Apple Cinnamon Muffins February 16
I recently stopped in at a local cafe and ordered a tasty looking apple muffin to go with a cup of coffee. That muffin only had about two pieces of apple in the entire thing, and was pretty disappointing overall. Naturally, this set me on a mission to make a simple, tasty apple muffin.
Apple and cinnamon is always a great pairing, so I started with that as the flavor base for this muffin. There is cinnamon in the muffin batter, and the muffins are also topped with a cinnamon sugar mixture. While I do like a streusel topping for apple muffins as well, adding a simple sugar topping saves a lot of work and still gives them a nice little crunch and finishing flavor. I used plenty of diced apples in the batter, but these are high-rising muffins and there is enough batter around the apples that you won’t mistake these muffins for a miniature apple crisp or crumble.
The muffins are moist and tender - thanks in large part to the apples, but also because they include oil in addition to butter. Oil not only mixes in to a quick bread easily, but it helps the muffin to retain moisture, even if you end up storing these for a day or two before finishing the batch. The melted butter adds a lot of flavor that oil alone wouldn’t provide. These mix up quickly and are much more satisfying than the apple-less “apple” muffins from the coffee shop, if I do say so myself!
Apple Cinnamon Muffins
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups diced apple
3 tbsp coarse sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and spices.
In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar and egg. Whisk in melted butter, vegetable oil and vanilla. Working in two or three additions, alternately stir in flour mixture and buttermilk, ending with an addition of flour and mixing only until no streaks of flour remain visible in the batter. Stir in diced apple.
Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups filling each to the top, or slightly over.
In a small bowl, stir together coarse sugar and additional 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon. Sprinkle generously over muffins.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.
Cool muffins on a wire rack.
Makes 12.
Emily Feb 16
This recipe looks fantastic! About the buttermilk, though: do you think I’d be able to substitute something like yogurt? The buttermilk I’ve been able to get at the store has been… questionable in the past.
Nicole Feb 16
Emily - I would substitute 1 cup of milk + 1 tbsp vinegar for buttermilk. It comes out to be closer to the consistency of buttermilk than yogurt does and still has a little of that tang from the vinegar. The mixture will curdle a bit (kind of like buttermilk), so don’t worry if it looks odd before you add it in.
sara Feb 16
Yum, these look really terrific! I will have to give it a try.
Katie Feb 16
These look amazing. I wish I could have that for breakfast tomorrow.
Amy Feb 16
Wow, looks yummy~ I will try to bake it soon & let you know the result.
Sophia Feb 16
These look really good. I recently bought some new baking cups, so I have an excuse to bake these
raidar Feb 16
Looks great. Perfect snack muffin!
Elyse Feb 16
I’m in complete agreement: if you’re going to call a muffin “apple,” it should have lots of apple! Looks like your muffins have passed the test by far! Their high domes look fabulous, and I love a muffin made with oil for the tenderness. Can’t wait to try these!!
Becky Feb 16
These look great! I have made apple muffins before and they turned out a bit dry! I will have to try this recipe.
Thanks for sharing.
Sugar Duchess Feb 16
They’re so pretty! I’ll have to whip these up for breakfast sometime. Thanks for sharing!
dee Feb 16
i totally love your website. I just started on a cooking fiend. Resolution being I will make fabulous foods and pick up the culinary thumb. Your website definitely inspires me. kudos to your cooking skills and sharing it with the rest of us! :o)
nadia Feb 16
have just pop them in oven…waiting for my breakfast
Lizzybee Feb 17
These look delish, I can’t wait to try them. I have been making a packaged brand that is apple-cinnamon ‘flavored’ but doesn’t have any real pieces. Yummy, this is going to be good!
Niki Theo Feb 17
I love baking with apples. Pies, cakes, bread (which I am eating right now), anything… Now muffins. I made an apple cider caramel muffins once years ago and I was so disappointed on how bland they tasted. I am super excited to try these though!!!
Lisa Feb 17
These look delicious. I like a cinnamon/sugar topping better than a crumb topping because I always seem to wind up wearing the crumb topping.
I also hate fruit muffins with no fruit in them. I feel like I’ve wasted my money.
marguerite Feb 17
Yum!
Debbie Feb 17
What type of apples did you use? How many apples would equal 1 1/2 Cups? Also, I don’t have coarse sugar, would the same amount apply to regular sugar? Thanks!
Nicole Feb 17
Debbie - 1 1/2 cups of diced apple could be anywhere from 1 to 2 apples, depending on the size. You can use any apples you like for these; I used Fuji.
Pral Feb 17
Very tempting! Is it possible to make eggless muffins - if so what ingredient can be used to substitute? I am not very comfortable working with egg replacer available.
Martha in KS Feb 17
How do these compare to your previous recipe from 2005?
Nicole Feb 17
Martha - That recipe, which is linked to in the article, is heavier and even more moist, as it includes shredded apple (not applesauce) in the batter. It does not have chunks of apple in the muffin and has a minimal emphasis on cinnamon, using only a bit of it in the streusel.
Alisa - Frugal Foodie Feb 17
Those look so perfect!
Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. Feb 17
Oh, these muffins look so good (and I’m hungry, I just realized (baby has pooped and I could not finish my dinner)).
The photo is gorgeous.
Patricia Scarpin Feb 18
These look really good, Nic - and apple and cinnamon is a wonderful flavor combo. One the best.
vrinda Feb 18
Best Apple muffins i ever made ,thanks a lot…
Olivia Feb 18
Hm…how would these taste with toasted chopped walnuts or pecans? Or a swirl of caramel perhaps?
Emily Feb 19
These look fantastic! And, I completely agree about there being looks of apple. But, I have a question. Is there anyway to use whole wheat flour instead (or maybe white wheat)? Whould there need to be any modifications to the other ingredients?
Judy Feb 19
I just finished baking the muffins exactly as published. If it were not for the abundance of apple, these muffins are a total “non-starter”. If it were not for the apples, these muffins are pretty much “tasteless”. Further, there is not enough batter to fill the muffins to the top as the directions indicate. Anyone trying this recipe, should only fill the muffins tins to 3/4 full.
Deb Feb 28
Hate to say it but I agree with Judy - these are a bit bland for my tastes. However I did find mine made 12 exactly
chumpman Mar 9
Muffins look really tempting. Apple and cinnamon is such a perfect combination.
MojoMom Mar 16
I want to try these as well, as a healthy alternative breakfast for my 3, and 18 mo old. Just wondering about the buttermilk as well - any other substitution - I like the thought of yogurt. I will also try the PB Oatmeal Banana muffins.
Julia May 15
I just made a batch of these yesterday. The smell was wonderful! My boyfriend kept coming into the kitchen asking whether the muffins were done yet. I did find them a little bland freah out of the oven, but they were great after about an hour and even better today. I couldn’t find dried ginger, so I used very finely grated fresh ginger instead. Thanks so much for this great recipe.
Elise Oct 2
I made these last night and the batter fit perfectly into 12 muffin cups. They were delicious! I love how moist they were and the apple pieces were awesome. I agree with some of the comments that the taste is quite mild - I might increase the measurements on the cinnamon and ginger when I make them again. But I think it’s a really good recipe. A lot of muffin recipes end up dry but these did not at all, even though I had to bake them for 24 minutes because my oven is slow.
Erika Oct 18
This is exactly what I was craving this morning! They’re absolutely beautiful and delicious. I grated the apples coarsely instead of chunks (so my kids wouldn’t pick them out) - really fantastic. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!