These healthy applesauce oatmeal muffins with no added sugar are the perfect breakfast or snack for baby led weaning and toddlers. They're tender, lightly sweet and easy to make with just one bowl and a few wholesome ingredients.
This post has been written and medically reviewed by Kaleigh McMordie, MCN, RDN (Registered Dietitian Nutritionist).
No Sugar Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins
These applesauce oatmeal muffins are everything you want in a muffin for your little one:
- Simple to make with just a few pantry staples and one bowl!
- Wholesome, with no added sugar, oats, whole grain flour, and applesauce.
- Tender and fluffy, they're a great texture for baby led weaning, babies in the finger food stage, and toddlers.
- Delicious! While not a bakery muffin that teeters into the dessert category, these muffins are simply delicious with plenty of apple flavor and just a hint of cinnamon.
- Flexible. Make them ahead, double the recipe, freeze them, stick them in lunch boxes, add mix-ins. Make them fit your family's needs!
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Ingredients
- Applesauce - homemade or store bought, just make sure it's unsweetened to keep things sugar free!
- Egg
- Milk - You can also use your favorite nondairy milk
- Coconut oil - I love the flavor that unrefined coconut oil adds, but melted butter works great too.
- Vanilla
- Rolled oats (also called old fashioned oats), you can substitute quick oats.
- Whole what flour - You can substitute all purpose flour if you'd like.
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Cinnamon
Helpful equipment: Bowl, whisk, muffin tin with liners (or a silicone muffin pan).
Step By Step Instructions
For the full printable recipe, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- In a bowl, whisk the applesauce, milk, melted coconut oil, egg and vanilla.
- Add the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Whisk gently to combine, trying not to over-mix.
- Scoop the batter into a muffin pan lined with paper or silicone liners, filling each cup ⅔ full.
- Bake at 375°F for 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let muffins cool for about 5 minutes before removing.
Tips and Recipe Variations
- Careful not to over-mix the batter once you add the dry ingredients. You want the flour to just disappear to avoid tough muffins. If you really want to ensure light muffins, mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl before adding to the wet ingredients. I prefer one-bowl cleanup!
- You can make mini muffins by scooping the batter into a mini muffin tin lined with paper liners (or use a silicone muffin pan like this one). Start checking the muffins at 8 minutes.
- For a sweeter muffin for older kiddos or adults, feel free to add a couple of tablespoons of sugar, honey or maple syrup with the wet ingredients. You could also use sweetened applesauce.
- Mix-ins could includes raisins, dried cranberries, shredded coconut, chopped walnuts, or chocolate chips. Make sure to leave these out for little ones as they could be a choking hazard!
- For ingredient substitutions, see "Ingredients" section above.
Storage and Reheating
Because these muffins have no added sugar, they don't keep well at room temperature. You can store them on the counter in an airtight container for one day, but after that keep them in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They also freeze well for up to 3 months! Thaw on the counter for up to 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
My favorite way to reheat muffins is in the air fryer on the lowest setting for a few minutes. You can also reheat in the oven at 350°F until warmed through, or pop in the microwave for 15-30 seconds. You can also serve them cold from the refrigerator to sooth teething babies' sore gums.
How To Serve Applesauce Muffins To Babies 6 Months and Up
For baby led weaning babies and babies who do not yet have a pincer grasp, cut muffins in half and allow them to pick up the large pieces. For babies with a pincer grasp (using the index finger and thumb to pick up small objects), you can cut muffins into small bite-sized pieces, or continue offering halves.
For toddlers, simply offer a whole muffin for practice with taking small bites.
More BLW Friendly Muffin Recipes
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Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins (No Sugar)
These healthy applesauce oatmeal muffins with no added sugar are the perfect breakfast or snack for baby led weaning and toddlers. They're tender, lightly sweet and easy to make with just one bowl and a few wholesome ingredients.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 standard muffins 1x
- Category: breakfast
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp unrefined coconut oil or butter, melted
- ⅓ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup rolled oats
- ½ tsp baking powder (aluminum free if possible)
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 375°F. Line a standard muffin tin with 6 paper or silicone liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the applesauce, egg, milk, vanilla and melted oil or butter until well combined.
- Add the remaining ingredients (flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon) and whisk until just blended. Try to avoid over-mixing.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup ⅔ full.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean.
- Cool muffins for at least 5 minutes before removing.
Notes
- Because these muffins have no added sugar, they don't keep well at room temperature. Store in an airtight container on the counter for up to 1 day, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They also freeze well.
- Careful not to over-mix, which will result in tough muffins. The flour streaks should just disappear. If you want really light and fluffy muffins, mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. I prefer the option with fewer dishes.
- Also be careful not to over-bake which can dry the muffins out.
- You can bake these into mini muffins. Start checking for doneness around 8 minutes.
- For older kiddos and adults, feel free to add a little sweetness with 2 tablespoons of sugar, honey or maple syrup with the wet ingredients. You can also add mix-ins such as raisins, dried cranberries, coconut, chocolate chips or chopped walnuts.
Ingredient substitutions:
- Swap milk for your favorite non-dairy milk.
- Use all purpose flour instead of whole wheat. Decrease the milk by 1 tablespoon.
- Use quick oats in place of rolled oats.
FAQ
Yes! Scoop batter into a lined mini muffin tin or a mini silicone muffin pan and start checking for doneness at 8 minutes.
Yes! This recipe is pretty small so double or triple as needed!
You can use quick oats. Steel cut oats will not work.
I haven't tested the recipe with gluten-free flour, but I bet they would work just fine swapping the flour for your favorite cup-for-cup GF flour. Make sure your oats are certified gluten-free.
Yes, they freeze well! Store in a freezer baggie and thaw however many you'd like on the counter for up to 2 hours or in the refrigerator overnight.
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