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These one bowl Applesauce Muffins are soft, moist, and packed with cozy cinnamon and applesauce flavor. Made in just one bowl, with simple pantry ingredients, and no mixer required!
For more delicious ways to use applesauce in baking – try these family-favorite Cinnamon Applesauce Muffins and Applesauce Bread 🍎🍏
Easy One Bowl Applesauce Muffins Recipe
These simple, plain-looking applesauce muffins might not look like much – but trust me, you probably need to make them asap 😉
The amount of times I have made these muffins in my kitchen is almost laughable at this point. I have been known to make two batches in one day… you know, lots of kids and others hanging around the house. Lots of mouths to feed.
These easy, one bowl applesauce muffins are a simple, reliable recipe that you’ll come back to again and again. These plain looking muffins have been a family favorite for years. I make a lot of different recipes and this muffin recipe is probably the most made and loved in my kitchen.
They are incredibly moist, flavorful, and perfect for a breakfast on the go, after school snacks, or for lunchboxes. The applesauce combined with the oil and sour cream, makes these muffins so moist and soft. They are literally perfection❤︎
Why You’ll Love This Muffin Recipe
- Made in just one bowl & no mixer needed
- Easy, minimal clean-up
- The best after-school snack
- Super moist and tender, not too sweet
Simple Ingredients Needed
- Granulated White Sugar
- Light Brown Sugar
- Vegetable Oil
- Large Egg
- Applesauce : You can use unsweetened or sweetened applesauce; whichever one you prefer. If you want to control the sweetness more then use unsweetened applesauce. I use regular, sweetened applesauce; I prefer the Mott’s brand. Use store-bought applesauce or homemade applesauce if that’s something you do.
- Sour Cream
- Whole Milk
- Vanilla Extract
- All-Purpose Flour : I prefer baking with unbleached all-purpose flour.
- Baking Powder
- Ground Cinnamon
- Salt : I use sea salt but kosher salt is another good option.
How To Make Applesauce Muffins (Printable Recipe Card)
Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with parchment paper muffin liners. Very lightly spray each muffin liner with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, light brown sugar, oil, and large egg. Stir with a wire whisk until it’s thoroughly combined and darker in color.
Add the applesauce, sour cream, milk and vanilla extract and whisk until combined.
Add in the flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to gently mix until combined and no flour streaks remain in the batter.
Divide the muffin batter evenly between the muffin cups, each one should be nearly full.
Bake for 17-20 minutes or until the tops are puffy, rounded, and when gently touched the muffin springs back. You can also use a toothpick to test for doneness; a toothpick inserted should come out clean and with no wet, raw batter on it.
Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for about 5-10 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely. These muffins can be eaten warm or let them cool to room temperature. Enjoy!
How To Store Leftover Applesauce Muffins
Allow muffins to cool completely to room temperature before storing leftover muffins. Keep muffins stored in an airtight container, or gallon size Ziplock bag, at room temperature for up to 3 to 4 days. Mine never usually last a day!
To freeze muffins, wrap each muffin in plastic wrap and then place them inside a freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Let the muffin(s) thaw in the fridge or at room temperature on the countertop.
Pro Tips From The Test Kitchen
- Use full-fat sour cream and a higher fat milk such as whole milk for the best results.
- This recipe has been tested and created using sweetened applesauce. Yes, you can use unsweetened applesauce but even with the sweetened applesauce, the muffins are not too sweet and just slightly sweet. But it’s really up to you as it probably won’t make a huge difference. You could even get creative and use different flavors of applesauce such as cinnamon, banana, etc.
- I love using a large cookie scoop to spoon the muffin batter into the muffin cups. It’s an easy, mess-free way to evenly fill the muffin cups. Each muffin will be about 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter.
- Don’t overmix the batter once you add the dry ingredients. This can lead to dense muffins instead of fluffy and soft muffins. Gently mix together just until no flour pockets or streaks remain in the batter. It’s also important to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure you are getting all the flour evenly mixed in.
More Must-Try Muffin Recipes
- Cinnamon Sugar Banana Muffins
- Coconut Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins
- Peanut Butter Banana Muffins With Chocolate Chips
- Nutella Banana Muffins
- Cinnamon Monkey Bread Muffins
- Double Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
Applesauce Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup applesauce (I use sweetened)
- 1/4 cup full-fat sour cream
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt (I use fine sea salt)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with parchment paper muffin liners. Very lightly spray each muffin liner with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the granulated sugar, light brown sugar, oil, and large egg. Stir with a wire whisk until it's thoroughly combined and darker in color.1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1 large egg
- Add the applesauce, sour cream, milk and vanilla extract and whisk until combined.1 cup applesauce, 1/4 cup full-fat sour cream, 2 tablespoons whole milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add in the flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to gently mix until combined and no flour streaks remain in the batter.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt
- Divide the muffin batter evenly between the muffin cups, each one should be nearly full.
- Bake for 17-20 minutes or until the tops are puffy, rounded, and when gently touched the muffin springs back. You can also use a toothpick to test for doneness; a toothpick inserted should come out clean and with no wet, raw batter on it.
- Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for about 5-10 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely. These muffins can be eaten warm or let them cool to room temperature. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Use full-fat sour cream and a higher fat milk such as whole milk for the best results.
- This recipe has been tested and created using sweetened applesauce. Yes, you can use unsweetened applesauce but even with the sweetened applesauce, the muffins are not too sweet and just slightly sweet. But it’s really up to you as it probably won’t make a huge difference. You could even get creative and use different flavors of applesauce such as cinnamon, banana, etc.
- I love using a large cookie scoop to spoon the muffin batter into the muffin cups. It’s an easy, mess-free way to evenly fill the muffin cups. Each muffin will be about 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter.
- Don’t overmix the batter once you add the dry ingredients. This can lead to dense muffins instead of fluffy and soft muffins. Gently mix together just until no flour pockets or streaks remain in the batter. It’s also important to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to ensure you are getting all the flour evenly mixed in.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
I’d love to see it! You can share it with me on @togetherasfamilyblog and follow on Pinterest @together-as-family-blog-recipes or Facebook @togetherasfamilyblog for more!
Made this for my 2 year old this morning. He LOVED them. Thank you for the simple quick recipe.
Loved these but made a few changes. I used whole wheat flour instead of AP, used olive oil instead of canola, used unsweetened apple sauce but kept the sugar the same. I put 2 tsp of cinnamon and next time I will put 3 (but we love cinnamon!) will definitely make again!
Forgot to rate lol
Can you add raisins to these muffins? And can you freeze them?
Yes, adding raisins would work just great. As far as freezing, I don’t personally freeze stuff but muffins normally do freeze well so I see no reason why you couldn’t freeze these muffins.
My whole family LOVED this recipe and devoured them immediately!
This is delicious! I added a scoop and a half of protein powder to half the batch. They were a little more dense so next time I’ll add a little more applesauce. But both kinds, with and without protein, were delicious! Super easy and my 4 year old loved making them together. Will definitely make again! Also we love cinnamon so we added extra which was perfect!
Has anyone tried this with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream? Out of sour cream right now…might have to give it a go tomorrow.
You can use Greek yogurt just make sure it’s plain and not flavored.
I know this is probably a crazy question, but is there a substitute for sour cream? We don’t have any on hand. Thank you!
You could use plain yogurt or plain Greek yogurt if you have that.
These look delicious! I don’t have sour cream, would you recommend increasing the milk?
No, I would say use plain yogurt or plain greek yogurt if you don’t have sour cream.
Can you use homemade applesauce instead of store bought applesauce
Yes, of course you can! That sounds delicious 🙂 Enjoy.
How do you think plain yogurt would work in place of sour cream?
Plain yogurt would work great!
What about using almond milk? I only have that on hand at the moment. Also, if adjusting the sugar to make up for using unsweetened applesauce, what adjustments would you make?
I personally would not make any adjustments if I had sweetened applesauce. I have used both kinds (unsweetened and sweetened) without changing the recipe and you really can’t tell that much of a difference. If you want to, you could try reducing the sugar by 2-4 tablespoons and see how that is. But again, I have never changed the recipe depending on the applesauce. I hope that helps.
Is it 200 kcal per muffin or for the whole batch?
200 calories per 1 muffin
Made these this morning!
I tried this recipe with gluten free flower and I think that there is nothing wrong with them! Very yummy!
Would this recipe work in a jumbo muffin tin?
Yes it would. Just watch the time because it may need 1-2 minutes longer cook time.
Can i add chopped apples to this recipe?
Yes that should be just fine (and yummy!)
Loved the ease of the recipe and the muffins turned out great! We love cinnamon, so I did add more….I even used cinnamon flavored applesauce!? Thanks for this yummy recipe! It’s a keeper!
Yum. Nothing wrong with cinnamon 🙂 I bet that cinnamon applesauce was delicious. I may have to try that next time I make these.
These are so good! I misread the recipe, used unsweetened applesauce and didn’t realize the mistake till i was ready to pop them into the oven! So i topped off 1/2 the batch with chocolate chips. Honestly, they were delicious even without the chocolate! 🙂
I have used both sweetened and unsweetened applesauce and there really is not a huge difference between the two. If I had to choose, the sweetened applesauce is better but you can use either one with great results.
I don’t normally leave reviews, but these are so delicious! I ate three in about ten minutes. Thanks for the yummy recipe!
You’re so welcome! Thank you for leaving a comment. And I have the same problem with these muffins ….. so good warm that you just have to eat a few!
Quick, easy and tasty. I used unsweetened applesauce and I though the sweetness was just right. I used almond milk because I didn’t have dairy milk on hand . Came out fluffy and light. Will make again.
I never leave reviews but these were so good! I didn’t have sour cream so used plain yoghurt. My 15 month old ate them up and I did too.
Can you freeze these?
I haven’t tried it personally but I have froze many different muffins successfully so I think it would work to freeze these muffins.
Can you sub out the egg??
I’ve never done it with this recipe but for other baking recipes I’ve used a flax egg in place of a real egg. Just mix 1 tbsp ground flaxseed with 3 tbsp warm water and let it sit for a few minutes until it has thickened. That ratio is to replace one egg. Let me know how it goes for you!
These muffins are absolutely scrumptious!! Hubby approved, kid approved and now to wait for baby to wake up and try! I used cinnamon applesauce and they turned out great! Thanks for sharing this easy recipe! It will be a go to muffin in our house!
Love it when a recipe is approved by the whole family!
My daughter is dairy intolerant what would you recommend in place of sour cream and yogurt as a substitute?
I’m not familiar with cooking/baking for dairy intolerant eaters but I do know that many stores sell dairy-free sour cream.
I was looking for an easy muffin recipe to make for my toddler and came across this one. At first I was hesitant about the amount of sugar that was in it, thinking that it would be way too sweet. But it was perfect! I added some blueberries to a few of them and they were delicious. I will definitely be using this recipe again. Thank you!
So easy and taste so great