WW Recipe of the Day: Light & Healthy Apple Pecan Muffins
These apple pecan muffins from Ellie Krieger are a winner. With a 5 star rating on the The Food Network how could they miss? Moist and delicious, you'd never guess they were healthy.
I first made them years ago when I came across the recipe in Ellie's first cookbook, The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life (affiliate link).
Apple Pecan Muffin Recipe Notes
This apple pecan muffin recipe is full of chunks of apple and topped with a delicious crunchy mixture of pecans, cinnamon and sugar.
The only change I made was adding ½ teaspoon cinnamon to the muffin batter. And I used a Granny Smith apple instead of yellow delicious, since it's what I had in the fridge.
Feel free to substitute walnuts for the pecans if you like.
It's a delightful way to begin your day, with a cup of Greek yogurt or hard boiled egg.
How Many Calories & WW Points in these Healthy Muffins?
According to my calculations each muffin has just 213 calories and:
7 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
7 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
7 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
6 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
Are You Ready To Firmly Plant Yourself
On The Path To Lasting Weight Loss Success?
If you've made these Apple Muffins with Pecans, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Apple Pecan Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
Topping Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup chopped pecans (walnuts would work too)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Muffins Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 apple peeled, cored, and chopped
Instructions
- Position an oven rack in the middle and preheat the oven to 400F degrees. Coat a standard 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
- In a small bowl (affiliate link) mix together topping ingredients and set aside.
- Whisk together flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Whisk the sugar, oil, eggs, applesauce, vanilla, and buttermilk in a large bowl until well combined. Stir the flour mixture into the liquid mixture just until combined. Gently stir in apple chunks.
- Divide the batter equally among the muffin cups. (I like to use an OXO Good Grips Cookie Scoop ) Sprinkle with nut mixture.
- Bake until the muffins are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center, about 15-20 minutes.
- Cool the muffins in the pan for 10 minutes and remove them to a wire rack to cool completely or enjoy while still warm.
Recipe Notes
Source: slightly adapted from The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life (affiliate link) by Ellie Krieger.
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
More Light Healthy Muffins for Weight Watchers
- Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Banana Muffins
- Raspberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Low Fat Lemon Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
- One Bowl Coconut Muffins
- Making Healthy Muffins from Scratch
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
Subscribe to Get: Top 10 Reader Favorite Recipes
The Top 10 Most Popular Recipes (PDF) on Simple Nourished Living + Weekly Support Emails with Tips & Easy Healthy Recipes Not Found Anywhere Else!
Doris
These muffins look delicious...have you ever made them as a bread ( in a loaf pan ) ??? If so for how long did you bake it ??? any suggestions /tips /ideas appreciated ...
Martha McKinnon
Hi Doris,
I've never made this particular recipe as a bread in a loaf pan. But in my experience most muffin and quick bread recipes are interchangeable. So, I think it would work fine. I'd bake it at 350 and think it should take between 45 and 60 minutes to bake. Hope this helps.
Donna
Is there a difference between whole wheat pastry flour and whole bread flour? I have found the bread flour but not pastry.
Thank you for your response.
Martha McKinnon
I donna, yes, they are different. Whole wheat pastry flour is softer so it works better in quick breads, cakes, muffins, etc. A good alternative to whole wheat pastry flour is white wheat flour if you can find it. Hope this helps!
Karen
can you just use all flour if you cant find wheat pastery flour?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Karen, Yes, it's fine to use regular AP flour! - Martha