends do. They don’t worry about the skins of the almonds. Those get ground up and just make for a slightly nuttier texture with the little bits that don’t get ground fine like the rest of the almond does.

      Good luck! You need these muffins in your life. 😉
      Shirley

      Reply

    • If you are near a Trader Joe’s, and don’t mind the dark skin specks in the flour, I suggest going there. Best price I’ve seen anywhere. $4-something a pound, here. And it is ground just as fine as Honeyville…if not finer. Bob’s Red Mill (in some grocery stores) is “eh, ok” but kind of chunky.

      Reply

  44. I’m still in gluten free baking 101 mode and I’ve never tried almond flour since I’m getting acquainted with the chemistry of baking. I love to bake and hope some day to try almond flour recipes like the one today that sound delicious.

    Reply

    • Hi Donna–I didn’t try almond flour for years after going gluten free. That was a mistake. Now I only have a very few flours on hand, with almond flour being one of them. While that’s mostly due to my issues with many gf grains and my desire to eat more grain free, almond flour can make gf baking much easier in the right recipes. You don’t have to add xanthan gum for one thing, and almond flour has a much better texture in many baked goods over other gf flours, plus it can taste more traditional (i.e., like gluten-full versions) in many recipes. I recommend Elana’s Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook and her Gluten-Free Cupcakes cookbook for recipes that use almond flour. Plus, I and many other gf/paleo/primal blogger friends have lots of great almond flour recipes, too. 🙂 Food for thought. 😉

      Shirley

      Reply

  52. These look like an easy recipe to use for teaching my kids how to bake – quick question though – do you scoop spoonfuls of almond flour with a spoon into your measuring cup, or do you usually pack the flour into the cup like brown sugar is typically measured?

    Reply

    • Hi Brandae–Great question! Almond flour is one in which I dip the measuring cup right into the bag of flour and sort of use the power of my hand to pack it in a bit and then level it off. I think it is similar to brown sugar measuring because the purpose for packing brown sugar in is to get the same measurement all the time. Good almond flour is a bit light and airy, so packing it like this gives a consistent measurement each time. Incidentally, I learned this trick from Elana. It’s what she recommends in her almond flour cookbook 🙂

      Shirley

      Reply

      • Thank you! I have Elana’s cookbooks but must have missed her measuring tips. Oops! I appreciate your help. I’ve baked with almond flour for a couple years now and love it, but I always wondered if I was measuring correctly…

        Reply

  53. These look great and I have all the ingredients on hand! I’ve been thinking grain free may be my next step but I’m not quite there yet! Its a process.

    Reply

  60. Thanks so much for the awesome recipe! I have yet to find almond flour for a half decent price. (I ground my own for another recipe). I wonder how it would taste with coconut flour. I am a huge fan of coconut oil & coconut sugar…I’ve just recently started baking with them & love the taste. I’m going to try the recipe in my special needs cooking class (using almond flour)…they LOVE muffins!! TY!

    Reply

    • Hi Lynne–As much as I love coconut flour, too, I would not recommend it in this recipe. UNLESS grinding one’s own coconut flour yields a significantly different product than purchased coconut flour, coconut flour would be too absorbent in this recipe and would zap all your liquid and the wonderful moistness of these muffins. That’s my recommendation. Most coconut flour recipes require many more eggs and/or other liquid than this one. Last, I’m so happy you are making your cooking class happy with muffins! 🙂

      Shirley

      Reply

  61. Looks very tasty. I wish we had some applesauce lying around, because I have everything else! Don’t know if my almond flour is as good for baking as the stuff you’re giving away.

    Reply

  63. These muffins look wonderful Shirley. I’m putting them on my “to try” list. Just have to buy a few ingredients!

    Reply

  64. These look So Yummy!!! Thank you for your notes, on using the quinoa flakes to replace oats. I would have just passed this one up. In recipes that ask for oats, can you replace the quinoa flakes instead?

    Reply

    • Hi Michelle–Many, many of us use quinoa flakes instead of oatmeal and ground up quinoa flakes instead of oat flour. As long as you get the same consistency that’s intended in the recipe, it should work perfectly 🙂 Good luck! Let us know what you think!

      Shirley

      Reply

  66. I receive your emails and always look forward to them. Thank you for all your “help” with my GF baking!!!

    Reply

  68. Shirley…thanks for answering my question! I just did an hour of cardio and strength training and was sitting at my kitchen counter trying to decide what to make for breakfast when I read your post. I’m off to make these muffins right this second! Thanks! They really look good AND I have all the ingredients!

    Reply

  70. I’ve heard so many great things about Almond Flour for years. Been meaning to try it but haven’t yet. Thank you for the opportunity!

    Reply

  71. I can’t wait to try this recipe! I have been going through almond flour like crazy so it would be awesome to win some.

    I’m already a fan on Facebook!

    I’m already an email subscriber, too!

    Reply

  74. Shirley,
    What a great Mom you are, your son is blessed.
    I have been wanting to try that almond flour.
    Thanks for the recipe, I’m looking forward to trying it.

    Reply

  79. I wonder if you could substitute coconut flour for the oat flour. And is oat flour just finely processed GF oats?

    Reply

    • Hi Janet–Yes, oat flour is just finely processed certified gf oats. You can easily make your own in food processor or mini chopper. 🙂 I would not substitute coconut flour for the oat flour though. Even a small amount of coconut flour is highly absorbent. For example, I only use 2 tsp in my Brazilian Un-Cheese Rolls recipe and that’s enough to zap up quite a bit of liquid and make them chewy. This recipe would have to be adapted quite a bit (with more eggs and/or other liquid) to accommodate coconut flour.

      Shirley

      Reply

  81. These look delicious. I cannot wait to try them. I Would really love to try the almond flour as I heard it is the best. I have cut out a lot because I cannot find it to try it!

    Reply

    • Shanna–I find the best source for almond flour to be online at Honeyville’s site, Amazon, Digestive Wellness, Nuts.com, etc., but as I was saying in other comments, many of my friends make their own almond flour using their spice grinders, coffee grinders, or food processors (just don’t over process or you’ll have almond butter instead). They like being able to make it as they need it and not having to store large amounts of almond flour in the fridge (or freezer).

      Hope that helps!
      Shirley

      Reply

  85. These muffins look so moist and tasty. My go to flour is almond flour. I’m a simple baker and I haven’t tried applesauce muffins before but I will give these a try. Thanks Shirley for inspiring me, as always!

    Reply

    • Hi Melissa–Sure, you can substitute any other flour for the oat flour. The recipe will taste a tad different, but will still be good! 🙂 Please report back. 😉

      Shirley

      Reply

  89. Your recipes look delicious! I have been looking into gluten-free sugar-free dessert recipes for my dad and have found several that require almond flour which I have never heard of before. It’s awesome that you are willing to give away a bag!

    Reply

  94. Haven’t tries almond flour yet. Here’s a question, does it taste super nutty when you bake with it? I love almonds, but my girl who needs to be GF not so much. Would love to get some to try. Thanks!

    Reply

  98. i’m so excited – i haven’t tried almond flour & i’ve heard that honeyville is one of the best. thanks for the opportunity to win! 🙂

    Reply

  102. I love using almond flour. You don’t get the gritty taste in your baked goods, that you get with some of the other grain flours. I haven’t tried Honeyville yet though. I will have to look for it next time I go to the store.

    Reply

    • Hey Judy–I think you will love Honeyville! I don’t know that any retail stores carry it, but I may be wrong. It’s worth signing up for Honeyville’s email newsletters to be kept up to date on discounts. I always order two when there’s a discount in effect. 😉

      Shirley

      Reply

  111. I haven’t tried almond flour yet, but these muffins look so good I may have to. My daughter’s coming home next weekend and with so many yummy recipes, I’m thinking a muffin “bake-athon” is in order.

    Reply

  115. Applesauce muffins (we love almond flour in nearly anything!) may become one of our top 10 “try this, gluten free can taste really good!” Thank you for all that you do to encourage us in the new walk!

    Reply

    • Hi Carol–It looks like you are new to gfe–welcome! 🙂 Thanks so much for the kind words, and you already know I love your “try this, gluten free can taste really good!” approach. 😉 Bravo!

      Shirley

      Reply

  116. Excited to find your site this morning! I will be visiting often. My family (me, husband, 4yr & 2yr old) is choosing to go gluten free and I’m totally overwhelmed. Where to start? Taking baby steps. My youngins will love these muffins- thanks. (Almond flour… brilliant- and sounds SO YUMMY!)

    Reply

    • Hi Ashley–Welcome to gfe! 🙂 Congrats on going gf, too. It can be life changing in many ways. 😉 Almond flour is a wonderful thing for sure. As far as where to start, I suggest checking out my gfe tip sheets and looking at the sidebar for essential posts and most popular posts. I hope you’ll find both very helpful, but email me with any questions specific to your family.

      Thanks for taking the time to comment!
      Shirley

      Reply

  120. Very popular muffins you have here, Shirley! They are amazing.

    Thank you for sharing this great recipe with us last week on AFW! Be sure to check back this week for reader favorites and hostess picks.

    Happy Eating,
    –AFW Hostesses

    Reply

  121. These are the best! Shirley, you outdid yourself with these! I made them this weekend and I was barely able to take a picture (e-mailed that to you) before they were gobbled up completely! I won’t tell how many ended up in my stomach 😉

    Thanks for doing all the work for us and thanks for your creative recipes!

    Reply

    • Hi Jenn–It looks like you are new to gfe–welcome! 🙂 You can *probably* just substitute a gluten-free all-purpose flour mix for the almond flour and have good results. I just haven’t tried that yet with this recipe. For a heartier muffin, you might want to increase the oat flour amount slightly and use less of the gf ap flour for the same total measurement of flours. Best of luck and please let us know how your experimenting turns out! 😉

      Shirley

      Reply

  123. Thanks for the recipe! I just purchased the almond flour from amazon! Can’t wait to try these, my son will love them:)

    Reply

  124. Thank you for posting this awesome recipe. I’ve just made these and they turned out to be so amazing. Beautiful texture as well as delicious. 🙂

    Reply

    • Hi Krisztina–What a lovely comment to read first thing this morning! 🙂 I’m so happy that these muffins turned out so well for you. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave your sweet review and welcome to gfe!

      Shirley

      Reply

    • Hi Julia–They really are! 😉 And good luck with your adaptation on your Applesauce Bars! Sometimes conversions/adaptations are really easy. Hope so for yours! And, btw, I don’t think I’ve ever welcomed you to gfe before … so happy to have you as a reader, and I really appreciate you taking the time to comment on posts. 🙂

      Shirley

      Reply

    • Hi Ali!–I’m so honored … thank you so much! I really appreciate you hosting Savoring Saturdays and sharing my muffins everywhere! 🙂 Happy Halloween weekend, dear.

      Shirley

      Reply

  131. I made the applesauce muffins with my daycare children. They wanted yellow raisins and roasted unsalted sunflower seeds in them. They were YUMMY, the kids would have eaten them all at one time if I let them. Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes.

    Reply

    • Hi Cathy–Welcome to gfe and thanks so much for the kind words! 🙂 Wow, our daycare kids know what ingredients work well together, plus the raisins and sunflower seeds gave this recipe a nice nutritional boost. I’m impressed! And these muffins are hard to resist even without the added goodness, so I understand their desire for more. 😉

      Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!
      Shirley

      Reply

      • The parents of my daycare children are amazed at what these children are learning through this gluten free journey with me. We bake every Monday morning. Now everything we make is gluten free. The children get to taste all the ingredients and the finished product as well. They are learning about eight different types of flour that we are using. Whenever they eat something they ask if it is gluten free. They know I can’t put anything gluten free in my mouth and they ask me if what I’m eating is gluten free. If you were to ask the two year old boy I have in care what happens when Grammy ( that’s what they all call me) eats somethinwith gluten he would tell you I get sick or that I have diarrhea. These children are totally amazing! I forgot to tell you that they each take turns measuring ingredients before we mix everything together. They have such knowledge about baking from doing this each week.
        Time to get off my soapbox now Lol

        Reply

        • Cathy–Reading more about your wonderful daycare kids and how you’ve taught them about gluten-free living and looking out for others makes me so happy! It’s really so important to instill these attitudes early in life. Btw, you might want to read another post here on gfe–a personal story that is very similar to yours.

          Thanks so much for sharing and all you do for the good of our world! 🙂
          Shirley

          Reply

  132. Hi Shirley..I have loved this recipe for years…and today I used it to make Peanut Butter muffins. I just subbed out the applesauce for peanut butter, and took out the spices and put in 1tbsp of vanilla. DELICIOUS!!!

    Reply

    • Hi Meg–Oh how I love your variation!! 🙂 I will have to make your variation and if I post it, I will tell everyone it is your brilliant creation! I’ve been in a muffin mood but too busy to make any lately, so I’ll try to get on it this week. 😉 Thanks so very much for sharing!

      Happy holidays!
      Shirley

      Reply

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