With the perfect amount of cinnamon, little pockets of apples, and a sweet crumb topping, these Apple Cinnamon Muffins are the perfect way to start your day.
Looking for a way to use up those apples? Also try this German Apple Pancake or Apple Crisp.
I love muffins. I have over 30 different varieties here on Taste and Tell.
But there are a handful of them that we tend to go back to over and over again.
These Apple Cinnamon Muffins are one of those recipes. They first appeared here in 2010, and many years later, they are still going strong.
I love them because I almost always have all of the ingredients on hand. They are easy to whip up a batch, taking only about 30 minutes. And my whole family will gobble them up, which is always a plus!
And don’t think that apple muffins are just for the fall. We gladly make these all year round!
Ingredients
- Flour: I use all-purpose flour. I have not tested this recipe with any other flours.
- Cinnamon: You need lots of cinnamon so that the cinnamon flavor will shine! The majority will go in the muffins, but you will also add some to the crumb topping, as well.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: You need both baking powder and baking soda for this recipe to give them the perfect texture and lift.
- Salt: The salt will help to balance the flavors.
- Sugar: The muffins have granulated sugar, but then you will also need light brown sugar for the topping.
- Oil: I originally used to make these muffins with vegetable oil, but I’ve been trying to switch over to avocado oil. Both will work here, and if there is another neutral oil you like, it can also be substituted.
- Eggs: I like to whisk the eggs slightly before adding to the batter, just so that you don’t end up over-mixing.
- Applesauce: I usually have unsweetened applesauce on hand, but I have had people use sweetened applesauce, as well.
- Vanilla: A good vanilla extract will give you the best flavor.
- Apples: You will need a total of 1 1/2 cups of chopped apples. I like to chop them fairly small.
How to Make Apple Cinnamon Muffins
STEP 1: Combine all of the dry ingredients. This is the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. I like to use a whisk to make sure everything is evenly combined.
STEP 2: In another bowl, whisk together the sugar and the oil. Then add the eggs, applesauce, and vanilla extract.
STEP 3: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix just until it is almost combined. I like to leave a few dry patches here still, because you still need to add in the apples.
STEP 4: Add the apples to the batter. Mix just until combined.
STEP 5: Divide the batter between 12 muffin cups that have been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
STEP 6: Make the crumb topping by combining the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Add the butter, and use a fork or a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the mixture, forming a crumb. Sprinkle this evenly over the muffin batter, then bake the muffins until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Tips and Tricks
- Don’t overmix your batter. Mix just until everything is combined.
- You can use an ice cream scoop or a spring loaded scoop to fill the muffin tins. This helps you to get even amounts of batter in each tin.
- Don’t overbake your muffins. Dry muffins are not good muffins. Bake them just until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, or once you can touch the top of the muffin and the muffin springs back.
- Let the muffins sit in the tin for about 10 minutes before removing to serve.
- You can either bake muffins in a greased muffin tin or with paper liners.
When using apples in baking, you want to use an apple that will remain crisp. I like using granny smith, but honeycrisp or braeburn are also good choices. You just don’t want an apple that will turn to mush when it is baked.
People have used many different substitutions for the applesauce with great results, including Greek yogurt, crushed pineapple, sour cream, and even orange juice! There are some great substitution ideas in the comments.
This is a personal preference. I usually keep them on because I don’t mind the texture and it’s faster than peeling the apples. But if you don’t like the texture, you can peel the apples. Or many people have shredded the apple, as well!
More Muffins Recipes You Need
Banana Crunch Muffins
Red Velvet Cream Cheese Muffins
Banana Muffins
Brown Sugar Muffins
Cinnamon Roll Muffins
Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Cinnamon Muffins
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Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup neutral oil (I use avocado oil, but vegetable oil can also be used.)
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups chopped apples
Crumb Topping:
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon butter cut into small pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- In another bowl, stir together the sugar and the oil. Stir in the eggs, applesauce and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup neutral oil, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Gently stir in the apples.1 1/2 cups chopped apples
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan, dividing the batter equally between the cups.
- In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in the butter with a fork or a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the crumb over the batter in the muffin pan.1/3 cup light brown sugar, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon butter
- Bake the muffins until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let the muffins sit in the pan before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store any leftover muffins in an airtight container.
Jessica says
I can’t wait to make these this evening! We have so many apples I need to use before they go bad. Question- do you know if they freeze well? And if I plan to use liners in the muffin pan, should I spray them?
Deborah says
I haven’t tried freezing these particular muffins, but I usually have good luck freezing muffins in general so I’m guessing they would work just fine. And if you are using liners, there is no need to spray them. I hope you love them!
Francesca says
Can I use gala apples? Or no?
Deborah says
Yes, I think gala would work just fine!
Lorna Solberg says
I made this Last night (9-11) they are good but taste like it needs something more. I think I will play around with this recipe as I have apples coming out my ears this year, 😂 , unless the deer ate. The rest. Thank you for sharing
Paul H. says
Just tried this recipe this morning for brunch; they are FANTASTIC!
Thank you thank you thank you!!!
David says
Whipped them up in no time. Very Yummy!
Mel says
I absolutely loved this recipe. The only thing I did different was I shredded an apple instead of chunking it up. I didnt want to bite into something hard inside something soft. Delicious ! Cant wait to make it again.
Erin says
I made these the other day, replaced half the flour with wholewheat, and the cinnamon with spekulatius spice mix (easy to get here in Germany), and there were a total hit at my language class. Thanks!
Nicole says
I made these muffins for my family this morning and forgot to add the sugar:) The apples, applesauce and streusel gave the muffins just the right amount of sweetness. I love this recipe and I’m sure with the sugar that it would be even more delicious! Thanks for sharing.
Deborah says
Haha – good to know they are good without the sugar, as well! So glad you sill loved them!
Catherine Pappas says
Beautiful muffins to enjoy with a good cup of coffee. xo
Rahul says
These muffins sound so tasty and it looks gorgeous. I love the simple flavour of these.
Chels R. says
These muffins – those chunks of apple! YUM!
cookbook queen says
These look so so cozy and perfect!!!
Mollie says
I'm baking these now! I substituted 1 cup of AP flour for 1 cup of 100%whole wheat. The batter seemed too oily when it was all together and I was dipping scoops into the muffin cups. We'll see, but it next time I'll decrease the oil. I also decreased the sugar because I thought the apple would give some natural sweetness. (Now that I'm thinking about it, since I decreased the sugar, I should've decreased the oil maybe?) Overall, they smell *awesome*, I love apples and cinnamon together so I'm sure they'll taste great, and the recipe made 12 big muffins that puffed up nicely.
eatme_delicious says
Mmm I love apple cinnamon baked goods. I spend way too long looking for specific muffin recipes sometimes – like I was looking for a muffin recipe that used dried apricot last week. All the ones that were coming up didn't sound good (but maybe that's partly because I don't like dried apricot haha) and so finally I just found a muffin recipe and subbed raisins for apricots.
Emily says
I'll have to remember this recipe when I want a good apple cinnamon muffin. They look perfect!
Keep the muffins coming!
Katie says
These look wonderful. Love the spiced apple