These apple cinnamon muffins start with an easy muffin batter that’s flavored with cinnamon, brown sugar, and plenty of juicy apples. We use the same base recipe when making blueberry muffins because the simple batter produces moist, soft, and cakey muffins with tall muffin tops. They’re always a favorite! Enjoy the muffins plain or top them with crumb topping before baking and smooth vanilla icing before serving. If you love apple cinnamon bread, you’ll enjoy these apple muffins!
These crumb-topped apple muffins have been a personal and reader favorite since I published the recipe in 2014. When you crave a big slice of apple pie for breakfast, these apple-studded muffins fill the gap 🙂
Tell Me About These Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Flavor: These are buttery muffins where apple and cinnamon flavors take over. It’s always disappointing when you bite into a muffin and there’s hardly any “stuff” like blueberries, chocolate chips, etc. Today we’re using extra apples so you get the delicious fruit in nearly each bite. If you’re looking for a fall baking recipe where apples shine, this recipe fits the bill!
- Texture: The apple cinnamon muffins are moist because we add yogurt or sour cream to the batter. just like we do when making sour cream coffee cake. And because we start with creamed butter and sugars, the muffins are soft, light, and cakey like a cupcake. We don’t overload the batter with milk (use only 1/4 cup (60ml)), so you still have a slightly dense texture. I like to describe these muffins as having the perfect harmonious balance between soft and dense!
- Ease: I categorize this recipe as a beginner baking recipe because you use simple ingredients and easy mixing methods. An electric mixer is key for creaming the butter and sugars together and if you decide to add the icing, you just need a whisk. Some crumb toppings require cold butter and a pastry cutter to mix, but we’re using melted butter here so you just need a fork. Easy! All of the ingredients used are baking staples, so there’s nothing new or difficult. I love easygoing recipes that produce consistently delicious results and know you appreciate that too!
Why This Apple Cinnamon Muffin Recipe Works
Today’s muffin recipe uses my all-star muffin batter. This batter can be used to create endless muffin varieties and you’ll see it again in my blueberry muffins, peach muffins, lemon poppy seed muffins, cranberry orange muffins, and more. In fact, this “Master Muffin Batter” has become such a hit with readers that I created a separate page dedicated to all its possibilities: Best Muffin Recipe. It starts with basic dry ingredients like flour, baking powder + soda, and salt. More often than not, I add ground cinnamon and you’ll see its addition in today’s apple cinnamon version. The wet ingredients are just as straightforward—creamed butter with sugars, plus 2 eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream/plain yogurt, and milk. I use either plain Greek yogurt or sour cream based on what I have and the same goes for the milk. Use whole milk, 1%, almond milk, buttermilk, oat milk, etc. I’ve made these muffins what seems like 1,000x with various milks and trust me, they all work!
- By the way, if you’re a muffin aficionado, you might also love my bakery-style muffins, which are denser, jumbo in size, and have a distinctively tight crumb.
Overview: How to Make Apple Cinnamon Muffins
I like to make the crumb topping first so it’s ready as soon as the batter comes together. The crumb topping, while certainly optional, comes together with ingredients you use in the muffin batter—very convenient. (It’s the same crumb topping we use on peach muffins.) After that, you can peel and chop the apples into roughly 1/2-inch pieces. Pictured below is 1 cup plus several chunks on the side. You need 1 and 1/2 cups (about 180g), which is about 2 medium apples. Fold the apples into the batter.
How to Create the Perfect Tall Muffin Tops
Press crumb topping into the tops of each muffin before baking. For tall muffin tops, there are 3 directions to follow closely:
- Make sure your muffin batter is THICK. (This one is!)
- Fill your muffin tins/liners all the way to the top with batter.
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at an initial high temperature, and then lower the temperature.
This initial high oven temperature quickly lifts up the muffin top. Once the temperature is lowered, the centers of the muffins bake. I recommend this in nearly all of these muffin recipes.
By the way, if you want to skip the mixer, try these applesauce muffins, pumpkin muffins, & healthy apple muffins.
Best Apples to Use in Apple Muffins
Firmer apples are ideal for baking so avoid soft, mealy, and mushy apples. If you’re baking a recipe that calls for many apples such as apple crisp or apple crumble pie, use a mix of tart apples and sweet apples. These apple cinnamon muffins only need 1 or 2 apples (just like apple cupcakes), so it’s fine to use tart apples like Granny Smith or sweet apples like Honeycrisp, Fuji, and Pink Lady.
For a detailed list of my favorite apple varieties, and when to use each, you can visit my post The Best Apples for Baking.
PrintApple Cinnamon Crumb Muffins
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 14 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These apple cinnamon muffins start with an easy muffin batter that’s flavored with cinnamon, brown sugar, and plenty of juicy apples. Enjoy the muffins plain or top them with crumb topping before baking and smooth vanilla icing before serving.
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (15g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2/3 cup (84g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
Muffins
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk (any kind), at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) peeled & chopped apples (1/2-inch chunks; you need about 2 medium apples)
Vanilla Icing (Optional)
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) heavy cream (or milk for a thinner consistency)
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. You may need a 2nd pan as this recipe makes up to 14 muffins, though you can always bake in batches using 1 pan. Set aside. *See note about jumbo size & mini muffins.*
- Make the crumb topping: Mix the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Stir in the melted butter, and then gently mix in the flour using a fork. Keep the mixture as large crumbles and do not over-mix. If over-mixed, this will turn into a thick paste. Set topping aside.
- Make the muffins: Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, yogurt, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute, then turn up to high speed until the mixture is combined and mostly creamy. (It’s ok if it appears somewhat curdled.) Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry ingredients and milk into the wet ingredients and beat until no flour pockets remain. Fold in the apples.
- Spoon the batter evenly into each cup or liner, filling each all the way to the top. Spoon crumb topping on each, gently pressing it down so it sticks.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 15–18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20–23 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
- Make the icing: Whisk all of the icing ingredients together and drizzle over warm or cooled muffins.
- Iced or plain muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze baked & cooled muffins for up to 3 months. It’s best to freeze the muffins without the icing and add the icing after thawing and before serving. (Freezing them with the icing on is completely fine, but the muffins taste better with fresh icing.) Thaw muffins in the refrigerator or at room temperature before icing/serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Muffin Liners | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Rubber Spatula | Cooling Rack | Peeler
- Yogurt or Sour Cream: You can use either regular or Greek plain yogurt in this recipe (any fat content) or sour cream. The same amount of unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana may also be used if needed.
- Milk: You can use any milk, dairy or nondairy.
- For a jumbo muffin pan: Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes, then reduce to 350°F for 22–25 minutes, for a total of 27–30 minutes. Makes about 6. For mini muffins: Bake at 350°F for 12–14 minutes. Makes about 36–40.
- Quick Bread: Here is apple cinnamon bread, which is close to the same recipe and baked in a loaf pan.
- Why is everything at room temperature? All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. Read here for more information.
Keywords: apple cinnamon muffins
Sally, from the bottom of my heart, this recipe was life changing to me. It has now become my new addiction where I’ve made this recipe at least 5x in the span of one month. For context: I am a 21 year old college student and my meals mostly consist of foods like instant ramen or frozen dumplings so you could say that I’ve made more of these muffins than actual meals from scratch. These are perhaps the best muffins I’ve ever baked and if this was a fairytale, dare I say I would owe you my firstborn for blessing me with the gift that is this recipe.
Anyone who is wondering: make them, try them and make them again because you will fall in love. These muffins are one of my main sources of happiness.
★★★★★
Can I use Greek yogurt in this recipe?
Hi Jo Ellen, absolutely. Plain Greek yogurt, any fat content, works great.
I love this recipe and how tall these muffins get! Do you have any tips for doubling or tripling your recipes?
Hi Jessica! We usually recommend making separate batches to avoid over or under mixing ingredients.
Omgdness!! So fluffy and the flavours are superb! Tweaked the sweetness and added a few dashes of mixed spice. My colleagues whom are not a fan of muffin gave a positive review! My go to muffin recipe!
★★★★★
Would it be possible to swap in apple sauce instead of yogurt? If so what quantities? I have some apple sauce unopened but no yoghurt without heading out. Thanks
Hi Willy, That shouldn’t be a problem.
These are fantastic! They are so flavorful and moist. The texture is fluffy and light. They puffed up nicely in the oven. I also love the pumpkin muffins of yours as well!
★★★★★
Hands down best muffins I’ve ever made! Family loved them! Used 2 tablespoons of maple flavoured coffee creamer and one tablespoons of milk for the icing. Yum!
★★★★★
just finished these and they are amazing. My favorite muffin recipe of all time.
★★★★★
Can I sub apple sauce for apples?
Hi Anne, no, we don’t recommend that. Apple sauce would be too wet. You may enjoy these applesauce muffins!
I followed the recipe and instructions to the letter and the muffins came out flat and spread across the entire top of thr muffin pan. I was able to slice them apart and get them out of the pan because, fortunately, I sprayed the entire top of the pan.
Hi Donna, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. Did the batter seem thick before it went into the muffin pan? The consistency should be thick, which helps the muffins hold their shape while rising nice and tall. It sounds like your butter may have been a bit too warm, which could be causing them to spread. Be sure, too, that your baking powder and baking soda are fresh for optimal rise. We find they start to lose their power after about 3 months or so. Thank you for giving these a try!
Absolutely delicious. And easy
OMG!! This was an AMAZING recipe!! My family made me make a 2nd batch before they even finished the first one!! Thank you sooooo much for posting this!! I am gonna use the same batter recipe but add cranberries and orange zest….
★★★★★
These were delicious! Made the Jumbo and followed adjustments in Notes b
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Hi! Is it ok to make the batter the night before, refrigerate overnight and then fill, top and bake in the morning? Thanks!
Hi Krista, we don’t recommend it. The leaveners are activated once the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together, so it’s best to bake the batter right away or the rise and texture will be compromised. Hope this helps!
The muffins turned out great and keeping this recipe as a family favorite. I’d like to make this into a cake rather than muffins for the holiday. Any advice on the timing or other changes that would make this work?
Hi Judy, we’re so glad these were a favorite! Baking time will depend on the size of your cake pans—this cake pan sizes and conversions guide will be helpful for determining how you’d like to scale the recipe. Or, you might be interested in our apple crumb cake, easy apple cake, or apple Bundt cake instead.
Genuinely one of the nicest things I’ve made and eaten in a while. I had to sub the sour cream for buttermilk as I found I didn’t have any sour cream half way through recipe, but the results were still incredible. Lovely flavour, lovely texture, look great, simple to make. Winner all round
★★★★★
Where do I place the oven rack when making these muffins?
Hi Kevin, the center rack is great for muffins.
These muffins were delicious. Followed the recipe but may have chopped apples a little smaller than 1/2”. After initial bake of 5 minutes, I lowered temp and baked 15 minutes more. Didn’t add the vanilla glaze. I love how that burst of heat makes the muffins rise and look just like they came from a bakery, but better tasting because they are homemade!
★★★★★
It’s Fall and I wanted to bake something with apples. THIS RECIPE IS SO GOOD!! I wouldn’t change a thing. And I thought they were even better, if that’s possible, once they hung out on the counter. Even after a few days, they were so delicious. I would put one in the microwave on my baked goods setting and wow. Just so delish!
★★★★★
These are incredible, everyone loved them and they didnt last long amd everyone’s asking for me to make them again , i used a little less sugar in the crumble topping and i drizzled over thick caramel sauce instead on the icing , oh my days the nicest muffins ive every made,
★★★★★
Muffins turned out great! Followed recipe exactly as written.
★★★★★
Can I substitute vegetable oil for butter in these muffins?
Hi Terry, we highly recommend sticking with butter. The butter creates an incredible flavor and texture, and the muffins could taste quite rubbery without it. You could try solid coconut oil in its place (although we haven’t tested this ourselves), as you’ll need a solid fat to cream with the sugars. Let us know if you give these a go!
What a fantastic recipe! I used some salted caramel drizzle I had leftover from another recipe and it brought these muffins to another level! Thanks!
★★★★★
Loved this recipe!! I made this as is for my office treat day and it made the whole house smell amazing! After having a GF friend over for dinner we couldn’t resist digging in so I made another batch using 1-to-1 GF Flour and they turned out GREAT!! both versions were delicious and everyone has raved about these yummy muffins. I will be adding this to my go to recipe list and will definitely make these again!!
★★★★★
Just made this recipe this morning The house smells like warm apples. Forgot to add the milk like some other reviewers but they came out great. Moist and flavorful.
★★★★★
★★★★★
Great recipe! Best muffin I’ve had in a long time. I reduced the sugar so my diabetic mom could eat some, and they were still delish. Thank you!
★★★★★
Excellent. My guys said best muffins they ever had. I forgot to add the milk, but they were perfect without, and I was able to make exactly 12 with not a scrap of batter left over.
★★★★★
this recipe is perfect!! i made it for my sister in college + her roommates, and then again for my other family members and everybody loved it. so easy to make as well and tastes absolutely amazing!!!
★★★★★
This IS the BEST apple muffin recipe I’ve ever tried, and I’ve been baking for 40+ years! Easy, no special ingredients necessary, and magazine-picture perfect. Your FAQ page is especially helpful too, for problems I’ve had with baked goods in the past. Thank you!
★★★★★
I used the crumb recipe and the icing recipe
★★★★★
i love it so much such a great recipe!
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