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    Home » Recipes » Muffins

    Apple Cinnamon Muffins (gluten free, vegan, paleo, AIP)

    Published: Nov 6, 2020 · Updated: Aug 25, 2022 by Bea C. | This post may contain affiliate links | 28 Comments

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    apple muffins and apples on 2 different pictures with a text overlay in the middle
    apple muffins and apples on 2 different pictures with a text overlay in the middle

    Autumn is the perfect season for apple cinnamon muffins! This recipe uses both applesauce and fresh apples. These muffins are incredibly easy to make in just a few simple steps.

    Those are so delicious and perfectly moist that nobody will notice that they are gluten free, vegan, paleo and AIP compliant!

    3 apple cinnamon muffins and an apple on a white sheet
    Jump To / Aller directement à
    • ⭐ Why you'll love this recipe
    • 📖 Ingredient notes
    • 💭 Substitutions
    • 🔪Step by step instructions
    • 👩🏻‍🍳Top tips
    • 💬 Frequently Asked Questions
    • 🍪Other recipes you might like
    • 📋 Recipe / Recette

    Each time I eat one of those delicious and moist apple cinnamon muffins, I struggle a lot to resist the temptation to eat more than one! Personally, I think it is my best recipe so far.

    This apple cinnamon muffin recipe uses my all-star grain free, coconut free and cassava free muffin batter. This batter can be used to create endless muffin varieties. You can see it again in my very popular banana blueberry muffins, banana carrot muffins, pumpkin muffins and more.

    ⭐ Why you'll love this recipe

    • These Apple Cinnamon Muffins are quick and super easy to make.
    • This recipe is super simple.
    • This recipe can be made without any added sugar.
    • These muffins are gluten-free, grain-free, vegan, AIP compliant but also coconut free and cassava free to be the most allergy friendly as possible.

    📖 Ingredient notes

    • Fresh Apples. I recommend using sweet apples like Fuji or Gala.
    • Apple sauce. Make sure to use unsweetened apple sauce.
    • Tigernut flour (or almond flour for those who are not on AIP nor nut free). If you don't know what tigernut flour is and want to learn more about it, you can read my complete guide to tigernut flour.
    • Arrowroot. It is starch. See below for substitutions.
    • Oil of your choice. I either use extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil

    See recipe card for quantities.

    💭 Substitutions

    • Arrowroot substitutions. If you are not cassava intolerant, you can substitute it with tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour). If you are not on AIP nor Paleo diets: you can use potato starch or corn starch instead of arrowroot.
    • Cinnamon. It is high in histamine. So if you are looking for other spice options to replace cinnamon I suggest a pinch of ginger (no more than ⅛ teaspoon) or 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

    🔪Step by step instructions

    In a large bowl, combine the tigernut flour, arrow root, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir.

    all the dry ingredients mixed in a large bowl with a spoon

    In another large bowl, combine the apple sauce, maple syrup, lemon juice (or ACV) and olive oil. Mix until combined.

    all the wet ingredients mixed in a large bowl with a spoon

    Peel and cut the apples in small pieces.

    apples cut in small pieces

    Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until well combined. Then add the apple pieces and mix again.

    batter in a large bowl

    Line or lightly oil a muffin pan. Fill each muffin cup with batter, you should get about 6-8 muffins depending on your pan.

    batter in a muffin tin

    Bake for about 20-25 minutes. To make sure that they are cooked, insert a thin bladed knife into the centre of one muffin, the knife should come out clean. And voilà! Let them cool down before removing them from the pan. Bon appétit!

    👩🏻‍🍳Top tips

    • Tip #1. Never ever open the oven door before the end of the baking time (unless, of course, in case of a danger or problem with your oven). If you open the oven door during the baking time, just to "check how they look", they will fall down or won't rise.
    • Tip #2. As you can see on the picture above, in order to create tall muffin tops, I fill my muffin tins all the way to the top.

    💬 Frequently Asked Questions

    Are there any AIP compliant substitutions for the tigernut flour?

    Unfortunately there are no possible substitution for the tigernut flour if you are on AIP and still in the elimination phase. Why? Because all the other AIP compliant flours have very different texture and they all need their own amount of liquid. So it is not possible to replace the tigernut flour with another flour without altering the entire recipe.

    Can I make no sugar apple muffins?

    Yes! If you want to make no sugar apple muffins, replace the maple syrup with the same quantity of oil or coconut milk.

    I have a nut allergy, how can I make these muffins?

    Good news if you have a nut allergy and need a nut-free version, you can make these muffins with tigernut flour. Because tigernut is not a nut!

    Can I make a loaf instead of muffins?

    Yes! If you don't have a muffin pan or simply don't feel like having muffins, you can make this as a loaf instead of muffins. Just follow the instructions in the recipe card for the bread.

    Can you freeze these apple cinnamon muffins?

    Yes! They freeze extremely well. Which is so convenient!! So nice to have a delicious snack or dessert that is ready to be eaten in the freezer (ok just need to be defrost). About defreezing one of these delicious muffins, you can either take it out of the freezer a few hours ahead or pop it in the microwave oven (if you still have one, like me, and yes I know that they are very controversial health wise but nobody's perfect lol) for 1 minute or pop it in the oven for a few minutes.

    🍪Other recipes you might like

    • Gluten free French apple tart
    • French Pear and Chocolate Tart
    • Paleo pumpkin muffins (gluten free, AIP, vegan)
    • French Endive Apple Walnut Salad

    Did you like this recipe? Please leave a 5 star rating on the recipe card and leave a nice review below! Tag @gohealthywithbea on Instagram and hashtag #gohealthywithbea! Also, let's stay connected on social media and continue to cook together! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

    📋 Recipe / Recette

    3 apple cinnamon muffins on a with sheet and an apple

    Apple Cinnamon Muffins (gluten free, vegan, paleo, AIP)

    Author: Bea C.
    Delicious and moist apple muffins that are super easy to make!
    4.88 from 16 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    AIP recipe icon
    Coconut free recipe icon
    Dairy free recipe icon
    Egg free recipe icon
    an icon with the letters G and F to label gluten free recipes
    Paleo recipe icon
    an icon with the letter V for vegan recipes
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 20 mins
    Total Time 35 mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Servings 8 muffins
    Calories 234 kcal

    Ingredients
     

    • 240 grams (1 cup) unsweetened apple sauce
    • 180 grams (1.5 cups) apples (once peeled and seeds removed which makes about 2 apples)
    • 150 grams (1 cup + ⅓ cup) tigernut flour  (if you are not on AIP nor nut free, you can use almond flour instead of tigernut flour)
    • 50 grams (¼ cups + 1 Tbsp) arrowroot  (see notes below for substitutions)
    • 2 Tablespoons maple syrup (see notes if you want to reduce quantity)
    • 60 millilitre (¼ cup) oil (I either use extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil)
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 360° F (180° C)
    • In a large bowl, combine the tigernut flour, arrow root, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir.
    • In another large bowl, combine the apple sauce, maple syrup, lemon juice (or ACV) and olive oil. Mix until combined.
    • Peel and cut the apples in small pieces.
    • Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until well combined. Then add the apple pieces and mix again.
    • Line or lightly oil a muffin pan (or a rectangular 4x8 inches baking tin if you are making a bread). Fill each muffin cup with batter, you should get about 6-8 muffins depending on your pan.
    • Bake for about 20-25 minutes for the muffins (or about 35 minutes for the bread). To make sure that they are cooked, insert a thin bladed knife into the centre of one muffin, the knife should come out clean. And voilà! Let them cool down before removing them from the pan.
      Bon appétit !

    Notes

    Although I spend quite a lot of time converting all my recipes to cups (yes, manually, in my kitchen!) I highly recommend using a scale and measuring for weight rather than using cups. The reason for this is, apart from the whole debate on accuracy, the density of certain gluten free flours and starches differ a lot from one brand to another. Also keep in mind that all cups are not the same size all around the world which makes another good reason to use a scale so you won’t get this issue.
    If you are not cassava intolerant and don’t have any arrowroot you can substitute it with tapioca starch/ flour which is also AIP and paleo compliant. If you are not on AIP nor Paleo diets you can use potato starch or corn starch instead of arrowroot.
    If you want to reduce the maple syrup quantity, I suggest replacing it by same quantity of oil.
    Cinnamon is high in histamine so if you are looking for other spices options to replace cinnamon I suggest a pinch of ginger (no more than ⅛ teaspoon) or 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
    Please keep in mind that the nutritional information is calculated using a nutrition facts calculator. It is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

    Nutrition facts per serving

    Calories: 234kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 4gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gSodium: 140mgPotassium: 61mgFiber: 3gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 22IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 53mgIron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Mention @gohealthywithbea and tag #gohealthywithbea!
    Liked this recipe?Follow me @gohealthywithbea on Pinterest
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    More Muffins

    • Gluten Free Orange Cranberry Muffins
    • Healthy Banana Carrot Muffins (gluten free, vegan, paleo, AIP)
    • Chicken (or turkey) muffins
    • Sweet potato and bacon muffins (AIP, paleo)

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Cheryl

      February 04, 2021 at 4:23 pm

      Can you clarify the maple syrup amount? The recipe lists one thing and the notes list an astronomical amount. I'm confused.

      Reply
      • gohealthywithbea

        February 04, 2021 at 4:40 pm

        Oops! I'm deeply sorry. It is now fixed. the right amount or maple syrup for this recipe is 2 Tbsp.

        Reply
        • Sam

          March 07, 2021 at 7:18 pm

          Great recipe! Both the texture and taste of these were amazing!

        • gohealthywithbea

          March 09, 2021 at 11:59 am

          Bonjour Sam. Thank you for taking the time to tell me this. I'm so happy to hear that you liked my recipe!!! ❤️❤️❤️

    2. Kathryn Sanchez

      February 13, 2021 at 10:55 pm

      Could pear be substituted for apple?

      Reply
      • gohealthywithbea

        February 13, 2021 at 11:11 pm

        Hello Kathryn. I'm afraid that pears might be too watery to replace apple in this recipe. If you can't or won't have apples you can try my banana blueberry muffin recipe which is pretty similar to this recipe. Or if you want a dessert with pears, you can try my pear and carob tart or my pear and chocolate tart.

        Reply
    3. Leslie Johnson

      March 22, 2021 at 2:14 am

      These look great! I'm wondering if you can use this recipe to make bread as well?

      Reply
      • gohealthywithbea

        March 22, 2021 at 6:56 pm

        Thank you for asking. I usually add the answer to this question to the recipe notes but apparently I forgot. 😔 Yes you can make this as a loaf instead of muffins. Just cook it 10 minutes more. I will update my recipe notes right this minute.

        Reply
    4. Carrie

      July 07, 2021 at 4:24 pm

      These were just what I needed!! Thanks for sharing the recipe! I have troubles finding AIP recipes without ANY types of sugar and without gelatin. I took your suggestion of subbing the syrup for coconut oil and it's plenty sweet for someone who has to curb a sweet tooth with fruits that aren't high-glycemic. I have to avoid cinnamon, so I used a few shakes of mace (because I learned a little goes a long way with that).
      I should probably check out your other recipes to see if they fit my sensitivities+AIP combo. I'll be making this on a regular basis though. Thanks again!

      Reply
      • gohealthywithbea

        July 14, 2021 at 1:11 pm

        Bonjour Carrie! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a nice comment! ❤️❤️❤️ I'm glad that you love this recipe! It's one of my own favorites. And yes, all my baking recipes are gelatin free because in French cuisine we use gelatin in patés. So I can't bring myself to use it in sweet baking. I hope that you will find other recipes on my blog that fit your sensitivities. Do not hesitate to reach out if you need any help finding what you're looking for.

        Reply
    5. Mary

      August 28, 2021 at 3:22 pm

      5 stars
      I recently developed histamine issues and react to just about everything now. Finding snacks have been a real challenge. Thanks so much for this recipe!!! Turned out great. Please create more like these ❤️

      Reply
      • gohealthywithbea

        August 31, 2021 at 8:31 pm

        Bonjour Mary. Thank you so much for sharing that you enjoyed them! That makes me so happy!!!❤️❤️

        Reply
    6. Crystal

      September 12, 2021 at 11:23 pm

      Delicious flavour but I could not get these to cook on the inside. Disappointing because the flavour is so good.

      Reply
      • gohealthywithbea

        September 19, 2021 at 9:27 pm

        I'm so sorry to hear that this recipe didn't work out for you. Without having been there, it's really hard to know where you went wrong that you didn't enjoy the same success as many others who have made and loved this recipe.

        Reply
      • Tricia

        July 15, 2022 at 5:20 pm

        I had the same experience. I’ve cooked them for much longer and they still aren’t cooked all the way through.

        Reply
    7. melissa

      September 20, 2021 at 4:37 pm

      5 stars
      I got 24 Mini Muffins out of the batter, baked for about 18-20 minutes. They are so good! Thank you for this recipe.

      Reply
      • gohealthywithbea

        September 21, 2021 at 4:23 pm

        Bonjour Melissa. Thank you so much for sharing that you enjoyed them!❤️❤️❤️ That makes me so happy.

        Reply
    8. Brooke

      November 10, 2021 at 10:56 pm

      Your AIP recipes look so amazing! I can't wait to try them. You have no idea how excited I am to find an AIP recipe site that uses weight measurements. I can't believe you manually convert all your amounts! That's amazing. So many of these American bloggers are so lazy, they refuse to spend $10 on a scale and take an extra minute to weigh ingredients so that people will get consistent results. Ugh.

      I also just removed coconut from my diet, so I love that you have a ton of coconut-free recipes. Bless you!!!

      Reply
      • gohealthywithbea

        November 12, 2021 at 7:16 pm

        Hi Brooke. Thank you for your enthusiasm!!❤️❤️ Yes I know, I'm totally crazy, I convert everything manually and I blog in 2 languages... It's probably the reason why I've been so close to burnout many times since I started that blog. Anyway, I hope you will like my recipes. Let me know if you try some.

        Reply
    9. Marcie

      April 22, 2022 at 4:07 am

      5 stars
      I wanted to thank you for this recipe. It was one of the first I’d tried when I began AIP months ago and this recipe and your pumpkin muffin recipe have been my go-tos for breakfast since the beginning of my journey. Recently with the weather warming I decided I wanted a change and I immediately thought of strawberries. I have now added an adapted version of this recipe, swapping apples for strawberries and cinnamon for vanilla bean powder, to my repertoire. All three versions of this muffin are delicious and I’m contemplating changing out fruits with the season. I am so grateful for this recipe. I don’t think I could’ve stayed on AIP without it.

      Reply
      • gohealthywithbea

        May 01, 2022 at 4:37 pm

        Bonjour Marcie. Thank you so much for your amazing comment. I'm over the moon, hearing that my recipe has been helping you on your own natural healing journey!! ❤️❤️❤️ And thank you for commenting on your substitutions, I'm pretty sure other readers will also appreciate them!

        Reply
    10. Joanetta

      July 15, 2022 at 6:24 pm

      4 stars
      I loved, loved, loved these muffins. The only reason I did not give them a 5 star rating was that they 'fell' after I took them out of the oven to cool. I left them in the pan for about 5 min or so before removing them to the cooling rack. I wonder if they just had too much moisture from the chopped apple or my Deep South humidity affected them. Please let me know.....I want to use this recipe and its variations soon 🙂

      Reply
    11. Cathy

      October 14, 2022 at 6:50 pm

      5 stars
      These are wonderful, but no surprise, since I really like all of your baked goods that I have tried. I assembled the entire recipe and waited to get the apples out. When I went to the fruit drawer, I was shocked to find that there was only 1 very small apple left. Using your weight measurement, I simply added enough raisins to the diced apple to equal the total amount. I was a little worried that the raisins might dry the muffins out, but they came out fine. And I really like raisins in muffins!

      Reply
      • Bea C.

        October 15, 2022 at 11:42 pm

        Bonjour Cathy. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! ❤️❤️❤️ Your incredibly nice comment made my day!! I'm absolutely thrilled to hear that you love my baked goods! 😘😘😘

        Reply
    12. Agnes

      November 13, 2022 at 1:22 am

      5 stars
      Thank you for this recipe.
      It is amazing. I omitted the maple syrup (can't have it or any sweeteners) and swapped 1 tbsp of arrowroot starch for 1 tbsp apple flour (which i found on Amazon). It was amazing.

      Reply
      • Bea C.

        November 23, 2022 at 7:16 pm

        Bonjour Agnes. Thank you so much for your nice comment!!❤️❤️ I'm thrilled to hear that you love this recipe!!

        Reply
    13. Carla

      December 23, 2022 at 12:11 pm

      Hi Bea, I just want to say I am so impressed! Thanks so much for the understandable and also effective recipes ... You can really see you know your stuff! I am new on AIP, not much of a cook, and these were my first ever muffin success (you know, not a gooey puddle of tapioca flour that won't set or a burnt and hardened crisp of coconut yuck). Hurrah! They actually taste like muffins and I can understand what I'm doing finally. Special thanks for the quantity calculator, as I am only one person and it has been so depressing to lose a batch of 12 muffins to my incompetence but then trying to scale myself down for a test batch of 3-4 has also been a fail for me ... Up until now. You really give me confidence and inspiration to continue AIP baking and not cheat on my diet by buying baked goods out because I get cravings and have nothing at home. It's easier now to stay on track. Such a lifesaver! I keep sharing this website with all who'll listen and eventually I think I will make everything here! Thanks again Bea and have a Happy Festive Season 🙂

      Reply
      • Bea C.

        January 12, 2023 at 2:46 pm

        Bonjour Carla. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. And what an amazing comment!! I'm absolutely over the moon to hear that my recipes are helping you stay on track. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ This is the exact purpose of this blog: giving you guys easy, simple yet yummy recipes that will prevent you from falling off the wagon because I know how it's like: I've been there too! Thank you, thank you, thank you, your comment was a perfect Christmas gift for me!

        Reply

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    ABOUT BEA, recipe creator, HHC, CGP

    Hello! I’m Bea, a holistic health coach, certified gluten free practitioner and recipe creator. I'm also a French woman who has been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis and decided to heal herself naturally after many years of strong painkillers. Here, I'm telling you about my journey that allowed me to stop all medication, hoping that it will inspire you. I'm also sharing my recipes, to show you that "free from" food can be delicious. Read more about Bea

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