These spiced apple cider muffins are a spin on my apple cider donuts that you’ll love for fall! They’re soft and tender, filled with warm autumn spices and cinnamon sugar flavor yet they’re refined sugar free. Kids love baking and eating them too! Gluten free, dairy free, grain free and paleo.
Fall baking is my lifelong obsession and I’m so excited for you all to try my latest successful experiment!
These apple cider muffins are a spin on my original paleo apple cider donuts.
The donuts are amazing, in fact I truly never believed I could create a legit apple cider donut that’s also paleo friendly. But It happened!
And now these muffins are my new love. For the photos, I made the larger version of them, which gives you plenty of muffin top to coat in that delicious cinnamon sugar topping.
For this batch I made 10 large muffins, filling the batter almost to the top of the cups.
You can also make standard muffins and simply just coat the entire thing in the cinnamon sugar, it’s totally up to you!
Let’s get into the details so you can make these ASAP!
What You Need to Make Paleo Apple Cider Muffins
I typically state for all my baking recipes that require a granulated sweetener, that you can use either maple sugar.
For this recipe, I actually used a combination of both and loved the result! Feel free to use either one or both, as I did.
Here’s everything you’ll need to prepare these muffins:
- fresh apple cider
- blanched almond flour
- arrowroot flour, or tapioca
- baking powder
- baking soda
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- cloves
- sea salt
- eggs
- maple sugar, or coconut sugar
- coconut oil or ghee or butter
- apples
- pure vanilla extract
How To Make Paleo Apple Cider Muffins
Preheat your oven to 350° F and line a 12 cup muffin pan with parchment liners.
Reduce the apple cider: pour the apple cider into a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium and allow it to simmer for about 5-8 minutes or until it reduces to about 1/3 cup. Remove from heat and allow it to cool while preparing the rest of the muffin batter.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, arrowroot, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt, set aside.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the reduced apple cider with the sugar, eggs, oil or ghee or butter, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir well until fully combined, then fold in the shredded apples.
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Spoon the muffin batter into the prepared pan. For large muffins as pictured, you will make 10, filling the muffin cups nearly to the top, for medium muffins you will make 12, filling the cups 2/3 of the way.
Bake in the preheated oven for 22 minutes or until set. A toothpick inserted near the center of a muffin should come out clean or with a few crumbs.
Cool the muffins in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and continue to cool while you prepare the topping. Place the melted butter or ghee in a small bowl and the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
Brush the melted ghee or butter over the tops of the muffins and along the sides, then sprinkle with or dip in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.
Store leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for one day, then refrigerate to keep longer. Enjoy!
Scroll down for the printable version of this recipe 🙂
Spiced Apple Cider Muffins {Gluten Free, Paleo}
Spiced Apple Cider Muffins {Paleo, Gluten Free}
Ingredients
- 1 cup apple cider reduced to about 1/3 cup (see instructions)
- 2 cups blanched almond flour
- 3/4 cup arrowroot flour or tapioca
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 3/4 cup maple sugar or coconut sugar, or a combination
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil or ghee or butter or ghee or butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 medium apple peeled and shredded (about 1 cup)
Topping:
- 2 tablespoons melted ghee or butter
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar or maple sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350° F and line a 12 cup muffin pan with parchment liners.
-
Reduce the apple cider: pour the apple cider into a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium and allow it to simmer for about 5-8 minutes or until it reduces to about 1/3 cup. Remove from heat and allow it to cool while preparing the rest of the muffin batter.
-
In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, arrowroot, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt, set aside.
-
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the reduced apple cider with the sugar, eggs, oil or ghee or butter, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir well until fully combined, then fold in the shredded apples.
-
Spoon the muffin batter into the prepared pan. For large muffins as pictured, you will make 10, filling the muffin cups nearly to the top, for medium muffins you will make 12, filling the cups 2/3 of the way.
-
Bake in the center rack of the preheated oven for 22 minutes or until set. A toothpick inserted near the center of a muffin should come out clean or with a few crumbs.
-
Cool the muffins in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and continue to cool while you prepare the topping. Place the melted butter or ghee in a small bowl and the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
-
Brush the melted ghee or butter over the tops of the muffins and along the sides, then sprinkle with or dip in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat. Store leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for one day, then refrigerate to keep longer. Enjoy!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I like how you reduced the apple cider first—it really concentrates the flavor and makes the muffins taste more like fall.
Love these paleo apple cider muffins! The reduced apple cider trick really amps up the fall flavor—made them for a cozy brunch and they were a hit with my kids. I used coconut sugar and they turned out so tender. Been exploring fall-inspired treats lately, and smoothie kings have some great smoothie ideas to pair with these muffins. Thanks for the awesome recipe, Michele!
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These spiced apple cider muffins look absolutely divine! I love the tip about reducing the apple cider to concentrate the flavor – such a clever technique for maximizing that autumn taste. The cinnamon sugar coating must make them irresistible! For more fun gaming and strategy experiences, check out Plants vs Brainrots Wiki.
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I love the idea of making large muffins so there’s plenty of room for that cinnamon sugar frosting!
The flood of obviously fake reviews should have been my first warning. Overall, the muffins were just okay and a bit dry, and I probably should have baked them less (I baked for 22 minutes as recipe stated). The flavor was also pretty mild, the cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg the recipe called for just did not come through. I will give this recipe another try with a few tweaks because it does seem like a good base to build on.
One suggestion: please include what type of apples work best. That might have made a difference in how mine turned out.
Okay, reducing the apple cider to 1/3 cup? That sounds like it’s gonna pack SO much apple flavor into these muffins. I might try that trick with other recipes too… Genius! And the cinnamon sugar topping? Yes, please! Fall baking is the best.