Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
These Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins are made with an easy, one bowl muffin batter, and plenty of fresh, ripe apples. The muffin batter is scooped into muffin liners, then a layer of cinnamon sugar is sprinkled on the batter, Additional batter is scooped on top, along with a buttery cinnamon streusel. These muffins are moist, soft and are always a hit!
When apple picking season is here, I like to find every recipe I can that uses apples, because I always pick way too many apples. These apple muffins are one of my favorite bakes with apples. I like muffins, because they are so versatile. You can eat them as a bit of an indulgent breakfast, have them as a snack during the day, or enjoy them for dessert.
This apple muffin recipe uses a standard muffin base, which you will see appear in a few other muffin recipes I’ll be sharing on this blog. The batter produces a delicious, moist, soft muffin. It has the perfect amount of sweetness and flavor to it. I’m thinking chocolate chip muffins may be my next muffin recipe I share with this batter. What do you think? I also like that the muffin batter can be made in one bowl. No mixer needed.
Here’s what you need to know…
This apple muffin recipe is versatile. If you don’t want streusel on top or icing, you are more than welcome to skip one or both. Perhaps if you choose to eat these for breakfast you may choose to skip the streusel and/or icing. You’ll still get a delicious warm taste from the cinnamon sugar swirl and fresh, juicy apples.
How to pick the best apples for baking
When baking with apples, you want to pick apples that are firm. Since this apple streusel muffin recipe only uses 1-2 apples, you can use either sweet or tart apples. I used Honeycrisp apples in mine, but you could also use Granny Smith, Fuji and Pink Lady. If a recipe calls for a lot of apples, I like to use a mix of sweet and tart apples.
Why this muffin batter works
This apple cinnamon muffin batter is made in one bowl. It uses oil instead of butter, which makes the muffin more moist. Butter will add a more rich flavor, but I found making muffins with butter tended to yield a more dry muffin. The batter is sweetened with an equal mixture of brown and white sugar. The brown sugar helps to add more moisture to the batter. However, using all brown sugar would weigh down the muffin. The addition of white sugar helps create the perfect sweetness while keeping the muffin light and airy. I like to mix the wet ingredients together first, then add in the dry ingredients.
These apple cinnamon streusel muffins have lots of fresh apples folded into the batter. They also have a beautiful layer of cinnamon sugar in the middle of the muffins. The muffins can truly be customized to yield a variety of different flavors. Stay tuned for future recipes using this same, simple batter with new flavors. Let me know what you’d like to see first!
Making your own bakery style muffin liners
You can certainly use store bought cupcake liners for these apple cinnamon muffins. However, if you’d like to add an extra touch to make your muffins look more elegant, or like the local bakery down the street, make your own liners. The muffin liners are easy enough to make. Cut a piece of parchment paper into a 5 inch by 5 inch square. Place the square on the bottom of a glass. Using your hands, gently run your hands down the side of the glass, pressing the parchment paper along the side of the glass. Insert the muffin liners into your 12-count muffin tin. They may not stay in super well until you scoop the batter into them. These muffin liners are taller than a standard store bought cupcake liner, so it allows for your muffins to be a bit taller.
Have you made these?
Let me know if you give this apple cinnamon streusel muffin recipe a try! I’d love to hear your feedback below in the comments and ratings. Your comments help me improve my recipes! Also, make sure you find me on youtube and instagram. You can see the full baking video for these apple streusel muffins as well as some fun behind the scenes.
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Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
These Apple Cinnamon Muffins are made with an easy, one bowl muffin batter, and plenty of fresh, ripe apples. The muffin batter is scooped into muffin liners, then a layer of cinnamon sugar is sprinkled on the batter, Additional batter is scooped on top, along with a buttery cinnamon streusel. These muffins are moist, soft and are always a hit!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups apples, peeled and chopped
Cinnamon Sugar Swirl
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Streusel
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Vanilla Icing
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-count muffin tin with cupcake liners, or you may make your own liners. Cut 5 inch x 5 inch parchment paper squares. Place the center of the square on bottom of glass, and using hands, firmly press parchment paper against sides of glass. Place the muffin liners in muffin tin. If they don’t stick down into the wells, don’t worry, the muffin batter will hold them down into the tin.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together oil and sugars until combined. Add in the eggs and milk mix until combined. Add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix just until combined. Fold in the apples.
3. In a small bowl, add ingredients for streusel. Using a fork, press the butter into the dry ingredients, until pea sized morsels are formed.
4. In a small bowl whisk together cinnamon and sugar for cinnamon sugar swirl.
5. Scoop roughly 1 tablespoon muffin batter into prepared muffin tin/liners. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over batter. Evenly divide remaining batter over top of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Sprinkle the streusel over the muffins.
6. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. In a small bowl, stir together ingredients for icing. Drizzle with icing. Serve and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 25
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Easy and delicious!
Debbie,
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed them! Thanks for making the recipe :).
-Jolene
It sounds delicious! Will avocado oil work with this recipe?
Colleen,
Yes, avocado oil is a great substitute because it doesn’t really have any taste, so it won’t change the taste of the muffins. You can substitute as a 1 to 1 ratio. Hope you enjoy!
-Jolene
Made these to take to work for my birthday. Did double the quantity and used apples from my garden. Turned out lovely and went down well at work! Will definitely make them again.
Jan,
First of all, happy birthday! I hope you had a wonderful day :). So happy to hear that doubling the recipe worked out perfectly and everyone enjoyed them. That makes me so happy to hear! Thanks for making them.
-Jolene
Easy to make and absolutely delicious. I usually make Jewish apple cake in the fall. This will be our new favorite!
Wow, what an honor! I am so happy to hear how much you enjoyed these. Thank you for making them! 🙂
-Jolene
What an easy recipe to make, the muffins are so moist and full off flavour. I will definitely be making them again.
Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe with us 😁
Michelle,
I am so glad you got to try the muffins and enjoyed them so much :). And, of course, I’m always happy to share recipes for others to enjoy!
-Jolene
The muffins in the photos appear large. Did you use the larger muffin tins or small, basic cupcake- size?
Taylor,
It may have just been the angle of the photo, but I just used regular basic cupcake size for the muffins. Hope you enjoy 🙂
-Jolene
I made these and they were very good. I did not make the icing for on top since there was enough sugar. Next time will use paper inserts instead of the parchment paper as they were hard to fill.
Jayne,
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed them! Thanks for making my recipe :).
-Jolene
These look delicious!! Wondering if I could replace the oil with applesauce. Not sure if it would work, let me know your thoughts.
Thank you!
Barb,
Technically you can replace the oil with applesauce in a 1:1 replacement. However, using all applesauce I feel results in a denser, chewier muffin, rather than light and fluffy. I, personally, would try replacing half of the oil with the applesauce. I think you’ll still have a light, tender muffin. I hope that helps! And if you decide to try replacing all of the oil with applesauce, let me know how it turns out! Hope you enjoy 🙂
-Jolene
Made the Apple cinnamon muffins this afternoon. They are delicious shared them with my children and they are raving about them. Thank you for this delicious recipe.
Ursula,
I am so glad that your family loved them so much!! Thank you for making my recipe :).
-Jolene
I made these and my family loves them! Thank you for sharing the recipe! Do the leftovers need to be refrigerated after baking?
Jess,
I am so glad you and your family loved them so much :). You can store them covered at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator up to one week. I like to put the muffins in a zip-top bag.
Thanks for making my recipe!
-Jolene