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
Used less butter in top. 1/2 cup too much. Used raw sugar instead of granulated sugar on top. Came out so good. Would make again
So glad you liked the muffins, Sue. Thanks!
What would the baking time be for mini muffins?
Val, several have commented that they made mini muffins from this recipe. Here is a comment from Rose: “I make these as mini-muffins and I bake them for about 20 minutes (check at 15, but usually they take about 20], and as long as I dice the apples really small, they definitely get soft enough. Delicious! I also always use 2 apples for even more apple-y flavor.” Hope this helps.
I’ve never had apple muffins before, let alone make them and I must say, I’m very happy I’ve chosen this recipe. They are delicious.
I’m so happy you chose to make this recipe and loved the muffins, Laura. Thanks!
Can I use almond milk or buttermilk
Dee, you can make these with almond milk. I haven’t made them with buttermilk.
Tried the apple cinnamon muffins and was delighted with the result. I used Granny Smith apples as I am from Australia and our apples are a wee bit different. Terrific recipe!
Thanks, Del. I bet these muffins were good with those apples. So glad you enjoyed them.
Do you think you could sub the Milk for Greek Yoghurt or Oil – im asking because other muffins i have made have had Oil and Yoghurt in and they come out super moist comparatively ??
I haven’t made these with substitutes, Charlotte, but others have left comments that they have used coconut milk instead of the milk, coconut oil instead of the butter, Greek yogurt instead of the milk, and applesauce or chia seeds plus water and ground flax seed plus water for the eggs. I hope this helps.
Could I replace the milk with apple cider?
I haven’t tried replacing the milk with apple cider, Lisa.
Made these today, absolutely yummy. I only used 1 teaspoon of cinnamon on for the topping but will use more next time.
Georgie, I like that you can adjust the cinnamon in the topping to suit you and your family’s taste. So glad you enjoyed them.
I substituted 1/2 cup of maple syrup instead of sugar and they are yummy!
Glad you enjoyed the muffins, Skarloey. I haven’t tried these with maple syrup.
Is this correct? 1/4 cup of cinnamon for the sugar mixture for the topping? That seems like a lot of cinnamon.
If you don’t want that much cinnamon, Sunny, look at the information in the Notes section for reducing the cinnamon to 1 teaspoon. My family likes it with the amount of cinnamon in the recipe. Hope you enjoy!