Apple Muffins with Cinnamon-Sugar Topping
These apple-cinnamon muffins are packed with huge apple flavor thanks to apple cider and chopped, cooked apples, with a fabulous cinnamon-sugar crunch on top. You’ll want to make an extra batch or two to keep in the freezer!
Aside from the robust apple flavor, the topping on these muffins is absolutely TO DIE FOR… a combination of granulated and brown sugar, along with cinnamon – it’s a wonderfully sweet, crunchy coating and will make you want to save the top for last (at least, I did!).
Whether you go apple picking at a local orchard or just grab your favorites from the grocery store, these apple-cinnamon muffins NEED to go on your fall baking list. They’re not as quick to come together as most, but they are well worth every single second of prep time. We are obsessed with them!
How to make them from scratch
This recipe is a little bit of an exception to quick one-bowl muffin recipes since you cook the apples down with some butter and brown sugar first, but it is 100% worth the extra time. This is how we make them:
- Cook the apples with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until the moisture has evaporated. Set aside to cool.
- Prep the pan.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Whisk the wet ingredients.
- Add the apple cider, yogurt, and vanilla to the wet ingredients.
- Fold the wet ingredients and cooked apples with the dry ingredients.
- Divide between the muffin cups.
- Sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar topping.
- Bake until golden brown and there are a few moist crumbs on a toothpick.
Prepping the apples
The Best Apples to Use
The types of apples most preferred for baking need to be firm enough to hold their shape during the baking process and not turn to mush. While Granny Smith is a natural first choice, all of these other apples are fantastic (and delicious!) substitutes:
- Honeycrisp
- Jonagold
- Golden Delicious
- Pink Lady
- Braeburn
- Cortland
Chopped vs shredded
Cooking down chopped apples helps remove the excess moisture that would otherwise seep out if you were to stir uncooked apples into the batter, which would create dense and mushy muffins. We don’t want those!
If you prefer the texture of shredded apples throughout the muffins, I would recommend shredding on the large holes of a box grater and then cooking as directed in the recipe below, but you will not need to cook the shredded apples as long as the chopped apples.
P.S. I use my favorite swivel peeler to peel apples!
Mix-in ideas
If you want to change up the recipe a bit to suit your tastes or just want to try something different, here are a few ideas:
- Chopped Nuts: Walnuts or pecans would be delicious! Use ½ to 1 cup in the recipe.
- Raisins or other dried fruit: Chopped dates or cranberries would be delicious! Add ½ to 1 cup in the recipe.
Topping ideas
If you’d like to skip the cinnamon-sugar topping and try something different, here are a few ideas:
- Crumble topping: Use the topping from my New York crumb cake and sprinkle over the top of these muffins for something extra special!
- Chopped Nuts: Toss in a couple of tablespoons of finely chopped walnuts with the cinnamon and sugars for extra crunch.
- Drizzle with glaze: You can use this in addition to the cinnamon-sugar topping, or on its own. Whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar + 1 tablespoon milk + 1 teaspoon vanilla and drizzle over cooled muffins. You can replace the milk with apple cider or apple juice.
Muffin pans and liners
Any standard 12-cup muffin pan will work for these muffins. I’ve had the Wilton Everglide Avanti muffin pan for ages, but it is not readily available in most places anymore. If you can’t get your hands on one, my next recommendation is the USA Muffin Pan.
You can spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray or use liners. I’ve used tons of different types of liners over the years, and I absolutely prefer the basic white paper liners. You can find them at just about any grocery store or craft store, but they are incredibly inexpensive if you buy them in bulk online (and they last forever!).
Storing and freezing instructions
There are a few different options for storing these muffins:
- Room Temperature – Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerator – Kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator, these muffins will stay fresh for up to 1 week.
- Freezer – Once completely cooled, wrap each muffin in plastic wrap and place in an airtight container or ziplock freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
- To Reheat – Reheat in the oven (or toaster oven) at 350 degrees F, wrapped in foil, for 15 to 25 minutes. Reheat in a microwave – place on a plate, cover with a damp paper towel and heat for 15 to 30 seconds. In both cases, use the longer time if the muffins were cold or frozen; shorter time if they were at room temperature.
More of my favorite muffins:
- The Best Blueberry Muffins
- Morning Glory Muffins
- Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Banana Muffins
- Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Muffins with Pecan Streusel
- Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Muffins
If you make the apple muffins and love them, I would so appreciate it if you would take a moment to leave a rating below. Thank you so much! ❤️️

Apple Muffins with Cinnamon-Sugar Topping
Ingredients
For the Cooked Apples
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter
- 2 Granny Smith apples, 6½ ounces each, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces (3 cups)
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
For the Muffins
- 4 tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) ground cinnamon, divided
- 2½ cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
- 2½ teaspoons (2.5 teaspoons) baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) baking soda
- 1¼ teaspoons (1.25 teaspoons) salt
- 1 cup (198 g) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup (50 g) vegetable oil
- ½ cup (120 ml) apple cider
- ½ cup (113 g) plain whole milk yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Topping
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Cook the Apples: Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring often, until the moisture has completely evaporated and the apples are well browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- Prepare the Muffins: Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, eggs, oil, and melted butter until thick, about 30 seconds. Whisk the apple cider, yogurt and vanilla into the sugar mixture until combined.
- Fold the sugar mixture and the cooled apples into the flour mixture until just combined. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups (there should be about ⅓ cup of batter per cup, and the cups will be filled to the rim).
- Mix Together the Topping: In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon for the topping. Sprinkle the muffin tops evenly with the topping.
- Bake: Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 18 to 22 minutes, rotating the muffin tin halfway through baking. Let the muffins cool in the muffin tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and place on a wire cooling rack. Cool for 5 more minutes before serving. The muffins can be served warm or at room temperature. Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Apple Cider: Substitute equal amount of apple juice or other fruit juice (white grape juice is a great neutral-flavored option).
- Yogurt: Substitute an equal amount of sour cream or whole buttermilk. If using low-fat buttermilk, then only use ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons
- Add-ins & toppings: See suggested substitutions, combinations, and instructions in the post above.
- Equipment recommendations: My muffin pan / Another muffin pan / Paper liners / Box grater / Swivel peeler
- Mini muffins: This recipe will yield 24 mini muffins; bake for 10 to 14 minutes.
- Quick bread: You can use this batter to bake a quick bread. Spread it in a 9x5-inch loaf pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes.
- Storage: Store the muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Freezing: Once completely cool, the muffins can be wrapped in plastic wrap and transferred to an airtight container or zip-top bag and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
- Reheat - Reheat in the oven (or toaster oven) at 350 degrees F, wrapped in foil, for 15 to 25 minutes. Reheat in a microwave - place on a plate, cover with a damp paper towel, and heat for 15 to 30 seconds.
- Recipe from Cook's Country
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
[Photography by Ari of Well Seasoned]
I love all apple baked-goods! I made these for breakfast and I want to eat all of them right now! The
Fabulous! Thank you for recipe and your tips!
This was a great recipe. Nice flavor. My whole family enjoyed them. I will definitely make them again!
Amazingly delicious!!! Need to make more…✨🙏🏻✨ Thank you for the recipe…
I’m usually disappointed with my attempts at muffins. But these are wonderful! I had to keep myself from eating the apples right out of the skillet as they caramelized, lol. I glazed the muffins too. I wonder if a splash of a liqueur would be good in the glaze mix, hmmmm…
Even better, I get to bring some to my 91 year old dad today! I miss our regular visits, it’s doctor appts only now. So this will be a bright spot in his day! Thanks for a great recipe!
P.S. This morning I noticed some went missing after I went to bed last night. :)
These were fabulous!!! I used 2 granny smith’s and grated them. I only added walnuts to the crunchy topping (thanks for a great idea!). They were perfectly done in 20 minutes. I think this has become my favorite fall muffin! I can’t wait til they run out so I can make more. THANK YOU.
Wow I can’t wait to try these I bet they delicious 😋!! 🙂
Hi there, I’ve made this recipe twice now in the past week and find it very excellent. I had two quick questions.
When doing a double batch, I doubled the apples and the butter, is that necessary for when cooking the apples? Or should I use the same 2 tbsp?
Secondly, do you think switching yogurt for buttermilk would impact the taste and/or moisture of the cupcakes at all?
Great recipe! I cut the topping by a quarter and found that to really work for me.
Hi Brandon, I’m so thrilled you’re loving the muffins! I would definitely double everything for a double batch. You would be just fine switching buttermilk for the yogurt. Any difference in taste or texture would be slight.
Made these yesterday afternoon. They are ginormous (sp?) We had one for breakfast today with a cappuccino. My husband loved them!
I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed them!
Yay to Apple breads, Fall, and all things pumpkin…but where did Summer go? For that matter where did the year go…? Oh well, be in the moment, so on with the apples (but in a few weeks lol). I’m still hoping to wrap up the Summer still with something peachy and my sister and I are waiting on our heirloom tomatoes in her garden to turn red …but they sure better hurry up!😊
This looks an amazing & soo pretty and i love your pictures as well….I will made it now from your tips & recipe…Thanks for sharing a beautiful muffins Michelle…..!
yes, I second that. Her pictures are ALWAYS beautiful. Not just of her posted recipes, but also on Friday things the pics are always so special and so good.
These are awesome. I made mine into mini-muffins. I used cake flour in the place of the all-time flour. They turned out very light and airy. I will definitely make these again and pass along the recipe to my family and friends.
Another fabulous recipe. Followed exactly, the results are absolutely fabulous. The muffin top is a marvelous combination of GBD and sugary crunch. Interior is light and fluffy, great crumb, totally rockstar apple flavour and as moist ad can be.
I baked in 6 jumbo muffins, no adaptation required except cooking time increased to 25 minutes and a toothpick test
Scrumptious. Just like your insanely delicious NY Cheesecake.
Greeting from Toronto Canada
I just made these for me and my Dad and oh my goodness they are so good!
Hi Michelle, I love this recipe so much because my birthday is during fall! I was wondering how long I could store these muffins in my freezer?
Happy early birthday! These should be good for up to 3 months in the freezer. Enjoy!
seriously good! really fluffy and light and beautiful golden brown on them, even though i can’t bake, this turned out better than my hopes. Make SURE you put ALL of the apples, if not more. I put a bit less and was little disappointed with the lack of apple flavour/crunch because of that amount of apples i put instead of following the right amount, trust me, it might seem enough, but it isn’t. In my opinion the sugar topping was unnecessary. Otherwise amazing and will be doing this again!
These look delicious! By apple cider do you mean alcoholic cider? or like hot apple cider?
Hi Becky, Not alcoholic cider, and you don’t want it to be hot… grocery stores typically sell quarts or gallons of apple cider in the refrigerated produce section during the fall.
Hi, Michelle,
LOVE all your recipes. Had some honey crisp apples in the ‘frig for a while and decided to try these muffins.
I did substitute one other item besides the apples. I didn’t have apple cider; but used King Arthur Flour’s boiled cider. Did everything else as per the recipe; smelled delicious baking. Looked yummy (not quite as perfect as yours, but still ok). The only thing I didn’t get to do was to take them out of the muffin pan after cooling for 10 minutes, When I went to take them out of the pan, the tops had sunken in and they felt mushy, My husband and I ate one and it was almost as though the dough was unbaked? Do you think I left them in too long? When I checked them before taking them out of the oven, they seemed fine. Still delicious and would make again.
Hi Monica! I think the issue is probably with the substitution – the boiled cider has more of a syrup consistency than a liquid like regular apple cider, and I think it could have bogged down the batter.
Just made your muffins and I think you need to change the name to
OMG–Apple-Cinnamon Muffins!!
Seriously. Just heavenly.
Trying to attach a pic to this but can’t. Darn it.
Went to the local Orchard and used 3 honey crisps for your recipe along with the local fresh made cider.
Thank you for a perfect way to begin my fall baking!!
Oh, yah, and it is 86 here in CT but I just couldn’t wait to LET THE BAKING BEGIN !!
I made these tonight. I am usually a lets make it quick and get it done with so i feared making these. They took more work then usual. But with a capital B, my husband said the best muffins i have EVER made. I make a ton of muffins for school lunches. Last weeks muffins got a 1/10 this weeks 12/10.
So thank you for this recipe. I will make these again next week for my kids lunches.
I went to the orchard and got fresh apples and fresh apple cider.
This morning as I was fixing breakfast I was wishing I had the supplies on hand to make apple muffins, these sound delicious!
xoxo, SS
Southern And Style
I woke up this morning and decided I wanted to make these muffins. I was bummed to realize I didn’t have any apple cider so I used Apple juice. I also didn’t have any yogurt so I googled to see what, if anything, could be used. It suggested buttermilk for the yogurt. I went ahead and took a chance with buttermilk and decreased the amount as suggested so the batter wouldn’t be too runny. They were delicious!! I’ll have to make them again but this time, I’ll be sure to have the cider and yogurt.
Hi- I’m in my first trimester of pregnancy- do you think all the cinnamon is okay? I know you’re pregnant as well. Thank you!
I’ve never heard anything about avoiding cinnamon while pregnant? However, you should check with your doctor if you have concerns.
These look fabulous. I need to make a few substitutions, and wondering if it would be ok.
Can I substitute apple juice for apple cider? The cider is so expensive. What’s the diffference?
Can I substitute sour cream instead of whole milk yogurt? I don’t eat it regularly, and the rest will spoil. I eat nonfat yogurt.
Thank you, love your blog!!!
Judy
Apple juice is not a recommended substitute due to the sugar content. I haven’t tried using sour cream in place of yogurt, but it should be an okay substitute.
These are so perfect for Fall! I’m in the mood for something with apple! Love it.
This has been on my “must bake” list for a while now. I purchased the cider weeks ago in anticipation and have yet to get them in the oven. Glad to know they are great. I wouldn’t expect less from ATK.
This season is killing me. I love apples and they look so good this year but I’m pregnant and apples are the one food that consistently wreck my stomach. Even in the second trimester now! Torture.
These look pretty tasty – I especially like the look of the tops!
Good Morning!
Back in August I checked expiration dates and noted low supplies–giving my food pantry the annual fall clean out. Stocking back w/fresh supplies where needed such as spices, flour, sugars, dried cranberries, raisins, canned pumpkin, cinnamon and cloves……All the usual Fall Baking Suspects. This includes printing out and stockpiling your fall recipes as well as digging out the old tried and true that I’ve used for years. But temps were in the 90’s. So I waited for the temps to fall, and waited, and then waited I some more.
I even purchased a newly released Nordic Pumpkin Loaf Pan, special edition…..and it’s been sitting in my kitchen, lonely and collecting dust…..as I refuse to make a pumpkin bread unless the temps go below 70º!
Then low and behold, over here in CT, the temp was 50º when I woke up!!
Naturally I put a hand in the air and yelled “YESSSSS”!! It is time to BAKE.!!!
Now I just need to run out and grab some fresh apples because this Apple-Cinnamon Muffin recipe looks like the perfect Fall Welcome. ???
Thank you Michele and take care,
Brenda.
Great idea to do a Fall Pantry cleanout!!! I, too, held back on baking something ‘pumpkin’ and made Zucchini bread/muffins last weekend because it was ‘colder’ out. Yes, CT has gotten quite chilly today!!! BREAK OUT THE PUMPKIN RECIPES!
Hi Chris, Hi Michelle,
If you’re breaking out the pumpkin recipes, take a peek at this bad boy of a pumpkin bread loaf pan. I’ve been waiting to use it when it gets colder and will be the first thing I plan on making w/pumpkin. I’m assuming it will need a thorough greasing and flour prep and I plan on using a basting brush to get into the nooks and crannies of the pan for a perfect release. I give away about 20 pumpkin breads a year, to neighbors and friends, wrapped in clear loaf gift bag or plastic wrap and finished with a pretty fall ribbon.
I feel like a commercial, but I think this pan will make a gorgeous presentation as a gift. Oh, and Chris, from CT? Look at the forecast–going back into upper 80’s AGAIN. ? Hold back on those pumpkin recipes till at least Thursday.
https://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-88548-Botanical-Pumpkin/dp/B00ULHI00Y
Love an opportunity to let people know how much my great ,pumpkin Nordic pan has been the perfect half sized Bundt cake pan. One for the party, one for the freezer, maybe to give to a friend on her birthday, the Christmas bazaar, the school fund raiser. Ordered 3 this year for Christmas gifts. Use any mix, home made favorite.
I love the Fall mainly because my Birthday is this month, but Candy Apples have always signaled the Fall season for me. I started making my own after I couldn’t find the type I used to find when I was a kid. I gave a couple away to friends and coworkers for Birthday gifts and ended up selling 70 the first year and 92 of them last year. I’m already getting requests for them. ??
Can you share your recipe with us? They sound great, Thanks.
Michelle, You managed to put 10 – 20 pounds on me by just my reading this recipe!!! ;)
Om nom nommy nom nom! <— that is ALL I could think of while reading through and seeing all these wonderful photos!!
Rxx
http://www.peppermintdolly.com
Ooh yes bring on the apple! Just went apple picking- so these would be perfect for that bag on my counter! And freezing them for later :-) love it!
Scrolling through Bloglovin’ I just had to stop – can I compliment you on those photos, they are gorgeous! That little bit of sugar on the top makes it look so much more… fancy? I don’t know. It looks delicious in any way, and I’m a huge fan of Apple & cinnamon :)
As for your fall comment: I live in the Netherlands and it’s actually one of the hottest days of the year today… In September! So no, fall hasn’t started yet. It should start soon though, and I’m saving all these recipes for when it’s nice and cold outside!