It’s the fall season ! And what’s better in the fall than a recipe with apples and cinnamon? If you are looking for healthy to-go snacks you can include in your kids’ lunch boxes, go no further than cinnamon apple muffins.  But in the this ocean of healthy, easy apple muffins recipes, how do you pick a great, healthy, original recipe? 

Really Healthy Sourdough Sweet Snack

If you are looking for healthy to-go snacks you can include in your kids’ lunch boxes, go no further than my Sourdough Einkorn Cinnamon Apple Muffins. And in the healthy range, these one rank really high ! It’s also great to pack on a hike, as dessert for your surprise picnic, or your outdoors breakfast picnic while the weather still allows.

These muffins are moist and soft, yet firm enough not to fall apart on the go. They are lightly sweeten, so the natural apple flavors shine through, rather than the sweetness itself. It is a sweet treat that will satisfy your sweet tooth, but not too sweet that it would make you eat three pieces! 

They are dairy-free and sourdough for digestion, made with einkorn for low inflammation, and made of fresh ingredients and steamed for flavors and nutrient density preservation!

These healthy apple muffins are made with whole einkorn flour, a highly nutritious, low-gluten whole wheat flour from ancient grains. I use it for all my baking needs, including pie crust to make apple tart or apple pie! I make my own flour from whole grains with my Komo classic grinder!

Since we try to be gut-health minded here too, we try sourdough recipes whenever we can!

All the pros of this recipe:

• Dairy free: no butter, no yogurt, no sour cream!
• Sourdough;
• Made with whole einkorn flour;
• Steamed, with my favorite cooking tool, the Vitaliseur, for softness and nutrient preservation; Learn more here.
• No applesauce, only fresh fruit;
• Made with healthy fats.

Ancient grains

This recipe was inspired by another Einkorn-based recipe, from Carla Bertolucci’s Einkorn book. Her blueberry muffins hit the spot for us, and we adapted it for apple muffins. The plus? We decided to make it into a sourdough dairy-free muffin, and to cook it in the steam cooker, for a healthier, softer result, where the taste of fresh apples really shines through.

It’s famous that einkorn makes denser cakes, so you may worry these will be dense muffins. But fermentation with sourdough makes the dough fluffier and stretchier. You can also use einkorn all purpose flour for a fluffier muffins, but fermentation with sourdough makes the dough fluffier and stretchier. I also love whole wheat flour for apple recipes better.The result is a flavorful, fluffy muffin!

All fresh: This recipe is made of all fresh ingredients. These are not applesauce muffins and I do not use applesauce nor canned apples. Here is why: I don’t feel the taste of apple shines through enough!  Of course, you can replace fat with apple sauce (a cup for a cup!). However, I prefer healthy fat than unhealthy sugar. Applesauce, although it is low in sugar, is still sugar. Besides, healthy fats are more satisfying and less likely to provoke sugar crashes than sugar crash from applesauce. I value stable sugar levels in my children!  ( read: eat fat, get thin by Mark Hyman)

What apples did I use? I use deer apple from our apple orchard we went to last week. They were sweet enough and I had many. Otherwise, the best apples are sweet apples like pink lady or fuji. I prefer tart apples like granny smith apples fresh. Most importantly, I rely on the sweetness of fresh apple most for this recipe. The fresh apple, gently steamed, brings in the right amount of sweetness along with the natural unaltered taste of apple.

Low glycemic index: This recipe is low on sugar (150g), although you could increase sugar and remove an egg if you prefer a sweeter version. The downside is that the sweetness of apple shines through a little less. By cooking in the steam cooker, you also preserve the fibers of apples and whole einkorn, which lowers the glycemic index.

Step-by-step instructions

• In a medium bowl mix the dry ingredients, without the baking soda and baking powder, which you will add just before cooking;
• In a large mixing bowl, mix wet ingredients, i.e. almond milk and refreshed sourdough starter;
• In a stand mixer equipped with the whip, mix eggs until bubbly, then add sugar and beat for a few more minutes. It is easily done with a basic electric mixer!
• Ferment the muffin batter on the counter at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours in an airtight container;
• Cut your 300 g fresh apples into small 1/2 inch cubes; 
• After 2-3 hours, add in the baking soda and baking powder, and fold in the apples. Leave the skin on, it has taste and vitamins!
• Transfer in muffin cups. My cups are pretty small!
• steam for 20 to 25 minutes depending on the size of your cups. I will take 2 to 3 batches in the sieve of the Vitaliseur. Of course, if you have a steam oven, it will cook quicker, all at once, since a steam oven has more room!
• Lay muffins onto a wire rack and let them cool down. Tasty warm or cold!

Alternative ingredients

• You can do with melted butter ( 9 tbsp). I prefer dairy free so I use 5 tbsp coconut oil and 4 olive oil ( you can use avocado oil) because of saturated fat content in coconut oil being twice the saturated fats contents of butter;
• You can use spelt flour instead of einkorn;
• Flax eggs: I haven’t tried with flax eggs, but you can use them. Simply mix flax eggs with sugar, then add to the milk and starter mix, then fold in the dry ingredients;
• Make it into an apple cinnamon rolled oats muffin by adding 3/4 cup rolled oats into the batter, and 250 g apples instead of 300G. It will be more filling, but contain enough apple taste from the fresh apples;
• Of course you are free to use apple sauce to replace fats, although I feel that would make the recipe a  bit redundant. I would be curious to see what you think about the results;
• Have a sweeter tooth, or are you worried your kids will prefer a sweeter treat ? Add 50 g more sugar. However, be aware that I specifically add in more apples to keep the natural sweetness high.
• No starter or no time to wait? Swap starter with one additional tbsp of baking powder.

Equipment needed

• A stand mixer with a egg beater tool, or a basic electric hand mixer !
• Individual Muffin cups ( 3 fluid ounces)
• The Vitaliseur, to cook the muffins – but you can use it for 90% of your daily cooking! FOR HEALTH and flavor reasons and after 30 years of use growing up, as a young adult and as a mom, this is always my favorite cooking tool, and the raison d’être of this website! Want to hear why steam cooking is the healthiest cooking method? Also, learn more here about this ideal cooking tool for your health and the flavor of your meals! Coupon deal code included!

​How long does it take to make?

Total time to make them:

Prepare for 20 to 25 minutes.

If you want to make them sit for sourdough, prepare them in the morning and cook them just before snack time after lunch after a 3 hours wait.

You can also make it faster: Swap starter for 1 additional 1/2 tbsp of baking powder. Cooking time will take about an hour (50 minutes for two batches, 75 minutes for 3 batches) depending on how many batches you need to cook ( depends on the size of your muffin tins).  If you have a steam oven, cooking all at once will take only 25 minutes. If your muffin tins are larger, it may take 30min.

You can also cook a first batch alone quickly, keep the dough in the fridge, and steam the second just before or after dinner.

Total time is therefore 100 minutes at the most, plus uninvolved 2 to 3 hours wait for sourdough.

More sweet treats Recipes

My kids and I love a to go treat from time to time! Try the Orange & Almond Steamed Bites for strong, natural fruity flavored, gluten free cupcakes ! More on the chocolate nuts side? Chocolate Hazelnuts Einkorn Steamed Bites ! All dairy free!

Rather would like a cake? On the fruity side, Lemon and Olive oil almond cake, a gluten free, dairy free cake Chocolate aficionados that like a melty, intense, soft (dairy free, gluten free) cake, Chocolate & Olive Oil Almond Cake.

All treats were cooked in my Vitaliseur steam cooker ! You will see how steam cooking preserves natural tastes so well, you don’t need to sweeten your snacks as much!

Let’s go to the einkorn apple muffins recipe card!

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