Apple Muffins
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These wholesome apple muffins are packed with spice and everything nice—think warm cinnamon, tart apples, and crunchy brown sugar tops.
Adapted from King Arthur Flour, these delicious apple muffins are made partially with whole wheat flour, which gives them a wholesome, nutty flavor and toasty-brown color. They’re also chockfull of tart apples and enriched with yogurt, so no one could ever accuse them of being cupcakes pretending to be muffins. A full tablespoon of cinnamon, plus a hint of nutmeg and cloves, fills your kitchen with the most amazing smell as they bake. But the best part might just be the muffin tops: the brown sugar topping bakes up into a crunchy, irresistible lid.
If you’d prefer something that you can slice and share, my apple bread has similar flavors and is equally crave-worthy.
“A perfect muffin recipe! The house smelled marvelous, too!”
What You’ll Need To Make Apple Muffins
- Butter: Adds richness and flavor, giving the muffins a tender, delicious crumb.
- Granulated Sugar & Brown Sugar: Sweeten the muffins and keep them moist. A little extra brown sugar gets sprinkled on top before baking for that irresistible crunchy lid.
- Egg: Helps bind the batter together and gives the muffins structure.
- Plain Low-Fat Yogurt or Greek Yogurt: Adds moisture and richness while reacting with the baking soda to give the muffins a nice lift.
- Whole Wheat & All-Purpose Flour: Using a mix of whole wheat and all-purpose flour gives you the best of both worlds—nutty flavor and a pretty, toasty color from the whole wheat, plus a light, tender texture from the all-purpose. (Pro tip: all whole wheat will make the muffins a bit dry. However, if you have white whole wheat flour, you can use that in place of both flours.)
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: These work together to help the muffins rise and stay fluffy.
- Cinnamon, Nutmeg & Cloves: Warm spices that pair perfectly with apples and make your kitchen smell amazing.
- Apples: Add moisture, natural sweetness, and little pockets of apple flavor throughout. Use firm baking apples that hold their shape—Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Gala, Jonagold, Jonathan, and Golden Delicious varieties are all great options.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugars. Combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
Step 2: Add the egg and yogurt. Beat in the egg followed by the yogurt, scraping down the bowl as necessary. The batter may look a little curdled at this point—that’s normal.
Step 3: Mix in the dry ingredients. Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Beat on low speed until everything is just combined. The batter will be quite thick at this point—that’s exactly how it should be.
Step 4: Mix in the apples. Add the diced apples to the batter and fold them in.
Step 4: Prepare to bake. Grease a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Then scoop the batter evenly into the muffin cups (it’s easiest to use an ice cream scoop with a wire scraper). Sprinkle the tops generously with brown sugar.
Step 5: Bake. Bake the muffins for about 25 minutes, until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Because the apples help to keep them moist, the muffins will keep nicely for several days, or you can freeze them for longer storage.
More Muffin Recipes You May Like
Spiced Apple Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt or Greek yogurt
- 1 cup whole wheat flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 cups peeled cored, and finely chopped baking apples (you'll need 2 large apples)
For Topping
- 6 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with butter or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Add the egg and mix well, stopping to scrape the bowl if necessary.
- Beat in the yogurt. The batter will look a little curdled—that's okay.
- Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Beat on low speed until just combined. The batter will be very thick.
- Add the chopped apples and mix until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Use an ice-cream scooper or large spoon to divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. The cups should be full. Sprinkle the 6 tablespoons of brown sugar evenly over top.
- Bake the muffins for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Remove the muffins from the oven, cool them for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn them out onto a rack to finish cooling completely.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions:The muffins can be frozen in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag for up to 3 months. Thaw for 3 to 4 hours on the countertop before serving. To reheat, wrap individual muffins in aluminum foil and place in a preheated 350°F (175°C) oven until warm.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Comments
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Hi Jen
I am wondering if you can make thus recipe with 2 cups of all purpose flour, rather than one cup each of all purpose and whole wheat.
Thanks in advance
Hi Karen, yes, you can make these with entirely all-purpose flour. Enjoy!
Hi Jen.. they were delicious!! Thanks again for another great foolproof recipe.
We’re having kind of a peach event in the area next week, and I’m wondering how this recipe would work with peaches. The brown sugar on top sounds great, but I think I’d like a more streusel-like topping. Ripe peaches aren’t as firm as apples, so maybe the batter would be more moist. Any suggestions? Thank you.
As you mentioned, I think the peaches will add too much moisture to the muffins. You could use my strawberry muffin recipe instead and add the topping from this recipe.
Very tasty 🙂 I a did deviate from the recipe a tad by adding a tsp(ish) of fresh grated ginger to the sugar topping and I added ground ginger to the batter.
I love the idea of ginger. I will try it with some chopped crystallized ginger with the sugar
topping.
Muffins were good, not very sweet. Diced the apples into very small pieces but they didn’t cook as much as I expected. Didn’t put as much brown sugar on top based on some of the comments. Wish I had put the indicated amount.
A perfect muffin recipe! The house smelled marvelous, too!
I’ll make these again at Christmas!
Tthank you Jenn:)
Kerrie
Is there anything I can do when making these if I can’t can’t eat diary.
Hi Sidney, you could try these with a non-dairy (stick) butter and a non-dairy yogurt alternative. I haven’t tried it this way, but I suspect it should work. Please LMK how the muffins turn out if you make them!
Hi Jenn,
Thank you for this recipe. These muffins are simply delicious! Last night I made your Morning Glory Muffins. Another wonderful muffin recipe! My question is .. how do you store muffins once they are completely cool? I’ve just read .. it’s a good idea to place a sheet of paper towel on the bottom of an airtight container (to absorb any moisture), then place the muffins on top in a single layer, then another sheet of paper towel on top of the muffins. I’ve always used an airtight container (no paper towel) or Ziplock freezer bag (no paper towel) and placed the container/freezer bag in the freezer to keep the muffins fresh, and take them out as needed. What do you do? Thanks so much!
Hi Gail, I store them exactly the same way as the first description above. Glad you like them!
Hello! What did I do wrong, when the muffins raised first (even over the rim) but then halfway through started to fall back in and ended up being very flat. I don’t think I over-stirred them, I was very careful with that, just few seconds, when the flower was incorporated. Thank you!
Hi Helene, that sounds strange. Did you make any ingredient substitutions or adjustments to the recipe? Did you put the muffins in when the oven was still preheating?
Thinking of making these today. Question- is cinnamon flavour intense? There is a full tbsp of cinnamon, wondering if anyone can provide feedback? thanks!
Hi Isabelle, It’s not overwhelming at all, but feel free to cut back a bit.
These muffins are great! I had a couple of Honeycrisp apples that weren’t the greatest so, as usual, I scoured Jenn’s website for recipes. They are fall in a muffin, as my husband said. Love the warm spices and I like the fact that this uses whole wheat flour which gives it a little more nutritional value. I will be freezing the rest and am looking forward to enjoying an apple muffin with a PSL this fall!