Cinnamon Apple Muffins just kick my mornings off to the perfect start. Full of warm, spicy cinnamon, delicious crisp apple bits, and so, so scrumptious they are hard not to start anyone’s morning off in the right direction, honestly.
And believe me, when autumn rolls around, these babies are in high demand.
In reality, they are perfect as a year-round breakfast treat, but for some reason, I immediately associate them with cool autumn mornings with all that cinnamon and apple deliciousness they have in their favor.
And luckily, these babies definitely have lots going on in their favor!
Oh my yum!
These cinnamon apple muffins use just one apple to make a dozen muffins, but if you prefer more apple bits in your muffins, by all means, I’d increase it to two. Dice them small so that the pieces of apple aren’t overwhelming when you take a bite of muffin. You want every single bite to be well-balanced in flavor and texture.
You can use whichever baking apple you prefer. I like to use Braeburn, Rome, Jon Gold, Gala, Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, and SweeTango apples in these muffins. I also like that when I bite into the apple pieces, I still know that it is apple and not make me think it is applesauce or apple butter included. Don’t you?
Along with apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, you’ll just need some butter, milk, baking powder, salt, and eggs. The classic ingredients for a cinnamon apple muffin, I think. Nothing weird here.
Once the muffins are in the oven baking, I like to brown a little bit of butter and mix together a bowl of cinnamon sugar. Then, once the muffins have cooled slightly, I dip the tops of the muffins into the slightly warm brown butter and then into the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Talk about perfection!
Amazingly enough though, folks don’t just eat the tops of the muffins and then forget about the sweet little base. They gobble the whole thing up it’s so well balanced in flavors.
But, just in case you were wondering, you can skip that indulgent little coating on the top, but I seriously recommend you don’t. Skipping it is pretty close to a sin, I’m sure.
Here’s my Cinnamon Apple Muffins. Make them soon.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (+ 2 teaspoons for coating apples)
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (+ ½ teaspoon for coating apples)
- 2 cups diced apples
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup butter, melted
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup ground cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 375º F. Spray muffin tins with bakers spray or coat well with shortening or butter and flour, making sure to discard any excess flour from the tins after coating.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Toss together diced apples and 2 teaspoons of flour to coat apples in a separate bowl. Set aside.
- Cream together butter and sugar until lightened in color, about 3 minutes. Add an egg, one at a time, taking care to fully incorporate before adding the other. Mix in vanilla.
- Gently fold in flour mixture, alternating with milk. Stir until just combined. Fold in diced apples and scoop mixture into prepared muffin tins, filling about ⅔ to ¾ full. Bake until a toothpick or skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
- Prepare topping for muffins while the muffins are baking by melting the butter and allowing to cool slightly. Pour butter into a separate bowl sized easy for dipping tops of muffins. Mix together granulated sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl and set aside.
- Once muffins have baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly in the muffin tin. Then, remove each muffin and dip first into the melted butter and then into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place onto a plate to finish cooling.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
Hey, I made this without reading how much apple to put in, so I just put in one medium apple. Whoops! Still turned out great, though the butter clumped instead of beating together. Thanks! -Joann
I just made it and the batter was really thick. Is that normal. Also for the next time can i use muffin papers? Thanks ☺
These muffins are so delicious! I made them as mini muffins. I read through a bunch of comments but didn’t see this one – the ingredients list an additional 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to coat the apples, but then in the directions it only says when to coat the apples with flour in step 3, it never mentions when to add this half teaspoon. Is step 3 also the time to add that half teaspoon of cinnamon? Thanks!
Hi Sarah,
I’m so glad you enjoy the muffins! They are a favorite in my house too! Yes, that half teaspoon is mixed in when you coat the apples.
Thanks so much! xo
But do you also coat with flour? I always thought it, at least, had to be flour.
Hi Debbie,
I do describe coating them in some flour in my recipe instructions. Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy them!
These are delicious, I made them with Xylitol sweetener instead of sugar to make it healthier, and doubled the quantity of milk as the Xylitol absorbs quite a lot of liquid. I put them in an airtight tin while they were still warm as an experiment because I always find cakes made with Xylitol tend to be firmer texture and a bit dry, and it worked! The next day when I tried one, they were soft and light, just perfect! Thanks so much for the recipe. x
I’m so happy you enjoyed them, Diane! Thanks so much! xo