Applesauce Muffins - The BEST Healthy Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

What makes a muffin healthy or unhealthy? ›

Signs of a healthy muffin recipe are whole-food ingredients like fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds, eggs, and low-fat milk and yogurt (or a dairy-free alternative). Fats from plant-based oils or moderate amounts of butter can be incorporated into a muffin recipe — remember, you are making 12 servings.

Applesauce acts like the fat because it keeps the flour protein from mixing completely with the wet ingredients and forming a rubbery texture. There are some guidelines to follow to ensure that the applesauce is incorporated properly, resulting in healthy and delicious baked goods.

Plain or Greek Yogurt

Plain or Greek yogurt can serve as a great substitute for applesauce as it has similar properties, such as its high moisture content and ability to give recipes a creamy consistency. Just like applesauce, it adds creaminess and moisture to your baked goods, which can help improve their texture.

While you can substitute applesauce in place of granulated sugar, there are some things to be cautious of. Like butter and oil, you can substitute applesauce and sugar in a 1:1 ratio. However, sugar is a dry ingredient and applesauce is a wet ingredient, so you will have to cut back on other wet ingredients.

Best: Soozy's Grain-Free Match Green Tea Muffin

They're made with whole-food ingredients, including almond flour, whole eggs, and coconut cream. We love that they're a lower-sugar option and don't contain any artificial sweeteners. Plus, the almond flour keeps these low in carbs and high in fiber.

English muffins tend to be a little healthier than bread since English muffins have less carbohydrates, fats, and sugar than bread. While bread does contain slightly more fat when compared to English muffins, both options have 1 gram or less of total fat.

Applesauce. Applesauce is a great neutral egg replacement, meaning you won't taste any apple in the final product. When subbing in applesauce for eggs, use ¼ cup for every egg your recipe calls for, and add an additional ½ teaspoon of baking powder to the dry ingredients.

The soluble fiber in applesauce, in the form of pectin, can be helpful in treating digestive issues, such as diarrhea and constipation. It can help to neutralize the effects of irritable bowel syndrome. Pectin also acts as a prebiotic, which feeds good gut bacteria and promotes good digestive health.

Applesauce is a 1:1 replacement for oil, so if your recipe calls for half a cup of oil, use half a cup of applesauce instead. If you find yourself in the middle of a recipe and out of oil, use applesauce instead! This trick works in cakes, muffins, cookies, brownies, and any kind of sweet baked good.

Use applesauce in a one-to-one ratio as a substitute for mashed bananas in baked goods. However, if the recipe calls for whole bananas, use ½ cup applesauce for every 1 banana.

What replaces eggs in baking? ›

You can whisk 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons of water and 2 teaspoons of baking powder together to replace each egg in baked goods like cookies, brownies or quick breads. This substitution won't impact a recipes' flavor profile the way egg substitutions like mashed banana or flaxseed might.

Here's How. When you're trying to eat healthy, baking at home may seem out of the question because of all the fat, calories, and cholesterol found in the oil, butter, and eggs. But luckily, applesauce works as a substitute for all three.

Processed fruits like applesauce and canned fruit in syrup or juice often have more carbs and can raise your blood sugar higher than fresh fruits. When you eat dried or processed fruit, check the label. Many have added sugar, and serving sizes can be very small.

Because it's made from whole apples and just a few other basic ingredients, applesauce may offer many of the same health benefits as whole apples. It may contribute to a balanced diet and help protect against chronic disease.

It could be loaded with added sugars.

You'll want to read the label carefully since added sugar and high-fructose corn syrup are common ingredients in this packaged food. Some brands of applesauce can have up to 15 grams of added sugar in a four-ounce portion. This amount of added sugar is significant.

Conclusion. Muffins are a quick and easy choice for breakfast on the go, but unfortunately, many bakery and coffee shop muffins are high in calories and added sugar, and they lack protein and fiber. If your goal is to lose weight, these kinds of muffins are not the best option.

products? High-quality muffins have a thin, evenly browned crust. Top is symmetrical, but looks rough. When broken apart, texture is uniform and crumb is tender and light.

Muffins are usually rife with added sugar and saturated fats, two nutrients that you'll want to limit in your diet because they're linked to health conditions such as heart disease and obesity when eaten in excess.

The average coffee shop blueberry muffin is hardly what you'd call a health food: It's got almost 470 calories—nearly double what you'd get from a chocolate frosted donut—and most of those calories come from refined carbohydrates, primarily white flour and sugar.