Apple Oat Muffins are a delicious muffin recipe that's perfect for lunch boxes, breakfast, or an afternoon treat! Made with fresh apples and rolled oats, these moist apple and oat muffins will be ready in around 30 minutes!
When I want to make apple muffins, I always choose between either my Mum's Apple Crumble Muffin recipe or these Apple Oat Muffins. The apple crumble muffins are AMAZING... but they're definitely a cheeky 'sometimes food' treat.
Whereas, these Oat and Apple Muffins have the same delicious flavour, but are way less guilt-inducing -- just like my Healthy Chocolate Banana Muffins and Carrot Cake Muffins, too!
Healthy Apple Muffins with Oats
Whether you're looking for a healthier lunch box snack, a breakfast on the go, or an afternoon treat, these apple oat muffins are a great option.
They're based on my go-to apple muffin recipe where grated apple along with buttermilk is the key to making (and keeping) the muffins fluffy and moist.
Plus, the natural sweetness from the apples, means that only a small amount of sugar is required.
Why You're Going To Love These Apple Oat Muffins
- Only 10 Minutes To Prep – Whip up the muffin mix in just a few minutes and then let your delicious low fat apple oat muffins bake to perfection in the oven.
- Kid-Approved – These muffins are not only healthier than your store-bought muffins - the kids also love them!
- Freezer-Friendly - I love to use this recipe to stock up our snacks in the freezer - ready to be tossed into a lunch box on the way out the door.
- Easy To Customize – Add an extra dash of cinnamon, some chocolate chips or your favourite chopped nuts to put your own personal touch on this easy muffin recipe.
What You Need
Note: Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom for the ingredients quantities and full detailed method.
- Cinnamon – You can't have a delicious, warm batch of apple oat muffins without a little ground cinnamon! Remember that less is more with this spice (especially to keep the muffins kid-friendly).
- Apples – Grate the apple using a cheese grater. This makes it makes it much easier to fold into the muffin dough and keeps the mixture moist once baked.
- Rolled Oats – These are totally optional! I like to sprinkle rolled oats over the tops of the muffins while baking to add an extra crunch. You can also use seeds or skip this step entirely.
- Dry Ingredients – Make sure you have these baking staples in the pantry: self-raising flour (sifted), baking powder, sugar. If you don't have self-raising flour, you can make your own by sifting 2 teaspoons of baking powder through every 1 cup of plain flour.
- Wet Ingredients – You'll also need eggs, buttermilk, and vegetable or canola oil for this apple and oat muffin recipe.
Don't have buttermilk? No problem! See below for my tips on how to make your own buttermilk.
How To Make Apple Oat Muffins
Note: Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom for the ingredients quantities and full detailed method!
Step 1 – Prep
First, preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius fan-forced (350 degrees fahrenheit). Then, place 12 muffin liners into a 12-hole muffin tray and set aside.
Step 2 – Mix Dry Ingredients
Next, sift the self raising flour, baking powder and ground cinnamon into a large bowl. When those ingredients are well combined, add in the caster sugar and stir once more to combine. Now, create a well (or pocket) in the centre of the dry ingredients.
Step 3 – Grate Apples
Now grate 2 apples and place them into the well in the centre of the dry ingredient mixture.
There's no need to peel the skin off the apples before grating.
Step 4 – Add Wet Ingredients
After that, whisk the eggs, buttermilk and vegetable oil in a bowl and pour on top of the apples.
Step 5 – Fold The Dough
Next, fold together gently (don't worry if there are still a few lumps).
Be careful not to over-mix or your muffins will be dense!
Step 6 – Portion Into Muffin Tins
Now, spoon the mixture into the prepared cases (filling ⅔ of the way to the top).
Sprinkle with rolled oats and raw sugar (optional).
Step 7 – Bake Apple Oat Muffins
Finally, bake your apple and oat muffins for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Step 8 – Cool And Enjoy
Remember to allow your muffins to cool in the tray for about 5 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.
What To Serve With Apple Oat Muffins
These delicious, moist muffins pair perfectly with your morning cup of coffee or tea.
They're also delicious with vanilla or fruit yoghurt and fresh berries.
Personally, I usually enjoy these apple and oat muffins all by themselves as a snack on the go.
Recipe Tips and FAQ
When choosing apples, it's important to remember that the redder the apple, the sweeter the apple. I tend to like the natural sweetness the apples bring to these muffins, so I usually use fuji, red delicious, pink lady or golden delicious apples.
If you can't buy buttermilk from your local supermarket, you can easily make your own. Simply add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to every 1 cup of regular whole milk. Stir and allow to sit for a minute or two before using.
Note: The milk will curdle slightly as you mix through the lemon juice or vinegar.
Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature. These muffins can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Absolutely! Just wrap them individually in cling wrap and then pop them into an airtight container in the freezer. On the day that you want them, simply grab them out and give them a couple of hours to defrost (I like to pop them onto a plate and lay a tea towel over the top).
If you're after a lunch box filler for your little ones, these make a great option! You can be pretty much guaranteed to have an empty lunch box come home when these yummy muffins are involved.
More Muffin Recipes
Once your try these Apple Oat Muffins, you'll be wanting to make more and more delicious lunch box recipes!
Here are some of my most popular muffin recipes:
- Easy Cafe-Style Blueberry Muffins – Get the comfort of the cafe right in your own home with this simple, 5-minute, 3-step recipe!
- Bacon & Cheese Muffins – Bacon, cheese, carbs... What else could you possibly want in a breakfast muffin??
- Apple Crumble Muffins – If you're looking for something a little more similar to my apple oat muffins, then you will LOVE these Apple Crumble Muffins! They're soft and crunchy and the perfect midday treat.
- Salted Caramel Banana Muffins – Moist, fluffy, and drizzled with a mouthwatering salted caramel topping, these muffins are good enough for dessert (with a massive scoop of ice cream, of course).
- Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins – These tasty muffins are ready in just 30 minutes! It's your favourite classic banana muffin recipe with rich chocolate chips for extra deliciousness.
WANT EVEN MORE DELICIOUS RECIPES? Subscribe to my newsletter or follow along on Facebook or Instagram. And if you love baking, then please come and join my Facebook cooking club group or subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Oat & Apple Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups (300g) self-raising flour sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1-2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 100 g caster sugar
- 2 apples grated
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (250ml) buttermilk see notes
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) vegetable oil or coconut oil or canola oil
- 6 tbs rolled oats you can also use seeds, for sprinkling
- 3 tbs raw sugar optional, for sprinkling
Instructions
Conventional Method
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (fan-forced).
- Place 12 muffin liners into a 12-hole muffin tray and set aside.
- Sift the self raising flour, baking powder and ground cinnamon into a large bowl.
- Add the caster sugar and stir to combine. Create a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.
- Grate 2 apples into the well.
- Whisk the eggs, buttermilk and vegetable oil in a bowl and pour on top of the apple.
- Fold together gently (don't worry if there are still a few lumps - be careful not to over-mix or your muffins will be dense).
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared cases (filling ⅔ of the way to the top). Sprinkle with the rolled oats and raw sugar.
- Cook for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the tray for 5 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Thermomix Method
- Place the chopped apples into the Thermomix bowl. Chop on Turbo for 5 seconds or until finely chopped. Set aside in a bowl.
- Place the eggs, buttermilk and vegetable oil into the Thermomix bowl. Mix for 20 seconds on Speed 4.
- Add the grated apple self raising flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and caster sugar and mix for 5 seconds on Speed 4 (check the mixture - it should still be a little lumpy). Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for a further 2-3 seconds, Speed 4.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared cases (filling ⅔ of the way to the top). Sprinkle with the rolled oats and raw sugar.
- Cook for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the tray for 5 minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Buttermilk: If you can’t buy buttermilk from your local supermarket, you can easily make your own. Simply add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to every 1 cup of regular whole milk. Stir and allow to sit for a minute or two before using.
Note: The milk will curdle slightly as you mix through the lemon juice or vinegar. - Raw sugar - it's entirely optional to sprinkle a little raw sugar over the top of the muffins before baking, but it does give the tops of the muffins a delicious cafe-style crunch!
- When choosing apples, it's important to remember that the redder the apple, the sweeter the apple. I tend to like the natural sweetness the apples bring to these muffins, so I usually use fuji, red delicious, pink lady or golden delicious apples.
- Store muffins in an airtight container. These muffins can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
- To freeze, just wrap the muffins individually in cling wrap and then pop them into an airtight container in the freezer. On the day that you want them, simply grab them out and give them a couple of hours to defrost (I like to pop them onto a plate and lay a tea towel over the top).
Helen says
Can i use something else apart from buttermilk?
Lucy says
Hi Helen, you can make your own buttermilk by adding lemon juice or vinegar to regular milk (at room temp) and allowing it to sit and curdle for a few minutes. Alternatively you can use regular milk, but the muffins wont have the same soft and fluffy texture.
Jade Street says
These were delicious, soft and the house smelt amazing too!
Thank you for the lovely recipe!
Lucy says
I'm so thrilled you like them!