Gluten-Free Apple Pie Muffins

Name: Gluten-Free Apple Pie Muffins
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 5 large apples ((about 600-700g apples), peeled and diced to make 400g diced apples); 30 g butter; 1 tablespoon soft light brown sugar; 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon; 120 g unsalted butter; 120 g buckwheat flour; 120 g almond flour (ground almonds* in UK); ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon; 2 teaspoons baking powder; ¼ teaspoon salt; 100 g soft light brown sugar; 2 eggs (medium sized); 120 g whole milk; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 65 g soft light brown sugar; 40 g buckwheat flour; 40 g whole almonds; ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon; ¼ teaspoon salt; 75 g unsalted butter (cold)

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This Gluten-Free Apple Cinnamon Muffin recipe makes the most of apple season. Soft and fluffy cinnamon spiked muffins, generously topped with a mound of sweet buttery cinnamon apple chunks and a crisp streusel topping.

Gluten-Free Apple Pie Muffins on a baking tray.

Gluten-Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins (no xanthan gum)

These Gluten-Free Apple Pie Muffins evoke russet leaves crunching underfoot, soft sweaters and cosy evenings in watching Gilmore Girls. There is so much buttery cinnamon flavour and different textures packed into these muffins that they will soon become a seasonal favourite.

They need a simple flour blend of just 2 flours and no xanthan gum meaning they are a very easy gluten-free bake to whip up.

I’ll show you how to pack in the flavour including using browned butter, buckwheat flour and almond flour and caramelising your apples for irresistible results.

They are so easy and don’t need any special equipment, just a couple of mixing bowls, a balloon whisk and a muffin tin. I do use a food processor to make the streusel topping but it isn’t essential.

So, let’s bake!

Apple Pie Muffin with case opened and forkful taken, showing soft and fluffy sponge.

Why You’ll Love These Gluten-Free Apple Muffins

The deep cinnamon richness of those buttery caramelised apples!!
Using easy to prepare brown butter for a gorgeous deep toasted nutty flavour in your muffins.
Perfectly soft muffins that hold together beautifully with lovely flavour thanks to the carefully chosen flours used in the right ratios.
Soft fluffy muffin, topped with the soft apples and scattered over with crisp and crunchy streusel for lovely texture contrast.
No xanthan gum needed.

Watch the Video

Sometimes it helps to see a visual of what I'm talking about. So watch the video to see what it looks like to make your Apple Pie Muffins.

Ingredients Needed

Ingredients for Apple Pie Muffins on table.

Fresh apples. You can use your favourite sweet apples like granny smith apples, pink lady, gala or braeburn. You could even use a combination of apples.

Unsalted butter. We need unsalted so we can control the salt content of the recipe. Make sure it is at room temperature.

Buckwheat flour. We choose this gluten-free flour for its hearty texture whilst its distinct nutty and earthy flavour is a great backdrop to the apple and cinnamon flavour. It doesn’t have the same binding power of gluten though so we need to blend it with other flours to ensure a balanced mix. READ MORE >>> Gluten-Free Baking with Buckwheat Flour.

You can substitute the buckwheat for either oat flour, sorghum flour or your favourite gluten-free flour blend.

Almond flour. You are looking for blanched ground almonds. There is a bit of labelling confusion over almond flour which is sold as ‘ground almonds’ in most major UK supermarkets and found in the baking aisle. If you want to know what exactly you are looking for then check out this post >>>Is Almond Flour The Same As Ground Almonds.

Brown sugar. Gives lovely gentle molasses flavour and moisture.

Caster sugar. It’s a fine white baking sugar available in the UK. Regular white granulated sugar can be substituted.

Eggs. This recipe uses medium size, about 60g each with shell (50g each without shell). These are often classified as large eggs in the US. I recommend weighing your eggs to ensure the correct amount.

Milk. Use whole milk or a plant based milk if you are making dairy-free.

Cinnamon. It gives the muffins such a lovely deeply spiced flavour.

Vanilla extract. Use a good quality extract, I like Nielsen Massey.

Baking powder. A leaving agent which causes the cake to rise and become light and fluffy. Do check your baking powder is gluten-free before use.

Salt. I like to use kosher salt in my baking as it has a round gentle flavour. Using salt in your baked goods lifts and sharpens all the other flavours.

Almonds. Just a few whole almonds are needed (skin on is fine) which are roughly chopped (in the food processor or by hand) to include in the nutty streusel topping.

Equipment Needed

All of these items are helpful for a smooth baking process, but you can easily substitute with whatever you have on hand.

2 large mixing bowls.
Hand whisk. It’s easy to make this cake using balloon whisk and a strong mixing arm.
I use a food processor for making the streusel topping, but you can get away with roughly chopping the almonds and then rubbing the ingredients together using your fingertips.
12-hole regular muffin tin.
Muffin liners / cases. Buy good large sturdy ones if you can. The liners measure 2 inches (5cm) at the base of the liner and are about 1.25 inches (4cm) tall.
Ice cream/cookie scoop for portioning the batter in the muffin cases.
Silicone spatula for scraping the bowl.
Cooling rack for cooling the muffins once baked.

How To Make Gluten-Free Apple Pie Muffins

For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.

Preheat the oven and prepare the muffin tin: Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan-assisted / Gas mark 4 / 350°F. Line a 12-hole regular-sized muffin tin with muffin cases.

Prepare the brown butter: Melt the unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium heat until it turns brown and smells toasty. Remove from heat and set aside.

Butter in pan making brown butter, showing the butter melting then looking all golden brown with little nutty golden bits in after melting.

Prepare the caramelised apples: Melt the butter then add the sugar, cinnamon. Add apple pieces and fry for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Saucepan with cinnamon, butter and sugar melting together. Diced apples added and mixed in then golden and soft after 5-10 minutes of cooking.

Prepare the dry ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the buckwheat flour, almond flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. 

Dry ingredients for apple pie muffins in large glass mixing bowl.

Mix the wet ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, whole milk, vanilla extract, and the cooled brown butter.

Combine: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and stir until combined. 

Wet ingredients in a bowl, whisked together, dry ingredients added and whisked together.

Prepare the streusel topping: Place the brown sugar, buckwheat flour, almonds, cinnamon, and salt in the food processor. Pulse until the almonds are coarsely chopped. Add cubed butter and pulse until the mixture forms coarse crumbs with pea-sized butter pieces.

Streusel topping in small food processor, before and after mixing.

Fill the muffin cases and bake: Divide the muffin batter into the muffin cases, filling them halfway to the top.  Add equal amounts of caramelised apples into the cupcake cases then finish of by dividing the streusel mixture generously to the top of each muffin. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool. Let the muffins cool on a wire rack before serving.

Apple muffins in paper liners in their muffin tray. Filled with sponge batter, loaded then with cinnamon apples, loaded up with streusel topping then golden after baking.

Expert Tips

Brown Butter. To make the brown butter use a light coloured saucepan as you can see the colour of the butter changing more easily.

You must keep your eye on the brown butter as it’s a very fine line between brown butter and burnt butter and two very different flavours. Look out for the hiss and crackle of the butter starting to die down, brown flecks starting to appear in the butter and a toasted nutty flavour. You can lightly skim off the bubbly surface of the butter so you can see its colour more closely. Once browned immediately remove the pan from the heat so it doesn’t burn. Don’t strain the brown butter – those brown flecks are so tasty and need to be in your cake batter too!

Remove the muffins onto a cooling rack straight after they come out of the oven to avoid extra moisture.

Preparing the apples. If you are concerned about your apple pieces browning as you are cutting them up then squeeze a little fresh lemon juice into the bowl you are placing them in to keep their colour.

Loading up the muffins. Don’t be shy about loading your muffins with apples and the streusel topping as you are assembling them, they will hold together really well.

Cooling the muffins. As soon as they are baked then take them out of the muffin tin to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Room Temperature Ingredients. Ensure that all the ingredients including the eggs and butter are at room temperature. This helps in achieving a smoother batter, even mixing and helps them to emulsify together so the cake isn’t greasy.

Measure Ingredients Accurately. Use precise measurements for all ingredients, this is especially the case when working with gluten-free flours. And I urge you to use digital scales, any slight variation in measurements can alter the desired texture and consistency.

FAQs

What are the best apples to use?

You can use your favourite sweet apples like granny smith apples, pink lady, gala or braeburn. You could even use a combination of apples.

Can you make these apple muffins dairy-free / vegan?

These muffins have only been tested with eggs and dairy ingredients. You can substitute the dairy if you have a favourite plant based butter which works well as a 1:1 swap. However, since this recipe uses so many eggs I don’t advise you swapping for any egg alternatives as this might alter the recipe significantly.

What is the best way to store the apple muffins?

You can store the muffins in an airtight container (but preferably tin rather than plastic as it plastic will keep the muffins too moist). Then store them in a cool dark place for up to 5 days.

Can you freeze the muffins?

Absolutely. You can freeze the muffins successfully for up to 3 months. Place in a resealable freezer bag or airtight container. Don’t forget to label including the date. To enjoy, you can thaw them individually at room temperature for about 2 hours.

What size muffin liners do you need?

This recipe is for a standard sized cupcake and the liners measure 2 inches (5cm) at the base of the liner and are about 1.25 inches (4cm) tall.

What is the best size muffin tin for this recipe?

Use a standard muffin tin or cupcake tin. I recommend using an aluminium baking tin which gives more even baking results. The one used in testing this recipe is 24.46 x 33.02 x 3.18 cm.