These cinnamon apple muffins are full of fall flavor! Loaded with diced apples and rolled in cinnamon sugar these moist muffins are easy to make for breakfast or snack.
I love baking with apples during the fall! Favorites include apple crepes or apple desserts like apple cobbler or apple dump cake.
Table of Contents
Apple Cinnamon Muffins
These cinnamon apple muffins have a moist and tender crumb with chunks of freshly chopped apples mixed throughout. They’re finished with a buttery cinnamon sugar topping that adds a rich sweet flavor plus can be prepped in just 15 minutes!
I love to make a big batch of these and my applesauce muffins then freeze half for an easy breakfast option. They are one of my favorite fall snacks, along with easy pumpkin muffins with a cake mix and pumpkin banana bread. Add a cup of hot chocolate and this treat just became dessert!
Why I Love This Recipe
- Fall flavor and texture. These apple muffins are soft and moist from the oil and buttermilk with chunks of fresh apples and a topping of sweet cinnamon sugar.
- Freezer friendly. Double the batch and freeze half of these cinnamon apple muffins for a quick grab-and-go breakfast with a smear of apple butter.
Recipe Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Apples: I love to use peeled and diced Granny Smith apples when making these muffins. They’re sweet, and crisp and will hold their shape when baking.
- Baking staples: All-purpose flour, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, and salt.
- Spices: Add warm fall flavor by using a combination of apple pie spice and ground cinnamon.
- Oil: This makes the muffins super moist and tender. Vegetable oil is my preference, but canola oil or coconut oil would also work.
- Apple sauce: For even more apple flavor and a moist texture.
- Buttermilk: Made with a simple mixture of milk and vinegar, buttermilk helps to make these muffins super light and soft.
- Topping: Similar to my favorite Snickerdoodle muffins, melted butter, cinnamon, and sugar are added on top to give these apple muffins the ultimate finishing touch!
How to Make Cinnamon Apple Muffins
Whisk together the vegetable oil, apple sauce, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk and mix until well combined. Whisk together the dry ingredients with spices then pour combine flour mixture with wet ingredients.
Add the diced apples into a separate bowl and toss with a little bit of flour and cinnamon. This gives them more flavor, as well as prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin pan.
Gently fold the diced apples into the batter until combined. Divide batter between the paper liners and 12-cup muffin tin and bake at 375°F for about 30 minutes. Remove from pan and place on wire cooling rack.
Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Brush the tops of the muffins with melted butter, then roll into the cinnamon sugar mixture until well coated.
Tips and Variations
- Grated apples. During testing, I grated the apples. While I prefer the diced apples for flavor and texture, you can use grated apples for a more dense muffin.
- Add-ins. These apple muffins would taste delicious with chopped pecans or walnuts added in. You can also add more fall spices for a bolder flavor, such as nutmeg, all-spice, or cardamom.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Rolling them in a buttery cinnamon sugar mixture after baking makes these scrumptious but you can sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar.
- Other toppings: Feel free to use a streusel topping or make an easy crumb topping. You could also leave off the topping and drizzle with a sweet maple glaze instead.
Want more muffin recipes? Snack on these delicious pumpkin crumb muffins, banana bread muffins, or morning glory muffins.
More Apple Recipes
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Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Video
Ingredients
Muffins
- 2 Granny Smith apples , peeled and finely diced (about 2 cups)
- 2 cups + 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour , divided
- 2 teaspoons apple pie spice , see notes
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon , divided
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup apple sauce
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
Topping
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2-3 Tablespoons melted unsalted butter
Instructions
Muffins
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Generously grease or line with muffin cups a 12-cup muffin tin.
- Toss apples with flour and spices. In a medium bowl, toss 2 cups diced apples, 2 teaspoons flour, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
- Wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup oil, 1/4 applesauce, and 1 cup sugar until combined. Beat in 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla, and 1/2 cup buttermilk until well combined.
- Dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons apple pie spice and 1/2 teaspoon remaining cinnamon. Stir flour mixture into wet ingredients. Fold in the apples.
- Bake. Divide batter evenly between the tin cups. Bake 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the edges are golden. Remove pan from oven and place on a cooling rack.
Topping
- In a small bowl, stir together 2 Tablespoons sugar and 1 Tablespoon cinnamon. Brush the tops of the muffins with 2-3 Tablespoons melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
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Recipe FAQs
In this case, there are a few key ingredients included in this recipe that make these easy apple muffins so moist and delicious. The apple sauce, vegetable oil, and buttermilk all contribute to the perfectly moist texture, so I wouldn’t recommend making substitutions that could alter the consistency.
The best apples to bake with are varieties that are crisp with a sweet flavor. You want them to be able to hold their shape when baking. No one likes mushy apples!
I prefer to use Granny Smith apples in this apple muffin recipe, although Honeycrisp is another great option.
You can also make these into mini apple muffins for a smaller bite. Simply bake in a mini muffin pan at 375°F for about 16 to 18 minutes. This recipe will make about 48 mini muffins.
These muffins do taste best served the first day (especially warm!) but will stay fresh at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can freeze them for up to 3 months. Let thaw at room temperature for about 1 hour prior to enjoying, or thaw in the microwave until warm.
Categorized as: American, Bread, Breakfast, Freezer-Friendly, Muffins, Muffins, Nut-Free, Snacks, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
Made this with grandkids. Very moist and dense. We loved that they weren’t to sweet. We didn’t put glaze on top.
These apple muffins are so good and easy to make. A great mix of flavor and the perfect muffin for people who love apples.
My family loved these muffins! We will be making it again and again this fall!
These were absolutely perfect for a fall breakfast! Thank you so much for sharing these with us!
Great combination of flavors in these muffins. They were so good so I made a second batch and froze them for quick breakfasts during the holiday rush.
Delicious muffins- they were super soft and my kids devoured them for breakfast. It was a nice way to get my fruit hating toddler to finally eat some!
So glad your kids enjoyed them!
Such a perfect treat to make for everyone. Now, they are asking me to make another batch of it, it’s delicious!
These muffins look really tasty and I like that they can be frozen and eaten later on as well.
We went apple picking this morning, and I needed to make some more mini muffins for school lunches. These are delicious! I froze the rest and will take them out and put them in their lunches frozen. They will be perfect come lunch time!
Delicious!
This is one of the most comforting and delicious muffin recipe. Almost my go to recipe any time I have excess apples.
First of all, this is a such cute muffin, it has great appealing, especially to our kids! Second, this looks absolutely yummy! Loved it!