Why Should You Make This Recipe?
This easy recipe is a wonderful addition to my foolproof Almond Flour Desserts collection. If you have under an hour of free time, these paleo almond cinnamon muffins are a delicious and easy way to celebrate the fall season, one muffin at a time!
- Visually Impressive: These Almond Flour Apple Muffins are picture-perfect treats that will have all your guests fooled as to just how easy they are to make and decorate!
- Minimally Sweetened: The natural sweetness of the apples and maple syrup means that there is no refined sugar in these healthy apple muffins.
- In Season: These delicious muffins are an easy way to bake with the in-season apples you pick this time of year! Seasoned with a hint of cinnamon and that natural apple flavor, this fall treat will warm you up on the inside.
- Quick Clean Up: This recipe only requires one large bowl, one small bowl, and one whisk, so no long and tedious clean up afterwards. Just one more thing that makes this recipe so easy!
- Paleo, Gluten Free and Dairy-free: These apple muffins are paleo friendly and gluten free, so you can meet many dietary restrictions in group settings with just one simple recipe.
Ingredients:
These Almond Flour Apple Muffins only require 12 simple ingredients, many of which you likely already have in your pantry.
Gather your almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, ground cinnamon, eggs, maple syrup, oil, vanilla extract, apple slices, and chopped walnuts.
Helpful Ingredient Notes including Substitutions:
- Oil: I recommend using vegetable oil or melted coconut oil, but don’t use olive oil for this recipe!
- Almond Flour: This recipe calls for almond flour, although you can use almond meal interchangeably. Almond meal is a bit thicker than almond flour, but either creates a smooth textured muffin. Don’t have access to almond flour? No problem, follow my recipe for a simple DIY almond meal or almond flour at home.
- Apples: Any of your favorite juicy apples will work in this recipe. My personal favorites are Gala Apples or Honeycrisp Apples, but if you prefer a more sour apple, Granny Smith Apples or Pink Lady Apples are great alternatives. You can also do a mix and match with different apples to get a balance of sweet, sour and tart!
- Slicing Apples: When preparing your apples of choice, it is important to slice them very thinly with a mandoline or a knife. Slicing thinly and evenly will ensure that they cook completely and thoroughly. If you are baking for younger children, or just prefer smaller pieces, you can cut your apple slices in half.
- Maple Syrup: Pure maple syrup and agave nectar can be used interchangeably, depending on your taste preference and availability!
How to Make?
This paleo apple muffin recipe takes just a few steps from start to finish and is completed in just under an hour. Because of how easy these are to prepare, you can make these in advance to enjoy throughout the week, or as a spontaneous treat on the weekend!
- Dry Ingredients: Measure out and add your dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix together until completely combined.
- Wet Ingredients: Measure out and ddd your wet ingredients to a separate bowl and whisk until completely combined.
- Combine: Simply pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together until all the ingredients are fully combined.
- Add Apples: Gently fold in the thinly sliced apple pieces into the muffin batter just until combined.
- Pour into Muffin Tins: Divide batter into your prepared muffin pan. Make sure you have 12 equally filled muffin tins with the apple pieces dispersed evenly.
- Decorate: Although this step is optional, it creates for beautifully decorated apple almond muffins. Thinly slice half an apple (again, your choice of apple) and lay three slices on top of each muffin. Each apple slice can slightly overlap to create a fan effect for an additional visual appeal.
- Add chopped walnuts: For an additional texture and nutty flavor, add a small handful of chopped walnuts onto each muffin as well.
- Bake: Bake your muffins at 325 degrees F for 35 minutes, or until the tops of your muffins turn golden brown. Allow your muffins to cool completely, at least 30 minutes in the tin or on a cooling rack, before enjoying!
How To Serve:
- Enjoy these gluten-free apple muffins with your morning coffee or tea, or serve with my Homemade Almond Milk on any brisk day this fall!
- If you cannot get enough of apple goodness, try serving it with a few tablespoons of my unsweetened applesauce on the side.
How to Store, Freeze & Thaw
The best part about these paleo apple cinnamon muffins is that they store and freeze well. Simply follow the steps below for delicious apple muffins every time:
- To Store: This recipe makes 12 apple almond muffins that can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature, or up to 5 days in the refrigerator. If you keep it in the fridge, warm them in a low-heat (250 degrees F oven) for 5 minutes before serving.
- To Freeze: You can freeze these muffins for up to one month after making them. Allow the baked muffins to reach room temperature before placing them into the freezer.
- To Thaw: Once you are ready to enjoy the muffins, remove from the freezer and allow to thaw for 15 minutes before baking at 250 degrees F for 5-8 minutes, or until they are warmed through.
Expert Tips
- Slicing Apples: If you own a mandoline, this is a great time to use it to thinly slice your apples. Big apple chunks will not work for this recipe, as they will not bake thoroughly and evenly. If you are looking to purchase a mandoline, I suggest this mandoline. Of course, you can always use a knife to slice your apples.
- Muffin Tin Liners: I love using parchment paper muffin liners for all of my muffins. If you use parchment paper muffin liners (affiliate link), you do not need to grease your muffin tins. However, if you use regular paper liners, I recommend greasing your tins so that your liners do not stick and result in messy clean up.
- Wet Ingredients: I suggest having your wet ingredients at room temperature so that you can develop a velvety smooth muffin batter and evenly baked paleo almond meal muffins.
- Do not skip on cooling: While I know that it is hard to wait, do not skip on the cooling process. These almond apple muffins need at least 20-30 minutes to cool for best results.
- Apples & Maple Syrup: As I mentioned above, you can use your own preference of apples, or a mix of different types of apples like tart apples and sour apples. However, if you are using sweet apples, you can decrease the amount of maple syrup that you use so that your muffins are not overly sweet. Start with using two tablespoons of less maple syrup and go from there.
- Decoration: The decoration on top is optional, but it is very simple to achieve and beautiful at the end!
- Coconut Flour: Do not replace your almond flour with coconut flour, as the batter consistency will be off and it will not work for this recipe.
Similar Gluten Free Muffins You Might Like:
If you enjoyed these apple muffins with almond flour, here are a few other paleo and gluten-free almond flour muffins recipes you might like:
- Pumpkin Almond Flour Muffins
- Almond Flour Zucchini Muffins
- No Flour Blueberry Muffins
- Easy Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins Recipe
- Gluten-Free Banana Muffins
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes
- Need more inspiration? Check out our collection of naturally sweetened desserts and muffin recipes.
Other Apple Recipes You Might Like:
- Healthy Apple Crumble Recipe
- Apple Roses Recipe
- Apple Cinnamon Oats
- Healthy Overnight Muesli
- Healthy Apple Salad
- Layered Apple Appetizer
Almond Flour Apple Muffins Recipe
These gluten-free and paleo Almond Flour Apple Muffins are perfect for the chilly mornings of autumn to accompany your coffee. Naturally sweetened with maple syrup and apples, they are a healthier alternative to muffins made with granulated sugar.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups almond flour , (8.4 oz.)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Wet Ingredients:
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup +2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil , melted and cooled (avocado and grapeseed oil would also work)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Add Ins and Toppings:
- 1 apple , Medium sized & Thinly sliced + more as garnish
- ½ cup walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with parchment liners.
- Mix almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, and ground cinnamon in a bowl until no lumps remain.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla extract on a bowl until emulsified.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix until fully combined.
- Fold in the sliced apples.
- Divide the batter evenly in the muffin tin.
- If preferred, top each muffin with 3 slices of apples (like I did in the pictures) and sprinkle them with walnuts.
- Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the top of the muffins turn golden brown.
- Let it cool for 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Apples: Any of your favorite juicy apples will work in this recipe. My personal favorites are Gala Apples or Honeycrisp Apples, but if you prefer a more sour apple, Granny Smith Apples or Pink Lady Apples are great alternatives. You can also do a mix and match with different apples to get a balance of sweet, sour, and tart.
- Slicing Apples: If you own a mandoline, this is a great time to use it to thinly slice your apples. Big apple chunks will not work for this recipe, as they will not bake thoroughly and evenly. If you are looking to purchase a mandoline, I suggest this one. Of course, you can always use a knife to slice your apples.
- Muffin Tin Liners: I love using parchment paper muffin liners for all of my muffins. If you use parchment paper muffin liners, you do not need to grease your muffin tins. However, if you use regular paper liners, I recommend greasing your tins so that your liners do not stick and result in messy clean up.
- Wet Ingredients: I suggest having your wet ingredients at room temperature so that you can develop a velvety smooth muffin batter and evenly baked paleo almond meal muffins.
- Apples & Maple Syrup: As I mentioned above, you can use your own preference of apples, or a mix of different types of apples like tart apples and sour apples. However, if you are using sweet apples, you can decrease the amount of maple syrup that you use so that your muffins are not overly sweet. Start with using two tablespoons of less maple syrup and go from there.
Nutrition
Calories: 229kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 195mg | Potassium: 84mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 69IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe?Mention @foolproofliving or tag #foolproofeats!
How many apples in your apple muffin recipe?? It just tells to do some sliced ones on top but not how many in the dough.
Hi Connie,
You will need one apple to use in the batter and another (optional) one to decorate the top of the muffins.
Hope this answers your question.
The muffins are in the oven as of this writing. I Followed recipe exactly — except I used Log Cabin® no sugar syrup. I do love maple syrup but my wife has diabetes and we’re cutting out sugar. I hope they don’t taste artificial.
Well I just took the muffins out of oven. They smell great but seem very wet inside. Recipe said 1 med apple I used a small Pink Lady, Maybe the apple had a lot of juice. Will they dry out as they cool?
Also the the thin apple slices burned to a crisp. They may have been too thin. My mandolin only has 3 settings for slicing.
Muffins are cool and taste tested. The have a lot of apple flavor but I don’t think they’re done. I cooked them longer than suggested and used a thermometer and took then out at 207º F. So I assume they were done. I’m wondering whether to use less apple or different apple. Is the texture supposed to be really moist bordering on wet?
Maybe using diet syrup made it that moist?
I am disappointed I was also making them to take some to sick neighbor . with such great reviews maybe I should try again. And add a little more cinnamon I love cinnamon.
Hi Ric,
I am sorry that it feels like it is not fully cooked.
I am not familiar with the sugar you mentioned so it is hard for me to say that could be the reason. However, I made this muffin many times using various types of apples, so unless it is a particularly juicy apple, I do not think that the apple would be the issue.
In terms of moisture, yes, almond flour baked goods tend to be more moist that your usual all purpose flour baked goods. However, one of the key things is to let it cool completely. Another thing I can think of is the oven temperature. My oven takes a while to reach to the desired temperature even if the display says it reached to the set temperature so I alway check the thermometer before baking anything. Do you by any chance have a thermometer in your oven?
I hope this helps.
Aysegul
My wife loved them so I guess I’ll keep making. Thanks for the suggestions. I will get an oven thermometer.