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
these were awesome! Thanks!!
You’re welcome!
This recipe is AMAZING!!! I made it and have received SO many compliments. I used the tweaks suggested and they turned out perfectly. I was looking for a recipe so I could use my leftover cooked apples from making apple jelly. I strongly suggest using the half applesauce, half oil combination.
Thank you for the tips!!
Does these freeze well?
Yes!
Love your recipes
I love them too!
Thank you!
Looking forward to trying these today. How long do I need to bake them for if I am using the larger muffin tins?
I would just add 2-3 minutes.
Made these yesterday for the 4th and they were a big hit! I used 5-6 Macintosh apples since that’s what I had. Sending the recipe to my friend now since her kids loved them!
Happy to hear that!
How should these be stored and how long would they last?
I would store them on the counter for up to 3 days.
These are SO amazing. I had a lot of apples and made 2 batches, thank you for this delicious recipe. They are so moist and sweet. I replaced half the oil with some apple sauce and I threw in half a cup of sugar less. My family loves them!
Great!
I baked these for my family this morning and they’re delicious! I was just wondering, what’s the calories per serving for the healthier version?
Thanks, these Apple muffins are Amazing! So moist!
I used 1 -1/2 C of sugar. Perfect! My children said BEST MUFFINS THEY HAVE EVER HAD.😃
Thank you!
These muffins are a family favorite now! I’ve made them twice now and the second time I did some more alterations and they were THE BEST! I did the healthier version, with probably slightly less than 1 and 1/2 cups sugar and I did 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 CINNAMON applesauce. I also added 6 apples instead of 3 and it was so much better! The muffins themselves are moist and delicious! I will definitely be making these again.
Thank you!
These were perfect as 6 jumbo muffins and 6 mini muffins in a cast iron muffin pan
Thank you!
Spectacular!! How do I warm them??
You can just heat them in the microwave.
I also made a few changes to the recipe. I added a bit of Greek yogurt and used melted butter instead of oil. I used light brown sugar instead of white, and sprinkled the brown sugar and spice (cinnamon and nutmeg) on the apples to draw out the juice for a while before I added them. Sprinkled tops with dark muscovado sugar. Did not add vanilla. Used 1/3 white whole wheat flour, 2/3 regular flour. Added about a tablespoon of wheat germ.
Holy shit. I baked something successfully without almost unintentionally poisoning my family. And it was tasty too. Thanks for sharing. I’ll probably be making these monthly from here on out.
Haha glad you had success!
These came out great, but only because I made adjustments. The batter was way to thick so I added in about 4 tablespoons of melted butter and a little bit of milk ( if I had to guess the measurement I’d say maybe 1/16 cup). The batter was still very thick, but it finally looked like actual muffin mix instead of a clump of dough. I put 1-2 spoonfuls of batter into each muffin serving using a regular dinner spoon. DELICIOUS!! My family loved it and I will definitely be making these again (but I’ll probably use a little less flour too). ❤️
Thanks for the feedback!
I had this same problem, my dough turned out far too thick. I didn’t use the applesauce, just one cup of oil. I ended up adding cream
These are the best muffins ever! I reduced the sugar and left off the brown sugar and they are still amazing. I was also concerned when I was making them because the batter was so dry, it almost crumbly but they were moist and held together just fine when they were done. These also freeze really well. I’m making them again today.
Glad you liked them!
Oh my gosh. Was looking for a recipe to use my apples so they wouldn’t go to waste. So glad I found this one. I bake rarely so followed this to a tee. Delicious! So good! Thank you! I’m looking forward to trying some of your other recipes.
You are welcome! So happy to hear that.
I made these muffins today and they were the best ever. Followed your recipe exactly (with reduced sugar) and the muffins were moist, fluffy and delicious. Perfect flavour and texture. This will be my go-to recipe from now on. Thanks a bunch!
Thank you!
I just made the recipe. The dough was so thick that All the flour could not mix in and it was almost impossible to mix in the apples. I added it a bit more oil but it did not solve the problem.
Once you stir in the apples the dough loosens up I promise.
I also had perfect results with this recipe. Make sure you put in 3 cups of apples. I mixed it with my hands, which may have helped!
I needed to add 1 cup of buttermilk because mix wouldn’t moisten and was too thick.
I added chopped walnuts and cinammon sugar to the tops before baking. Lrss sugar too mixing light brown and white because we are eating more mindfully.
Great flavor and easy!
The dough loosens up when you add the apples. Had you added the apples yet?
The moisture from the apples definitely isn’t enough to loosen the clump of dough. I had the same problem, couldn’t even stir the rest of my flour in, had to add cream. The apples were difficult to stir in and although loosened it a bit didn’t make a huge difference. They’re in the oven now and I was left the entire time wondering if I did it wrong because it turned out far too thick, but when I went over the ingredients I had done everything accordingly
Did you use a mixer? That makes it a lot easier.
I tried this recipe but also switched up the baking soda to baking powder, doubled the cinnamon and didn’t measure my chopped apple so it was a lot more I think! Anyway there was so much apple in the mix but it still turned out wonderful. I also left them in the oven a bit longer than it said (and I was on a phonecall so forgot for an extra 10 minutes!) and voila, they looked a bit crunchy but boy were they a hit! So cooking them longer than indicated and much more apple created a different product, almost like a muffin/cookie crunch. I am making them again today!
Sounds delicious! Thank you Angela.
Great recipe we loved them
Thank you Mari!
These were outstanding! I used a cup of sugar and a half cup of brown sugar (as I ran out of white sugar) and it was a very tender and moist muffin. They were actually even better the next day after placing in an airtight container. This one is a winner!
Thank you Melanie!
So I made these muffins twice. The first time I followed the muffin recipe to a T (I opted to make a streusel vs. the brown sugar to cut out some of the sweetness). The muffins did not bake up in the center. The looked like a cake that falls when you open the oven on it before it’s done baking. I run an Airbnb & my guests absolutely loved the flavors & said they were amazing. I decided to try the recipe again today, this time I substituted baking powder for the baking soda! I made the same streusel topping). The muffins baked perfectly! Definitely Instagram worthy vs. the first attempt. Will definitely make these again making that change! ☺️
Okay! Good to know. thank you for the tip.
These Apple Muffins were fantastic!!! I did tweek a lil bit. I used 1/2 cup sugar instead of 2 cups recipe called for. I didnt brown sugar on top. My mixture was really really thick and after cooking / cooling 1st batch kinda fell apart in the muffin liner but tasted fantastic with only using 1/2 cup sugar. I did add some honey and 2 T of water for 2nd batch to thin out just a bit and that did the trick! WILL make again !
Glad they worked with all of the changes.
Oh and also I didn’t add the brown sugar on top because of how sweet they were already.
These were really good, it took about 23 minutes. I do have to say that I think that the sugar content was too much and should be halved. It was more of a dessert item instead of breakfast muffin taste.
Sorry! Guess we like them sweet!
These muffins were a hit in my household! The kids were fighting over them & my hubby actually told me that they were the best muffins he’s ever had in his whole life – wow!☺ Very moist & we love the crunchy brown sugar topping. How many calories per muffin? Can you please provide the nutrition facts? Thanks so much!❤
I will add them! And thank you!
Just made this and it turned out so good! (And I am no expert baker. Definitely took me more than 10 min and I made a huge mess!) I basically followed the instructions exactly except did 1.5c sugar instead of 2c. I also used my Ninja chopper to dice very finely because I have little kids and thought they might be picky about “chunks.” Really delicious!
Glad you liked it. I can cook blindfolded so you’re right I should probably add time to the prep!
I made this recipe for the first time today. They are delicious and super moist and we love the crunchiness with the brown sugar on top. I used 1.5 cups sugar and Cortland apples. Will definitely make them again and again. We have coffee klatch with friends every Saturday morning and take turns making goodies each week. I can’t wait to make this recipe for them. I know it will be a hit. 🙂
Thanks Patricia! I’m glad you enjoyed them.
For the topping I put a tsp of cimmanon for every 1/2 cup brown sugar makes it sooooo great
Sounds great!
Soooo goooood like yum
I used applesauce instead of oil. My family loved these muffins! Will definitely make them again and again.
That’s a great substitution!
I substituted sugar with packed brown sugar, 1.5 cups. The calories should be about 291 calories per muffin.
Thanks for the info!
Superb! Followed the recipe to a T and they were moist as promised and so delicious.
Thank you Carol Ann!
I’ve made these too many times to count and they always come out perfect. One of my very favorite recipes!
Thank you!
So easy and super flavor. Entire family loved them. And, they kept stored in tupperware for about a week. Nice to have on hand!
Thank you for your feedback!
Tried this today! It was amazing! Did a few alterations. Used 1 cup brown sugar instead of two. And used 1/2 cup melted butter and used 1/2 cup milk and added 3 eggs. I substituted flour with 1 1/2 cup of almond flour and 1 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour. The recipe was so easy and they are so moist and yummy! Thank you so much !
So glad you could make adjustments and you loved them!
So glad you liked it!
All the preparation and cleaning up time resulted in a waste, These muffins came out awful. Dry on top and mushy on the bottom. The batter is like a cookie dough and if you know anything about baking muffins you need to gently fold in the fruit. This dough required a lot of strength to turn over. Here are some pics as how mine came out. FYI. I followed directions to a tee! Save yourself the hassle and look for a different recipe.
Sorry Lisa. Not sure what happened but hundreds of people have made these with success.
Lisa, my results were similar. I’ve gone over the recipe 10 times trying to figure out where I went wrong!
Excellent taste and texture
You are welcome!
What type of flour???
All purpose always in my recipes unless specified.
I made these the other night for my family and they didn’t come out well ONLY because of my dumb mistakes. Definitely operator error which I am sharing with others in case they are thinking like I did that they know better. LOL. The only reason why I gave it four stars was because the cooking time (at least for me) was off by about ten minutes (meaning they needed 34 minutes) and my oven runs extremely hot. And they collapsed in the middle. But the mistakes that I made (that I’m sharing here for others that might try this recipe) I will change the next time because there WILL be a next time:
1) I should have listened to the author and used green apples. I used Fujis and they were way, way too sweet. I also only needed two apples instead of three, but my dogs and my family and I enjoyed the third that I had peeled.
2) I should have listened to the author and used 1 or 1 1/2 c of sugar, because two was way too much sugar and they were too sweet for me. My husband and daughter thought they were amazing though with their overactive sweet teeth.
3) And OMG for the love of Zeus, WHY did I not use muffin liners!?!?!? Again, why didn’t I use liners!? I didn’t think it would be a big deal because of the amount of oil in the recipe, but clearly I was wrong. They were hard to get out of the tin and didn’t hold their form. My bad. New rule at our house since I make muffins for breakfast 2-3 x a week: all muffin recipes from now on get liners!
What I ended up doing to fix them was popping the mushy ones back in a muffin tin today and running them at 350 degrees one more time for 12 minutes. This time they held their form and didn’t fall apart. Should be fine for three more days for us. 🙂
As far as taste, they were delicious and so, so perfect for breakfast. I can’t wait to make them again and fix what I did wrong the first time. I thought the amount of cinnamon was fantastic!
Thank you for a great recipe and I can’t wait to try your other muffin recipes!
I forgot to leave the much deserved 5 star rating! 🙂
Thank you!
These are the best muffins I’ve ever made! So moist, tender and delicious. The brown sugar topping adds a nice crunch. I will definitely make these again! I cut the white sugar in the recipe back by a quarter cup and they were still sweet enough. Yummy!
Delicious!!! A few minor adjustments based on other’s comments: (1) Added another teaspoon of cinnamon. (2) Added 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. (3) Used 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. (4) Added a little cinnamon to the brown sugar topping. Don’t be concerned about the thickness of the batter. They come out great. Love that there are so many apples in each muffin. Will definitely make these again!
Delicious. I reduced the sugar to 1 3/4 cup, added 4 Tbsps of flour and reduced baking soda to 3/4 tsp for high altitude (8500). I substituted Chinese Five Spice for the cinnamon just because I like that spice. Using my convection oven, I baked the muffins for 20 minutes. Came out perfect.
Very easy to make. They were not as flavorful as I had hoped. Maybe I need to adjust the recipe a bit. Suggestions are welcomed!
The batter/dough was very thick. I added 1 cup of applesauces and followed the recipe, except used 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar. They were so good! Thank you!!!
Yes it is a thick batter.
My husband is crazy obsessed with these. I made them with Red Delicious apples or something that has a grainy texture that aren’t as pleasing to eat. Cut it down to 1 cup of sugar (because I ran out) and they were perfect. I couldn’t even imagine them with more sugar needed, at least for us. PERFECT recipe. This will be a baking staple now.
So glad you like them!
I made these exactly as written in the recipe and they are DELICIOUS! Thank you!
You are welcome!
I was worried making these because the batter is so different and they come out a bit different at first, but these muffins are delicious and I keep making them.
So glad!
If you feel like you need the dough just a little looser to be able to mix in the apples and scoop it, don’t worry about adding a bit more oil. I have to add an additional 1/4 cup or it’s too dry to work at all. But the muffins still turn out great with the extra oil.
Apple muffins excellent! Grandchildren loved them.Moist and just right sweetness.On third batch this week!
Awesome to hear!
Just tried the recipe – so delicious!
Awww thanks.
These were amazing! The house smelt so festive and cozy. I scarfed down two while they were still warm. Thank you for the recipe!
You are welcome!
I took these muffins to a church book study and everyone just loved them. The recipe is very easy and the reward is great. I will definitely add this to my recipe box. Thank you.
Delicious!!!! While they were baking it smelled like cake ❤️ This recipe is a keeper. THANK YOU ❤️
You are so welcome!
This was so moist! Nice crumb structure. I’m glad the recipe addressed how thick the batter was. I had to force the last bit of dry mix in.
I cut back on the sugar – 1c white, 1/2 c brown, and it was sweet without being like a dessert. Skip the sugar topping, perfect for breakfast.
Glad you liked it!
I recently tried several apple muffin recipes after our apple picking adventure. This is by far my favorite and will be my ‘go-to’ recipe from now on. Followed the recipe exactly, but used only 1.5 cups of sugar. Perfection!
So glad you liked them.
I liked the fact this was a simple recipe and could make up quickly. But I don’t like the taste. Maybe it is just me but it’s fairly tasteless. Sorry. I also doubled the cinnamon, since I love the spice. Might try it again and put more spices in. Otherwise it is great and very moist!
Sorry you didn’t love it!
DELICIOUS EASY recipe! After reading comments about thick batter, I decided to add 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce. Batter was very easy to work with. This made 20 muffins, took about 24-25 min to bake and came out moist and filled with flavor. Sending to my daughters at school in a fall care package. Will definitely make again.
Awesome!
How do you store these? Thinking of making for a school bake sale but want to make sure they’ll keep well!
I would place them in tupperware.
I literally just pulled them out the oven and they are excellent! As others have mentioned, the batter is very thick. They don’t rise much so next time I’ll fill the muffin cup more. I cut the sugar to 1.5 cups and they are definitely sweet enough, especially if you choose to use the brown sugar topping. They are more the consistency of an apple cake vs. a fluffy muffin. With my 2 1/2 pecks of apples from apple picking last week, I have been on an apple baking craze! This recipe makes the cut and will for sure make an appearance again in our house!
Glad you liked them! Thank you.
Great, easy recipe! Very thick batter.
These are SO good! I was not happy with the apple muffin recipe I was using and gave this one a try. I used your suggestions for substituting applesauce for half of the oil and reducing the sugar. I didn’t even add the brown sugar topping, and they were perfectly sweet, moist, and delicious! I have found my new apple muffin recipe! It is impossible to eat just one. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed these.
Super easy! Kid approved! I did your suggestion of 1.5 cups of sugar instead of 2 cups and it was perfect! I used 1 large green Apple and 2 small Macintosh apples. All perfect! Thank you for this easy and quick recipe that makes your house smell unbelievable!
They really do smell amazing.
I used this recipe and all of my muffins sunk. It was like 18 deflated souffles.
Hannah,
Sounds like you didn’t bake them long enough. Were they brown on top?
Christy, thank you for this recipe deep them coming. I waiting till my dog and husband were asleep and started making these apple muffins, did not want to wait till tomorrow. Well let me say delicious I just eat one wow the taste and moist the apples taste so good better then some bakery’s. The things I changed were like one said 1/2 cup of oil and applesauce one small (4 ) ounce also since my husband is not of fan of brown sugar I did not put on top. I know for sure tomorrow I will be delivering two my two favorite neighbors, they are going to enjoy. Well bye for now until I try another one of your delicious recipes.
So glad you enjoyed them!
I wanted to post a picture but couldn’t find an option for that. I knew the moment I read the recipe I was going to make these muffins. They turned out exactly as you described in your email. The batter texture was cookie dough thick until I added the apples. Popped them in the oven and oh my gosh, delicious. I opted for the healthier version. My grandkids are going to love them. Well done Christy. I always look for your emails.
So glad you liked them!
Is it possible to use this recipe as a cake instead of muffins?
I have no idea! I have never tried it.
This is an amazing muffins…and its looks so yummy & sounds too delicious..make it easy as well…Thanks for sharing……!
You’re welcome!
Hi! If I wanted to fully omit white sugar out of the mix and use honey instead? Would that be possible?
Yes, I am not sure if you would need more or less.
Ok yeah these are delicious. Like another (hilariously angry) commenter noted, the batter is dummy thick. Don’t let this deter you, the muffins turn out fine. It does indeed seem to be more of a cake batter. I was totally expecting these to be dry af, and they were not dry. Really good, thanks Marissa and Christy. Btw I made the recipe to the exact directions but with the lower amount of sugar.
Haha your comment made me laugh out loud!
I halved this recipe, used 1/2 cup ground flaxseed in place of the 1/2 cup flour, and used butter as my oil. It made 6 jumbo muffins. Delicious. Thank you.
You are welcome!
Loved this recipe. I used half and half brown sugar and honey. I was concerned that only using one tsp baking soda would not be sufficient raising agent but they turned out soft and well rise
Awesome to hear.
Made, shared …..5 Stars❤️😊
I rarely comment on a recipe but these were AMAZING. Everyone who has tried one LOVES them. I used 1 and a half cups of sugar with pink lady apples. The batter is very thick but once I start mixing in the apples it gets so much easier to work with.
Just took out of the oven and they look and smell beautiful. I appreciate the simplicity of the recipe. I frequently make the shrimp enchiladas and blueberry cream cheese croissants from this site, so I anticipate another keeper. I added some ground flaxseed as I do most muffin and cookie recipes.
Oh thank you Sharon. I’m glad you enjoyed these as well.
great
delicious
excellent
THE
best!!!!!!
So glad you approve!
Made these
Tonight with only slightly less sugar . Thanks for a delicious recipe!!!! My parents and my husband loved them!
So glad you liked it!