You know you’re on to something when a new batch of muffins happens to disappear within a matter of 3 days.
I’ve had quite a few requests for a lower-calorie muffin that is still grain-free, naturally sweetened, and calls for only whole, unprocessed ingredients. That is definitely easier said than done! After a few experiments, though, I found that you can easily use unsweetened applesauce to replace the coconut oil that is often called for in grain-free baked goods, which reduces the overall calorie count and fat content in the resulting muffins.
As an added bonus, they are also unbelievably moist!
These sweet and spicy muffins remind me of my favorite cinnamon coffee cake–> the kind with a buttery crumb topping. To get a similar effect, I topped these muffins with a sprinkling of gently ground walnuts. I love the added texture, but to keep the fat and calories lower, feel free to omit the topping!
Either way, I think these muffins are sure to be a new favorite.
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Cinnamon Spice Muffins (Grain-free, Oil-Free)
makes 12 standard muffins
Adapted from this recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup almond butter (store-bought or homemade)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 whole eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup honey
Optional: ground walnuts, for topping
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350F, and line a standard muffin tin with 12 paper cups. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix until a smooth, runny batter is formed.
*For a lower-sugar option, reduce the honey to just 2 Tablespoons and add liquid stevia, to taste. When baking with stevia, be sure to add a little extra sweetness, as some of the sweetness will be reduced with heat. You’ll also want to increase the applesauce by an extra 3 Tablespoons to balance out the moisture.
Using a 1/4 cup, distribute the batter evenly among the 12 baking cups. Sprinkle the tops with ground walnuts, if desired.
(I pulsed the walnuts in my mini food chopper to create a mix of fine powder and chunky walnut pieces for topping.)
Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes, or until the muffins firm in the center and lightly golden.
Allow to cool for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and serve warm, or at room temperature.
These muffins should keep loosely covered on the counter for up to 3 days, but for best shelf-life, keep them in a sealed bag in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. If you’d like to make these ahead of time for an event, they also freeze and thaw well!
- 1 cup almond butter (store-bought or homemade)
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 whole eggs
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅓ cup honey
- Optional: ground walnuts, for topping
- Preheat your oven to 350F, and line a standard muffin tin with 12 paper cups.
- In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix until a smooth, runny batter is formed.
- Using a ¼ cup, distribute the batter evenly among the 12 baking cups.
- Sprinkle the tops with ground walnuts, if desired. (I pulsed the walnuts in my mini food chopper to create a mix of fine powder and chunky walnut pieces for topping.)
- Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes, or until the muffins firm in the center and lightly golden.
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and serve warm, or at room temperature.
- These muffins should keep loosely covered on the counter for up to 3 days, but for best shelf-life, keep them in a sealed bag in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. If you’d like to make these ahead of time for an event, they also freeze and thaw well!
Note: For a vegan variation, feel free to substitute pure maple syrup for the honey and flax or chia eggs for the whole eggs. It should be noted, however, that flax or chia eggs do not produce the same “fluffy” results as real eggs– the middles will often sink! If you don’t mind sunken middles, they will still taste delicious!
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Reader Feedback: Are you a fan of coffee cake? Any other favorite muffin flavors?
Wow, I can’t believe a batter that is mostly nut butter can turn into such a fluffy muffin! I totally have to try these. I’m partial to coffee cake, but I think blueberry muffins, or any sort of muffin with pumpkin and/or cinnamon always reign supreme in my books!
Great recipe! It definitely is quite the challenge to make grain free treats also low calorie! I do love this recipe though and can’t wait to give it a try!
Yay! Another delicious looking recipe to try! Good thing it’s a grocery trip day~ just added some more things to my shopping list!
These sound delicious! I’m always looking for new grab and go grain-free foods because of work travel. Yum.
You think peanut butter could be replaced for almond butter!?
I made these muffins tonight and the are absolutely wonderful. Full of taste and very moist!
I love the simplicity of the ingredients in these, I’m def going to sneak in a few extra spices and call them chai flavoured!
Have you tried these with cashew butter…I’m getting ready to make some..Linda B
I haven’t tried it, but I bet it will be delicious! Yum!
Can’t wait to try this recipe! In terms of food combining, in what category do you consider these and can you pair them with something else?
Your simple food combining tips have literally changed my life! I finally realized that my stomach doesn’t have to hurt after every meal!!
I would consider these to fall in the general “protein” category. Due to the nuts and eggs that this recipe calls for, these are not strictly combined, but I’ve found that as long as you don’t combine overall proteins with overall starches, these muffins should digest pretty easily.
I would keep the rest of the meal simple though! Either a fresh veggie juice beforehand (if you’re having these for breakfast), or a leafy green salad, or neutral veggies would work best to keep the meal lighter on your system.
I made these last night and they are DELICIOUS!! I was low on some ingredients so I made the following adjustments.
Didn’t have the full amount of almond butter so supplemented with crunchy peanut butter. The crunch in the peanut butter gave these an extra kick. Also I didn’t have any applesauce so I “vitamixed” an apple. An apple turned out to be exactly 1/2 cup of mushy goodness. I didn’t have ground ginger but had fresh ginger and I threw it and blended with the apple. I used almonds as a topping instead of walnuts. (I know I know I gotta get to the market Lol)
Oh and I’m doing the vegan thing and used Ener-g egg replacement. And still these muffins rose beautifully.
-Man the texture and the flavor of these muffins are sooo good. So much so that this morning I went to grab one and there were only #3 left… Err it’s only my husband and me so I know where the others went.
I’m so glad you both enjoyed them, Marlyn! I can definitely relate to them disappearing quickly! Even with only two people in my house, too. LOL
Got them in the oven now! Smell so good!
Tried the basic recipe with some variations. Loved it!!
I only had organic berry applesauce available and I had some frozen berries (a blend of blue,black and ras “berries”)so I omitted the nutmeg, and added 1 1/2 tbsp. very berry cheesecake blend from wildtree, mixed all the ingredients, and folded the frozen berries in last minute. It took a bit longer to bake but the results were fabulous! The pan of 12 was gone by the afternoon! I have a family of five btw..
Thank you for this awesome recipe! I will be using it again and experimenting with it too!
Can’t wait to make these. I may replace the applesauce with pumpkin or butternut squash!
These look great and are perfect for fall! I am excited to try a peanut butter banana version. Have you heard of anyone trying to substitute banana for the apple sauce? Great blog by the way. I really enjoy reading it.
Here’s the recipe for my Peanut Butter Banana version: http://detoxinista.com/2012/08/flourless-peanut-butter-banana-muffins/
I can’t wait to try these! But I was wondering if you happen to have the nutrtitional information on them? Mainly calories? I count my calories daily, so it would be helpful to me to know how much to take out for my daily calorie intake. Thank You!
Hi Kelly! I personally find calorie calculations very tedious, but you can easily calculate the nutrition info yourself using a free website like Fitday.com. Simply add in all the ingredients, then divide by the serving size. Hope that helps!
wonderful muffins tried them today! the texture was so fluffy you would never guess there was NO flour in them! your PB and banana ones are good too but these are a new favorite!
[...] The Detoxinista~Grain Free, Oil Free Cinnamon Spice Muffins [...]
[...] now for a recipe. This started when I found this muffin recipe. Since we’re into fall now (though it doesn’t always feel like it in Texas) I’d [...]
What an amazing recipe!!! I love that it is grain-free — how fun!
Kelly, there’s about 177 calories per muffin, but they are so much richer in nutrients than your average flour-based muffin!
[...] make most of the dishes because it would be just me eating them. But I can dream of: Scrumptious muffins. A hearty dinner. Never made this before. These. For breakfast. Ponder this. Share [...]
Can these be made with a flax/egg instead? Thanks!
Please see my FAQ page for substitution questions.
Megan … Big Happy Christmas:) I am totally confused about the way you use fruit. Where I have always, religiously kept fruit apart from EVERYTHING else you use it in muffins smoothies and apple puree in muffins. I would really appreciate some guidelines on the use of fruit in food combining. I think I am probably being far too restrictive on myself but I am a bit edgy about making any changes to the status quo.I have whole life of gut pain behind me and Barrett’s esophagus involving lifelong need for proton pump inhibitors as a result of lack of knowledge. Correct food combining has given me a pain free life where I feel I have some control over my body. I realise I am being demanding but considering it’s my body at stake here if you are happy to provide information I am happy to receive it. It is purely selfish but, bottom line, no one else is going to take responsibility for me except me.
You’re right in the fact that fruit should be eaten alone, on an empty stomach. The exception to this rule is bananas, which can also be properly combined with nuts and seeds, or with avocados.
For people with severe digestion issues, I think food combining 100% of the time is a good idea. Personally, I don’t suffer from any of these issues, so I find that keeping to an 80/20 rule works well for me and many of my clients. If I have a client who is craving a traditional apple-spice muffins, this recipe is still better than a traditional muffin from a bakery, even if it is a bit mis-combined. For me, it’s all about “upgrading” the foods we consume, and in my opinion, these all-natural baked goods fall into that category. If you are suffering from severe issues, many of these heavier baked treats may not be appropriate for you! Ultimately, it’s up to you to figure out what’s best for you and your body.
Hope that helps!
Thank you for this recipe! These were awesome and a big hit with the family! I couldnt beleive how fluffy they were without the flour! I substituted applesauce with a regular apple, i just threw in vitamix!
Looking forward to more great recipes of yours:)
Wow! These muffins are incredible! I’ve made 2 batches in 2 days – my guests who are here for Christmas are crazy for them. We can’t believe how fluffy they are given there is no flour. And SO easy to make. I am considering trying a batch with grated zucchini in the place of applesauce. Great recipe!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I bet the zucchini version would be great, too!
[...] Inspired by The Detoxinista [...]
[...] requested that we make these Grain Free Cinnamon Spice Muffins! Who am I to turn down a great muffin that all of us will [...]
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Dear Megan, I found your website yesterday by chance and I couldn’t be happier, I have made already the coliflower pizza (OMG;))!!!! And I’m trying the muffins now, I just wonder if I could replace the nut butter or take it out? Is there a special purpose more then flavour or does it mean to keep the muffins fluffier or ….? Could I add xanthan gum instead ? I’m on a no flour no banana no nut nutrition but would love to try some muffins and this recipe seams delicious , thanks in advance for your help!
Hmmm… that will definitely take some experimenting on your part! The nut butter is essential to the texture of these muffins– without it, you’ll just have eggs baked in a muffin cup. You could try another vegetable puree maybe, mixed with xanthum gum? I have no idea how that will turn out, so please let us know if you have any success!
[...] I just made the best muffins for fall~ Cinnamon Spice Muffins from The Detoxinista’ s blog! I’ve been looking for more gluten-free recipes lately and [...]
Ok I’m making them today, the variances are instead of nut butter I added chia, a tbsp of xanthan gum and I was allowed to eat bananas so added a very brown banana to the mix and a small apple grated , lets see how they turn out hope they taste ok. I will keep you posted but thank you so much for existing
These muffins are great. A real cakelike texture and taste fabulous. I only made 1/2 of the recipe in case we didn’t like them but now I wish I’d made the whole thing. Thanks for the recipe keep them coming!!
Hi, a friend of mine made these muffins and they were absolutely delicious! I want to make them but my daughter is allergic to nuts. Her alternative is sun butter, which is made from sunflower seeds and tastes almost exactly like peanut butter. Could I substitute that? The texture of the butter is pretty close.
Yes, the flavor might be slightly different, but sunflower butter bakes very well. Be warned– the resulting muffins will turn green, when the sunflower butter reacts with baking soda, but they are safe to eat!
Awesome muffins! Made them today using pumpkin instead of applesauce and the texture and consistency was PERFECT! My husband said they tasted even better than with applesauce. I love your site. Thank you!
I just made these & they are amazing! I eliminated the honey & used hazelnut liquid stevia instead. Also I did not have walnuts, but I did have raw, shelled sunflower seeds & I sprinkled that on top. These muffins are so good! Thank you Megan!
Tried this on sunday and they are THE best! I have tried some of your other muffin recipes, this is my favorite! Thanks so much for delicious clean recipes!