Apple Muffins
Apple Muffins are incredibly moist and full of cinnamon apple flavor. Super easy recipe to make and a great way to use up those fresh apples you have laying around. Add these cinnamon apple muffins to your “keeper” file because they are a tasty breakfast. For healthy apple muffins, replace the vegetable oil with applesauce.
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APPLE MUFFIN RECIPE
They are so easy. I literally had them in the oven in under 10 minutes. We sat down to watch television and I handed John a warm muffin.
He semi-shouted “Wow.”
I quickly scanned the TV to see what I had missed.
“No…the muffins. They’re really good.“
EASY APPLE MUFFINS
INGREDIENTS
- SUGAR
- EGGS – Room temperature eggs helps the muffin batter to be incorporated.
- OIL
- VANILLA
- ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
- SALT
- BAKING SODA – Some people have complained that these do not rise enough so you could use baking powder if you like.
- CINNAMON
- APPLES
- BROWN SUGAR
WHAT KIND OF APPLES TO USE
Granny Smith apples are often used in baking because they are tart apples and helps offset the sweetness of the baked goods. You can definitely use any kind of apples: Even sweet apples like Honeycrisp apples, Gala apples, or Pink Lady apples will work as well.
You want the apple chunks fairly small so they cook while baking.
SHOULD THE MUFFIN BATTER BE THIS THICK?
Yes! When you’re mixing it, it will be the texture of cookie dough and when you fold in the apples the moisture from the apples will thin it out a tiny bit. It should still be really thick though.
Fill each of the prepared muffin cups 3/4 of the way full. The muffins will rise a little but not a ton. I always use an ice cream scoop to fill the tins.
Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with brown sugar before baking.
The brown sugar mixture crystallizes on top of the muffin and makes a nice crunchy topping. Sure you could have a streusel topping but this simple version is all the soft muffins need.
I wish you could see how incredibly moist these warm cinnamon tender muffins are.
HEALTHY OPTIONS
There are a couple of tweaks you can make to these muffins if you want make them a little healthier.
- You can reduce the sugar from two cups to 1 1/2 cups.
- This recipe calls for 1 cup of oil. For the healthy apple cinnamon muffins, replace 1/2 the oil with applesauce.
HOW TO MAKE APPLE MUFFINS
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with paper liners.
-
In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer. Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. The batter will be very thick. Add the diced apples.
-
Fill the prepared muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle with brown sugar crumb topping.
-
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-24 minutes.
NUTS
You could add pecans or walnuts to the muffins if desired.
OTHER BREAKFAST RECIPES
- French Toast recipe
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
- Blueberry Lemon Muffins
- Banana Crumb Muffins
- Blueberry Croissant Puff
OTHER APPLE RECIPES
- Apple Streusel Coffee Cake
- Apple Crisp Cream Danish
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars
- Apple Crumble
- Apple Cider Cinnamon Rolls
Apple Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar, (or use 1 1/2 cups for a less sweet muffin)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup oil, vegetable, canola, or coconut oil
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 cups peeled, cored, diced apples (around 3 apples)
- Brown sugar for topping, (around 1/2 cup)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with 18 paper liners.
- With a mixer, cream together sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla. The mixture should be a pale yellow.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture and mix until combined. The batter will be very thick almost like the texture of cookie dough. Mix in the diced apples. The dough will loosen up a bit when the apples are mixed in.
- Fill paper liners almost to the top, about 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle each muffin top generously with brown sugar.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20-24 minutes. Makes 18 muffins.
Video
Notes
Greetings from Leuven, Belgium where this household is overjoyed with these deliciously tasting muffins! Dou
Im going to try these!
These are great! I have my own small bakery and these are a favorite of many of my clients. Thanks so much for sharing! I do have to admitt though that two cups of sugar is a bit too much. I only use a cup and they raise so nicely then. A great recipe, though.
Not sure what happened, but between the 1 teaspoon baking soda and the 1 teaspoon salt, the taste was very salty the aftertaste of these muffins was just salt and baking soda. Otherwise they were amazing! Maybe 1/2 tsp salt next time and replace the baking soda with baking powder?
MLclMV Major thankies for the post.Really looking forward to read more.
I NEVER post anything, anywhere – I just get on line and browse and get great ideas – But, I love this – Exactly what I was looking for and my son’s football team went apple picking and picked the very apples I will use to make them muffins for their playoff game tonight! THX!
lovelovelooove these!! I made the half of all so I got around 10 muffins. Soo delicious! I’ll take them to a birthday party of my friend and I’m sure everyone at the party will love them! Thank you for this great recipe! 🙂
I found this recipe googling ‘best apple muffin’, and whipped them up this afternoon. My 18 month old gobbled 6 minis as soon as they were cool, and my (usually hard-to-please with my kitchen skills) husband tried one after dinner and had to have another immediately. Then 20 minutes later (out of the blue) he said ‘those apple puppies would be good warmed up with ice cream’.
I’d say that’s a success! I subbed 1 cup of the flour for whole wheat (as I didn’t have enough white) and only used 1.5 cups sugar. Still turned out delicious! Next time if I’m making minis again I would add less apple chunks, as some of the minis were 90% apple.
I also didn’t put the brown sugar on top of the mini ones as they were intended for my son, but I sampled one and they were super crispy on top, even without it.
Thank you for the recipe!
Found you googling Apple Muffin. Just pulled these out of the oven and – OH MY GOODNESS! These are without a doubt the best apple muffin I’ve ever eaten. I doubled the recipe and only did 3 cups sugar and it was still perfectly sweet. LOVE the brown sugar crunch on top! About to take some muffin to my husband at work – he’s gonna flip! Thank you!!!
I just made these and they’re terrific! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. Cheers.
I made these last week and added a streusel topping. Everyone loved them – Delicious!
I have made these twice in the last week and LOVE them. I substitute a cup of applesauce for the oil and use a cup of fine whole wheat flour for one of the cups of AP flour. The first batch I used only 1.5 cups of sugar and the second time I used only 1 cup and both times they’ve been delicious. I didn’t even notice there was less sweetness, there’s just a wonderful apple and cinnamon flavor. I also don’t add the brown sugar on top (the first time I just forgot, but the second time I left it off) and they’re delicious. I’m sure they’d be great with the sugar topping, too.
Thanks for sharing! They are delish! I did the 1/2 cup applesauce 1/2 cup oil, and also split the flour into half whole wheat. I also used turbinado sugar on top! Yummy!
I’m from Southern California, and I’ve attended culinary school here in Pasadena. I’ve made this recipe twice in a period of like 1 week and I am in love with it, as well as all the people I made it for. I love all the other stuff on ur site too, I gotta try making more things =) Appreciate you sharing it with us. Thanks!
So I live in Utah (Provo, to be specific) and I’m always concerned about the elevation messing up my recipes, but these were FANTASTIC! Mine looked exactly like your photo and I followed the recipe exactly. Next time I’ll sub applesauce and use less sugar to see how the turn out like other people did. Thank you for the great Utah-friendly recipe!
These were awesome! I wasn’t sure, because my batter was almost cookie dough thick, but they came out beautifully! This is one I will make over and over. Thanks!
I have made these 3 times and have to make another batch today because they don’t last in my house. These are delicious and so easy to make. I have used apple sauce instead of the oil and it turns out great. Also I love to add oats with the brown sugar on top. Thanks for the recipe!
Nobody complained that they were so sweet as i thought, so i made another round this week in the very same way i did last week: Big success! (15 people fought for the muffins -to get a second one, i mean).
Thanks again!
These were delicious! I am making my second batch as I type! I added cinnamon applesauce instead of 1 egg and then a little apple juice so the recipe was not so thick and they were amazing! Huge hit in this house! Thank you for the recipe!!!!
I was so sure this will turn out good that i went directly for double of all amounts.
Despite i used only 2×1,5 cups of sugar, omitted the sugar on top and my applesauce (used instead of the other cup of oil) had not a grain of sugar in it, the whole thing came out reaaaally sweet.
Nonetheless my wife said she liked them 🙂
Will see tomorrow when i take them to work if they succeed all the same.
Thanks in any case for this recipe!
@Anonymous,
Was your batter super thick? They should not be overflowing. I’ve never had a single one overflow in fact they don’t really rise that much at all. I think something went wrong…
These tasted OK but what a mess in the oven. Everyone of them overflowed and were a mess. Not happy with this recipe at all.
OMG! I can’t eat wheat so I just substituted 1 cup sweet rice flour and 2 cups sorghum flour for the 3 cups of flour. They STILL came out fantastic. This is such a simple and delicious recipe. I have been looking for a very simple and easy to make recipe for these type of muffins. This is the best, even though I switched flours, they still came out super moist, and wonderful. Thank yo so much for this easy recipe!
Has anyone tried freezing these?
Has anyone tried freezing these?
I did last summer and the cake part gets a bit soggy around the apples after thawing. Otherwise the taste is fine.
I’m making these for the second time today. They are pretty amazing! I made it exactly too recipe the first time and after a day or two, they became really oily. So I replaced half the oil with applesauce and it worked out great!! Now if only I could find some minions to peel and chop all the apples…
My assistant in my classroom found this recipe and we made these this week with 50 little 4 year olds. They loved them. Even the picky eaters. Thanks!
These are AMAZING! I posted the link to your post on my blog so hopefully you’ll be getting more admirers.
Best apple muffins ever!! Most recipes I found called for barely any apples (1 cup at most)…this was exactly what I was looking for! I took your advice and used only 1 1/2 cups of sugar (I used 1 cup white, 1/2 cup light brown), and I used half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour. My husband begged, so I added chopped pecans, as well. I’ve now made 2 batches in 3 days…we are in love. And stocking the freezer. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe!
I made these muffins recently and they were SO good! I shared it on my blog and linked back here. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe!
http://herestohandyandy.blogspot.com/2011/10/pinterest-thursday-apple-day.html
These were delicious! I went apple picking yesterday afternoon and wanted to bake something with what we brought home. I used 1/4 cup of oil and 3/4 cup of applesauce and they were still very moist. Definitely a keeper!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I was looking for something simple because I didn’t want to go out to get extra ingredients, and I had all these on hand. Made it exactly as the directions, though the thickness of the batter admittedly freaked me out a bit (it reminded me of cookie batter rather than muffin batters I’m used to.) but my tutorial group thought it was amazing, so I’ll definitely be making them again. 🙂
I just made them and they’re delicious! Thanks for a simple and tasty recipe.
I’ve been looking for about a month for an easy, yummy looking apple muffin recipe. My oldest son is in a 3yr old preschool class and we have snack duty all next week. Monday is Johnny Appleseed Day, and I wanted to bake apple muffins. I can’t wait to make these and eat them, and of course share them with his class!!!
I just found your blog today, so I’ll be back soon.
I’m searching for good muffins/cupcakes recipes this one is really nice!!!!!! I’m going to try this one 🙂
Love, Julia
http://julia-mylifeandthoughts.blogspot.com/ (follow meee 🙂 )
I don’t think baking soda is the right kind of leavening for this recipe. Baking soda requires an acid to work, like buttermilk or yoghurt or honey.
This recipe has no acid in it, so baking powder would be called for, as it is in most muffin recipes. No wonder these muffins don’t rise much.
I questioned this myself. Mine turned out delicious but fell apart out of the muffin tin. I wonder if using baking soda instead of baking powder caused this issue. I bake a lot and have never had muffins fall apart. I was very disappointed.
Yeah, they definitely shouldn’t be doing that. I wonder what went wrong.
i came across your blog while searching for…well i can’t remember what now but this is one really easy apple muffin recipe! i halved the amount of sugar as I can’t really tolerate sweetness and it turned out wonderful! thanks for sharing =)
I guess everything I wanted to say was already written but I would just like to thank you for this amazing recipe! I served it in an apple bread form and although it took about twice the cooking time, it was definitely worth the wait! My family was smiling during the entire meal and were thoroughly impressed! Thank you!!
Oh.. I never have tasted an apple muffin. I would love to try this out.
Great recipe! I used 1/2 c of sweetened low fat yogurt and 1/2c of applesauce instead of the oil/ Turned out great! Next time I will try adding a carrot and maybe some whole wheat flour.
I’m bookmarking this blog. These muffins are spectacular–I was trying to figure out what to do with 5 overripe apples and this is it!
am looking forward to trying this recipe. I have heaps of bottle apples in the garage that I hope will be perfect for these.
@bruzze,
these muffins do not rise that much so you probably made them correctly.
my muffins did not raise very good will try one more time
Awesome muffins..2nd batch this week
Great recipe. I used 2 1/2 cups flour and already cooked a batch of apples, this is an excellent recipe! Great suggestions from others too
Muffins. I. love. Muffins. Maybe it’s the carb crazed little mouse that stuck inside me that drives me to muffins. mmmmmm….
Your site is beautiful too! First time here!
I LOVE every recipe I’ve ever made off of your blog. I constantly tell my husband “She and I can’t be friends anymore!” after making something scrumptious off your blog. These muffins were no exception except we’ve renamed them “Snickerdoodle Muffins” ’cause that’s what they taste like to us. 😉
i wanted to say thanks for sharing this recipe! we have been having a hard time getting my picky 2 year old to eat anything, and he LOVED these. I changed the ratio so there was a little more apple and a little less sugar, so now I have a somewhat healthy snack to give him that he likes. thanks!
Oh these were delicious! I tweaked them a little by adding applesause instead of oil, using only 3/4 of the sugar, using whole white wheat flour, and adding one shredded carrot (gotta sneak those veggies in when the kids aren’t paying attention. They were a big hit at breakfast this morning. Thanks for the recipe!
that is amazing! why nobody told me to double amounts of batter?
thank you for an amazing recipe, i love them!
I found these through a google search and made them for my husband who ruled them the standard for all future muffins. Our first batch was gone in 3 days so I’m making more today.
these came out way too sweet… the rest is amazing. next time less sugar!
I have an abundance of apples right now, so I made these the other day. Aside from eating way too many of them myself, those that I did share made a HUGE impression on all who tried them. My daughter, her friend, my husband, sister, niece, and a few more. I read these posts that say… everyone loved them… they’re amazing… etc. etc. …. and I always think, okay, how good can they be? But in this case, they were REALLY good.
So I’m off to make some more. Thanks for the recipe.
Making these in Finland too!
http://kaikkiaitinireseptit.blogspot.com/2010/11/mielettoman-makeat-omenamuffinssit.html
Besides overcooking them, the sweet potato muffins turned out delicious. I used the same recipe for the apple muffins and instead of apples, grated 3 cups of sweet potato (1 large potato). I pulled them out at 23 minutes (the apple muffins took over 30 for me) and they were burning on the bottom…I suggest checking them after about 18.
They were wonderful!! I got a zillion compliments on them. I’m going to attempt to use that muffin recipe as a basic recipe and try all sorts of different flavors. Today, I’m going to try making sweet potato muffins…I’ll let you know how they turn out!
@chattyszakacs,
I changed the recipe so that you only fill them 3/4 of the way. I live in Florida at sea level so everything cooks really fast so I am not suprised they took that long. I hope you love them as much as we do!
Just pulled these muffins out of the oven and they smell amazing. I filled them all the way to the top as the recipes calls so they are ginormous and took about 32 minutes at 350. Anyone else have this issue? Can’t wait till they cool!
I just made these as mini-muffins for my daughters preschool class snack. They are awesome! I substituted 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce for 1/2 c. of the oil. The texture was still just right. Next time, I’ll try coconut oil instead of veg. oil. They were a little too sweet even though I held back on some of the sugar. Next time, 1 c. will suffice. Great, easy, fast recipe!
How long should these bake if using a mini muffin pan? Thanks!
I just made these and loved them! I also just looked through your whole blog and can’t wait to try all these recipes.
I made these using a cup of unsweetened applesauce instead of the oil. I also put in extra cinnamon and some nutmeg. I forgot to put the sugar on top before baking them, but they didn’t really need it. I shared them with my walking group friends and everybody really liked them. Thanks for the recipe!
these are ridiculous, absolutely delicious … made them before going to brunch with friends in nyc – got unanimous wow around the kitchen island … a few side notes, cut apples into small chunks so that the muffin doesn’t fall apart too easily – i used muffin cups, seem to work best, i also substituted one cup of ap flour with teff flour and used coconut oil instead of regular oil for a healthy twist … great blog, really fabulous, makes me want to try all the recipes here …
I’ve been eying this recipe forever…and the wilting apples in my refrigerator gave me the perfect excuse to finally make it. Delicious and moist! My family loved them.
I love this recipe! I’ve tried it many different ways, and I’ve settled on a few small changes. Instead of a cup of oil, I use 1/2 cup of apple sauce and 1/2 cup oil. I haven’t tried using 1 cup of applesauce yet, but that may work and be much healthier. I use 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1 1/2 teaspoons of nutmeg to boost up the spice. They say you’re supposed to cook with Granny Smith’s, but I think it tastes better with Fugi apples because they’re sweeter and give a better result. I use 6 or 7 mini apples, preferably organic because they’re more flavorful. I grab a bag of apples for a few bucks every week at the farmers’ market. This is by far my favorite recipe of all time, and will probably be my breakfast for the rest of the school year. Thank you!
So good to see a recipe for muffins that does not include any milk, as my husband is lactose intolerant. I am making them now and the smell wafting out of the kitchen is wonderful.
the batter was think Ha Ha I meant thick!
just made them, but a bit too sweet for me, next time I will reduce the amount of sugar, bisides that they are PERFECT! Nice and moist, just right!Had some doubts because the batter was so think, and I used olive oil, because I had no idea what type of oil. Will keep this recipie and make them again, not changing anything besides a half cup less sugar for me.
thanks for sharing
Can any one tell me the English measurements for this recipe please ??
Ha ha! Funny. I changed the directions so the oven is preheated.
Did anyone preheat the oven? or just whack ’em in and whack her on? 😛
Oh my word. I’m thanking God for you and your blog of deliciousness, Christy. I had some apples to use, so I googled Apple Muffins and you popped up. Then I got clicking around and printed several recipes.
Oh my word. Again.
Muffins were the bomb. Fiesta Chicken and Cilantro Lime Rice ROCKED OUR WORLD and I’m sure I’ll be making it once a week until we absolutely can’t stand it anymore. Thanks so much!
I finally blogged about them here:
http://lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-bout-them-apples.html
Greetings from Downunder! Thanks to you, I shall probably NEVER get out of the kitchen again! My husband (who’s a fairly hard person to please when it comes to food) claims that these are the best apple muffins that I have ever made….if not the best muffins full stop.
I must admit, I was a bit wary about the amount of sugar called for, and thought they might end up too sweet, but they were perfect.
Now it’s back to the kitchen to make yet another batch……….
I made these this morning and my husband loved them. The only change I made was to use 1/2 cup oil and half a cup of cinnamon applesauce instead of the full cup of oil. very good!
That was my first thought. Glad to hear someone else thought the same and it turned out well. Making these today for the kids to have for breakfast in the morning. Using 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 applesauce
I love muffins with that crunchy topping, so these look fabulous! Can just imagine how tasty they are – soon I shall stop imagining and definitely give these a try 🙂
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
yay I’m glad you liked them!
Oh my goodness! I saw these on food gawker! I made them for breakfast! SO GOOD!!!! I will be making these more often! Also, I think they would be great as cookies!
I’ll be posting pictures of mine on my blog:
http://goodcookbecky.wordpress.com/
I did use sugar in the raw instead of brown sugar. Gave it a nice crunch!
These looks so good and tasty!!!! Apple muffins are a great hit in my household!!! Will try n make them!
Ooh, I’m making these for sure! My husband loves anything and everything apple and I don’t bake with them enough. I’m sure he’d love these. Thanks for sharing the reader recipe.