Last weekend was the first time that I had converted my old Apple Oatmeal Muffin recipe to gluten free. I’m happy to say it only took one try!
These muffins start with homemade applesauce that still has some small chunks of apple in it. I used Granny Smith apples with just a little bit of cinnamon and brown sugar. I didn’t want the applesauce to be too sweet.
This photo is just the apples before they are cooked down.
I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oatmeal, plus my usual flaxseed meal, almond meal and GF Flour Mix. There is a little bit of apple juice in these muffins just to add a little more apple flavor.
If you do not have issues with gluten, you can just replace the GF Flour Mix with regular flour- that’s the only change.
There is a pecan streusel topping that I think really makes these muffins special.
This recipe makes 36 mini muffins, which is the size that I always make for all of my muffins. I usually bake 2 or 3 kinds of muffins at once, and when you make the mini size you don’t have to feel guilty for having a couple at a time!
I’m sure this recipe would be the right amount for 12 regular size muffins if you would rather make that size.
Last weekend I made these muffins, plus Zucchini which I’ve already posted and also Banana Chocolate Chip which have a little bit of almond butter in them. The 2 neighbor families that I gave samples of all of these muffins to liked the Apple ones the best! I liked them a lot too.
You can see a lot of cute paper muffin pan liners in my amazon.com shop here on my blog. I have collected a lot of different liner designs for myself over the years. They come in handy to help people identify which muffin is which. I keep all of my paper liners in a Tupperware container so that they take up less space and are all together.
I shared this recipe with Friday Potluck at Ekat’s Kitchen, Finer Things Friday at Amy’s Finer Things, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar And Gluten Free, Tuesdays At The Table at All Of The Small Stuff, Real Food Wednesday at Kelly The Kitchen Kop.
Hopefully you will take the time to make your own applesauce for these muffins- it really gives them a lot more flavor and texture. You can make the applesauce the day before.
I use Granny Smith apples to make mine. I peel the apples then cut the pieces pretty small because when you cook the applesauce down you want to stop when there are still some tender chunks left.
I use a small amount of water in with the apples so they will start cooking without burning- probably 1/2 cup to 10 apples. I sprinkled some cinnamon- maybe 1/2 teaspoon and about 3-4 Tablespoons of brown sugar.
You will have extra applesauce left over after making the muffins, but that’s a good thing! Apples are so good for you- the old “Apple A Day” saying is proving to be more right then we ever knew! Apples are a valuable source of pectin which helps to carry bad stuff like heavy metals out of your body.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In large bowl, stir together the eggs, applesauce, raisins, oil, apple juice and brown sugar.
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
2 cups of applesauce
3/4 cup raisins
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 cup apple juice (I buy the little 5.5 oz cans so I have them on hand)
3/4 cup brown sugar
In another bowl, stir all dry ingredients together except for the oatmeal.
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
3/4 cup plus 2 Tblsp GF Flour Mix*
1/4 cup almond meal
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Add dry ingredients to applesauce mixture and stir to get rid of all pockets of dry flour. Add oatmeal to mixture and stir together.
1 cup gluten free rolled oats (I like Bob’s Red Mill)
Spoon mixture into prepared mini muffin pans that are lined with paper liners (this recipe makes 36)
In a small bowl, mix together:
1/2 cup plus 2 Tblsp pecans, chopped small
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Sprinkle nut mixture over muffin batter and press to keep the nuts attached to the batter. The mixture will be pretty high up in the muffin papers, but that’s ok because they don’t rise that much. The pecan mixture will be a slight challenge to keep on the muffins but you will see it’s the perfect amount when they are baked!
Bake at 350 degrees for 23-24 minutes. I placed 2 of the mini muffin pans on a cookie sheet and set the 3rd muffin pan next to the sheet so they would all fit on one shelf for even baking.
*GF Flour Mixture
The GF flour mixture that I use is pretty standard. I use Authentic Foods gluten free flours because they are ground more finely than commercial brand GF flours that you can buy off the shelf. This results in wonderful baked goods that do not have that “gritty” feel when you chew them like so many products that we all tried in the beginning!
GF Flour Mixture
2 cups AF Superfine Brown Rice Flour (available in the amazon.com store on my blog)
2/3 cup AF Potato Starch Flour (available in my store)
1/3 cup AF Tapioca Flour (available in my store)
I make up several batches of this mixture at a time and keep it in a canister. I keep all of my other GF flours in the freezer.
Welcome to Andreas Kitchen! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to my blog to get updated whenever I post a recipe.
This recipe looks absolutely yummy! I am hitting the market and baking up a storm this weekend!
Wow! You are fast- thanks for your comment Raya!
I’ve been looking for a way to get off a pumpkin kick and use apples in my next set of recipes. This is it! You did a great job with the directions and the pictures, so I have no excuse. I thank YOU for sharing.
Andrea! This is EXACTLY what i am looking for to make for my girls! Right! gonna set this on bookmark and round up the ingredients and then let you know how they turn out for me!
All the best! Alex
Those muffins look delicious! I’m so glad I found your blog at The Glutenfree Homemaker. I’ve added you to my “follow” list.
Cindy
Wheatless Foodie
I am envious of the amount of cute muffin liners that you have.
These look really good! It’s nice when an old gluten-tastic recipe translates easily into gluten free, isnt it?
Thanks Christine! I am always grateful when a recipe doesn’t take multiple times to convert from regular flour to gluten free!
Thank you Cindy! I am really happy that you found me too! I just wish there were more hours in a day so that I could play with more recipes! It’s probably just as well though since I like to bake so much!
I’m glad Alex! It really is a yummy recipe!
Great idea keeping your liners in a Tupperware container. Especially since mine like to fall out of my cupboard and fall on my head.
These GF muffins look and sound terrific.
Thank you Pamela! My paper liners were a mess until I did that too! I will be posting lots more muffin recipes- love them!