At only 48 calories a piece, you can enjoy these healthy and Sugar Free Apple Muffins as a nutritious breakfast or snack! Loaded with apples, cinnamon, and blueberries, there’s no way you’ll miss the sugar in this mouthwatering treat.
Healthy apple muffins
Eating sugar free is not easy. Practically everything at the grocery store has added sugar in it, making shopping for a family close to impossible! When I tried avoiding sugar, I wanted to create a baked good that still tasted amazing, even without needing super expensive ingredients.
Enter these healthy Sugar Free Apple Muffins! They’re a breeze to put together using simple, sugar free, and dairy free baking staples, along with diced apples and fresh blueberries. And guess what? You don’t need any added sugar to help them taste great!
Just like my Healthy Pumpkin Cookies, these apple muffins are nicely spiced, perfect for the whole family, and taste so fresh. Each muffin only has 48 calories, making them a great option for breakfast or an afternoon snack!
Why would you take the sugar out of a muffin recipe?
The thing about muffins is that they aren’t really a health food. They’re high in fat, sugar, and calories, which practically disguises them as cupcakes without the icing.
Removing or reducing the sugar in muffins can sometimes leave you with bland or dry results. That’s why you need to replace the sugar with something more naturally sweet, like fruit or syrups!
How to make sugar free apple muffins
Making muffins sugar free is easy! Plus, they taste just as scrumptious as my mini blueberry muffins and banana muffins. You and your family can munch on them after only a few simple steps:
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the smashed blueberries, milk, egg, and vanilla. Gently mix everything together until combined. To finish, fold in the apples.
Spoon the batter into a prepared muffin pan, then bake until they’re slightly golden brown.
Let the muffins cool for a few minutes in the tray before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Tips and substitutions
- Apples – Any type of apple will work for this recipe! You can chop them into small or large chunks or grate them instead so there’s lots of apple in every bite.
- Blueberries – Feel free to replace the blueberries with blackberries, strawberries, or raspberries.
- Gluten free – While I’ve only tested this recipe with all purpose and whole wheat flour, a 1:1 gluten free flour blend should work well as a replacement.
- Vegan – Replace the egg with ¼ cup of applesauce to make these apple muffins vegan.
- Regular size muffins – This recipe makes 20 mini muffins or 6 regular size muffins. Feel free to double batch to make more regular size muffins and make sure to bake them for 20 to 22 minutes.
- Not sweet enough? Add in 1 or 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, honey, or agave syrup if you’d like the muffins to be extra sweet (without added sugar).
Customize the flavors
This recipe is really fun to play with. You can replace the apples with different fruits and veggies, and even add more to the batter when you really feel like getting creative. Use these ideas for inspiration:
- Instead of apples: Use a mashed banana, grated carrots, mashed sweet potatoes or butternut squash, fresh berries, or peaches.
- Add in options: Add warm spices, like cloves, ginger, or nutmeg, chopped pecans or almonds, or dark chocolate chips to the apple batter for more flavor.
Storing and freezing sugar free muffins
To store, keep the apple muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 or 4 days. They should stay fresh for up to a week when kept in the fridge.
To freeze, wrap the baked and cooled muffins individually in plastic. Store in an airtight container or ziploc bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Hungry for more healthy baked goods?
- Sweet Potato Cookies
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Easy Carrot Souffle
- Spinach Cupcakes
- Baked Apple Chips
Pin for later:
Sugar Free Apple Muffins
PrintIngredients
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour if preferred)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup blueberries smashed
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup apples – peeled and finely chopped (this equals one small apple)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray mini muffin pan with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
- Make a well in the middle of the bowl and add blueberries, milk, egg and vanilla. Mix with a fork until all ingredients are combined.
- Gently fold in the apples, stirring to fully combine.
- Spoon mixture into your muffin pan evenly. This recipe makes approximately 20 mini muffins.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until the sides of your muffins are slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing them from pan.
Valerie says
Thank you! This was exactly the recipe I was looking for. I bake muffins for my (thankfully small) church but sadly there were people I couldn’t serve because they were either diabetic or had given up sugar. My “love language” is food and to have people left out was making me feel sad. I figured I could blend together some mixed berries to take the place of the sugar but wasn’t sure how to go about it. LoL I can’t wait to try your recipe and see how it turns out.
Pamela Reed says
I speak your “love language” too! Enjoy the muffins Valerie! 🙂
Edith says
Can I use frozen blueberries?
Pamela Reed says
Yes you can, but make sure to defrost and drain first – or you’ll end up with blue muffins. 😉
Victoria E.Bennett says
They were great!!!!
Pamela Reed says
So happy to hear – thanks for commenting! 🙂
June says
Hi how much more flour do I need for regular size muffins and if I want to put some honey in how much do I use .Thank you .
S R says
Can i use oats/oats flour in this recipe?? How abt buckwheat flour/ragi flour?
Rachel B says
Can I use milk instead of almond milk?
Pamela says
Yes you can!
Mona G says
This is an amazing recipe!!! I don’t eat sugar or any substitutions (think honey, agave nectar, rice malt syrup, etc.), and I’ve been searching for a fruit-based, sugar-free recipe for a while now. I’m so glad I found this one!!!