Cinnamon Streusel Apple Muffins
Tender and flavorful bakery style cinnamon streusel apple muffins loaded with tart bites of fresh apple and spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla. They aren’t complete without the delicious brown sugar cinnamon streusel crumb topping and an easy vanilla glaze.
Cinnamon streusel apple muffins
Are you ready for Fall? Or still clinging to these last languid days of Summer?
I’m somewhere in the middle, excited to finally have a kitchen to get back to (and in turn start baking again), but also loving all the late-season produce still beaming from produce bins at the market. Peaches, plums, tomatoes, sweet corn… it’s all still calling my name.
…But apples – spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla, and folded into a buttery muffin batter and generously topped with a crumbly brown sugar streusel – sound pretty great too.
When I first baked these apple crumb muffins, years ago now, the leaves were just beginning to change in the middle of Georgia; the fall foliage creeping in with vibrant bursts of crimson and golden yellow. Autumn beginning in fits and starts, flirting between the mid-eighties one day, and a full twenty degrees cooler the next. Summer’s last gasps in late-September.
I was however, quite stubbornly set to autumn, our little apartment kitchen filled with the aromas of fall baking, slow-braised stews, and hearty, simmering soups.
Inspired by the start of apple season, and tempted by the many lovely varieties, beautifully-stacked and practically glowing on display, I’d over-indulged at the market, and needed a new recipe to feature my hoard.
A few of the tart varieties made their way into these simple, but flavorful muffins, elevated beyond their humble appearance with a bevy of spices, an irresistible streusel crumb topping, and an optional (but recommended) vanilla glaze.
The ingredients you’ll need to bake apple streusel muffins
These ingredients list for these apple crumb muffins may seem long, but they’re mostly pantry staples. If you bake often, you probably have most of them on hand right now. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- apples: these wouldn’t be apple crumb muffins without some fresh chopped apple mixed in. I most often use Honeycrisp apples, but any firm, sweet-tart variety will work. It’s worth the extra step to peel your apples, and dice them small so they incorporate evenly throughout the batter.
- flour: regular all-purpose flour forms the base of these muffins. For the best soft and tender texture, be sure to measure your flour carefully (and if possible use a baking scale), and be sure not to overmix.
- baking powder and soda: for just the right amount of lift and perfect, gently domed muffin tops.
- salt: to intensify all the other flavors. My favorite Kosher salt is Diamond Crystal.
- warming spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves are a match made in heaven with sweet apples and a buttery streusel. You could also use an apple or pumpkin pie spice blend.
- butter: for lots of flavor. Creaming the butter with sugar also creates a moist, tender muffin crumb.
- granulated sugar: for sweetness. We’ll also bring in some caramel and butterscotch notes from brown sugar in the streusel topping.
- eggs: for lift and a tender crumb. See the recipe notes on making these egg free.
- vanilla: always a splash of the good stuff.
…and all topped with a buttery cinnamon streusel crumb. It’s a classic streusel, made with flour, white and brown sugars, cinnamon, and melted butter, and really takes these apple muffins to the next level.
But we’re not done yet. You can stop there, of course, and you’ll have a perfectly delicious apple crumb muffin. But add a drizzle of simple vanilla glaze and you’ve got full blown apple cinnamon roll meets coffee cake meets spice cake or really just, the ultimate Fall muffins.
Find all the exact measurements and full recipe instructions below.
We were fortunate in Washington to have incredible apples nearly year round, and spoiled via the wonders of cold-storage, it’s easy to forget that apples have a season. But they are sweeter, fresher, crisper during the actual fall harvest season, beginning as early as August.
There was a community apple orchard in our first neighborhood in Tacoma, and I used to love to stop by this time of year in the early morning and pick a handful of different varieties of apples – bright, tart greens, and rosy pinks, and dainty, dark purple beauties – a few for snacking, but most destined to make their way into sweet muffins, or classic apple pie, apple cider cinnamon rolls, or gooey caramel crumb bars.
Because that classic combination of apples with cinnamon and sugar is hands-down my very favorite and just too hard to resist.
And decked with a chunky cinnamon streusel topping and bursting with apple flavor, these indulgent little apple muffins, somewhere between breakfast and dessert, are an especially sweet way to start the day. Happy baking!!
Other easy and delicious apple recipes to bake right now:
- Classic apple pie
- Baked apple donuts
- Apple cider cinnamon rolls
- Homemade apple hand pies
- Caramel apple crumble bars
If you make these apple streusel muffins, be sure to tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #forkknifeswoon and leave a comment and rating below letting me know how you liked them! ★★★★★ Star ratings are especially helpful because they help others find my recipes too. xo, Laura
PrintCinnamon Streusel Apple Muffins
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: Makes 12 Muffins 1x
- Category: Baking, Dessert, Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Tender and flavorful bakery style cinnamon streusel apple muffins loaded with tart bites of fresh apple and spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla. They aren’t complete without the delicious brown sugar cinnamon streusel crumb topping and an easy vanilla glaze.
Ingredients
for the cinnamon streusel topping:
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (packed) light or dark brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp organic cane sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
for the apple muffins:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup organic cane sugar
- 2 large eggs ¹
- 1–1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1–1/2 cups (about 2 small) tart apples, peeled and diced
for the vanilla glaze:
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
- 1–1/2 Tbsp whole milk
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the cinnamon streusel topping:
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cane sugar, and cinnamon until combined.
- Stir in the melted butter until incorporated, then use your fingers to form thick crumbs. Set aside.
Make the apple muffins:
- Preheat the oven to 425℉. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or lightly grease with butter or nonstick baking spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.
- Using a stand up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Turn the mixer down to low, and add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
- Add the flour mixture to the mixer along with the chopped apples, and switch to a spatula to mix until just combined. Be careful not to over mix. The batter will be very thick.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Top with the streusel, pressing the crumbs gently into the tops of the muffin batter.
- Bake at 425℉ for 5 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down to 350℉, and continue baking for another 12-15 minutes, until the muffin tops are golden and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven, and allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin, before transferring to a baking rack to cool completely.
Make the vanilla glaze:
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the confectioners sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle over the warm muffins. Enjoy!!
Notes
¹ I have made these apple muffins with flax eggs, and the recipe works, they still taste great, but they may not rise quite as high as the original version. To replace 2 eggs simply stir together 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed with 5 Tbsp water in a small bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes while you’re getting the rest of the ingredients together (it will thicken up), and add to the batter in place of the eggs.
Adapted from Taste of Home.
Keywords: streusel muffins, apple muffins, apple crumb, crumb muffins, cinnamon streusel, easy, brown sugar, apple pie spice, bakery style muffins, fresh apple muffins, breakfast muffins
Originally published on September 27, 2012. Updated with recipe photos by Laura Kasavan, of the lovely desserts blog Tutti Dolci.
These were great! Perfect texture with a mix of pillowy muffin and crunchy streusel topping plus glaze. In my oven, I needed 18 minutes @350.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Leslie!!
Made these for my family, they loved them. The batter was so thick I wasn’t sure what to expect…DELICIOUS!!!!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Jill!!
How long can the muffins be stored before they go bad?
Hi, Malaya! I’ll keep mine covered on the counter for a day or two, and then they’ll last in the fridge for up to maybe a week? You can also freeze them 🙂
I don’t have a cookie scoop. How much do I fill the muffin tin?
Hi Michelle! You can start by filling each about halfway full and then just divide the batter equally. This will make exactly 12 muffins. Enjoy!
Just made this recipe and I’m in love with these muffins. At first I was a bit alarmed at how thick the batter was (you did say it was thick), thinking did I miss a wet ingredient or something. The muffins came out moist and crunchy on top. It had that nice muffin mound too. Definitely will be making these again next apple picking season.
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Christina!! So happy they were a hit! 🙂
Loved this recipe! I substituted Turbinado sugar for the organic cane sugar (1:1) . Turbinado sugar is boiled once when processed so it retains a little more moisture than other types of sugars, and it still has a bit of molasses which I think is a great accompaniment to the clove/cinnamon/ginger flavors in this recipe. The extra moisture in the sugar made the muffins super soft and moist inside and the crunchy streusel topping was a great texture contrast. Will be using this recipe again!
★★★★★
Thank you so much for all the tips, Angie!! So happy you loved the recipe as much as we do 🙂
they’re not bad. too much baking soda, but something is missing. turn down the oven too to 400 or even 375 cause they were raw in the middle but suuuper brown when i took them out. i put them back in for another five and geez, they still weren’t done all the way through. kinda disappointing
★★★
Hi, Lindsay! I’m sorry to hear the muffins didn’t turn out how you were expecting. It sounds like your oven might be running hot or maybe you forgot to turn the oven down to 350 after the first 5 minutes of baking? The outsides should definitely not burn before the muffins have fully baked. The first hotter temperature is intentional, and promotes tall, bakery-style muffin tops and the lower temp for the second part of baking allows the muffins to fully cook through, so I wouldn’t recommend changing the temperatures I’ve listed. I use an oven thermometer to make sure my oven is truly baking at the same temp it says it is (sometimes they can be quite off). Hope that helps!
So delish! My family loved them! Recipe is saved.
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Jen!! 🙂
I baked these today for my three teenage grandchildren. They said they were amazing and the whole family loved them. Oldest granddaughter said, they are seriously amazing.
Followed the recipe to the T and they turned out incredible! Wish I could post a picture!
★★★★★
Thanks so much!! 🙂
These are absolutely perfect. We loved the crunchy topping and the glaze. We are making these again for friends. Thank you so much.
★★★★★
I have made this recipe five times now and I always get relatives and friends asking for more. Five stars all the way across the board but I would recommend on the strudel topping not to melt your butter all the way when you mix it that way it makes it more crumbly.
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Mrs. Gibbs!! I’m so happy to hear these are a hit with you and your friends!! 🙂
These muffins are amazing, they stay fresh for a few days (but they won’t last that long). I personally ate 3 in one day. I like that the ingredients are staples in my kitchen. The only change I made was I didn’t have 2 of the spices on hand so I used 1 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie instead of the listed spices. They were perfect. Gonna make another batch today , because the ones I made yesterday are gone.
★★★★★
So happy you loved them! Thanks, Denise!
If making mini muffins, what time/temperature would you use?
I haven’t tested these as mini muffins, but I would probably skip the initial higher baking temp, and try baking at 375 for 9-12 minutes. Just be sure to keep an eye on them. Let me know how they turn out!
WOW! These are seriously amazing!!! So glad I found the recipe and made them! Better then some bakery muffins I’ve had!
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Michelle! So happy to hear you love these as much as we do 🙂
Made these muffins yesterday and they are DELICIOUS! I made the mistake of cutting up my apples a little too small and they virtually disappeared so next time i will dice them a little bigger. This was not a recipe issue….just my own mistake. I will absolutely make these again! 4th time I have used a recipe from your site and have not been let down at all! That’s impressive! Thank you so much for the very easy to follow and tasty recipes!☺
★★★★★
Love this recipe! Just made these and they are so yummy and the crumble topping is the best. Full of flavor and the smell of these muffins throughout the kitchen was divine.
★★★★★
Oh, I’m so happy to hear it! Thanks, Melissa!!
These are the best muffins! Love the warming spices, and the crumble + glaze puts these over the top for fall! 🙂
★★★★★
Thank you, Laura!! You made them look even better 🙂
Sounds sooo yummy! Can I make this into a coffee cake, instead of 12 muffins? If so, what size pan, and how long to bake?
Hi, Angelina!! I’m not sure, as I haven’t tested it as a cake (although the idea sounds amazing!). I’m guessing it would be something like 350 degrees F. for 45-60 minutes. I’d probably use a lightly-greased 9-inch pan. If you make it, I would love to hear how it turns out!! 🙂
Thank you, I’ll give it a try. I’ll do the old ‘tooth-pick test’ before taking it out of the oven. Your suggestion is appreciated, and I’ll definitely try it.
Have your tried this yet Angelina?
I actually made this recipe in a 9in pan as suggested per your comment and it turned out AMAZINGLY! Thanks so much for the recipe. I’m making again today for my fiances birthday as he loved strudel on any baked good. Only this time I am omitting the apples per his request! Thanks again for the awesome recipe!
Found this on Supercook.com, and it lead me to your site. I LOVED these!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Peggy!
What a great way to greet fall!
★★★★★
Thanks, Louise!!
Delicious muffins. Great pairing with a cup of tea on a cool morning.
Thank you Kristina! They are perfect for breakfast…