Healthy and Hearty Oat and Apple Muffins (that everyone will love!)

These healthy and hearty oat and apple muffins are filled with nourishing ingredients that will give you a boost of energy any time of day. They’re hearty, delicious, and satisfying. Because they’re so great, we almost always have a bag of muffins made in the fridge and extra batter in the freezer ready to go!

I honestly don’t know how we haven’t gotten sick of these muffins yet. We eat them SO much. One of my favorite uses for these muffins is throwing them in the diaper bag for an easy snack while we’re out and about. We love them, our toddler loves them…everyone loves them!

I’ll let you know in advance that the aren’t the simplest muffins to make, though. They do require shredding apples and carrots. For this reason, I almost always make a double or triple batch when I make them and stick the rest of the batter in the freezer. It’s so nice to be able to pull out a bag of muffin mix and just throw it in the oven.

I made big batches of these muffins before both of our babies were born. They are the perfect nourishing food when you’re busy with a newborn (or just busy in general) and need a quick, easy-to-eat, healthy snack.

Because we almost always have some ready in the fridge, we end up eating them cold a lot of them time, and they still taste great. Still, they’re the best warm and straight out of the oven.

Are muffins healthy?

Sadly, muffins are usually not very healthy. These muffins are totally an exception to that, though! They’re filled with whole foods like apples, carrots, nuts, and oats. They do have a bit of brown sugar in them, but you can always cut this down or replace it with honey or maple syrup if you want to make them even healthier. When serving these to guests, the top comment we get is, “They taste healthy! But delicious!”

Can I freeze these muffins?

Definitely. We freeze them all the time! Simply scoop the batter into a freezer bag. Spreading the mixture flat usually works the best for storing in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat, simply let them thaw, scoop into muffin tins, and bake.

Ingredients:

• Flour
• Flax seed
• Old-fashioned oats
• Brown sugar
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Cinnamon
• Shredded carrots
• Shredded apples
• Raisins
• Chopped nuts
• Milk
• Eggs
• Vanilla

How to make healthy and hearty oat and apple muffins

1. Add flour, flax seed, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon to a bowl. Stir.
   
2. Shred carrots and apples with a food processor or hand shredder. We love our Cuisinart food processor.
   
3. Stir carrots, apples, raisins, and nuts into dry mixture.
4. Add milk, beaten eggs, and vanilla.
   
5. Stir until moistened.
6. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray.
7. Using a ¼ cup measurement to fill muffin tins (if using extra large or small muffin tins, aim to fill them ¾ of the way full).
   
8. Bake at 350℉ for 15-20 minutes. Muffins are done when you can remove them from the pan without them breaking apart.
9. Let cool. Store in a plastic bag or container in the fridge.
   

What kind of apples should I use for these muffins?

Any kind of apples will work well! Sweeter apples like fuji, gala, honey crisp, and pink lady will of course make the muffins a bit sweeter. However, we’ve made these muffins with all kinds of apples. Whatever you have on hand will be delicious!

Ingredient substitutions and notes for healthy and hearty oat and apple muffins

Brown sugar – I usually half the brown sugar for this recipe. They are still tasty, and the carrots, apples, and raisins add sweetness. You could also substitute the brown sugar for honey or maple syrup.

Apples – If you want your muffins to be even more chewy, you can peel the apples before shredding. However, leaving the peels on is totally fine, too.

Nuts – We love using walnuts for this recipe. Buying pre-chopped nuts is a great way to make the prep a little bit easier.

Find more of our favorite healthy snack recipes here!