Warming and cozy Vegan Apple Gingerbread-Oat Walnut Muffins with Brown Sugar Streusel are easy to make and freezer friendly. | Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Frontier Co-op.
Welcoming fall with aromatic, warming spices of allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and their allies, I couldn’t help but include them in my first official post for fall. This is such a cozy time of year and my favorite.
It’s also organic month, time to reflect on why organic food belongs in our pantry and to appreciate those who bring organic ingredients to the table. This not only includes local farms, but also not so near farms that stock our pantries with spices and other essentials from afar.
I’m so happy to partner with brands I trust to share with y’all not only delicious food but also the stories behind the food, like sustainability practices, that are important to me. As a food blogger, to partner with a brand I trust and have known for many years is pretty rewarding.
Frontier Co-op ingredients have been staples in my kitchen for years. They were one of the first suppliers to actively advocate organic products and organic agriculture. Carrying organic products since 1978, they became certified as soon as it was available because “it’s a crucial element in building a safe and sustainable international food supply for people and the environment… crucial to the well-being of us all” (Frontier Co-op).
I’m excited to highlight Frontier Co-op’s Organic Allspice in these spice-packed muffins. Allspice imparts the aroma and notes of warming cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.
But allspice is not simply a combination of these three spices. Rather, it’s a single spice, the unripened berry of a small evergreen. When dried, it resembles a peppercorn. Sourced from Guatemala from a cooperative of 50,000 growers, Frontier helped the co-op expand their organic spice production and provided funding for a modern dental clinic last year.
It’s the people behind the food, and our environment, that brings ingredients like warming spices for fall to our tables. Something to remember as we scoop teaspoons full of spices and inhale their aromas as we prepare fall’s bounty.
While the pumpkins are still in the fields here, there’s an abundance of apples falling from the trees. There’s nothing quite like going on a long walk and picking an apple or two along the way.
I’ve been hoarding them and finding new ways to enjoy the fruits our trees grow.
The apples I picked for this recipe are what I call sweet-tart. Planted over 50 years ago, the caretaker of this particular apple tree, and 10+ others, said it was his favorite variety, although he doesn’t know exactly what variety it is. They are firm, yet bake up to yield slight resistance when bitten into.
These muffins are loaded with them.
Add walnuts and that sublime brown sugar streusel to this muffin, and… texture heaven!
There’s so much going on in this little muffin, from the hands of the people that grew the ingredients, near and far, the companies and neighbors that make them available, and into your kitchen where the magic happens.
Find Frontier Co-op and more inspiration on their website, on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
the recipe
Vegan Apple Gingerbread-Oat Walnut Muffins with Brown Sugar Streusel
Ingredients
For the Streusel:
- 2 Tbs Coconut Oil solid, virgin, unrefined
- 1/4 C + 1 TBS White Whole Wheat Flour AKA - Ivory Wheat Flour
- 1/4 C Rolled Oats 103g, not quick
- 3 Tbs Brown Sugar light or dark
- 1/4 tsp Ginger ground
- 1/4 tsp Allspice ground
For the Muffins:
- 1/2 C Nut Milk 120g, I use homemade Cashew Milk
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 C Rolled Oats not quick
- 1/4 C Brown Sugar 50g, light or dark
- 1 1/2 C White Whole Wheat Flour 262g, AKA Ivory Wheat
- 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
- 3/4 tsp Cinnamon ground
- 1/2 tsp Allspice ground
- 3/4 tsp Ginger ground
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg ground
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 C Blackstrap Molasses 88g
- 1/2 C Unsweetened Apple Sauce 113g
- 1/4 C Maple Syrup 82g
- 1/3 C Walnuts rough chopped, 40g
- 1 1/2 C Apples peeled and small dice (about 1 apple), 190g
Instructions
For the Streusel:
- In a small mixing bowl, add the coconut oil, flour, oats, sugar, ginger and allspice. Using a fork, mix and mash the ingredients together until the ingredients are crumbly and have some pea size chunks. Set aside.
For the Muffins:
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Spay a muffin pan throughly with pan spray. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the nut milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside to thicken for at least five minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the oats. To the large bowl sift in the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- To the milk mixture, whisk in the extract, molasses, apple sauce, and maple syrup. Set aside.
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, gently, just until there are no longer any dry patches. The batter will seem very thick, but press on! Fold in the walnuts and apples.
- Use an overfilled #20 (about 4 Tbs) ice cream scoop to portion 12 muffins. Generously top the muffins with streusel allowing it to fall down in the sides of the muffins (crunchy goodness).
- Bake for about 25 minutes, using a toothpick to test for doneness at about 23 minutes.
- Remove from oven, place on a cooling rack for five minutes. Carefully remove muffins from pan and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. Store at room temperature in a lidded container for up to three days or freeze for up to two weeks.
