These Apple Hemp Muffins are hot! These whole-grain, vegan muffins by Dreena Burton are easy to make, delicious, tender, and also nut-free and oil-free.
These Apple Hemp Muffins are hot.
Recipe, I mean. Muffins too, but you know, let ’em cool at least a little before taking a bite.
Who would imagine that hemp muffins could be so popular? Readers have loved this recipe for years now, so much that I revised it for Plant-Powered Families.
The original version appeared in Vive le Vegan back in 2004. Yep, I’ve been using hemp seeds in my recipes for many years, before it was a trendy superfood.
When I started using hemp seeds and talking about them in my recipes, I got that “ohhhh, you are that kind of vegan!” sort of reaction.
People didn’t know that hemp seeds were a highly nutritious food – a ‘superfood’ if you will.
No, instead they thought they’d get high from my brownies. Of course they wouldn’t! Because I saved it all for muffins. #kidding #relax!
Jokes aside, it took a few years for the worth of hemp – high in protein, essential fatty acids, and antioxidants – to be recognized in the world of healthy eating. Thank goodness it has, because it has made these virtuous bitty seeds widely available (and accepted)!
For Plant-Powered Families, I freshened up the recipe and made them oil-free. Even without the oil, these muffins are still beautifully moist and tender. To ensure they don’t stick to the muffin liners, try using these parchment muffin liners. They do the trick!
I make these muffins often for school lunches, because they are substantial, healthy, and of course nut-free.
Apple Hemp Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole-grain spelt flour
- 1 cup oat flour
- 2/3 – 3/4 cup hemp seeds
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom can substitute freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 cup unsweetened organic applesauce
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 3/4 cup plain or vanilla non-dairy milk
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup raisins or chopped raw banana spears use kitchen shears or knife to cut in small pieces about size of raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C). In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients, sifting in the baking powder and baking soda. Stir through until well combined. In another bowl, combine applesauce, maple syrup, non-dairy milk, and vanilla, and mix together. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, and gently fold and mix through, until just combined (do not overmix). Spoon the mixture into a muffin pan lined with cupcake liners (this will fill 12 muffins quite full). Bake for 21-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (See notes above about cooling to help remove from liner.) Makes 12 large muffins.
Have you tried these Vegan Apple Hemp Muffins? What is your favorite way to eat hemp seeds?
Becky says
The whole spread in the picture looks yummy! Is that just plain yogurt sprinkled with hemp seeds behind the muffin?
mattheworbit says
They look gorgeous, and look like the apple and cinnamon muffins I used to love as a child.. The only problem could be eating that many (illegal) hemp seeds here would be about $20 worth!! 😉
Dreena says
Eek! I love my hemp, but at that price you’d need to wholesale the stuff to (possibly) justify making them. 🙁
Jane says
like matthew we suffer from ‘ridiculously over priced hemp seed syndrome’ and it’s a very serious condition!!
and illegal too! Australia what is going on here!
Marsha says
Hi Dreena, my husband and I have 2 TBS hemp seeds every day in our smoothie.
Dreena says
Us too, Marsha! They add a creaminess to green smoothies, don’t they? One of my fave ways to eat them.
Laurel Beale says
Hi Marsha…..I realise that I am a few years later, but I just came across your emails here. I understand that five (5) tablespoons per person, is the recommended daily serving of Hemp seeds??
Bea says
Do you have a substitute for spelt flour to make these muffins gluten free? They sound delish! Thanks for the hemp seed education.
Dreena says
Bea, can you use gluten-free oats at all… or not? Let me know, I might try a test or two to make them gluten-free. 😀
Eve L. says
Yay — thanks for a new oil-free muffin! And I agree with you that pretty much anything on earth can be improved with chocolate chips.
Dreena says
Most welcome, Eve. 🙂 Yep, chocolate is a beautiful, beautiful thing!