The other day my 9-year-old was hungry for a snack, and after rummaging through the kitchen she said, “Mom, do we have any muffins anywhere?” That girl loves some muffins, and if she’s really hungry she’ll try to eat two in a row (or even three!) some days. So she was thrilled today when she came home from school and said, “What smells so good?” and I explained that it was a new muffin creation in the oven …Apple Walnut Muffins! With fall upon us and apples in season this is the perfect combination to snack on (or add to a school lunch) this time of year. I hope your little ones enjoy them as much as mine do! :)
Apple Walnut Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup water
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted. You can sub melted coconut oil
- 1 cup apple, shredded (see instructions below)
- 3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper or silicone liners and set aside.
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In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg. Make a well (hole) in the center and drop in the eggs, syrup, water, and melted butter. Stir with a fork until well combined.
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To shred the apple either use a cheese grater or - if you really want to make it easy - use your food processor fitted with the shredding disk. Simply discard any big chunks of apple peel that didn't get shredded all the way (but keep the rest in there!). There is no need to remove any liquid or squeeze the apples dry. Gently fold both the apple shreds and chopped walnuts into the batter.
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Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
Whole-Wheat Sweet Potato Ravioli
These look great! Can the walnuts be omitted? We have nut allergies. Thanks!!!
Yes, that would be totally fine. Maybe you could try raisins or dried cranberries instead?
Can honey be substituted for the maple syrup? I live overseas and cannot find maple syrup here and cannot import it because it’s a liquid :/
Yes, that should work just fine! It’s a 1:1 ratio.
Can’t wait until my hubby gets home with the walnuts, these are on the breakfast menu for tomorrow with eggs and fruit! Love your muffin recipes, so far my families favorite are your Lemon Raspberry ones.
Enjoy! :)
I just made them and skipped the walnuts and added rolled oats instead. They’re great! Thanks.
Oh good idea for a walnut replacement! Glad you are enjoying them :)
Heather – how much rolled oats did you use?
What type of apple did you use? Do you think one type is better than another?
I used HoneyCrisp – our favorite!
These look great. Do you think honey would substitute well for maple syrup? We live overseas and pure maple syrup is ridiculously expensive here.
Yes, that should work just fine and is a 1:1 substitute.
I was wondering if you peeled the apples for this recipe or not.
By the way, I love the idea of swapping out the nuts for oatmeal (my son’s classroom needs to be nut free) – that’s what I will do when I make them!
Love these! What a great fall muffin. My kids are the same way with muffins. :)
How could you change these to be Gluten Free?
Hi Maria. You could try using a gluten free whole grain flour blend. I have done just that with many of the muffin recipes and most of them have turned out pretty well. No guarentees, however, as we’ve not converted recipes to be gluten free. ~Amy
My original plan was to make these for breakfast in the morning. I found myself in need of a quick dessert tonight and had all of the ingredients on hand. I ended up doubling the recipe, pouring it in a buttered 9×13 pan, baking for 40 min, and serving with some vanilla ice cream. It made a delicious apple cake. :)
What a great fall muffin. Love the idea of adding rolled oats. I might try honey instead of the maple syrup.
Just out the oven! They look and smell great and taste great!
They are in the oven right now. I used my Vitamix to shred the apple – super easy! And I didn’t have walnuts so I used organic raisins instead. My house smells divine – can’t wait to taste. My muffin tins must be a bit larger – I only got 8. I will need to double next time as my 3 over 6 feet tall teenage boys will swallow these up whole.
Heather can you tell me how you shredded them in the Vitamix? I don’t have a shredding food processor either and with my Vitamix I don’t know how to stop it from being mush. Do you just use small pieces and pulse it?
Thanks for your help!
I cut the apples into big chunks and put them in the Vitamix at the lowest setting for about 10 seconds. That is all it took – not too mushy at all. Just right and I have now done this several times making your muffins. I just find that easier than shredding or grating them.
I have also done this with carrots for your carrot muffin recipe. I put in organic baby carrots for 10 seconds max. Perfect every time!
Can cocont flour be used instead?
Hi there. We’ve not tried but this might help: http://nourishedkitchen.com/baking-with-coconut-flour/. ~Amy
I’m gluten sensitive do you think you could sub a gluten free flour mix without changing anything else?
Hi Marti. You can certainly give it whirl. I’ve made several of the muffin recipes with a gluten free blend and they have turned out well. ~Amy
i substituted a multi purpose gluten free flour and they are wonderful. First gluten free bakery item my husband has liked. This receipe is a keeper.
These look so good. I will definitely be trying them soon.
Yum– these look awesome, Lisa! I never think to shred apple- silly of me :) I’ll probably add 1-2 TBL of ground flax and may play around with GF flour blend.
Wow these look wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing these! I’m absolutely adding them to my “to make” list – I love finding new whole grain muffin recipes.
Doubled the recipe, added some raisins, and baked it in a 9″ square pan. (I can fit more in the freezer if I do pre-sliced rectangles rather than muffins…) Tastes amazing – thank you!
Could you use a real chunky homemade apple sauce instead of the shredded apple?
I was wondering the same thing!
Hi Rachel. Yep, it should work!
Dee-lish! This afternoon, my five-year-old asked if I could please put a “plain” muffin in his lunch because that’s what the kid sitting next to him had. (The peer pressure starts in kindergarten!) I got your email about these this afternoon, baked them off tonight, and I will put one in his lunch for tomorrow. Perfect timing! I omitted the nuts, and I’m confident these will pass as a “plain” yet very healthy muffin! Thanks, Lisa!
Do you peel the apples first?
Hi Suzette. I peeled first. ;)
Do you think frozen (well, thawed) shredded apple would work? I have tons of local apples from the CSA, and when I saw this recipe, I thought maybe I could shred and freeze lots of those apples in 1 cup servings and make these muffins in the middle of winter. I’m guessing it would be the same as making zucchini bread from frozen shredded zucchini, where you add the water that thaws too? Maybe I’ll experiment before freezing them all… :) Just wondering if you had any experience.
Hi Korine. Yes, frozen should work fine with the liquid that separated. ~Amy
Yum! This looks delicious! I have an apple tree full of apples that are almost ready to pick. I’ve been looking for ideas on how to use them and I found this. Perfect timing! :-)
Thats delicious, healthy and stunning muffin.
These taste awesome. Even without the melted butter (yep, skipped right over that ingredient by mistake). I didn’t shred the apple, I just used my apple corer/slicer and then sliced each slice into thirds and then chopped those, so I had tiny wedges of apple rather than shreds in my muffins. No doubt the texture of the muffin would be altered without the butter, but just in case you make the same mistake I did, no need to panic. I ate three this morning for my breakfast! The 9 year old knows what she’s talking about!
Perfect timing! We just picked our second round of apples from the orchard and was planning to make some apple muffins to restock the freezer. You saved me from having to dig up last years recipe. Love the shredded apple, my oldest hates the mushy consistency of cooked fruit, so she picks around fruit chunks in muffins, thankfully shredded fruit blends right in. Oat substitution sounds yummy as well, for a nut-free classroom snack.
I want to make these in mini-muffin pans. Would the baking time be the same?
Hi Karen. No. While we haven’t yet made these in mini form, I would start checking them around 12 minutes. ~Amy
I made these in the morning, and they came out wonderful. I used chunky unsweetened apple sauce and replaced 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour with almond flour. Thank you for posting such an amazing recipe.
Baked these this morning, my daughter and I like the mild taste however my son and husband wanted a more intense apple flavor. Any suggestions?
Hi there. Perhaps change up your variety of apple: http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/cooking-tips/article/the-3-best-apples-to-use-for-baking. ~Amy
This recipe was such a hit in my house! THANK YOU :) Very tasty. Keep up the good work!
I made two batches of these today. The first I used 1 loosely measured cup of shredded apples (skin on) and followed the recipe exactly as written. They were great, but we couldn’t really taste the apple. For the second batch I used a packed cup’s worth of shredded apples (skin still on), halved the amount of nutmeg as I’m not a fan of nutmeg at all and followed the rest of the recipe exactly as written. The second batch was amazing and I can’t wait to make them again!
My son asked me about doing chunks of apples instead of shredded so the next batch will be 1/2 shredded and 1/2 small diced apple.
Thank you for sharing!
This sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try a gluten free version!
Did you have any luck with a GF version? If so, could yo us hare it?
These sound wonderful. I sat here and did the math because I am carefully watching calories. They work out to be about 180 per muffin. Very much worth it! I can’t wait to make them!
How would these taste without the butter? Seems like a lot of fat? Unfortunately I don’t have coconut oil…applesauce??
Hi Celina. You are welcome to try with applesauce and share your results with us. :)
Celina, if you use real grass fed butter you don’t have to worry about the fat. It is actually good for you. It is fake products like margarine that are bad for you and processed sugar. Real butter has good fat that your body needs.
I’m going to make these today. Sounds like the perfect snack for my kids.
Speaking of recipes, do you have any suggestions for HEALTHY kids’ cookbooks?
My 7 year old brought home a kid’s cookbook from library this week, enthusiastically wanting to try out some recipes. Unfortunately, it is mostly “kiddie” food. Most recipes are so bad, that are not worth revamping to make them healthier. While she and her sisters happily help me make recipes from this website and my cookbooks, I would like to get her her own book with recipes and simple directions she can read all by herself.
Hi Kristin. Have you made your way through this: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/recommended-reading/ and https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/11/14/cookbook-review-8-of-our-favorites/. They are not kids titles but my boys and I cook from them all the time. :)
Thanks, we already cook together from my favorite books. I finally found a good kids’ cookbook: Chop Chop The Kds’ Guide To Cooking Real Food With Your Family. (read my detailed response, on the top of the next page of comments, I forgot to hit reply when I first responded back)
Hi! Do you have a brand of whole-wheat flour that you recommend? My family doesn’t like the denseness of things made with the flour I currently use so I was wondering if there was a brand that is a little more enjoyable for picky people!?
Hi Krisy. Lisa uses King Arthur brand. You might give the white whole wheat a try if you are looking for something a little lighter. It is still 100% whole wheat. ~Amy
My sons also loved these…although I left the walnuts out. I have not converted them to nut lovers yet.
This recipe made 1 pan of 24 mini-muffins. I used white whole wheat flour to make them a bit lighter. I agree with others; the apple taste was minimal. I made a second batch and added apple pie spice, still not enough flavor. When I make these again, I will use applesauce and small diced apple. The suggested 15 minutes was perfect timing in my oven. The maple syrup kept them from being overly sweet. Great recipe!
Thanks, but I really wanted a kids cookbook she could read, as she wants to cook things herself, (while I’m her sous chef, LOL) After reading Amazon reviews and checking out my local library, I found a great kids’ cookbook. “Chop Chop The Kids’ Guide to Cooking Real Food With Your Family”. The 100+ recipes contain real food, lots of veggies, whole grains and minimal added sugar. The book also teaches cooking technique and nutrition information. I am so excited to have kids’ recipes I can say YES to!
Thanks for sharing that. I’ll check it out. :)
My little guy loves muffins too. This look delicious, thank you!
These did not work for me. We are just switching over to more real food, but the honey didn’t seem sweet enough and they were incredibly dense. I used white whole wheat flour and no, I did not over mix. I will try again when I replenish my maple syrup supply (which I adore in oatmeal now instead of brown sugar.)
I made these this morning and my five year old daughter loved them. They turned out a little dry, but I cooked them for the full twenty minutes so I think I will try less time. Very easy to make!
This is a fabulous recipe! I followed the directions (used a large Gala apple), baked for 18 minutes, and the muffins were, oh, so moist. Thanks for sharing!
I wonder what I could use to substitute the eggs? My son as an egg allergy. I often use applesauce, but thinking that won’t work as there’s already apples in it?
Hi Jill. You could use flax eggs: http://detoxinista.com/detoxilicious-recipes/how-to-make-flax-eggs-or-chia-eggs/. ~Amy
These are amazing!!! I used melted coconut oil and they are so moist and sweet!! They taste even better the next day once the moisture from the apples has spread throughout. These are definitely being added to our muffin rotation!!! Thanks Lisa!
I’m thinking these would freeze well. Can anyone confirm? Thanks!
Hi there. Yes they do! :)
Thank you! :)
My toddler loves both eating and baking muffins. We will have to give these a try!
I love these (so does my almost 2 year old) and have made them a few times. I substitute oats for the walnuts because I don’t love nuts in baked goods. I freeze them and send them with my toddler’s lunch.
Is there a way to substitute with honey, instead of using maple syrup??
Hi Samantha. Yes, honey will work, too.
Can you use spelt flour instead of whole wheat like in the pumpkin muffin recipe?
Hi there. We’ve not tried spelt in this recipe but I think it will work. I have subbed spelt 1:1 with whole wheat in many baked goods.
Hi.
I love a lot of Lisa’s recipes!
How many apples would a cup be?
And is there a favorite variety for these muffins??
Thanks!
Hi there. Approximately 1/3 pound of apples should work.
Hi,
i tried this recipe today with honey and 1 Tbsp of brown sugar instead of maple syrup and they just smelled delicious (and the raw dough was really yummy ;) )!
But for some reason the muffins got burnt from the inside..They looked awesome from the outside but when i tried to pull one in half it was all black in the middle. This never ever happened to me before so I’m clueless what I might have done wrong…Did anyone experience something similar or has an idea what might have happened there? :S
Well that is interesting. Not sure what happened.
Hi, can I use normal sugar instead of maple syrup. If yes please give me the quantity of sugar .
Hi. This might help: http://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/baking-with-honey-sugar-for-baking/.
Thank you
I tried this recipe today and it was quick and easy! My 15 month old loved them. As did my husband, who is hesitant to adopt my new healthy eating habit.
Great!! Glad you all enjoyed them!
I was feeling lazy so I used unsweetened applesauce instead. I also used my food chopper to finely chop the walnuts…they turned out awesome!
Hey! I love this site and have tried several recipes. I feel like this wasn’t “apple-y” enough. Should I have packed down the grated apples when measuring? Thanks! Would love to give this another try if I can give it more of an apple taste :)
Hi. You could if you want to up the apple content but I do not.
I’m finding my muffins rather dry. I used stone milled whole grain flour by speerville. Should I just add more butter, water or maple syrup???
I’ve added applesauce and it works well.
Very nice recipe. I used Granny Smith apples in my first batch and thought my muffins could use a bit more sweetness. For my second batch, I used Fuji apples and got the sweetness that was lacking in the first batch.
Thanks for this recipe – very good! I need to ingest flaxseed as part of my diet this month and so added 4 tablespoons + dates and used milk instead of water + 1 extra teaspoon of butter to make up for the flaxseed (which tends to dry things out). I also toasted the walnuts for added nutty flavor. I’d make this again!
Hi! Can I use applesauce instead of apples in this recipe? If so, how much would I use?
Thanks!
Since the recipe calls for shredded apples, so applesauce would change the overall recipe a bit. I’d keep with the shredded apples for this one. – Nicole