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Apple Cinnamon Muffins are fluffy with tender chunks of apple and topped with a sweet streusel topping. They’re perfect for a breakfast on the go or a great after school snack.
Table of Contents
Why We Love This Recipe
- Fluffy and Tender – The texture of these apple muffins is perfectly fluffy with tender bites of fresh apple.
- Simple Ingredients – The ingredient list for homemade muffins is simple and you probably have most on hand!
- Crumble Toppings – The muffins are great on their own, but the sweet, cinnamon streusel topping takes them over the top!
Ingredients For Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Brown Sugar – Make sure you pack it in the measuring cup to get an accurate measurement.
- Spices – Ground Cinnamon, Apple Pie Spice, and Salt
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda – For rising and keeping the muffins fluffy.
- Eggs – bring to room temperature.
- Butter – melted
- Milk – You can use any milk in this recipe.
- Apples – You’ll peel and dice them to get perfect apple chunks in each muffin.
- Additional Ingredients – All-purpose flour, sugar, honey, vanilla extract.
- Streusel Topping – Brown sugar, oats, ground cinnamon, butter
How To Make Apple Cinnamon Muffins
See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
You can have delicious homemade muffins in less than 45 minutes. Just mix up the batter and bake!
- Prep – Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 12-count, standard muffin pan with paper muffin cups.
- Mix Muffin Batter – In a large bowl, whisk together the dry muffin batter ingredients and set aside. In a second large bowl, whisk together the wet muffin batter ingredients until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined. The batter will be thick.
- Add Apples – Fold in the diced apples to the muffin batter. Be careful not to over mix, just fold a few times.
- Fill Muffin Pan – Fill the lined muffin pan with the batter. Each cup should be about ¾ full.
- Streusel Topping – Make the streusel by adding the ingredients to a small bowl and cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or a fork. The consistency should have pea-sized lumps. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the filled muffins.
- Bake – Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes. They are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.
FAQs
I like to use pink lady apples because they are a great balance of sweet and tart. Pink lady apples can be difficult to find because they are usually the last to harvest during the season. If you are having trouble finding pink lady apples you can also try out Gala apples, they hold their shape when baking as well.
Absolutely. I have used grated apples and the batter is really infused with the flavor in every bite. I also like the small diced apples so you get a big pop of apple in some bites. Either way is delicious.
Serving Suggestions
These are great on their own as an easy snack or as part of a full breakfast/brunch spread! Some other favorites are these customizable Yogurt Parfaits and this fresh Summer Fruit Salad. Finally, no breakfast is complete without bacon and we love making crispy Air Fryer Bacon.
Variations
- Mini-Muffins: You can use a mini muffin pan instead of a standard muffin pan. They will only take about 12-15 minutes to bake. You can use the toothpick to test for doneness.
- Icing: For an extra special treat, try mixing together 1 cup of powdered confectioners’ sugar with about 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk then drizzle over the baked muffins.
Storage and Freezing
Storage – Leftovers can be stored at room temperature, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.
Freezing – You can freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months. Add the baked and cooled muffins to an airtight bag and freeze. The frozen muffins can be thawed at room temperature or you can microwave them for a few seconds before serving.
- Streusel topping is optional – While the topping is great, the muffins are great on their own as well!
- Room temperature ingredients – Using room temperature ingredients is important to get the right batter consistency which results in super tender and fluffy muffins.
- Don’t overmix the batter – For fluffy and tender muffins, you don’t want to overmix the batter. combine the dry ingredients with the wet until just combined.
- Use an ice-cream scoop – You can use an ice-cream scoop to quickly fill the muffin cups. I like to use the kind that has the lever to pop out the muffin batter.
- For the topping – I like to use classic, rolled oats, sometimes called old fashioned oats. Do not use steel cut oats.
More Muffin Recipes
- Rhubarb Muffins
- Lemon Raspberry Muffins
- Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Carrot Cake Muffins
- Banana Bran Muffins
Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Ingredients
Muffin Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar lightly packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup butter melted
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups apples peeled and diced
Streusel Topping
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup oats
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons butter cold
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-count muffin pan with paper muffin cups and set aside.
- Whisk together flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, apple pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- In another large bowl add eggs, butter, milk, honey, and vanilla extract, whisk until combined.
- Slowly add in dry mixture and stir, batter will be thick.
- Fold diced apples into batter.
- Fill lined muffin pan three-fourths full.
- In a small bowl add streusel toppings and cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or a fork.
- Sprinkle streusel topping over the batter.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. To check insert toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean the muffin is baked.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
I love all of the breads and muffins. You have the best recipes
Thank you Rebecca!
I love Fall and your recipes. I can’t wait to try these muffins.
Thanks for stopping by Rebecca!