Vegan Apple Spice Muffins

Autumn is the perfect time to use your perfectly crisp apples in recipes! Use your apples in these incredible Vegan Apple Spice Muffins, which are tender, moist, and totally dairy-free. They're also topped with a fabulous pecan crumble topping that will knock your socks off!

Happy Autumn!

Apple season is one of my favorite times a year. You can find a huge variety of apples at the grocery store along with cider, donuts, and tons of other fall-related items. It's so much fun!

The other fun part about fall is apple picking. If you have apple picking in your area, I highly recommend it for the whole family. Such a fun activity and you get a huge bag of apples to take home!

If you have no idea what to do with your large bag of apples, these Vegan Apple Spice Muffins are the perfect recipe! Real chopped apples are added to the lightly sweetened batter for a fabulous apple flavor.

On top, I add a homemade pecan crumble that is crisp, nutty, and sweet. It adds so much texture and flavor to the muffins, making them an extra special Autumn treat. Be sure to not skip on the crumble!

Making Moist Muffins

Without moisture, muffins can bake into a hockey puck-like consistency. We don't want firm, hard muffins! Having moist and tender cake is imperative to these crumble muffins.

To make the muffins nice and tender, I like to make homemade vegan "buttermilk", which lightens the batter beautifully. You can make vegan buttermilk by mixing plant milk and a bit of apple cider vinegar together, which creates a curdling effect. The result is a vegan buttermilk alternative that works perfectly in baking!

For moist and tender muffins, be sure to make my vegan buttermilk mixture! Do not skip on this amazingly simple step.

Making Crumble

One aspect of these special fall muffins is the nutty crumble on top. I like to use pecans, but you can use your favorite nuts or a mixture!

Crumble is very easy to make. Simply take vegan butter, brown sugar, spices, and pecans and mix together to form a crumb-like consistency. Dollop some crumble on top of each muffin before baking.

The result is a crisp, craggy, and crunchy topping containing nuts. Many freshly baked cafe muffins have a crumble, and now your homemade muffins will too! You can add this crumble to any muffin or cake to take the recipe to the next level.

Ingredients in Vegan Apple Spice Muffins

For the Muffins:

• 1 medium Gala apple, peeled + chopped small
• 1.5 cups organic all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup organic brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup almond milk
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• ¼ cup vegan butter, melted

For the Pecan Crumble Topping:

• 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
• ½ cup organic all-purpose flour
• ½ cup organic brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ cup vegan butter, partially melted

How to Make Vegan Apple Spice Muffins

To Make the Muffins:

Add the almond milk and apple cider vinegar together in a small bowl, stirring together until combined. Let it sit for 5 minutes until it becomes "slightly thickened" and activated.

Preheat your oven to 400F. Lightly grease your muffin pan (for larger muffins) or for standard muffins, line the wells with liners.

In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and almond milk-AVC mixture, whisking them together until well combined.

Next, stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and sea salt and mix until just combined. Fold in chopped apples.

NOTE: DO NOT OVER-MIX!

NOTE: The batter should look moist, but thick where it's scoopable but not easily poured. If way too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons more milk. If too runny, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Divide the batter evenly among the wells of the prepared muffin pan.

For the Pecan Crumble:

Add the flour, brown sugar, chopped pecans, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a medium bowl, combining them together using a pastry blender.

NOTE: This helps to break down the nuts into smaller pieces as well if preferred.

Add the partially melted vegan butter and using a spatula, mix until well combined and crumbly.

Now, evenly sprinkle the crumble topping atop each muffin batter until fully covered and place it in the oven.

Bake muffins for 20 to 24 minutes or until the centers come out clean. Once fully baked through, remove from oven and let the muffins cool in the pan before removing.

To serve, enjoy muffins along with your favorite coffee, tea, or a glass of plant-based milk.

Bon Appetit!

Other Recipes You'll Love

These fall-inspired Vegan Apple Spice Muffins are so good. If you love these, you'll also love my other recipes!

• Vegan Apple Cinnamon Crumble Bread
• Chocolate Chip Chia Seed Muffins
• Vegan Pumpkin Spice Muffins
• Vegan Apple Cranberry Crumble Pie
• Maple Brown Butter Breakfast Muffins

MADE OUR RECIPE(S)?

If you make these Vegan Apple Spice Muffins, be sure to tag me on Instagram @orchidsandsweettea!

Vegan Apple Spice Muffins

September 21, 2021 •

By Shanika

5 from 2 votes

Vegan Apple Spice Muffins are the solution to the crisp Autumn air! These moist muffins are lightly sweetened and topped with a delicious pecan crumble that will blow your mind!

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 25 minutes mins

Total Time: 35 minutes mins

Serves: 12 Muffins

Units:

US Customary|Metric

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Ingredients

MUFFINS:

• 1 medium Gala Apple, peeled + chopped small
• 1 ½ cups organic all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup organic brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup Almond milk (You can use your fave plant-based milk!)
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup  (See Notes!)
• ¼ cup vegan butter, melted (See Notes!)

PECAN CRUMBLE TOPPING:

• 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
• ½ cup organic all-purpose flour
• ½ cup organic brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ cup vegan butter, partially melted 

Instructions

TO MAKE MUFFINS:

• Add the Almond milk and apple cider vinegar together in a small bowl, stirring together until combined and letting it sit for 5 minutes until it becomes "slightly thickened" and activated.
• Preheat your oven to 400F. Lightly grease your muffin pan (for larger muffins) or for standard muffins, line the wells with liners.
• In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and Almond milk-AVC mixture, whisking them together until well combined.
• Next, stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and sea salt and mix until just combined. Fold in chopped apples. NOTE: DO NOT OVER-MIX!
• NOTE: The batter should look moist, but thick where it's 'scoop-able' but not easily poured. If way too thick, add 1-2 Tbsps more milk. If too runny, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
• Divide the batter evenly among the wells of the prepared muffin pan.

FOR THE PECAN CRUMBLE:

• Add the flour, brown sugar, chopped pecans, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a medium bowl, combining them together using a pastry blender. NOTE: This helps to breakdown the nuts into smaller pieces as well, if preferred.
• Add the partially melted vegan butter and using a spatula, mix until well combined and 'crumbly-like'.
• Now, evenly sprinkle the crumble topping atop each muffin batter until fully covered and place it in the oven.
• Bake muffins for 20 to 24 minutes or until the centers come out clean. Once fully baked through, remove from oven and let the muffins cool in the pan before removing.
• To serve, enjoy muffins along with your favorite coffee, tea, or a glass of plant-based milk.
• Bon Appetit!

Tips & Tricks

• STORAGE: Can be tightly sealed in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Can be frozen for up to 2 months in a freezer safe bag.
• MUFFIN SIZE: This recipe can make 8 Jumbo muffins OR 12 standard muffins, if desired.
• OIL: Instead of melted butter, you can also use coconut oil or vegetable oil, if preferred.
• SWEETENER: If you choose to opt out of brown sugar, you can always substitute with pure cane sugar, coconut sugar, additional pure maple syrup (which requires less milk), Agave, or Date syrup as well. 

Nutrition

Calories: 280kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 289mg | Potassium: 111mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 14IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 1mg

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Vegan Apple Spice Muffins.

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