Dotted with apples and topped with a sweet, crunchy cinnamon sugar topping, these Apple Cinnamon Muffins are a fun addition to breakfast or tea time. Bake them now or freeze them for later, you’ve got lots of ways to enjoy them apples.
Serve Apple Cinnamon Muffins as an easy Meal Prep Breakfast or include them as part of a larger brunch, including Sausage Egg Hash Brown Casserole and a Winter Fruit Tray.
Apples are pretty much a perfect fruit. Sturdy, long-keeping, and packed with flavor, apples lessen the blow of winter’s approach. And when you bake your apples into Apple Cinnamon Muffins? Well, it’s the gift of fall that just keeps giving.
Why Make This
Apple Cinnamon Muffins are quick and easy to make. With a homemade muffin mix that’s easy to keep on hand, these apple babies bake up in just minutes. You’ll have plenty of time to do other things, including sipping a cuppa and munching on a muffin.
You can freeze unbaked muffins for later. One of the best things about baking is baking ahead. When you’ve got something in the freezer ready to throw in the oven, you are on top of the world! Or at least ahead in one area of your life.
Be sure to check out the instructions below for freezing muffins, both baked and unbaked.
They’re delicious! These Apple Cinnamon Muffins get a little tartness from the apple cider and fresh apples, sweetness from the muffin mix and the cinnamon sugar top. The cake is soft and tender while the muffin top is crisp and crunchy, just as it should be.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make these easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins:
Homemade Muffin Mix – This is one of the best DIY Baking Mixes to keep on hand. It’s incredibly easy to mix up and can be baked into dozens of different muffin varieties.
ground cinnamon – Ground cinnamon is essential in both the muffin batter and the crunchy sugar topping. Don’t omit it.
milk and plain yogurt – Together these two ingredients add tang, texture, and protein to the muffins. In a pinch, you can substitute buttermilk for the two.
apple juice – Apple juice punches up the apple flavor in these muffins. Possibly substitutions include apple cider, apple tea, or more milk.
neutral oil – Use a neutral-tasting oil to add richness to the muffins without overshadowing the apple and cinnamon flavors.
eggs – Eggs add texture to the muffins, but you can also use Flaxseed Meal Egg Substitute if you need or want to bake without eggs.
apples – Finely chopped apples stud these muffins with flavor without being too chunky. In a pinch you can substitute dried apples (not apple chips). Just add a few tablespoons more liquid if the batter seems too dry.
raw sugar – A couple tablespoons of raw sugar add a nice crunch to the muffin tops. You can use other coarse sugars, such as demerara, turbinado, or sanding sugar.
Step by Step Instructions
It’s super easy to make these Apple Cinnamon Muffins. Here’s how:
Prep steps: Preheat the oven to 375°. Line muffin cups with muffin papers. Stir together the cinnamon sugar ingredients and set aside.
1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the muffin mix and cinnamon.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the milk, yogurt, oil, and eggs. Whisk until well blended.
3. Add the dry ingredients as well as the diced apples to the wet ingredients. Fold just until combined. A few streaks of dry bits is fine.
4. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. It’s okay if the cups overflow. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the tops.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool the baked Apple Cinnamon Muffins on a wire rack.
Freezing Instructions
To freeze muffins unbaked: Assemble the recipe as directed. Instead of baking, slide the pan into the freezer for several hours until the muffins are frozen solid. Remove the frozen muffin “pucks” from the pan and store them in an airtight container in the freezer. To bake, replace the frozen muffins into a muffin tin and bake, adding five minutes to the baking time if needed.
To freeze baked muffins: Bake the muffins according to the recipe and cool completely on the rack. Place in an airtight container or ziptop bag and store in the freezer, for up to 2 months.
FAQs
Choose apples that are good for baking, such as Braeburn, Granny Smith, Jonagold, or Honeycrisp. You can also use dried apples (not apple chips) in muffins. Just add a little extra liquid to help them rehydrate.
After years of muffin testing, we’ve found 375 to be the ideal temperature for muffins. It provides a high crown and a crisp muffin top while keeping the inside tender.
Preheat the oven and place the muffin tins in the center of the oven, from above as well as from the sides.
Recipe Costs
Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.
- Mix and Match Muffin Mix – $0.92
- ground cinnamon – $0.10
- milk – $0.10
- apple juice – $0.10
- plain yogurt – $0.60
- neutral oil – $0.16
- eggs – $0.30
- apples – $0.50
- raw sugar – $0.08
While your costs may vary depending on where and how you shop, you can expect to pay about $2.86 for 18 Apple Cinnamon Muffins, about 16 each!
Recommended Apple Recipes
Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 batch Mix and Match Muffin Mix
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup apple juice
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup neutral oil
- 2 egg
- 1 cup diced apples (about 2 small)
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 1 1/2 tbsp raw sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Line muffin cups with muffin papers. Stir together the cinnamon sugar ingredients and set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the muffin mix and cinnamon.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the milk, yogurt, oil, and eggs. Whisk until well blended.
- Add the dry ingredients as well as the diced apples to the wet ingredients. Fold just until combined. A few streaks of dry bits is fine.
- Divide the batter among the muffin cups. It's okay if the cups overflow. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the tops.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool the baked muffins on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on September 15, 2010. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Jessica
Thanks!! I am so excited to try several of these recipes! Going to buy a few bushels this week!!
Kendell
A few years ago, I made this INCREDIBLE apple cake with an internet recipe. I lost the bookmark and can’t find a similar recipe anywhere. I remember that I had to dice 4-6 apples and boil them. Does anyone have a recipe with those directions in them??
Kristi
Fried apples! Melt butter in a pan, add peeled & sliced mild apples, sprinkle sugar over, and let them cook until they caramelize. Oooh so good! Great with pork as a side dish.
For the tart ones, we cut them in slices and toss them in pineapple juice then make make a toffee/cream cheese dip. WARNING – don’t make this when you’ll be left alone with it, take it to a party or gathering because people devour it! It’s 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened; 1 (8-oz.) package toffee bits; 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar; 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Stir together all ingredients until well blended. Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
Becca
Just picked some apples last weekend…right now I’m making apple cider pumpkin spread and it smells so good!!!
Roseann
Do you think the recipe would work using fresh, diced apples?
Prairie Story
Apples, apples, apples! I had a neighbor share their harvest with me… so I made Slow Cooker Apple Sauce, Apple Crisp and Apple Streusel Muffins. What a great theme this week!
Queen of the House
I am looking forward to checking out all of these apple recipes! Yum! Thank you for hosting today! 🙂
Ellen
sorry don’t mean to sound dumb, but how do you go about making dryed apples?
Liz@HoosierHomemade
We went apple picking last weekend for the first time this season, so glad to see all the yummy recipes to use my apples up with.
Thanks for hosting!
~Liz
City Share
Yum. All those apple recipes sound delicious. They are just coming into season here in NYC, so I look forward to enjoying lots of them soon.
Susie's Homemade
I linked up an old apple pie recipe. I hope that’s ok:-)
April @ The 21st Century Housewife
Thanks for sharing such delicious apple recipes! And I agree, apples from a local tree (I get mine at our farmer’s market) really do taste best. Thanks for hosting!
Mara ~ Kosher on a Budget
Yum! I wish I had had this post a week ago when I was cooking for Rosh Hashana! I actually used your slab apple pie recipe for one of our desserts, but I baked it in ready made shells. The topping was divine! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂 I shared in the linky my favorite all-time Rosh Hashana apple recipe — apple challah. We look forward to it all year.
Rebecca
I had some veggies from the farmers market a few weeks ago and I used apples in a variation of Sunrise muffins – Apple Carrot Raisin Bran Muffins. They were excellent. I also have some rhubarb that I’m going to combine with apples in a pie. Yum!
Sherry
I love fall and all the wonderful smells and spicy recipes with apples! 🙂
Anne
I also hope to go apple picking soon, and maybe even can some applesauce. I linked up with an apple bread pudding recipe I concocted earlier this week, but forgot to put my blog name in. Oops!
Georgia
that sounds like an awesome recipe!! And, I just happen to have dried apples in my cupboard :0)
Debbi Does Dinner Healthy
I am hoping to go apple picking soon so I can make applesauce in the crock pot! The kids look forward to that every year!
Mara ~ Kosher on a Budget
@Debbi Does Dinner Healthy, Be sure to share the recipe when you do! That sounds wonderful!