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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 (1 stick ) 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
Delicious! Ran out of sugar and used 1/2c sugar and 2 Tbsp golden syrup instead. Topped with a thin slice of apple. Once cooked, I brushed the muffin tops with melted golden syrup and butter, with a sprinkling of cinnamon. Used tin liners and Cooked for 25 mins. That was enough in my oven. Apple was still a little crunchy but made a nice contrast. Yum! 😋
Thanks for the tips, Justine. Happy you found substitute that worked so well for you.
Was just looking to make these muffins and now I know I have to that another Justine gave them her approval 🙂
I made apple cinnamon muffins for the first time. Friends tried them, never having eaten one before. They said they were amazing. One person said it was the best muffin he ever had. I’ve been asked to make some more. The 12 went in 2 days!
Karen, don’t you just love it when friends think something you baked is the best! Happy baking!
WOW! I have been baking for a VERY long time and have tried countless apple muffin recipes. This recipe is, without a doubt, the best. Fluffy muffins with a great taste. Who would have thought such a thing existed. Made exactly as indicated. Thank you.
I’m so happy you loved the muffins, Nancy.
Excited to make these 🙂 just a question: can I freeze them pre-sugar coating?
Clarisse, just cool the muffins completely, wrap securely so they are airtight, and freeze for up to 3 months. You can freeze them with the topping or if you want, you can wait and add the topping after you reheat them. You can either let them thaw at room temperature or heat frozen, unwrapped in the microwave or wrapped in foil in the oven. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks for the tip! Just finished making them and they are absolutely delicious. I don’t think I’ll get to the point of having to freeze extras ’cause there won’t be any 🙂
I’m from Asia and used Fuji apples — they turned out really well 🙂
These are amazing. I doubled the recipe. Instead of two cups of granulated sugar, I did one cup of brown sugar Swerve, and another cup of regular white sugar. Insanely good. And I love that you get so much apples. This is the first time I have ever written a comment about a recipe before. I loved this recipe so much.
I’m honored, Olivia, that you took the time to write your review for this muffin recipe. I’m thrilled you liked these muffins. Thanks.
Yum 🤤 what a great recipe. I ended up using 3 eggs 🥚 due to my helper being a little excited to crack shells but they turned out lovely and fluffy and disappeared as quickly as they were made.
It’s always fun to have little helpers when you are baking, isn’t it, Rachel? I’m so glad you loved the muffins.
These muffins were amazing!! Will definitely make again!
Thanks, Lydia. So happy you liked the muffins.
What should I change if using muffin Liners
Sarah, I haven’t used paper liners but I always spray my muffin tins. Try spraying the liners lightly with baking spray to see if that helps.
I just made these muffins with my 9 y.o. who got a baking set for Christmas and we had fun making and eating them. They are moist and delicious.
Thanks, Christina. I know you had so much fun making these with your 9 year old. Making such sweet memories.