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.
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
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 BATTER BE THIS THICK?
Yes! When you’re mixing it, it will be the texture of cookie dough and when you add in the apples the moisture from the apples will thin it out a tiny bit. It should still be really thick though.
Fill each muffin tin 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
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with paper liners.
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In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. The batter will be very thick. Add the diced apples.
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Fill the prepared muffin pan cups about 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle with brown sugar crumb topping.
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Bake at 350 degrees for 20-24 minutes.
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
Just made these with my 3 year old. Very yummy! Made 24 full sized muffins, as promised. They don’t rise very much so you can basically fill the muffin cup. I used silicone liners (so much easier for little kids to take off). I used 4 small gala apples. Next time I will chop the apples a bit smaller and reduce the sugar a bit. But I always like to follow directions exactly the first time I make something before tweaking. I might also add a proper strudel top next time just because I love them. The brown sugar sprinkle is still good though.
I tried this recipe a few times and loved it. Today I tried it with 2 apples and 1 pear. It was delicious.
Definitely will make again. Thank you for this scrumptious recipe.
Thank you!
I’ve tried a few apple muffin recipes and I think this one is my favorite.
Though a little advice if you’re like me and don’t have alot of energy, or just don’t have time to make the batter and bake all in one day.
If you decide to make the batter one day and refrigerate it to bake the next day, I recommend only cutting and putting the apples in when you’re ready to bake. I made all the batter a day ahead of time and unfortunately that batch turned out sour, hahaha
But this is a great recipe for this picky eater
Thank you!
This is one of the best recipes for muffins that I’ve ever made. Very easy and delicious.
Thank you!
I have been making these muffins for years! Huge hit with my kids and my husband! I’ve completely skipped the oil and just used unsweetened applesauce and I have tried this recipe with many kinds of apples, granny smiths, pink ladies, gala and honey crisp. Sooo yummy! If you haven’t tried this recipe you should!
Thank you!
Wow! I used 1 1/4 cups of sugar, 1/2 cup applesauce and diced ambrosia apples. Super fluffy, moist, and perfectly sweet muffins! Best muffins I’ve ever made! Thanks for an amazing recipe! Made 21 muffins for me!
And 1/2cup of oil! Forgot to mention that!
Thank you!
Didn’t work for me. Muffin center sunk in and dough barely cooked the first dozen. The last 8 I added 1/2 cup of applesauce to loosen up the dough and didn’t put the brown sugar on top because it crystallized so much and made the muffin too sweet. I doubled checked my ingredients and I followed it exactly so don’t understand why the muffins collapsed.
Do not hesitate to make! OMG — The best muffins I have ever baked!!! Not an exaggeration! The texture and the flavor – TO DIE FOR!! FYI – I reduced sugar to 1 cup (probably could have reduced to less), used olive oil, didn’t peel apples, and didn’t top with brown sugar. Like you write, the batter is very thick! No worries! The end result is a delicious and moist muffin with a crunchy top! AMAZING!!! Thank you for the recipe!!
They are delicious thank you for sharing
Did you mean baking powder rather than baking soda? These lovely muffins exploded all over my oven. What a disgusting mess!
I put baking powder in
Nope it’s baking soda
Just made these for my 3yr old son who loves having muffins for breakfast. I ran out of sugar so I used 1 cup of sugar and then I used 1 cup of applesauce and 1/2 cup of oil. My son absolutely loves them with the changes I made. Not to sweet at all. I will use less apples next time because I make mini muffins and there are just a lot of apples in them. I will add more cinnamon next time too.
Wanted to also add I didn’t have brown sugar so I didn’t sprinkle brown sugar on top. It was still delicious
Best muffins ever. So moist and tasty. Added 1/2 cup chopped nuts because I love nutty muffins. Will make these often!
These are really good! I only had two apples so I added diced peaches and raisins to make 3 cups of fruit. I also found them too sweet so next time I will reduce the amount of sugar.
How do I store the apple muffins for freshness and how long will they keep?
Love this recipe! I cut it in half (just my husband and me) and it still yielded 1 dozen decent-sized muffins. I used some chunky cooked apples instead of fresh apples and just drained them a little before adding them at the end. They turned out GREAT! Very moist and flavorful. The brown sugar adds a nice crunch on the top. I will definitely make these again!
Thank you!
Absolutely delicious. I cannot bake but these turned out amazing. I will be bringing them in for coworkers tomorrow and I know they will be a hit. These will be a fall staple in our household from now on. Thank you!
Thank you!
its actually literally so good oh my god
Thank you!
BEST MUFFINS EVERRRR!!
Every person who has tried them has said they think they are the best muffins they’ve ever had! My family DEVOURED them the first time I made them – and mind you, these muffins were literally the first time I’ve successfully made muffins. I’ve tried other muffin recipes and they’ve NEVER turned out right. (Usually mine are too dense!) So I was especially nervous about how thick the dough was before baking, but apples are super moist and as they bake they release a ton of juice which ends up making these muffins so perfectly moist and delicious in the end! And the brown sugar on top….oh man!! It adds a slight crunch/caramelization and it’s just too perfect! Love love love!!
Thank you!!!
I made the recipe as directed and these are not muffins! They would be better described as “apple breakfast cookies.” That said, they are absolutely delicious. 4 stars because I really wanted muffins for breakfast this morning, not cookies.
These apple muffins were very easy and delicious. When you write that the batter is almost like cookie batter, you mean it! In fact, the tops of the muffins take on a slight cookie crunch! I’ll make these again and again.
AWesome!
Why did I add 1 tbsp of salt? Note to self…. no more late night baking (lol)! I think I fixed it by scooping out the top layer of flour & adding it back. I also added a lil dab of coconut milk b/c it was stiff. Taking muffins longer to cook. Smells great looking fwd to getting son’s rating tomorrow. Added some nuts to a couple muffins for me as my son has nut allergies. Thank you for this easy recipe.
Update…. Muffins are delicious!!! I’m so happy. I’m going to dream of eating another one… Or two. Thank you for this 🧁💕
Oh no!
I’ve made hundreds of muffins. Every kind, every recipe, every ingredient. This has to be my Top 3 recipe of all time. Followed exactly and wowowowow. It is very thick and I thought it would be a disaster, but it sure was not. Loving husband ate 3 and I ate 3 too. Fantastic!
Aww thank you!
I’ve been making these now for years and my family still requests these over most muffins! I have to make double if the high schoolers are around—learned that the hard way when there weren’t any left for me😂
Aww that’s awesome.
Mine turned into an EPIC fail! I don’t know what happened. I followed the directions exactly and I wanted more of a dessert muffin so I used the full 2 cups of sugar. The batter seemed a bit loose based on what the directions said so I added a bit more flour, plus I live in Colorado so a little more flour is usually needed.
While baking it smelled amazing! Then I opened the oven and they were caved in. So based on other reviews I baked another 2 minutes. I couldn’t bake any longer or they would have burned. I took them out to cool and the wrappers were soaked with oil. The muffins were greasy, flat and tasted awful.
Any idea where I went wrong?
Shoot. It definitely sounds like something went wrong. I’m not sure what though. Is your baking powder good?
These were so delicious! My family loved them. I used the less sugar option. I can’t wait to make them again!
Thank you!
These were such a big hit in my house. A great breakfast or a dessert 🙂
Just made these! Sooo good!! I used less sugar and half apple sauce. Your recipe was so much easier than others and taste amazing!! Thanks for making it easy and delish.
These muffins are great! I used 1 1/2 cup sugar as suggested … for the flour I used 2 cups whole wheat and one cup quick oats simply because I was out of AP flour and they still turned out great 😊
This is easily the best muffin recipe I’ve ever found! So easy to make and seriously SO GOOD. I took a batch to my office and got compliments on them all day long. Thanks for this delicious recipe!
So happy to hear that.
This is a great recipe! I have tried it using the full recipe and also the less sugar version and both are very yummy! Do you know if you could make this into bread? If you put it in a loaf pan, do you know what temp/time might be good? Thanks!
I haven’t tried making it into bread. Shoot 350 for 45 minutes?
Hi, I tried this recipe and ended up having to add some cream because it was so so so so dry! It turned into a ball of dough and was impossible to stir, I saw that it was supposed to be thick batter but it looked a lot thicker than the batter. I added all of the ingredients… why did the batter turn out like this?
Was cream the right call?
What could I add to give more moisture to the batter next time if I feel it’s too dry ?
Yes, it’s almost dough until the apples are added. You could add cream for more moisture or trust the process. I promise it yields a moist muffin as is.
These came out incredible!!
Best apple muffin I have ever made!
Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Thank you!
Hi Christy,
Thank you so much a delicious and easy recipe! I made 3 batches of muffins using the apples from my golf course. I used half of the oil and half of homemade apple sauce (apples from the golf course as well). I used 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar. I brought them to the golf club to thank the staff and got lots of compliments! Very moist and tasty muffins!
Yay!! Glad to hear this.
This is my second time making this delicious recipe and my family enjoyed it very much by the way i am only nine years.
Thank you Janna
Do you have these recipes in a book? I don’t have a computer and I can’t print any of these recipes that I could use to help me lose weight.
When I was going to a different school I was over weight and I started on the apple a day or more and yes I lost weight and I need to do that again.
I do have a cookbook but it’s sold out. Dangit. I’m sorry!
I am making these today with extra apples that are turning brown. I only have (2) 12 cup muffin pans, so I divided the batter evenly between all 24 muffins. My house smells scrumptious with them in the oven. Thank you.
Oh and I used your suggestion of 1/2c oil & 1/2c applesauce.
Yes! So happy to hear this.
I love this muffin recipe! It’s quick and turns out perfect every time. I’ve also made it in the zig-zag brownie pan because my boyfriend loves crust. It takes about the same amount of time and turns out awesome.
So happy to hear that.
Can you freeze these? Would you need to sub anything to keep them moist? I assume no brown sugar for the top because it would be sticky
Yes, it would be sticky with brown sugar. Freeze them as usual.
I tried to make this recipe today. But is the amount of salt correct? Totally ruined my muffins. 👎
Sorry you feel this way. Yes, it’s correct. With all the sugar it works.
I can’t stop making and eating these muffins They are just so good. Thanks for the recipe! Keep up the fantastic work.
Great!!!
My Apple Muffins was so yummylicious… divided the 18 pcs to different toppings : sprinkled plain brown sugar, cranberries with brown sugar and cranberries + Choco Chips , brown sugar. Thank you for this simple recipe . Happy baker here.
AWesome great!
Does it matter if I forgot to sift flower? Can I make 6 big muffins plus one loaf pan? Baking in toaster oven. Is dark brown sugar ok? Thanks.
Is this correct, 1 Tablespoon of vanilla? That seems like a lot. I just want to be sure before I make them. Thanks!
I used two teaspoons (was too lazy to get out another measuring spoon and was already using the teaspoon lol). It was great with two teaspoons, probably just fine with one tablespoon.
Hi! The taste is great, but for some reason mine are cratering in the middle when I don’t change anything in the recipe. Any idea what might be causing that?
They could be undercooked! That’s usually what causes that.
I cooked my first batch for suggested time, they sank in middle, so I added 10 minutes on next batch. Turned out great, so I put the first batch in again for 15 minutes (they were cooled so needed to get up to temp again). They look better but didn’t fully raise again.
I made this, substituted 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/2 quick oats for one of the cups of flour.
I also added a half pecan piece to each muffin top.
They were great and eaten up quickly. Thanks, I’ll definitely make these again.
Thank you!
These are delicious. I received compliments from the people I shared them with. My batch made 24 muffins that rose really well. I also decreased the sugar as suggested and used 1/2 c. applesauce and 1/2 c. oil. So moist and very flavorful. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Great! Love hearing that.
Nice easy to follow recipe. Taste pretty good. Next time I may add walnuts
Thank you
Thanks Debby!
Thanks for the recipe! My family loved it, not too sweet and super moist.
Thank you!
These muffins are amazing! My picky eater daughter asks for them. I reduced the sugar as suggested and I put in 1/2 c oil with 1/2 c vanilla Greek yogurt. The mix is thick, but the apples do thin it out and make the muffins so moist and delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
You’re welcome!
I just made these with the sugar reduced just like recipe states, and they are delicious! I had some red apples to use up and this recipe was perfect!
So happy to hear that!
Had a bunch of apples from my kids’ school lunches. I really should have measured while I chopped and not after. Ended up with 12 cups of apples! Those school boy apples are deceiving. Subbed some oil with a few bananas that were getting too ripe and decreased the sugar. Amazing!!! And yes the batter is going to be thick but the muffins come out moist from the apples.
Yes exactly! Glad you liked them.
Sooooo delicious!!!
Thank yoU!
I need to apology to you I just took small bite and there are good.buti was pretty scared the batter was thick .But yes too many ads.keep up the good work iam truly sorry and fans there are good
Haha thx!
I am sure your recipe might work if you didn’t have all of the fucking ads over the instructions.
Good luck with your reviews.
Haters gonna hate, taters gonna po-tate
if you dont like them then why did you even bother to leave a comment J🤨