These easy to make vegan Apple Streusel Muffins are moist, soft, and delicious! They are loaded with apple pieces and topped with a mouth-watering crumble and a sugar-free icing! Not only are these vegan muffins gluten-free, but they are also much healthier than regular apple crumb muffins! Furthermore, they are freezer-friendly and also perfect for meal prep!
For the crumble/streusel topping: Simply mix all crumble/streusel ingredients in a small bowl with a fork. Set aside.
Next, peel and chop 1-2 apples (for this recipe you will need 1 1/2 cups of small apple pieces).
Now make "vegan buttermilk" by mixing the plant-based milk with vinegar and aquafaba (chickpea brine). If you don't have a can of chickpeas at home, you can use applesauce instead. Set aside.
Line a muffin tin with liners or grease the inside of each cup with coconut oil (or use a silicone muffin mold as I did) and preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
In a bowl or food processor mix/process the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and whisk/stir/process until just combined.
Pour the batter into the muffin mold (only 2/3 full). Then add about 1 tbsp of small apple pieces on top. Carefully press the apples into the batter and top with the streusel.
Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out almost clean (can still be crumbly but not wet!).
Let the muffins cool completely.
Meanwhile, you can make the icing by simply mixing the two ingredients in a small bowl until you have a runny glaze.
Drizzle the icing on top of each muffin and enjoy your delicious apple streusel muffins!
Notes
Oat flour: To make your own oat flour, simply process oats (regular or gluten-free) in a blender or electric coffee/spice grinder.
You can try using buckwheat flour for a grain-free version. Also, regular flour or spelt flour (for a non-gluten-free version) should work in this recipe (I haven't tried it myself, though).
Granulated sweetener: You can use brown sugar, Erythritol, Xylitol (birch sugar), coconut sugar, etc.
Coconut: You can use ground nuts (e.g. finely ground almonds/almond flour) instead of shredded unsweetened coconut.
Milk: I used canned coconut milk. You can use any other dairy-free milk in this recipe. The higher the fat content, the better the muffins will taste.
Aquafaba is the liquid that is in each can of chickpeas. It's an egg replacer, but you could use the same amount of applesauce instead.