A few Saturdays ago, I picked apples at Eckert’s Farm, an orchard about 30 minutes from St. Louis.

Once you pick an apple right off a tree and bite into it…

You may never grab those shiny & oddly huge apples at the store again.

I came home that day with a bag of red delicious and golden delicious apples. I had enough to give a bag away, as well as enjoy an apple a day for the past two weeks. And yet I still have a few left this week.

So here is a healthy way I use an apple or two.

Apple Muffins.

This recipe is inspired by a healthy apple bread I came across this fall. It was vegan without butter, oil or eggs. So, I decided to create my own vegan apple muffin and I also made it gluten-free.

flax seed + oat flour + banana + apple + applesauce + walnuts

And you know what?

This is so moist and it is soooo good. No one would guess it is gluten-free and vegan. I’m kind of addicted.

And I can’t stop making them.

Most apple bread recipes call for peeled apples, but the peel is where all the nutrients are!

So chop the apple up, peel and all.

Vegan Apple Chunk Muffins
2 ripe large bananas
1 large apple, cored and chopped (with peel on)
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup oat flour
¾ cup gluten-free flour (or whole-wheat pastry flour or just more oat flour)
¼ cup ground flax seed meal
½ cup natural applesauce
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
toppings: gluten free oats, sugar, chopped toasted walnuts or pecans
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. chop up a whole apple and set aside.
- Mash bananas in a bowl. Add in the rest of ingredients and stir until combined.
- Pour in muffin tins that are sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with chopped walnuts, oats, and a sprinkle of sugar.
- Bake for about 15 minutes or until the centers look done. Rotate the pan halfway through baking. Let cool 5 minutes in the pan and then invert on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Variation: Sometimes I add 1 cup raisins to the dough.

BAKING TIP: I like to use oat flour because it is naturally gluten-free and oats are great for you. Oat flour is just ground oats. So, if you can’t find oat flour at the store, just grind up oats in a food processor until they become a fine flour.

vegan apple chunk muffins