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
for the topping is that salted or unsalted butter
Angie, I use salted butter when I make these muffins. I hope you enjoy.
Tasty and makes the house smell really yummy.
Doubled the recipe but didnt go with the 1/2 cup of cinnamon (which I assumed was a scripted error)
Tracy, when you choose 2x the recipe, it doubles all the ingredients. As I explain in the Notes if you like a less concentrated cinnamon flavor, reduce the mixture to 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. You could double that amount if you are making double the recipe. Hope this helps. I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins.
I made these today, and they were a big hit – everyone wanted two.
I used my wheat-free flour mix and almond milk, and it worked great. I didn’t peel the apples. I used about half brown sugar. They rose beautifully.
However, the instructions underestimate the yield. I wanted 3 dozen, so did 3x. I got 3 dozen plus 3 small loaves! I reprinted for just 2 dozen for my recipe file.
Carol, I’m so glad these muffins were a hit for you. Thank you for letting me know the 3 x ingredients were too much for your 3 dozen muffins. I will have to test these options.
I made this recipe vegan by swapping out butter for vegan butter, milk for almond milk, and eggs for pumpkin and they turn out awesome. I did have to add a bit more milk to make sure they weren’t too dense from the pumpkin, and added more vanilla to add more sweetness. I also only baked for 18-20 mins per batch. Great recipe to follow and easy to make vegan!
Alyson, thank you for telling us how you make the muffins vegan. I’m so glad you liked them.
I don’t see where the milk is added?
Cathy, the milk is the last ingredient before the Topping Ingredients. You will add the milk alternately with the flour mixture in Step 5. I hope you enjoy!
I have made this before and it was a big hit but I was wondering if I can make it ahead of time and then freeze them. I look forward to your response. Thank you
Barbara, you can freeze these muffins to keep longer, up to 3 months. Just cool the muffins completely, wrap securely so they are airtight and place them in the freezer. You can either let them thaw at room temperature or heat frozen, unwrapped in the microwave or wrapped in foil in the oven. You can freeze them after you add the topping or if you want, you can wait and add the topping after you reheat them.
My kids love this recipe! They keep asking me to make this one over and over! So tasty, I highly recommend this one!
Jennifer, I’m so glad your children love these muffins. Thanks!
can i use half white and half whole wheat flour?
Angela, I haven’t made these with whole wheat flour but I would think half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour should work.
Yummy muffins! They were very moist and delicious with the apple pieces. The sugar and cinnamon coating made these muffins great! Will definitely bake these again. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Nunzie, I’m so glad you loved these muffins. Thanks!
Absolutely delicious! I made mini muffins for my daughter’s school lunches, filled the cups to the top and baked for 15 mins, came out perfectly! Since these were for school, I skipped the topping all together, but they are 10/10 even without! Will absolutely be making these again in the future.
Thanks, Kristie, for letting me know how much you like these muffins for school lunches.
Do you peel the apples? Would gravensteins work?
Anxious to try these.
Sherri, I peel the apples. Gravensteins should be delicious in these muffins.