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 it this evening after supper and used chopped apples I had in the freezer. I used part butter and part canola oil and eliminated the after baking topping,
instead sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on
them prior to baking. They appear heavy, I dis use more then 2 cups of apples and the taste is ok. Smell wonderful!
Yummy! Substituted a half cup of wheat flour since I was low on AP flour and added some walnuts. I kept my apple chunks a bit larger since I like that bite of freshness. Hubby gives me thumbs up😀Very😌nice
I’m diabetic and trying to control my blood glucose without medications. I ate 2 muffins and it raised my glucose 15 points. This is excellent for someone who doesn’t eat carbs or sugar. Also satisfies my sweet tooth!!
These taste SO GOOD! I’ve been on a health kick lately so instead of 2 cups of flour I did 1 and a half and did a scoop of peanut butter protein powder instead! I did a little less sugar in the actual recipe and then baked for only 25 min as the protein powder cooks fast! Seriously amazing for a quick snack that I don’t feel so guilty eating 🙂
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.
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.
These muffins were amazing!! Will definitely make again!
Thanks, Lydia. So happy you liked the muffins.
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 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.
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 🙂
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.