These Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins are a simple breakfast recipe for fall mornings.
Watch the short video showing you how to make these Apple Cinnamon Muffins, then scroll to the end of this post and print out the recipe so you can make them at home!
Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins
These muffins are wonderful because they have a delicious layer of crumb on the tops. If you’re anything like me, I like to eat the crumbly top before I devour the rest of the muffin! There are tips in the recipe below for flour substitutions and how to cut down on fat.
When my now 6 foot 4 giant child was a wee one, we used to pack the car with a picnic and head to the local San Diego mountains on fall weekends. Those weekends are full of great memories such as going to the pumpkin patch and running through the corn maze, standing on tippy toes near the fences to pat the horses and dig into sheep fur, and sipping hot apple cider when there was a good chill in the air.
We often took our family photo at the pumpkin patch– standing in the remains of a long-ago picked corn field. Those were the days. And they were days I likely won’t be able to get back since 16 year olds aren’t so hip on hanging out with their parents at pumpkin patches any more!
The best part of those fall weekends was our time at the apple-picking orchards. If you’ve never been apple picking, it’s one of those things you must do. It’s not even like the apples are the best apples you’ve ever eaten, but the experience of walking around with a bucket and picking apples directly from the trees is super fun. And it’s really a nice thing for the kids to experience too.
Be sure to investigate (Google!) to see if you have any apple orchards near you. Usually they invite the public in to pick their own apples for a certain dollar amount per basket or by the pound. It’s so much fun!
Kids have always read in books that apples come from apple trees. But to actually stand in front of an apple tree, pick apples and put them in a basket, that’s a completely different experience. They’re seeing the connection between plants and food and what we can create at home with that food. That’s so important!
The best part of the whole apple picking experience is coming home with loads of apples and deciding what you’re going to make. I always make a good batch of applesauce with my apples. And baking cakes, apple bread and these Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins is most often on the agenda too!
Ask your kids what they’d like to make with your bounty of apples, and get them in on the cooking and baking action. You’ll create wonderful memories!
Here are a few baking recipes to try if you have a bucket-full of apples!
If you happen to be following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you will find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card below.
Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Ingredients
MUFFINS:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup milk
- 2 medium apples (peeled, cored & chopped)
TOPPING:
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with paper muffin liners.
- In a medium bowl whisk together dry ingredients. Add oil, egg and milk and stir just until combined. Fold in apples. Divide batter between the 12 muffin cups.
- In a small bowl, mix topping ingredients, blending together with a pastry cutter or fork. Sprinkle over unbaked muffins.
- Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean.
Notes
- To lighten up the recipe a bit, fill the ⅓ cup measuring cup with ½ applesauce and ½ oil. The muffins will turn out just as moist.
- This recipe may also be made with white whole wheat flour in place of traditional whole wheat flour.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can i double this recipe?
probably!
I did double the recipe, they came out awsome! I used my Tupperware chopper and chopped the apples smaller than the 1st time, came out amazing! Hoping my co-workers like them! My adult son’s devoured them last time!
Taste is great but is dry. Only baked 15 min too.
These are delicious! My 2 apples were probably “large” instead of “medium” because I ended up with a ton of chopped apple. My muffins were probably just as much apple as muffin, but we ended up liking them like that. It’s always helpful to me when recipe authors give a specific amount of a fruit ingredient (“1 cup of chopped apples” vs. “2 medium apples, chopped”) since fruits vary in size.
Very good recipe except the measuring for the topping is inaccurate and isn’t enough to top all 10 or 12 muffins and the bake time and oven temperature is inaccurate. Using a brand new oven. 425 for 25 minutes is what these need following everything measured precisely per the recipe. Not sure if the author is using a measuring cup for all of this or not. Not sure if they’re going off of memory for oven temp and bake time.
How do these keep?
Room temp in a sealed container up to three days. Or you can pop them into the freezer for longer.
Absolutely incredible. I have made these a dozen times and they are amazing every time. Moist, delicious, full of cinnamon flavor and the topping is to die for. I make a whole bunch, let them cool, then wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them in a freezer bag. Pull one out, pop it in the Ninja on bake for five mins, and they taste fresh.
I loved this recipe. It’s quick to put together. Delicious , cheap and loved by the whole family -I have four kids. Thanks for this lovely recipe.
This is hands-down the best Apple Cinnamon Muffin recipe I have ever tried. Not only is the finished product super moist and flavoursome, but the addition of the crispy topping just brings it the the next level. I use this recipe as my go to for apple cake as well, and also a base for most of the other cakes I bake. Wonderful!
Not enough flour, should be 1 1/2. Cups all purpose flour !
It’s 1 cup all purpose and 1/2 cup whole wheat.
I’ve just made this recipe with some old apples that could only have been saved by turning them into something. I used three apples as they were small and I cut the sugar a bit as I don’t really like using so much sugar, especially as the muffins are mainly for my little guy for afternoon snacks. I also grated the apple coz the boy is fussy with bits of things. They’re in the oven now and looking great! Thank you for the recipe:)
This was the best muffin recipe I had ever made! Seriously, my family ate it all in 20 minutes. (It’s a big family.) 10/10!
Oh my God. These are incredible. I used all AP flour because I didn’t have whole wheat, and a small dash of vanilla, but other than that I didn’t change a thing and they are incredible. Even my two year old who is incredibly picky is wolfing it down, saying, “These are so good, Mommy!” I made 18 muffins instead of 12 to cut down on calories, used honeycrisp apples, and baked them for 15 minutes. Absolutely perfect. Thank you so so so much!!!