These cinnamon oatmeal muffins make the perfect breakfast or snack. Can easily be made gluten free or vegan, you’ll love how delicious they are with just a hint of crunch from pepitas on top.
As I near my due date for baby, I’ve been really into meal prepping anything and everything that’s easy to freeze. This obviously includes muffins. I also wanted to make something that I could bring to my nurses during the delivery, plus have for snacking. If you’ve ever spent time in the hospital, you know the food leaves something to be desired. Everyone kept telling me to bring something that is comfortable – a favorite robe or lotion. If I really think about it, there’s nothing more comforting to me than having something home cooked for a snack. So I figured these are easy to freeze and they can defrost at the hospital!
Ingredients and Tips
This recipe was inspired by another banana muffin recipe I made, but alas bananas aren’t allowed in the elimination phase of a migraine diet. I racked my brain on some other good options and loved the idea of an applesauce muffin. Plus I had some to use up in the fridge – ha!
The great thing about applesauce is it actually makes a good binder in muffins, instead of using eggs. You don’t want to use too much or your recipe will end up dense and kind of gummy, but I found this amount to be perfect.
Oatmeal and rolled oats are something I always have in my pantry, along with the other basic staples used for these cinnamon oat muffins. I loved the idea of combining apples and oats, but without having the texture of chunks of apples. You get all the great flavor this way in a soft and smooth muffin batter.
As far as mixing goes, you really just need two large bowls to start – dry ingredients in one, wet ingredients in the other. Then all there is to it is to mix the wet ingredients into the dry ones, put in a muffin tin, top with some pepitas and you’re good to go.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, just add an extra 2 tablespoons of apple sauce instead of the egg.
Substitute the all purpose flour for oat flour or your favorite 1:1 gluten free flour.
The best way to freeze these cinnamon oatmeal muffins is to line them up evenly in a plastic storage bag or container. Freeze in one layer. To reheat, either thaw at room temperature (usually about an hour), or reheat in the oven. I’ll usually do this by sticking it in there on a sheet pan and preheating to 350 degrees F. Once the oven beeps, it’s typically warmed through. Microwave is a last resort option.
Yes! I love these with pumpkin seed or sunflower seed butter. The spices in the cinnamon oatmeal muffin mix so well with the spread. 
Other Muffin Recipes
There are so many famous muffin recipes on this site, so these cinnamon oatmeal muffins fit right in. If you want some other options, check out these recipes.
Blackberry Muffins
Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins
Peach Ginger Muffins
Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins
Cinnamon Oat Scones – ok I know these aren’t muffins, but they’re so great to link with this recipe! (Also gluten free/vegan option)
If you make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me #thedizzycook or @thedizzycook on Facebook and Instagram. And please leave a review below!
These delicious cinnamon oatmeal muffins are delicious with roasted pumpkin seed butter for breakfast for a snack. Dairy free and can be made gluten free, see my tips in the post.
- 1 ¼ cups rolled oats + extra for garnish
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour*
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup sweetened apple sauce
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup milk of choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 cup toasted pepitas for topping
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients – rolled oats (NOT quick cooking/instant/steel cut), flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir to combine. In a separate large bowl, combine the sugar, apple sauce, egg, vegetable oil, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix until thoroughly combined and smooth. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring till just incorporated. Do not overmix.
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Prepare a muffin pan with paper cups or grease the pan well. Fill the batter, almost to the top of the cups or pan. Sprinkle the tops with extra rolled oats and pepitas. Bake at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F without removing the muffins. Bake another 15-17 minutes until cooked through. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes then remove to continue to cool on a wire rack. If you eat them while still hot, they'll be more crumbly!
- To make all gluten free, use your favorite 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour or oat flour.
- To make these vegan, add an extra 2 tablespoons of apple sauce instead of the egg.
- Pepitas are just small, shelled pumpkin seeds. They add a great crunch to the topping. Cinnamon sugar would be lovely as well.
My preference is to use unsweetened apple sauce. If I do this how do I compensate for the sweetness? The half cup brown sugar could make it sweet enough, no?
These are delicious! Perfect combination of flavors. I made gluten free with King Arthur flour. Thanks for another delicious recipe!
These were great and I appreciated the edits for dairy tree they worked out great
Best muffins I ever had! I had unsweetened applesauce so I put a little apple butter in with the applesauce. The apple butter was just apples, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. Ate two of them as soon as they were cool enough. These bake well in the muffin papers and the papers peel off nicely.
Yup, bananas, proven trigger. Bummer! Look forward to trying these, even though apples aren’t allowed right now in the elimination diet phase.
These were incredible. So easy to make. They didn’t last long in our house. We couldn’t stop eating them. The best muffin recipe we have made in a long time. Well done.
I tried these and they turned out deliciously moist and yummy. I used unsweetened apple sauce and reduced the cinnamon to 1/4 tsp ( as I have to be careful with cinnamon!).
How much seed butter would you add?
You just slather it on like butter after these are baked – don’t add it to the recipe.
My first trial came out dry and crumbly and I figured out what I did wrong – I forgot to turn my heat down! Next batch I was careful to not overmix also and let them cool before digging in, They were perfect and i’m glad i tried again!