Cinnamon Apple Muffins Recipe
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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.
These muffins are so easy to make ahead so you can have this delicious muffin when ever you want.
Freeze instructions: You can make these muffins ahead and store them in an airtight container for a couple of days or freeze them to keep them longer up to 3 months. Just cool the muffins completely, wrap them in 2 layers of freezer wrap so they are airtight and place them in the freezer. You can also freeze them after you add the topping.
To Reheat: You can either let them thaw at room temperature or heat them frozen, unwrapped in the microwave, or wrapped in foil in the oven. If you want, you can wait and add the topping after you reheat them.
Other Favorite Muffin Recipes
More Muffin Recipes
Here’s my Cinnamon Apple Muffins. Make them soon.
Cinnamon Apple Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 +.02 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour, for coating apples
- 1½ teaspoons (6 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (1 g) kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons (5 + 1 g) ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, for coating apples
- 2 cups (240 g) diced apples
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (198 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large (100 g) eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (9 g) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (113.5 g) milk
For the Topping:
- 1/2 cup (113 g) butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (31 g) 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 flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Mix flour with ground cinnamon used to coat the apples. 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 3/4 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 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
I made these muffins. Sooo good. The only thing that went wrong i put them in paper cups . They were stuck to the paper. Will try again delicius
I had the same exact thing happen. What could be a solution to this?
Alexa, 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.
This is the best apple cinnamon recipe I have tried!! I will definitely be keeping this as my go-to recipe for apple cinnamon recipes. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you. I’m happy you enjoyed the muffins.
I have baked these muffins a few times already and I absolutely love your recipe!!! And what a success it was with my family too!!
Only thing I would say is that it takes me more like an hour’s prep time, 😂, I don’t think 5 min is realistic for most of us (I hope otherwise I’m a snail, 😂)
Ps. Has anyone tried using oat flour to replace part or all of the cake flour?
Priscila, the prep time in a recipe refers to the time it takes to follow the steps in the instructions up to the cook time. The time it takes to peel, chop, dice, melt, etc. varies so much with different people that the time to mix the batter after all ingredients are prepped and pour the batter into the muffins tins is a more accurate time. I haven’t tried these with oat or cake flour but maybe someone else on here has and can tell you how theirs turned out.
Loved these Amazing muffins! My nieces said they were the best muffins they’ve ever tasted! Not sure how it could take someone 5 minutes to make them though….. it took me about 40 minutes but I am very precise in my apple cutting and measuring.
Laura, the prep time in a recipe refers to the time it takes to follow the steps in the instructions up to the cook time. The time it takes to peel, chop, dice, melt, etc. varies so much with different people that the time to mix the batter after all ingredients are prepped and pour the batter into the muffins tins is a more accurate time. So glad you and your nieces loved the muffins!
Made these today and they were soo delicious! Everyone loved them, and i didnt even make the topping! 10/10 🙂
Thanks, Sarah!
This is my go-to apple muffin recipe. I’ve altered it a bit and replace the milk with homemade applesauce and I skip the topping as I think the base muffin recipe is sweet enough. Depending on my mood, I might add a dash of cloves and or nutmeg to the batter to add a little extra flavor. Always a winner.
Thanks, Mary!
Is it just me, or does the recipe call for milk and then not use it? Either way these are amazing. I also added shredded carrots and raisins- this is great for my preschoolers after school snack 💕
Nila, I’m so glad you like these muffins. I’m sorry you missed when to add the milk. Is in Instruction 5: Gently fold in flour mixture, alternating with milk. Hope this helps.
Hi Robyn. Love this recipe! I think you’ve got a typo under your topping ingredients. You’ve got “1/4 cup ground cinnamon”! I assumed it should have been “teaspoon” instead. Just thought you might like to know!
Elisa, I use the 1/4 cup ground cinnamon when I make it. However, some people wanted less cinnamon. I have this comment in the NOTES section of the recipe: 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 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. I’m happy you love this recipe. Thanks!
Shared recipe with all my piano students ! They went Gaga fir them. The warm butter and cinnamon on top is outrageously yummy!
Thanks so much, Jan. So happy your students loved the muffins!
If you freeze them do you add the cinnamon topping before freezing?
You can freeze them after you add the topping, Noel. You can either let them thaw at room temperature or heat frozen, unwrapped in the microwave or wrapped in foil in the oven. If you want, you can wait and add the topping after you reheat them.
Amazing! One of the best recipes of any kind I’ve ever made!!!!!!