Description
These Apple Muffins are serving up delicious, bakery-style vibes with crumbly cinnamon streusel. The muffins are incredibly moist, full of warm spices, and packed with bits of fresh apple pieces strewn throughout. A sweet and luscious apple cider cinnamon icing is the (optional) finishing touch on these irresistible muffins!
Ingredients
For the streusel topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted & slightly cooled
For the apple muffins:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream
- ½ cup apple butter (or applesauce as sub)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla essence (extract or paste)
- 1 large honey crisp apple, cored & finely chopped (skin-on or off)
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, to coat chopped apples
For the icing (optional but recommended):
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons apple cider beverage (not vinegar!)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla essence (extract or paste)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners. Alternatively, you can spray the wells with nonstick cooking spray. Then set aside.
- Make the streusel topping. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon and whisk to combine. Pour in the melted butter and stir until the mixture resembles coarse, sand-like crumbles. I like to use my hands to form the streusel. Then set aside until ready to use.
- Build the apple muffins. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and whisk the dry ingredients well to thoroughly combine and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the eggs, brown sugar, oil, sour cream, apple butter, and vanilla essence and whisk the wet ingredients well to fully combine. Add the flour mixture into the bowl with the wet mixture and mix until just combined with no remaining flour streaks.
- In a medium bowl, combine the chopped apple pieces and 1 tablespoon of flour. Toss the mixture together until the apples are well coated in flour. Then gently fold the flour-coated apples into the muffin batter.
- Use a large, spring-loaded scoop or spoon to fill the muffin liners/wells with an even amount of batter, filling each all the way to the top. Then sprinkle a generous amount of streusel topping onto the top of each muffin, gently pressing it down so it sticks. Place the muffins into the oven and reduce the heat to 375°F.
- Bake the muffins for 25-27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
- Make the icing & finish. In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar, apple cider beverage, and vanilla essence. Whisk the mixture until well combined and silky smooth. Drizzle the icing over the slightly cooled muffins. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
- Gluten-free needs? Swap the all-purpose flour for any gluten-free baking flour as a 1:1 ratio (we love Bob’s Red Mill gf flour!).
- Please read blog post in its entirety for more tips + tricks.