These Muesli Muffins Are Peak Fall...And They Happen to Be Gluten Free

Every gluten-free muffin I’ve ever succumbed to has disappointed me by being either too sweet, or too crumbly, or weirdly bitter and bean-y from chickpea flour. So, after 12 years of eating gluten-free and missing good, hearty muffins, I decided it was time to make my own.

Gluten-free baking takes extra work, time, and tinkering. It took me 6 attempts with slight adjustments in ingredients and ratios to nail these muffins, but, finally, I have a muffin that I actually want to eat—for breakfast or as a grab and go snack any time of day. It’s got some extra protein from almond flour and almonds, and some extra fiber from ground flax seed and rolled oats. Of course it’s gluten-free, but I also made these muffins dairy-free by using coconut oil instead of butter. It’s just sweet enough, and that sweetness comes only from pure maple syrup and grated apples.

I call these muesli muffins because they were inspired by bircher muesli, the soaked oat and grated apple breakfast that my mom learned to make as a kid in Germany. Bircher muesli is OG health food: It was developed by the Swiss doctor Maximillion Bircher-Benner in the early 1900s as a healthy breakfast for his patients, who he kept on a diet heavy in raw fruits and vegetables long before raw food was as trendy as it is now. These muffins have all the same flavors—raw apples, rolled oats, sliced almonds, cinnamon, maple syrup—and it’s a comforting taste that reminds me of home.

These muffins keep well in an airtight container for at least five days so you can make them on the weekend and enjoy them all week. They’ll be especially useful when the house is full of guests for Thanksgiving and you want something you can hand a hungry kid or relative (or yourself!). It’ll feel like a treat any time of day.

Make muffins today:

Gluten-Free Apple and Oat Muffins