Cinnamon Apple Streusel Muffins

Have all those apples from apple picking, or did you just overspend on bags of apples at the store? Been there. That's why these fluffy AF cinnamon apple streusel muffins exist. I'm not exaggerating when I say these are even better than an apple pie. Yes, I said it. BETTER.

When I have a slew of apples I typically make my apple cinnamon brioche french toast or my cinnamon apple galette, but there's something to be said about adding apples to a muffin batter. The fluff factor, the cinnamon, and I mean, you can never go wrong with a homemade streusel topping. WIN.

The Main Ingredients

1. Apples - Believe it or not, there are apples that better to bake with than to snack on. I prefer to use honeycrisp apples in my apple baking recipes. Other varieties include macintosh, braeburn, or cortlandt apples.
2. Eggs - Eggs are essential for structure, taste, and texture.
3. Oil - This adds fat and a moist mouthfeel to the muffins.
4. Milk - Any milk will work here, but the milk combined with the oil helps give the muffins a fluffy feel.
5. Vanilla Paste - Vanilla paste is a great ingredient to use in all baking as it lifts the flavors of other ingredients and leave specks of vanilla in the batter.
6. All Purpose Flour - A classic flour for all baking needs. It gives structure and binds the other wet ingredients together.
7. Cinnamon - It wouldn't be an apple recipe without cinnamon. Cinnamon brings warmth to the apple muffins.

How to make apple streusel muffins

Step 1: For the streusel topping, combine melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, and cinnamon with a rubber spatula until it forms crumbles. Set in the fridge to chill.

Step 2: Rinse, peel, then dice two honeycrisp apples.

Step 3: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla paste, oil, milk, and cinnamon until well combined and the cinnamon is distributed.

Step 4: Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder to the wet ingredients then fold together with a spatula.

Step 5: Once the majority of the flour is mixed in, pour in the apples and gently fold in until the apples are fully incorporated. Let sit on the counter for 10 minutes.

Step 6: Preheat the oven to 375º. Using a large cookie scoop, scoop the batter and add to the muffin tin, leaving space between each muffin. Top with a generous serving of streusel, then bake for 23 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing.

Apple Streusel Muffins FAQs

Looking for more muffins? Here's some of my favorites

Cinnamon Apple Streusel Muffins

Morgan Peaceman

These fluffy cinnamon apple streusel muffins are studded with soft cinnamon-spiced apples and piled high with a homemade streusel topping.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 23 minutes mins

Total Time 33 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 12 servings

Calories 268 kcal

Equipment

• ▢
  1-2 muffin tins with liners
• ▢
  spatula
• ▢
  2-3 mixing bowls
• ▢
  Cookie scoop

Ingredients

  

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For the Muffins

• ▢ 2 large Apples peeled and diced
• ▢ 2 large Eggs room temperature
• ▢ 150 grams Granulated Sugar ¾ cup
• ▢ 50 grams Light Brown Sugar ¼ cup
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Vanilla Paste
• ▢ ½ cup Oil
• ▢ ½ cup Whole Milk
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
• ▢ 256 grams All Purpose Flour 2 cups
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Baking Soda

For the Streusel

• ▢ 120 grams All Purpose Flour
• ▢ 100 grams Granulated Sugar
• ▢ 100 grams Light Brown Sugar
• ▢ 6 tablespoon Butter melted
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Cinnamon

Instructions

 

For the Streusel

• For the streusel topping, combine melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, and cinnamon with a rubber spatula until it forms crumbles. Set in the fridge to chill.

For the Muffins

• Rinse, peel, then dice two honeycrisp apples.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla paste, oil, milk, and cinnamon until well combined and the cinnamon is distributed.
• Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder to the wet ingredients then fold together with a spatula.
• Once the majority of the flour is mixed in, pour in the apples and gently fold in until the apples are fully incorporated. Let sit on the counter for 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375º. Using a large cookie scoop, scoop the batter and add to the muffin tin, leaving space between each muffin. Top with a generous serving of streusel, then bake for 23 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing.

Notes

Switch from the whisk when mixing the batter to a spatula as you fold in the flour. After trial and error, and lots of revamping and recipe writing, this yields an airy texture and less chewy, as a whisk is intended to whisk volume to the eggs, and over-whisking or mixing can cause the batter to get gummy.

Let the muffin batter sit on the counter for an extended period of time. When the batter rests, it gives the leavening agents (baking soda, baking powder) to marry and build up so that when the muffins bake, it'll aid with the texture, mouthfeel, and overall rise.

Leave room in between the muffins in the muffin tin itself. That might mean using more than one muffin tin to bake with. This gives the muffins some room to rise up higher and fluffier when they bake.

USE A SCALE! I highly recommend investing in a good quality scale. Measuring in grams versus a regular measuring cup yields such different and varying results when you bake. Baking is science, so using a scale will give accurate measurements every single time.

Nutrition

Calories: 268kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 4gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0.04gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 99mgPotassium: 98mgFiber: 2gSugar: 22gVitamin A: 84IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 52mgIron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!