Gluten-Free Apple Crumb Muffins are made with whole grain gluten-free oat flour, almond flour, applesauce, and coconut sugar topped with a cinnamon sugar crumble. Dairy-free, vegan.
If I had to pick a muffin season—because surely that is a thing—it would be fall. Prior to my days living a gluten-free, dairy-free diet, I used to make pumpkin muffins loaded with cream cheese, white sugar, and streusel for our annual NYC Marathon-watching party.
Those kind of muffins are far behind me now. I've found that with combining certain wholesome ingredients, you can still have flavorful muffins with nutritional value and leave the gluten behind.
These gluten-free apple crumb muffins have the essence of favorite fall baked goods. With healthier swaps and whole grain flours, the base of these apple muffins are made with gluten-free oat flour, almond flour, arrowroot starch, and applesauce.
Diced apples are folded into the cinnamon-scented batter and the crumb mixture is sprinkled on top.
I've used coconut sugar to sweeten the muffin batter but organic cane sugar for the crumble topping. You can use coconut sugar for both, but I prefer the cane sugar for the crunch it gives the crumble.
To keep these egg-free, I've used ground chia seeds to work as the binder, and no one will be the wiser.
And as a bonus, these apple muffins with the scrumptious sweet crumble on top smell amazing in the oven.
Looking for some more gluten-free breakfast inspiration? Meg's gluten-free strawberry and cream scones have brunch written all over them. And Megan's vegan peanut butter hot chocolate is just the thing for cozy, fall mornings.
More Apple Recipes:
Gluten-Free Apple Crumb Muffins (Vegan)
Ingredients
For the Crumb Topping
- 4-5 tablespoons organic cane sugar
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the Muffins
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- ½ cup hot water
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice half of 1 lemon
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup almond flour
- 1 ¼ cups gluten-free oat flour
- ¼ cup arrowroot flour/starch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- ½ apple, peeled and diced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 12-tin muffin tray with paper liners.
- In a small bowl, combine crumb topping ingredients with your fingers so that the coconut oil breaks down into pea-sized or smaller pieces. Start with 4 tablespoons sugar, add a little more if needed. Set aside.
- In a blender, add chia seeds, hot water, lemon juice, applesauce, and coconut oil. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add almond flour, oat flour, arrowroot starch, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, salt, and coconut sugar. Whisk to combine.
- Add vanilla extract to the mixture in the blender, and blend on high until smooth. Fold liquid mixture into the dry mixture. Once evenly combined, fold in diced apples.
- Evenly divide muffin batter amongst muffin tins. Sprinkle crumb topping on top of each. Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove gluten-free apple crumb muffins from oven and place tray on a wire cooling rack. Allow to cool. Store in an airtight container.
Jen Sexton
Delicious recipe! Thank you for creating. I made a few swaps to make grain free, used cassava flour once and millet flour another time instead of oat flour. Same amounts and turned out great! Also swapped 1/4 cup maple syrup for coconut palm sugar and viola! So enjoy your recipes. Thanks a million!
Tessa
That's awesome! Thank you, Jen!
Tia
Hi I love it but my crumble turned out wet after a day. Is that normal?
Tessa
Thanks, Tia! That is not abnormal due to the crumble being made with coconut oil. Depending on the temperature in your kitchen/house it could melt. Keeping them in the fridge or reducing the amount of coconut oil next time could help if they are at room temperature.
Tia
Awesome! Thank you so much
Tessa
Wonderful!! Thank you, Tia!
Sue
I have made these muffins about five times now. These and the zucchini chocolate muffins are my go to muffins. I make a batch of each and keep them in the freezer. Perfect to grab and go in the morning. Both my husband and I can't decide which one we like best, so I make both :-)
Tessa
That is so nice to hear! Thank you, Sue. Those are my two favorite muffin recipes as well! :)
Eve
I just made these and I love them! So so delicious. Glad I found your recipe!
Tessa
Wonderful! Thanks so much, Eve! <3
Joanne
My husband and I absolutely love this recipe! The only changes I made were to use pecan meal instead of almond flour, and I added oatmeal to the crumb topping so I could reduce the amount of sugar. Oh, and I added some raisins! Yummy!
Tessa
That is great to hear! Thank you! Oats and raisins sound like delicious additions. Thanks so much, Joanne!