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.
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Nikki
September 30, 2014 at 5:53 pmThese look great! Can the walnuts be omitted? We have nut allergies. Thanks!!!
Lisa
September 30, 2014 at 7:02 pmYes, that would be totally fine. Maybe you could try raisins or dried cranberries instead?
Amanda
September 30, 2014 at 7:02 pmCan 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 :/
Lisa
September 30, 2014 at 7:38 pmYes, that should work just fine! It’s a 1:1 ratio.
Kristel
September 30, 2014 at 7:05 pmCan’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.
Lisa
September 30, 2014 at 7:39 pmEnjoy! :)
Heather
September 30, 2014 at 7:14 pmI just made them and skipped the walnuts and added rolled oats instead. They’re great! Thanks.
Lisa
September 30, 2014 at 7:38 pmOh good idea for a walnut replacement! Glad you are enjoying them :)
Wendy
September 30, 2014 at 7:52 pmHeather – how much rolled oats did you use?
Diana
September 30, 2014 at 7:42 pmWhat type of apple did you use? Do you think one type is better than another?
Lisa
October 9, 2014 at 7:50 pmI used HoneyCrisp – our favorite!
Teri
September 30, 2014 at 8:21 pmThese look great. Do you think honey would substitute well for maple syrup? We live overseas and pure maple syrup is ridiculously expensive here.
Lisa
October 9, 2014 at 7:51 pmYes, that should work just fine and is a 1:1 substitute.
Sandra
September 30, 2014 at 8:52 pmI 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!
Maryea {happy healthy mama}
September 30, 2014 at 10:37 pmLove these! What a great fall muffin. My kids are the same way with muffins. :)
Maria
September 30, 2014 at 11:41 pmHow could you change these to be Gluten Free?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
October 4, 2014 at 9:56 amHi 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
Jessy
October 1, 2014 at 2:20 amMy 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. :)
Aimee @ aim for healthy bites
October 1, 2014 at 6:17 amWhat a great fall muffin. Love the idea of adding rolled oats. I might try honey instead of the maple syrup.
Claire
October 1, 2014 at 6:45 amJust out the oven! They look and smell great and taste great!
Heather
October 1, 2014 at 9:26 amThey 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.
Lisa
October 1, 2014 at 5:16 pmHeather 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!
Heather
October 31, 2014 at 12:38 pmI 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!
Tishelle
October 1, 2014 at 2:36 pmCan cocont flour be used instead?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
October 13, 2014 at 8:02 amHi there. We’ve not tried but this might help: http://nourishedkitchen.com/baking-with-coconut-flour/. ~Amy
Marti
October 1, 2014 at 2:51 pmI’m gluten sensitive do you think you could sub a gluten free flour mix without changing anything else?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
October 4, 2014 at 10:14 amHi 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
Marti
October 7, 2014 at 5:13 pmi 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.
Lia
October 1, 2014 at 3:51 pmThese look so good. I will definitely be trying them soon.
Katie
October 1, 2014 at 4:33 pmYum– 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.
Caroline @ SweetFoodie
October 1, 2014 at 4:52 pmWow 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.
Lauren
October 1, 2014 at 5:01 pmDoubled 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!
Rachel
October 1, 2014 at 7:20 pmCould you use a real chunky homemade apple sauce instead of the shredded apple?
Kirstie
October 1, 2014 at 11:50 pmI was wondering the same thing!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
October 6, 2014 at 12:01 pmHi Rachel. Yep, it should work!
Aly
October 1, 2014 at 7:59 pmDee-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!
Suzette
October 1, 2014 at 8:04 pmDo you peel the apples first?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
October 6, 2014 at 12:07 pmHi Suzette. I peeled first. ;)
Korine
October 1, 2014 at 11:18 pmDo 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.
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
October 6, 2014 at 12:11 pmHi Korine. Yes, frozen should work fine with the liquid that separated. ~Amy
Shelly
October 1, 2014 at 11:28 pmYum! 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! :-)
Oppo Joy Phone
October 2, 2014 at 6:14 amThats delicious, healthy and stunning muffin.
Grandma Kate
October 2, 2014 at 10:02 amThese 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!
Kristin
October 2, 2014 at 11:16 amPerfect 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.
Karen
October 2, 2014 at 8:42 pmI want to make these in mini-muffin pans. Would the baking time be the same?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
October 6, 2014 at 4:37 pmHi Karen. No. While we haven’t yet made these in mini form, I would start checking them around 12 minutes. ~Amy
Sagami
October 3, 2014 at 11:54 amI 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.
martyfen
October 3, 2014 at 7:49 pmBaked these this morning, my daughter and I like the mild taste however my son and husband wanted a more intense apple flavor. Any suggestions?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
October 7, 2014 at 12:44 pmHi 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
Temperence P
October 4, 2014 at 10:18 amThis recipe was such a hit in my house! THANK YOU :) Very tasty. Keep up the good work!
Jennifer
October 4, 2014 at 12:05 pmI 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!
SK Bell
October 4, 2014 at 7:24 pmThis sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try a gluten free version!
Jacqueline
October 14, 2014 at 3:01 pmDid you have any luck with a GF version? If so, could yo us hare it?
Carol
October 6, 2014 at 3:11 pmThese 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!
Celina
October 8, 2014 at 3:10 pmHow would these taste without the butter? Seems like a lot of fat? Unfortunately I don’t have coconut oil…applesauce??
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
October 9, 2014 at 11:24 amHi Celina. You are welcome to try with applesauce and share your results with us. :)
Heather
November 23, 2014 at 7:19 pmCelina, 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.
Gayla
October 15, 2014 at 11:28 amI’m going to make these today. Sounds like the perfect snack for my kids.
Kristin
October 17, 2014 at 10:22 pmSpeaking 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.
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
October 29, 2014 at 12:22 pmHi 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. :)
Kristin
October 29, 2014 at 1:21 pmThanks, 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)
Krisy
October 20, 2014 at 12:05 amHi! 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!?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
October 21, 2014 at 9:22 pmHi 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
Angi
October 20, 2014 at 1:21 pmMy sons also loved these…although I left the walnuts out. I have not converted them to nut lovers yet.
Karen
October 21, 2014 at 10:31 pmThis 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!
Kristin
October 29, 2014 at 1:13 pmThanks, 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!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
October 29, 2014 at 4:49 pmThanks for sharing that. I’ll check it out. :)
Lynn
November 7, 2014 at 9:48 amMy little guy loves muffins too. This look delicious, thank you!
Marv
November 12, 2014 at 3:44 pmThese 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.)
Jenny
November 13, 2014 at 10:24 amI 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!
Casey
November 18, 2014 at 3:54 pmThis 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!
Jill
December 7, 2014 at 3:42 pmI 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?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
December 8, 2014 at 12:16 pmHi Jill. You could use flax eggs: http://detoxinista.com/detoxilicious-recipes/how-to-make-flax-eggs-or-chia-eggs/. ~Amy
Jacqueline
December 17, 2014 at 7:59 amThese 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!
Joleen
January 2, 2015 at 11:02 amI’m thinking these would freeze well. Can anyone confirm? Thanks!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
January 5, 2015 at 9:13 amHi there. Yes they do! :)
Joleen
January 5, 2015 at 12:08 pmThank you! :)
Holly S
March 5, 2015 at 10:20 pmMy toddler loves both eating and baking muffins. We will have to give these a try!
Mary Catherine
March 14, 2015 at 3:22 pmI 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.
Samantha
April 27, 2015 at 9:14 amIs there a way to substitute with honey, instead of using maple syrup??
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
May 11, 2015 at 12:46 pmHi Samantha. Yes, honey will work, too.
Amy
September 4, 2015 at 1:48 pmCan you use spelt flour instead of whole wheat like in the pumpkin muffin recipe?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
September 9, 2015 at 8:56 amHi 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.
[email protected]
September 4, 2015 at 9:17 pmHi.
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!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
September 16, 2015 at 2:15 amHi there. Approximately 1/3 pound of apples should work.
Ronny
November 17, 2015 at 2:33 pmHi,
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
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
December 26, 2015 at 12:25 pmWell that is interesting. Not sure what happened.
Padmaja
January 9, 2016 at 12:14 pmHi, can I use normal sugar instead of maple syrup. If yes please give me the quantity of sugar .
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
January 19, 2016 at 11:52 amHi. This might help: http://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/baking-with-honey-sugar-for-baking/.
Padmaja
January 19, 2016 at 12:21 pmThank you
Jojo
January 13, 2016 at 1:57 pmI 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.
shawn
January 17, 2016 at 3:09 pmGreat!! Glad you all enjoyed them!
Ashley
April 6, 2016 at 2:00 pmI was feeling lazy so I used unsweetened applesauce instead. I also used my food chopper to finely chop the walnuts…they turned out awesome!
Amanda Lomax
October 9, 2016 at 3:01 pmHey! 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 :)
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
October 13, 2016 at 1:32 pmHi. You could if you want to up the apple content but I do not.
Samantha Tucker
October 22, 2016 at 8:39 pmI’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???
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
November 4, 2016 at 11:36 amI’ve added applesauce and it works well.
Susan
January 7, 2017 at 10:26 amVery 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.
kcautumn
January 18, 2017 at 4:04 pmThanks 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!
L
December 28, 2018 at 1:46 pmHi! Can I use applesauce instead of apples in this recipe? If so, how much would I use?
Thanks!
100 Days Admin
January 7, 2019 at 9:32 amSince 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