Healthy Apple Oatmeal Muffins with Cinnamon (Gluten-Free, No Flour)

These healthy apple oatmeal muffins are soft, cinnamon-y and packed with juicy little bits of apple. And there’s no flour in them at all! The whole batter is made from oats, half blended into flour and half left whole, so they’re naturally gluten-free and you don’t need a flour blend.

My son has a gluten sensitivity, and I wanted a sweet treat for him that wasn’t basically cake. So these are sweetened with maple syrup, made tender with Greek yogurt, and loaded with fresh apple. For him they’re dessert, but they’re light enough that I’m happy to serve them at breakfast too.

They come together in one blender and one bowl. The batter rests for 10 minutes while the oven heats, and that rest is what keeps them from baking up flat.

Are apple oatmeal muffins gluten-free?

Not usually. Most recipes, including the popular ones, mix the oats with all-purpose flour. These skip the flour completely, so the only grain is oats.

Oats don’t contain gluten, but regular oats are often grown and processed next to wheat, barley and rye. That’s why you need oats labeled gluten-free, which in the US means they test under 20 parts per million of gluten (the Celiac Disease Foundation’s label guide explains how to read them). If you bake for someone with celiac disease, check with them too, because a small number of people also react to avenin, the protein in oats. The Celiac Disease Foundation has a good overview of gluten-free oats and who tolerates them. (I go into more detail on oats in my gluten-free grains guide.)

Why these apple oatmeal muffins work

Oat flour has no gluten to hold a muffin up, and it soaks up a lot of liquid. That’s why so many flourless oat muffins come out dense or gummy. A few small things fix it:

• Measure the oats before blending, or better, weigh them. A cup of oat flour can weigh anywhere from 80 to 120 grams depending on how you scoop it, and too much makes the muffins dry and heavy.
• The batter rests 10 minutes. The oats drink up the liquid and the batter thickens, so the muffins rise up instead of spreading out.
• Greek yogurt and eggs do the job gluten would. The yogurt keeps them soft, and the eggs give them structure.
• A little oil stays in. I know it’s tempting to swap it all for applesauce, but oat muffins need some fat or they turn rubbery.

Ingredients for apple oatmeal muffins

• Rolled oats: Old-fashioned rolled oats, certified gluten-free. You use them twice, blended into flour and left whole. Quick oats work for the blended part, but whole quick oats disappear into the batter, so you lose the chewy bits.
• Greek yogurt: Plain, 2% or whole milk. Nonfat works but the muffins are a little drier. This is where most of the protein comes from.
• Maple syrup: Pure maple syrup, not pancake syrup. Honey works the same way, it just browns faster, so check at 18 minutes.
• Eggs: Two large, at room temperature. Cold eggs can make melted coconut oil firm up into little clumps.
• Oil: Melted coconut oil or any neutral oil like avocado oil.
• Milk: Any kind. It’s only a splash, to loosen the batter.
• Apples: One large apple. I use Honeycrisp and leave the peel on, since it saves a step and you won’t notice it in little pieces. Dice it small, about 1/2 inch.
• Cinnamon: 2 teaspoons in the batter plus a little to toss with the apples. Add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg if you like a warmer spice.
• Baking powder and baking soda: Both. The soda reacts with the yogurt and maple syrup, and the powder gives the rest of the lift. Make sure your baking powder is fresh, since old powder is a common reason oat muffins stay flat.

Best apples to use in apple oatmeal muffins

Pick a firm apple that holds its shape in the oven. Soft apples turn to mush and make wet pockets in your apple oatmeal muffins.

I’d skip McIntosh and Red Delicious. McIntosh breaks down into applesauce when it bakes, and Red Delicious goes mealy. Mixing one tart and one sweet apple is a nice option if you have both.

How to make apple oatmeal muffins

1. Blend the oats. Measure 2 1/2 cups of rolled oats into a blender and blend until it looks like fine flour, about 30 to 60 seconds. A few tiny flakes are fine.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk the oat flour with the whole oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.
3. Mix the wet ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, Greek yogurt, maple syrup, oil, milk and vanilla until smooth.
4. Combine. Pour the wet into the dry and stir just until you can’t see dry oat flour. Then fold in the apples, tossed in a little cinnamon first.
5. Let it rest. Leave the batter for 10 minutes while the oven heats to 375°F. It’ll go from loose to thick and scoopable, almost like cookie dough. Don’t skip this!
6. Fill and bake. Fill 12 lined cups almost to the top (thick batter rises up more than it spreads), add the crumble if using, and bake for 20 to 24 minutes. They’re done when the tops are golden, spring back when pressed, and a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool. Leave them in the pan for 10 minutes, then move them to a rack. Oat muffins are fragile when hot and get firmer as they cool.

Tips for perfect apple oatmeal muffins

Why are my apple oatmeal muffins gummy in the middle? Usually one of three things. They came out a few minutes early, the apples were very juicy or cut too big, or you cut into them hot. Bake until the top springs back, and give them the full 10 minutes in the pan. Next time, add 2 to 3 minutes to the bake.

Why are they flat? Old baking powder, skipping the rest, or too much oat flour. Weighing the oats (225 grams for the blended part) fixes the last one.

Why did the apples sink? Big chunks are heavy. Dice them to about 1/2 inch and toss them with a spoonful of the oat flour mixture before folding them in, and they’ll stay put.

Why are they sticking to the liners? Muffins with less fat and sugar stick to regular paper liners. Use parchment liners, or skip liners and grease the pan well.

And a small one: if your maple syrup is cold from the fridge, let it come to room temperature. Cold liquids can make melted coconut oil set into hard bits.

Easy ways to change up these apple oatmeal muffins

Cinnamon oat crumble top: Mix 1/3 cup rolled oats, 2 tablespoons oat flour, 1 tablespoon coconut or brown sugar, 1 tablespoon melted butter or coconut oil, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and a pinch of salt. It should look like wet sand. Press about a teaspoon onto each muffin before baking. Add 2 tablespoons chopped pecans if you want crunch.

No added sugar (apple banana): Swap the maple syrup for 1/2 cup mashed very ripe banana, about 1 large banana. They’ll be mildly sweet and a little denser. Use spotty brown bananas, same as for my gluten-free banana bread.

Apple carrot: Use 1 cup diced apple plus 3/4 cup finely grated carrot, and add 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger. Squeeze the grated carrot in a towel first so it doesn’t make the batter wet. (If you love that combo, try my gluten-free carrot cake too.)

Egg-free: Replace the 2 eggs with 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flaxseed mixed with 5 tablespoons water, left 5 minutes to gel). Expect flatter tops and add 2 to 3 minutes to the bake.

Vegan: Use flax eggs, a thick dairy-free Greek-style yogurt (coconut or almond), plant milk and coconut oil. Same notes as egg-free.

More protein: The Greek yogurt already gives these more protein than a typical muffin. For a bit more, stir in 3 tablespoons hemp hearts, or swap 1/4 cup of the oat flour for vanilla protein powder plus 2 extra tablespoons milk, since protein powder soaks up liquid.

Mini apple oatmeal muffins: Fill a greased 24-cup mini muffin pan and bake for 10 to 13 minutes.

Apple cider: Swap the milk for the same amount of apple cider for a stronger apple flavor.

How to store apple oatmeal muffins

Because of the yogurt and fresh apple, these apple oatmeal muffins keep better in the fridge than on the counter. Leave them out for a day in an airtight container, then move them to the fridge for up to 5 days. Put a paper towel in the container to catch extra moisture.

Cold oat muffins can feel a bit firm. Warm one for 15 to 20 seconds in the microwave and it softens right back up.

To freeze: Cool completely, wrap each muffin or put them in a freezer bag with the air pressed out, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, or microwave straight from frozen for 30 to 45 seconds. I keep a bag in the freezer for school mornings and for my own work mornings, so breakfast is ready in under a minute.

Apple Oatmeal Muffins FAQ

More apple and oat recipes

If you’re on an apple kick, my easy apple crisp with oatmeal uses the same gluten-free oats in the topping. And for something to go with your coffee, try my chewy gluten-free oatmeal cookies.

If you bake these apple oatmeal muffins, I’d love to hear how they turned out! Leave a rating in the recipe card, and tell me in the comments which apples you used or if you tried the vegan version.

Recipe card: Healthy Apple Oatmeal Muffins (Gluten-Free, No Flour)

Soft cinnamon apple muffins made entirely from oats, sweetened with maple syrup and made tender with Greek yogurt.