These moist apple muffins with a cinnamon streusel topping are sweet, tender, and studded with juicy apple bites. Whole wheat flour gives them a hearty texture that’s perfect for crisp fall days. They’re easy to make in 20 minutes with just a few pantry staples and fresh fall apples!
These apple muffins are one of my best fall apple recipes! They’re spiced and lightly sweet, with a moist, tender crumb studded with fresh bites of apple. And I can’t resist the topping, a crunchy cinnamon sugar streusel with just a hint of salt for contrast. These homemade apple muffins really are perfect, and so easy to make from scratch.
Reasons to Love This Moist Apple Muffins Recipe
- Apples in every bite. Folding chopped apples into the batter doubles the fresh fall flavors and packs in lots of extra moisture.
- Easy to make. Like apple bread and apple cookies, these muffins are quick to prepare. Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately, combine, and bake!
- Ready in 20 minutes. Have freshly baked, warm cinnamon apple muffins ready to eat in under 30 minutes. They’re great for weekends, brunches, and last-minute cravings.
- Crunchy crumb topping. The crumble topping is inspired by my Grandma’s blueberry muffins recipe. This has been one of my favorite muffins since I was a kid. Readers have found this to be a favorite as well!
Ingredients You’ll Need
These easy muffins are made with your standard muffin ingredients, plus a few fall additions to give them the warm flavor you expect from an apple dessert.
- Unsalted butter – If you use salted butter, consider including less added salt later on.
- Buttermilk – This creates a more tender crumb than regular milk.
- Egg and vanilla extract – Use pure vanilla extract (not imitation vanilla extract) for the best flavor.
- Flour – A combination of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour gives these muffins a tender, yet slightly heartier flavor and crumb.
- Brown sugar – You could use granulated white sugar, but the flavor won’t be quite as rich and caramelized.
- Baking powder and salt – To help these apple muffins rise. Check the expiration date on your baking powder to make sure it’s fresh and active.
- Spices – Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves give these muffins their warm spiced flavor. Substitute apple pie spice in place of the individual spices if needed.
- Apples – Choose sweet-tart baking apples with a crisp texture (see below). Peel and finely chop the apples before you start.
- Crumb topping – I include my grandmother’s famous cinnamon streusel recipe! All you need is sugar, flour, cinnamon, butter, and salt. Bring the butter to room temperature.
The Best Apples for Baking
There are many great apple varieties for baking, from Granny Smith to Honeycrisp to Braeburn. But my personal favorite is the Haralson apple. This variety originated right here in Minnesota, at the University of Minnesota, and I seek these apples out every year. Here are a few reasons why:
- They’re a great medium-sized apple to eat straight from the tree.
- I like their tart sweetness, juiciness, and crunch.
- It’s a sturdy apple that holds up very well in recipes and has great flavor even after being cooked or baked.
- I’m overtaken with nostalgia. My parents planted Haralson apple trees on the farm I grew up on in South Dakota. So each time I twist a Haralson from the tree and taste its familiar tartness…I’m right back there on the farm. A kid again, carefree!
How to Make Apple Muffins with Crumb Topping
These muffins are super easy to make. They bake in under 20 minutes, ideal for conquering any of your apple cravings!
- Mix the wet ingredients. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool. Meanwhile, whisk together buttermilk, egg, and vanilla in a bowl.
- Stir together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine both flours with sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices.
- Mix the batter. Stir the melted butter into the wet ingredients, then combine the wet and dry ingredients. Fold the apples into the batter.
- Portion the batter and add the crumble topping. Now, divide the batter among the muffin cups. Combine the crumble ingredients with a fork, cutting in the butter until you have pea-size crumbles. Sprinkle over the batter.
- Bake. Bake for 18 to 19 minutes, until puffed and a bit browned. Move to a wire rack to cool.
Tips for Bakery-Style Muffins
- Do not overmix the batter. Once you combine the wet and dry ingredients, mix just until there are no streaks of flour. It is normal for the mixture to be thick.
- Do not overbake. It’s very important not to over-bake these muffins, or you will lose some of their moisture. It’s actually better to just slightly under-bake them!
- Cut the apples into 1/4″ pieces. I think that 1/4″ apple pieces are the perfect size. They’re big enough to see and have a noticeable bite, but not too big that the muffins want to fall apart. You get a little chunk or two of apple in every bite!
Serving Suggestions
Of course, homemade muffins are always best on the day they are baked. Enjoy your apple crumble muffins slightly warm or at room temperature, spread with butter or drizzled with maple syrup or honey. If you want a reeeeeally special treat, serve these moist apple muffins with cinnamon honey butter. Peanut butter would also be delicious, and would turn them into a more filling breakfast!
How to Store Apple Muffins
- Store at room temperature. These apple muffins are best the day they are baked, as that is when the topping is the crunchiest. If you don’t eat them all the same day, I recommend storing them uncovered on the counter for a day or two. If you cover them, the moisture can cause the topping to become soft. They’ll still taste great, but won’t have that same crunch.
- Refrigerate or freeze. You can also place the muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator. And they freeze very well. Store them in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.
More Apple Recipes
Easy Apple Muffins
Yield: 12 muffins
These moist, tender apple muffins are filled with spice and studded with juicy apple bites! Topped with cinnamon streusel, they're ready in 20 minutes and perfect for fall baking.
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Ingredients
for the apple muffins:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1.25 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ⅔ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch of ground cloves
- 1.5 cups peeled and finely chopped apple – aim for apple pieces about 1/4″ or just a bit larger in size
for the cinnamon sugar crumble topping:
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature (do not melt!)
Instructions
- For the apple muffins: Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a regular muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
- Gently melt the butter (microwave or stovetop) and then set it aside to cool a bit.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Stir the melted butter into the wet ingredients and then add all the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Fold until combined, taking care to not over mix. The mixture will be thick.
- Fold in the apple pieces and then divide mixture evenly between the 12 muffin cups.
- For the cinnamon sugar crumble topping: In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt with a fork. Add the butter and cut it into the dry ingredients with the same fork until you have pea-size pieces of crumble topping. Sprinkle mixture over muffins.
- Bake: Bake until muffins are puffed and a bit browned, about 18 to 19 minutes, or just until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake, or you will lose some of the moistness. I would rather just slightly under bake these muffins than slightly over bake them! Remove from oven and let muffins rest for a minute or two before removing them to a wire rack to cool. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
The muffins are best the day they are baked, as that is when the topping is the crunchiest.
Notes
Adapted from my grandma’s blueberry muffins.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1 Calories: 230kcal Carbohydrates: 40g Protein: 4g Fat: 7g Saturated Fat: 4g Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 31mg Sodium: 170mg Fiber: 2g Sugar: 19g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a comment below. And share a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #afarmgirlsdabbles or tag @farmgirlsdabble!
This post was originally published in 2014 and updated in 2021.
these look amazing, I was wondering what you could replace the buttermilk with to make a non dairy option?
D(ivin)elicious!
This recipe has all of my favourite things. Will add walnuts to the crumb next time. Thanks for sharing :)
I love apple season. I’ve been making apple oatmeal and apple crisp all week. I might have to give these amazing looking muffins a try to mix things up!
Haralsons are our absolute favorite too! We combine them with Regent apples for just about everything we make, so I can’t wait to try that in these muffins. Yummy!
Wonderful! I’m not familiar with Regent, will check them out!
I don’t have whole wheat flour at the moment, can I use AP?
What a fun trip! The balloon picture is gorgeous!
Apples and cinnamon! The dream team, and one of my favorites! :)
Wow these look great! I live down the street from a local orchard in Indiana and I’ve been looking for recipes to try with apples! Thanks for sharing!
These look amazing!! Can’t wait to try them.