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Vegan Apple Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel

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Deliciously soft & fluffy vegan apple muffins, loaded with sweet, tender fruit and topped with an irresistibly crumbly, cinnamony, streusel topping. Want one?

Deliciously soft & fluffy vegan apple muffins topped with an irresistibly crumbly, cinnamony, streusel topping.

It’s been a while since I published a muffin recipe here. I think the last one was my Lemon & Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins and that feels like ages ago. I was planning a different flavour combination but Mr A Virtual Vegan had a craving for my apple cake. I had set my mind on making muffins so we compromised and Vegan Apple Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel happened.

I love that muffins are self contained with no slicing involved. And you get to eat a whole one, muffin top first of course!

Vegan apple muffins, loaded with sweet, tender fruit.

The only time I care to think about muffin tops is when I am baking, but lets be honest, even though these muffins are healthier than a lot of recipes out there, if you eat too many you will no doubt end up with your very own muffin top and I don’t mean of the cake variety.

I’m not trying to put you off making these Vegan Apple Muffins because they are so delicious you really need to. The muffin tops are always the best bit too aren’t they? Especially these ones with their cinnamony, nutty, crumbly streusel topping.

Yum!

These Vegan Apple Muffins work out to be only about 223 calories and 6 grams of fat each, which isn’t all that bad as far as muffins go.

If you try them please leave your feedback below and hit the stars to rate the recipe. Share your pictures on Instagram too. Tag me with @avirtualvegan. I wanna see your muffin tops!

Apple Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel

Deliciously soft & fluffy apple muffins, loaded with sweet, tender fruit and topped with an irresistibly crumbly, cinnamony, streusel topping. Want one?
4.5 from 4 votes
Print Pin
Course: Baked Goods, Dessert
Cuisine: oil-free option, vegan, whole-grain
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Makes: 12
Calories: 223
Author: Melanie McDonald

Ingredients

For the streusel

  • 3 tablespoons liquid coconut oil see recipe note for oil-free option)
  • 40g | 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon spelt flour or all purpose or whole wheat
  • 3 tablespoons rolled oats
  • 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts (can be left out to make the recipe nut-free))
  • 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1.5 tablespoons granulated sugar (any kind)

For the muffins

  • 1 tablespoon ground flax
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 340g | 3 cups spelt flour , you could use ½ wholewheat ½ all purpose instead
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 115g | ½ cup coconut sugar , any granulated sugar is fine as a sub
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 255mls | 1 cup + 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar , or lemon juice
  • 130g | ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
  • 2 medium | 1.5 heaping cups apples , peeled & chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400°F and prepare your muffin tins (see recipe note)
  • Start off by making the streusel topping.
  • Combine all streusel ingredients in a small bowl and stir well to combine.
  • Set aside.

For the muffins

  • Mix the ground flax with the water in a small bowl and set aside.
  • Add all of the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl.
  • In a jug or another bowl combine all of the wet ingredients.
  • Add the flax mixture to the wet ingredients and stir well.
  • Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir just enough to combine everything. Do not stir too much.
  • Add the chopped apple to the batter and stir to distribute evenly.
  • Divide the mixture between 12 muffin tins. Fill each one right to the very top of the muffin cases.
  • Sprinkle the streusel topping over the muffins and press it in gently with your fingers, then place in the oven.
  • Bake for around 25 minutes or until a tooth pick/skewer can be inserted and comes out clean.
  • Remove from the tin and cool on a cooling rack

Notes

I like to use silicone muffin liners as nothing ever sticks in them. They are also more environmentally friendly as they last forever. If you use paper liners there is a chance the muffins will stick to the paper a bit as the batter is oil-free. This recipe can be made oil-free by omitting the streusel topping.

Estimated nutrition per serving:

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 223kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 5.3g | Fat: 6g | Sodium: 215mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 50IU | Vitamin C: 2.5mg | Calcium: 100mg | Iron: 1.8mg
Tried this recipe?Tag @avirtualvegan on Instagram and hashtag it #avirtualvegan


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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. josie says

    May 19, 2019 at 11:56 pm


    I made these today! They are yummy. And vegan! A couple of differences I noticed : the batter made enough for 15 muffins so once my 12 muin tin was full. I quickly made a little loaf with the extra. Also, when i sent to take the silicon liners off each muffin the Streusel topping just fell off, leaving oats, nuts an crumbles all over the counter. It tastes good, but doesn’t stick. Is there something I am doing wrong?

    Reply

    • Melanie McDonald says

      May 20, 2019 at 9:25 am

      I’m glad you enjoyed them! The crumbly topping is a little messy, but most of it should stick on as they bake. If you make them again, you could push it down very gently with your fingers before putting them in the oven to get it stuck on a little better.Hope that helps!

      Reply

  2. Eve says

    January 12, 2019 at 10:52 pm

    I made these this morning, but they look nothing like the the ones in thw picture. Mine are way darker and collapsed a bit as well. I bake a lot, but almost never use baking soda, because it is very uncommon in The Netherlands. I sometimes have the feeling that the stuff they sell here differs from elsewhere in the world, haha. Everything i make using the baking soda turns dark brownish.

    Reply

    • A Virtual Vegan says

      January 13, 2019 at 12:07 pm

      That’s strange. These get great feedback and I’ve never heard of them collapsing. I got sent pictures of them by quite a few readers this week and they are exactly like mine, in fact some are better than mine. Baking soda certainly shouldn’t change the colour of them either. Maybe what you are buying is different.
      Maybe you can find baking soda/bicarbonate of soda in an ex-pat type shop in the Netherlands or online. That way you will know wht you are using is the same stuff.

      Reply

  3. Becca B says

    September 22, 2018 at 8:48 pm


    First of all, I love the checkbox option on your blog with the ingredients and recipe steps! SO helpful!

    I just made these using a gluten free flour blend and honeycrisp apples! I also added some pumpkin pie spice to the batter and nearly doubled the amount of cinnamon in the streusel (by accident – I was confused because so many of the streusel ingredients were in tablespoons and I missed that the cinnamon was teaspoons!) It definitely took me longer than 10 minutes to prep them, but that’s because I don’t bake much and I’m slow. However I was so excited that I could make these from just things I had on hand – I didn’t plan a shopping trip – and they smelled so wonderful in the oven!

    Mine came out rather crumbly, but that might be due to using the gf flour? Taste was quite good, although I would probably add even more vanilla and cinnamon to the batter next time! They are definitely nice and moist even though I probably cooked them a tad longer than I needed to (just under 25 minutes).

    Thanks so much for the recipe! I’ll continue to enjoy these for the next couple of days (assuming I don’t eat them all by morning…!)

    Reply

    • A Virtual Vegan says

      September 23, 2018 at 2:45 pm

      Hi Becca. I’m glad you find the checkboxes helpful and that you enjoyed the muffins. They shouldn’t be crumbly at all. I am sure that is as a result of the GF flour you used. Often it’s not just a case of switching flour, other things need to be adjusted too to get good results. I think oat flour might work well with these muffins so could be worth a try next time you make them. The milk quantity might need to be adjusted a little though as it isn’t as absorbent as spelt flour.

      Reply

  4. Morgan says

    April 15, 2018 at 3:05 pm

    These are good but upon maoing them twice, I’ve found they are so much better when you add apple pie spice or simply cinnamon to the batter.

    Reply

  5. Karinia says

    October 8, 2017 at 7:35 pm


    I made these apple cinnamon muffins today for breakfast. I since have had one for an afternoon snack and again after dinner for dessert. They are delicious! I didn’t have Walnuts so I substituted with pepitas. Great recipe!!

    Reply

  10. Cadry says

    June 2, 2016 at 7:49 am

    These muffins look so delicious! They remind me of the ones I used to get at Perkins before I was vegan when I was in high school. Cinnamon & apple are so great together.

    Reply

    • A Virtual Vegan says

      May 31, 2016 at 2:04 pm

      It does. I made them without it originally and later changed the recipe to include it. They are good without but so much better with it!

      Reply

    • A Virtual Vegan says

      May 31, 2016 at 9:08 am

      Thanks Ginny. They stay lovely and moist for days and days too which is great if you aren’t part of a family that eats them all on the first day like mine!

      Reply

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