This easy muffin recipe with applesauce is the best homemade baked good for breakfast, snacks, or even dessert. They are sweet, moist, and fluffy. But my favorite part is the cinnamon sugar topping that is crunchy and rustic which makes these the tastiest muffins ever.
In only 30 minutes home-baked applesauce spice muffins are ready for the family. These breakfast muffins are great for kids, toddlers, babies, and adults.
Everyone will want these sweet applesauce muffins for holiday and weekend brunches. Like my Banana Streusel Muffins the crumbly topping is hard to resist.
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Ingredients for Easy Applesauce Muffins
To make homemade apple sauce muffins, the ingredients are simple and you likely have everything you need already in your pantry.
There is no oil in these muffins, the rich salted butter paired with unsweetened apple sauce, and spices result in a wonderful old-fashioned from-scratch taste.
The most important part about preparing for this recipe is that you will want the eggs to be at room temperature. This is typically the case whenever baking. Often the butter is at room temperature too but in this recipe, we actually are using melted butter.
- All-purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Cinnamon
- Ground Nutmeg
- Eggs - room temperature is key
- Brown Sugar
- Salted Butter - melted butter adds moisture & richness.
- Unsweetened Applesauce - there is enough sugar in the recipe so unsweetened is best.
- Granulated Sugar
See the recipe card for amounts & full instructions.
How to Make Applesauce Muffins
Preheat the oven to 400°. This batter comes together fast and you want that oven ready. Everything is stirred by hand, no electric hand mixer is needed.
In a small-sized mixing bowl, you will add all the dry ingredients. Next, in a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the room-temperature eggs and brown sugar.
Melt the butter and make sure it is melted but not HOT before adding to the mixture. You do not want the hot butter combined with the eggs (or you may get scrambled egg pieces). Next add warm melted butter, a little at a time, whisking until the mixture is creamy. Now for the yummy apple sauce.
Homemade Apple Sauce for the Muffins
For this recipe, I am using my homemade apple sauce which is honestly pretty amazing and so easy. I highly recommend making homemade apple sauce not just for this recipe but for enjoyment any time of year.
Try my SLOW COOKER APPLE SAUCE recipe and judge for yourself. Look how delicious that looks and while you make it, your house will smell so good.
Topping and Baking the Muffins
Prepare a 12-muffin tin with nonstick spray or grease. Once the batter is ready, divide it evenly among 12 muffin cups.
In a small bowl, add all of the topping ingredients and mix. Then sprinkle about a teaspoon on top of each muffin.
How Long to Bake Applesauce Muffins
Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the muffin pan for a few minutes and then remove them from the pan.
Place them on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes. Enjoy while warm!
Make-Ahead and How to Store Muffins
These easy homemade applesauce muffins can be stored and enjoyed over a few days. Store them on your counter in an air-tight container for up to 2 days.
These freeze easily. I suggest wrapping each one individually in plastic wrap tightly. Then place any wrapped muffins in an air-tight container to store in the freezer.
Frozen muffins can last up to 2 months in the freezer. To defrost frozen muffins, thaw them in the refrigerator overnight.
They are also great to make ahead of time like for Christmas breakfast by making them a day before and keeping them for the next day. But I admit, this recipe for applesauce muffins makes them pretty fantastic warm right out of the oven and it will be hard to wait.
Substitutes & Variations
This simple recipe is a classic. But if you want to jazz it up or need some alternate ingredients, here are some top ideas.
- Apple Sauce - use any of my recommended apple sauce substitutes in a pinch.
- Pumpkin Spice - use this as a substitute for the nutmeg & cinnamon.
- Salted Butter - use unsalted & add ¼ teaspoon salt to the dry ingredients
- CRANBERRY APPLESAUCE MUFFINS - add ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- BLUEBERRY APPLESAUCE MUFFINS - add ⅓ cup fresh blueberries or just make my Mini Blueberry Muffins instead.
- BANANA APPLESAUCE MUFFINS - reduce apple sauce to ¾ C and add ¼ C mashed banana
- NUT APPLESAUCE MUFFINS - add ⅓ cup of your favorite chopped nuts
Product Recommendations for this Recipe:
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Easy Applesauce Muffins
Equipment
- muffin pan
Ingredients
- 1 & ½ C all-purpose flour
- 1 & ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 C brown sugar packed
- 1 stick plus 3 TBS salted butter melted
- 1 C unsweetened applesauce
Topping Ingredients
- 2 TBS granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray or grease with butter.
- In a small-sized mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt and mix with a wooden spoon to combine.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and brown sugar. Melt the butter and make sure it is melted but not HOT before adding to the mixture. You do not want hot butter combining with the eggs (or you may get scrambled egg pieces). Next add the warm melted butter, a little at a time, whisking until the mixture is creamy.
- Add the applesauce and mix. Next, fold in the flour mixture until everything is moist and comes together. Scoop or pour batter to divide evenly among 12 muffin cups.
- In a small bowl, add all topping ingredients and mix. Then sprinkle 1 teaspoon on top of each muffin.
- Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the muffin pan for a few minutes and then remove them from the pan.
- Place them on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes. Enjoy!
- Store in an air-tight container for up to 2 days on your kitchen counter.
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Miz Helen says
Congratulations! Your awesome post is featured on Full Plate Thursday,524 this week. Thanks so much for sharing it with us, we shared with our Features Board!
Miz Helen
Angela says
thank you!
Nisha says
Wow, I would love to try this muffin made with apple sauce. I can imagine how great it would taste with brown sugar and nutmeg. Saving this recipe to make some time.
Deborah says
I love applesauce muffins. This was one of the first recipes I learned to make when I was a young girl in my grandma's kitchen. I am eager to try your recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Angela says
What a lovely cooking memory. Thank you for sharing your story.
Beth says
This is such a simple and perfect muffin recipe right now when so many different apple varieties are available. My family will love these!
Anindya Sundar Basu says
Apple muffins are always so delicious but I haven't heard about Apple sauce muffins earlier. Will definitely try this at home
Jacqueline Debono says
These muffins look and sound really good. I love the idea of using homemade apple sauce! So much better than store-bought!
Jere Cassidy says
I love having recipes that use my pantry ingredients so I don't have to run to the store. These muffins are perfect for breakfast and snacks .
Lathiya says
The muffin looks awesome. I loved the use of applesauce which naturally makes the muffins sweet.
Annie Mason says
Hi, Angela!
I have been meaning to use this recipe for some time. Today is the day that I finally did it. The ingredients were so easy that I knew I could lay them out before my husband and daughter were awake. I was quiet as a mouse because the hand-whisking, fold in dry and moist and dry, and few bowls were not noisy and I waited to take out the muffin sheet until my hubby was awake. By the time the two came downstairs, the muffins were just being taken out of the oven and set on a cooling rack. They didn't stay on the rack very long because they were scooped up and eaten. Honestly, I am so glad that I tried these because they will be on our breakfast menu frequently. See you at the BTC. Thanks for sharing.
Angela says
Oh Annie, I am so glad you gave these applesauce muffins a try. You are right, the recipe is so easy and the ingredients are typically items we have already in our pantry. Thank you so much for the comment and letting me know that your family loves this recipe. It made my day!