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Cinnamon Apple Muffins are so scrumptious and full of warm cinnamon and crisp apple bits and finished with a cinnamon sugar topping. Favorite bakery style muffins recipe with amazing flavor and aroma, perfect to enjoy anytime.
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!
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.
What Apples to Use for Cinnamon Apple Muffins?
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.
Other Favorite Muffin Recipes
More Muffin Recipes
Here’s my Cinnamon Apple Muffins. Make them soon.
Cinnamon Apple Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 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 unsalted butter , room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk
For the Topping:
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup ground cinnamon
Instructions
- 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 2 cups flour, baking powder, salt, and 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Mix 2 teaspoons flour with ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Toss diced apples with the flour/cinnamon mixture 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 2/3 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 brush the butter on with a pastry brush (or dip into the melted butter) and then into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place onto a plate to finish cooling.
Notes
The original recipe called for a 1 to 1 mixture of sugar and cinnamon. If you prefer a less cinnamon flavor in your topping, reduce the mixture to ¼ cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
Nutritional Information
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
I love these muffins! I wish you didn’t have to let the butter get to room temperature though…..
Ella, the butter needs to be at room temperature so when creamed together with the sugar, it will add air to the mixture which makes the muffins lighter.
Robyn, do you have to add apple? Can they be blueberry if you take out all apple related toppings?
My girls request these all the time, and they are both very picky eaters! Love this recipe!
I made these muffins today. They take a bit of time to make but they are well worth the time they take. 😊
These are delicious. Just wondering if they can be frozen once the butter and cinnamon sugar has been added on top. Thanks
Ange, just cool the muffins completely, wrap securely so they are airtight, and freeze for up to 3 months. You can freeze them after you add the topping if you wish. You can either let them thaw at room temperature or heat frozen, unwrapped in the microwave or wrapped in foil in the oven. Hope this helps.
can I make the muffins with salted butter?
Irene, I use salted butter when I make these muffins. I hope you enjoy.
1/4 of a cup of cinnamon in the topping? That’s a lot
You can reduce the amount of cinnamon if you want, Joyce. That is the amount I like to use for the mixture to dip the top of muffins.
Easy and delicious!
I actually peeled and diced the apples, sifted the dry ingredients, tossed the flour and cinnamon on the apples, creamed the sugar and added wet ingredients, then folded it all slowly together with milk in only two minutes! Not sure why you say 5 minutes for prep! Lol. Muffins were good.
Keegan, I listed the average time it may take some others to prepare the batter. I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins.