The other night as I was giving my Recipes page a makeover, I realized that I have a bit of a thing for creating healthy snack cookies.
I have devoured…
1) Banana Apricot Spelt Oatmeal Cookies
2) Itty Bitty Carrot Cake Cookies
3) Pumpkin Pie Banana Chunk Cookies
Healthy snack cookies bring me great joy. The other night, as I looked out my window to yet another blistery snow storm, I realized that I needed more joy in my life.
The kind of joy that tastes great, but still allows me to button my pants the next day. I needed joy with a healthy twist…
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Oil-Free Apple Pie Muffin Tops
Soft, and chewy with a mouth-watering Apple Pie flavour thanks to the big chunks of apple, walnut pieces, hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, and dash of fresh lemon juice. They are just like biting into a Muffin, so Eric promptly named them ‘Muffin Tops’, but don’t worry they are easy on the waistline! They don’t contain a lick of oil or vegan butter, but are still incredibly moist thanks to the cooked apple mixture and mashed banana.
Yield: About 17 Muffin Tops
Ingredients:
Apple Pie Mixture
- 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled (1 chopped, 1 grated)
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Pinch of kosher salt (optional)
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 + 1/4 cup whole grain spelt flour
- 1 cup regular oats
- 1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg (1/8th tsp)
Wet Ingredients:
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water), mixed together
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 1/3 cup mashed banana (1 ripe medium sized banana)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick mat. Set aside. Mix your flax egg together (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water) in a bowl and set aside.
2. Peel two granny smith apples. Take 1 apple and finely grate it. Now take the other peeled apple and chop it into 1 inch pieces. Add both to pot along with 1/4 cup pure maple syrup and 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice. Stir. Cook over medium-low heat while you prepare the rest of the ingredients, for about 5-10 minutes. Watch closely and reduce heat as necessary so you don’t burn it.
3. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix your wet ingredients: vanilla extract, almond milk, mashed banana, and gelled up flax egg. Whisk well.
4. When apple mixture has cooked and softened for about 5-10 minutes, add it to the wet ingredients and stir well. Now pour the wet mixture onto the dry mixture and stir well. It will take a bit of elbow grease to get the mixture fully mixed, but not to worry.
5. Scoop 2 tbsp or a bit more for each Muffin top, leaving about 1.5-2 inches between each. Do not press the mixture flat. Bake for 14 minutes at 350F or until slightly golden in colour, but still soft. Please note that these cookies should be soft and do not get crisp or firm. They have the texture of a muffin.
6. Cool on pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes about 17 Muffin Tops.
Nutritional info: (per cookie, makes 17): 105 kcals, 3 grams fat (0 sat fat), 19 grams carbs, 2 grams fibre, 8 grams sugar, 2 grams protein.
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First thing we do is mix the flax egg and set it aside to gel up.
Now, peel your apples. Grate 1 of the apples and chop the other into 1 inch pieces.
Perfecto!
Add both apples,1 tbsp lemon juice, and 1/4 cup pure maple syrup into a pot, stir well, and heat on medium-low.
Why cook the apples?
The reason I cooked the apples was to allow the maple and lemon flavours to soak into the apple, creating sweet, soft bites of apple, just like you’d find in an apple pie. The result was fantastic! It really didn’t add much time at all since you are preparing the other ingredients as they cook.
Meanwhile…
Whisk together the dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients (gelled up flax egg, 1/3 cup mashed banana, 1/4 cup almond milk, vanilla)
Fun Fact: The mashed banana served as the oil-replacer in this recipe.
After the apples have cooked on the stovetop for about 5-10 minutes, add them to the wet ingredients.
Stir all wet ingredients together, including this cooked apple mixture.
Now add the wet to the dry…
Mix well. It will take a while for the mixture to come together, but not to worry!
Stir until the flour is all mixed in. The batter will be very thick.
Scoop 2 tbsp of the mixture onto the baking sheet for each cookie/muffin top.
Bake for 14 minutes at 350F.
You will be left with an addicting snack cookie, that is like biting into a soft and chewy muffin top! My mother-in-law, friend Jessica, Eric, and I all gave these a big thumbs up and they went very fast. They are a great snack if you are looking for a pick-me-up that won’t give you a sugar crash.
I’m off to do my first Tempo run of my Winter 2011 Half Marathon training plan. Any tips for Tempo runs? I’ll do a recap of what I did and let you know how it goes…Wish me luck!
Okay – Book. Marked.
Holy crap, you had me at the freaking title of this post! When I can never decide if I want to make a muffin or a cookie, I dub it a “Mookie” ;)…better than “Cuffin” I think…?
Love healthy baked goods that are in the form of anything carby. Just made Banana Bread Muffins that are the best ever – and NO added sugar or oils! Soooo good! :)
Good luck with your tempo – do you run outside? Many days I can stay inside for a longggggg time – I really need to get out more, but can’t seem to bring myself to…
Those look wonderful! Vitatops has NOTHING on your muffin tops :) I love the postive spin on muffin tops…
Healthy cookies mean you get to eat more of them, right? :)
Yum! I was just thinking today about making some apple muffins. This is great
Gosh, lady, you post delicious recipes faster than I can make and eat them! My bookmarks are getting out of control, but I think this one might go to the top of the list ;)
Apple crisp in muffin form; I love that!
I JUST baked these and ate one, they are indeed DELICIOUS! Thank you so much! I have just recently started a vegan diet and studying your blog has really helped. And I’ve been craving a dang baked good (also have to reduce early diabetes2 so can’t just go buy one), and these were perfect. LOVE your work, blog, passion and drive…please keep fueling us! -Lana
Lana..u are a sweetheart. Thanks so much!
I knew I had to try to make these the minute I saw them. I had to change a couple of things so I could enjoy them too – made them gluten free, sugar free… but they were SO DELICIOUS! Holy moly. I’m in love.
If you’re interested in seeing the gluten and sugar free version Angela, check out: http://www.healthfulpursuit.com/2011/01/apple-pie-muffin-clusters/
These are totally going to be a staple snack at our house. Thank you, thank you!
Just made these and they’re DELICIOUS. Please come up with new flavor variations! Perhaps banana and pumpkin?
Seriously, they are so good.
SO excited to try this recipe! I’m hoping it’ll bring me back to the days of warm apple pies in the fall when it wasn’t so frigid outside!
These look and sound so good! I really want to try them, but there’s one problem: I’m terribly allergic to bananas! :( Do you have any suggestions for other non-oil substitutions?
I would try applesauce :)
Made these for a “Biggest Loser” group i am helping at work. OMG sooo good! Couldn’t believe all the flavor that was packed in that moist little bite! Thank you so much!
Wow these are amazing!! I just made a batch and ate TWO right out of the oven. I’m so glad my husband’s friends are coming over tonight – otherwise i’d eat the whole pan myself. Thank you for making healthy eating so dang delicious. :)
This is my first time at ur blog. I’m loving the details and presentation of all your recipes. Its fantastic …from every angle !
Just baked these, so yummy and cute. I could npt feel any banana in there, in case someone is wondering. They were not too sweet, but sweet enough. Yummy healthy snack. I only wonder if they have to be “sponge” like? Mine were not crusnchy, even though I baked them for 15 minutes.
I don’t have spelt flour–do you think I could sub whole wheat flour?
I just made these and completely forgot to add the sugar to the dry ingredients. But when they were baked, I realised that they were perfect just as they were with the apple and maple syrup providing enough sweetness. As testament to which, I have just eaten three :-)
I just made these, they are delicious!! I halved the sugar, and they still taste great. Only issue is they never spread out at all, they stayed in a clump!! Any idea why?
Do you think I can make this recipe without nuts? I am hoping to make a healthy fall recipe for a friend with a nut allergy this weekend. I am thinking of substituting coconut milk for the almond milk and leaving out the walnuts. Do you think this would turn out okay? Any suggestions to replace the walnuts?