Apple, Almond & Buckwheat Muffins

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If the warm apple and cinnamon fragrance from our kitchen found a way to fly into my laptop, on to the internet and out through whatever device you are reading this on, then I could stop writing this text right here. You would already be deep into your pantry drawers looking for the ingredients to start baking these muffins.

Instead, I guess I have to convince you the old-fashioned way, with words and images. And since we truly want you to understand how thrilled we are about this recipe, we also filmed a video for our youtube channel. Let’s start with that!

Apple trees heavy with fruit, small rubber boots tumbling around in the leaves, warm porridge in the morning, furry sweaters, cinnamon sticks, pitch dark nights and rainy afternoons. Autumn is already over us and it always seems to come with a profound desire for baking. In our apartment, switching on the oven is also a necessary trick to keep warm, since our radiators have a mind of their own.

If anyone remember my previous aversion to warm apples, this recipe must be the ultimate proof that I’m passed it. Not only does our muffins have shredded apples in the batter and sliced apples on top of them, but they also hold small golden pockets of apple sauce in the middle. It’s a serenade of apple flavours and textures paired with warm spices and they sing happy songs together.

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I guess this is an Autumnal edition of our Blueberry & Turmeric Breakfast Muffins. These are only sweetened with apples and dates, they are gluten-free and we have included a well-tested vegan option. The vegan version come out just slightly denser, but they taste almost identical. The combination of apple, oats, almond and buckwheat is perfect in an earthy, wholesome but still light kind of way.

So if you are also feeling the autumn mood or are just freezing and need another excuse to switch on the oven, we have got just the right recipe for you.

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Apple, Almond & Buckwheat Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

These muffins are only sweetened with apples and dates. We make our own apple sauce and even though it is unsweetened, it has a naturally sweet flavour that works perfect in this recipe. Since the muffins are not overly decadent, we enjoy them both as weekend breakfast and weekday dessert. However, if you know that you like your muffins more on the sweeter side, you can replace have of the apple sauce with maple syrup.

Dry ingredients
1 cup / 100 g almond flour
1 cup / 100 g rolled oats (use cert. gluten free if intolerant)
2/3 cup / 75 g buckwheat flour
2 tbsp arrowroot (or potato starch)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp sea salt

Wet ingredients
160 ml / 2/3 cup plain unsweetened yogurt or plant yogurt
80 ml / 1/3 cup coconut oil, butter or olive oil
10 fresh soft dates, pitted and mashed
3 large eggs (or 3 tbsp chia seeds mixed with 9 tbsp water)
1/2 cup / 120 ml apple sauce, unsweetened (see below for instructions hot to make your own)
3 organic apples

Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C. Grease a muffin pan with oil or butter or line it with muffin tins. Add all the dry ingredients to a food processor or blender and process on high speed so the oats turn into coarse flour and all ingredients are mixed. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, yogurt, coconut oil, dates and 1/3 cup / 80 ml of the apple sauce (save the rest for later) to the food processor or blender and mix until smooth, and then transfer to the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients. Grate two of the apples and add them to the batter. Divide the batter into the muffin tins, filling them only half way up. Drop a heaping teaspoon of apple sauce in the middle of each muffin and then cover with the remaining batter. Slice the last apple thinly, brush the slices with oil and place one or a few slices on top of each muffin, pressing them down slightly. Dust with cinnamon. Bake for about 18-20 minutes. Let cool for a bit before taking them out of their tins and they will release easier. Enjoy!

 

Apple Sauce
Apple sauce is one of the simplest things to make and if you choose a sweet variety of apples, no other sweetener is needed. This makes more than you need for the Apple Muffin recipe, which is good as you can add large spoonfuls of the leftovers on top of yogurt or cultured buttermilk in the morning.

1 lb / ½ kg organic apples
¼ cup / 60 ml water
1 tsp lemon juice

Core the apples, cut them in ½ inch / 1 cm dices and add to a large sauce pan on medium heat together with the water. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat slightly. Let simmer for 20-25 minutes. Use a hand blender to mix it smoothly. Add lemon juice and stir around to prevent the color from going brown. Store in air-tight glass jars the fridge for up to about a week or in plastic containers in the freezer for-like-ever.

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130 Comments

  • I love apples and this recipe is fantastic
  • Babette
    How many calories has one muffin?
  • Alice
    Unfortunately I had a similar problem to Pupa... I tried the vegan version and it didn't go well. Actually the muffins arose during baking so I put them out of the oven but their top fell down when cooling. That was already strange, and the texture was gummy-like. except the outer parts who were too much baked. I don't know what went wrong but I may do them with eggs next time, I definitively like the combination!
  • marie
    The muffins are great- nutty, earthy, and not too sweet.
  • I made these today together with my son and we all totally loved them. Perfect fall muffins. We will be making these again soon. Thank you!
  • cristina
    delicious! i just made them and put all the apple sauce in the batter by mistake...and, i let them cool down and i opened one and they are pretty wet inside, is it the ingredients or did not cook them long enough? anyways they taste wonderful
    • Hi Cristina, if you added all the apple sauce to the batter it will naturally be a bit too liquid and that is probably why they ended up being too moist inside. If you try to only add part of the apple sauce to the batter next time (and the rest at the end), I hope you will be more successful. Glad you liked them anyway! /David
  • Lucia
    This muffins look really deliscious, I'm looking forward to doing them. But could I substitue buckwheat flour with the whole wheat one instead. Thank you so much for your georgeus recipes!
  • Lucia
    This muffins look really deliscious, I'm looking forward to doing them. But could I substitue buckwheat flour with the whole wheat one insten. Thank you so much for your georgeus recipes!
  • Tina
    Dear Luise, David and kids, those muffins are wonderful, for me, they are autumn itself. They smell wonderful even before you bake them :). I made a vegan version with rice "milk" and chia seeds and they turned out great. I love how simple it is to make your own apple sauce, I'm used to doing that from before, in my country (Slovenia) we call it "čežana" and we ofter eat it with cooked brown beans. I like to leave it a bit chunky so I normally don't mix the apples with hand mixer. Delicious! I also have one question for you guys. I never really got the difference between baking powder and baking soda... What is the difference? :) Thank you for your wonderful recipe post, I love your blog, keep up the good work :). Greetings, Tina
  • Latifa Lipton
    Just made these and they are fantastic...however they are much heavier than how yours look and my buck wheat flour looks much darker. Do you have a lighter brand of buck wheat or did you use the spelt? Thanks!
    • Hi Latifa, We only have one variety of buckwheat flour in Sweden and it is quite light. I have heard that there are darker blends in some countries. If you think it turns out too dark, you can try using rice flour instead. /David
  • These look like the perfect fall treat with a mug of tea. Lovely.
  • One of our favourite muffins too! Kids love to have these especially when they are just returning from school. We also make it quite similar, but mostly bite sizes and with a temperature adjustment I learned from Smitten Kitchen. http://www.handfulofrecipes.com/wholewheat-apple-mini-muffins/
  • Anneke
    Absolutely LOVE these muffins! Have been wanting to make them all week, finally got around to it, and well worth the wait....and perfect for the cosy autumn season. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm and the smell in my kitchen is to die for as well. Dear GKS, thanks for yet again a mouthwatering recipe that satisfies my sweet tooth! XOXO
  • Cassia
    Lovely lovely recipe! Just a quick question... Can I use wholemeal spelt flour instead of the buckwheat one and then skip the arrowroot? Thanks :-)
      • Cassia
        Wonderful :) I used whole meal spelt flour, no buckwheat and no added arrowroot! It works and now I bake it once a week....!!!! This is amazing! Thank you guys xx
  • Beautiful!!! I will definitely be giving these a try. Oats are contaminated here in the US, even certified gluten-free oats can cause allergic reactions. Any suggestions for a substitute? Thanks! -sara
  • These muffins look so yummy, great photos! And they are quite healthy, right? I'm not much of a healthy food person, but if something tastes good I can't say no to it.
  • Vackra vänner! Så himla attsingens fint! .. o jag kan bara hålla med om höstens effekt i form av bakobsession :)
  • Pupa
    Well this is the first recipe of yours that didn't work for me. I made a vegan version and the muffins weren't done even after almost 30 min in the oven. They taste good but the texture is off, sort of gummy.
  • Camilla Kærgård
    Hej, som altid lækkert og passer perfekt til denne dejlige efterårstid. Kan I anbefale en god muffinsform (måske endda uden alt for meget kemi)? Den ser så hyggelig ud den I bruger, hvis det kan siges om muffinsforme.... Tak.
  • Tesia
    I can't wait to make these! They look amazing!! Do you have any opinion on how long buckwheat groats are ok when kept in jars? I got some in the bulk bins quite some time ago and they've been living in glass jars, but I'm just not sure if I need to compost and start over? Thanks!!
  • rosemary willman
    Wow these were so good, I had to substitute spelt for buckwheat as that's what I had on hand will have to try the recipe as is next time. Do you think these would freeze well as I have so many apples right now!
  • Lucia
    Hello, Would it be possible to sub the almond and buckwheat flours with wheat flour? Or maybe more oats? These look delicious, I am excited to try them. :)
  • Nickie Gorsky
    Hello Good folks at GKS! I have been searching for this exact recipe and leave it to GKS to come up with the perfect answer to my search! Cannot wait to get started. One question: did you leave the skins on the apples for the applesauce? I always add a bit of organic unsweetened unfiltered apple juice to perk up the sweetness of my applesauce but usually peel the apples.
  • There's something about the way those apples rest in the muffins that makes me want to devour them right this second... or maybe it's just your beautiful pictures! Pinned :D
  • Although I could not smell these I am heading for my pantry! The applesauce center is brilliant. This weekend = me and these muffins wrapped in a quilt reading a book. Thank you!
  • What a cool video! I loved it, and I love the surprise pocket of applesauce in the center. This looks so insanely yummy, I'm putting this on the top of my "to-bake" list! xx Sydney
  • This recipe comes just at the right time, my kitchen is full of apples that I picked today. The muffins look overly delicious, I will give them a go tomorrow. Can´t wait. :)
  • Siobhan MacMahon
    I love your recipes and have a question about the dates. I am able to get soft cooking dates that come in a block but I don't have any idea how to translate medjool dates into weight so I can use them. Can you help ? So many thanks !
  • Shame on me for not watching the YouTube video sooner! Your editing skills and film are stunning. I also love the recipe--buckwheat, apples, yogurt and almond meal are the best!
  • Hannah
    This recipe looks great! I'm wondering what you could suggest as an alternative to almond flour? Would coconut flour work? Thanks!

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