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 all-purpose flour, + 2 teaspoons for coating apples
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, + 1/2 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 1/2 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 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.Â
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
My girls request these all the time, and they are both very picky eaters! Love this recipe!
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?
this was an amazing recipe. Easy to make and very moist. The thing I did different is to put the apples in the microwave for 2 minutes prior to adding to the recipe.
These are super yummy. Great for breakfast or later in the day with a cup of tea. Takes a lot longer than 5 minutes to prep. Peeling and dicing 2 cups of apples takes time.
Thanks, Gayle, I’m happy you love these muffins.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 made these and aboslutely loved them! I do have one question though: how long can I store them for (refrigerated)?
Shama, you can store these in an airtight container a couple of days or freeze to keep longer. You can freeze them after you add the topping. 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.
I just made these and added an extra cup of apples. It was a very easy recipe and Very Delicious. my family Loves them.
I going to use the base but put Blueberries or strawberries etc. Thank you!
Stella, I love that you and your family enjoyed these muffins. This recipe would be an excellent base for blueberry and strawberry muffins. You may also want to look at my Blueberry Muffin Recipe.
Excellent! I replaced the butter with a more cardiac compliant fat and for the same reason, concocted my own crumb topping, but otherwise followed your recipe. These were spectacular!
I’m happy you enjoyed these muffins, Betsy. Thanks!
Hi I am in the UK and we don’t do cups do you have the weights in grams or lbs and ozs if possible. I want to cook these with the grandchildren . Many thanks
I’m sorry, Susie, but I don’t have these recipes in metric measurements.
Can you freeze these?
Carrie, you can store these in an airtight container a couple of days or freeze to keep longer. You can freeze them after you add the topping. 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.
I made these tonight and they turned out amazing! My family really enjoed them. I also took your advice and cut the apples into large pieces. This way the apples kept their shape and didn’t turn into applesauce. I will definitely be returning to this recipe. Thank you!
Kara, I don’t want these muffins to taste like applesauce either, just love that bite of apple. I’m glad you and your family enjoy them, too.