These moist, delicious apple crumble muffins will be your favorite breakfast this fall

Fresh apple chunks are baked into a moist cinnamon muffin and topped with a crunchy, homemade crumble, creating the perfect combination of flavors to have everyone running back for seconds!

Best Apple Crumble Muffins Recipe

These irresistible apple crumb muffins will be the highlight of your breakfast this fall!

You will love how delicious and easy they are to make. They take just an hour to make: 30 minutes to prepare, and 30 minutes (or less) to bake. You also won't need any fancy ingredients or equipment to make them. You probably already have most of them in your pantry!

This recipe for apple crumble muffins uses only the highest-quality ingredients. I also provide easy-to-follow, expert tips to ensure a pleasant baking experience and top-notch results, even if you are a beginner!

This recipe is also one of the most versatile and customizable you will make. I offer several flavor variations and combinations, including ingredient alternatives!

Make the crumble

For a printable recipe card, visit the original Apple Crumble Muffin recipe.

To make the crumble, cut your butter into small chunks and let it come to room temperature. I recommend taking it out of the fridge an hour in advance to give it enough time to soften. Use unsalted butter (or make your own butter at home) to avoid a salty crumble.

Next, in a small bowl, whisk together the sifted flour (all-purpose flour works best), salt, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Use light brown sugar for a lighter caramel flavor and dark brown sugar for a stronger flavor.

Then, add the softened butter chunks. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, gently mix the ingredients just until the dry ingredients are coated with the butter.

Feel free to play with the size of the crumbs by pressing the mixture together with your fingers. You can choose to make sand-like crumbs or larger crumbs!

Place the finished streusel crumble in the fridge while you prepare the muffin batter.

Make the muffin batter

Before starting the muffin batter, preheat your oven to 175 °C / 347°F (without the fan). Make sure the butter, eggs, and yogurt are all at room temperature.

Place all the wet ingredients into a bowl: two different types of sugar, oil, room-temperature eggs, butter and yogurt.

Use an electric hand mixer to whip all the wet ingredients together until the mixture becomes pale and fluffy. It is important to use an oil that does not have flavor, such as vegetable oil.

Sift in your dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, salt, cinnamon powder, and baking powder), then use a rubber spatula to fold them into the wet ingredients.

Then, mix the white vinegar and baking soda in a separate small bowl. The mixture will become super bubbly. Once it does, immediately fold it into the muffin batter.

Bake The Apple Crumble Muffins

Chop up two small apples (or one large apple, approximately 200 grams) into tiny chunks. Then, use a spoon or piping bag to evenly distribute the muffin batter into each cavity of the cupcake pan.

Gently press the apple chunks into the batter. Do not stir them in, as it will cause all the chunks to sink to the bottom!

Sprinkle each of the unbaked apple muffins with a thick layer of the crumb topping from the fridge.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the muffins pass the "toothpick test" (a toothpick or skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean).

Once baked, remove them from the oven and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely before serving.

Storing & Freezing

Like most baked goods, these apple crumble muffins are best when served fresh the same day you make them. However, you can make them in advance and store them at room temperature or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

To freeze, place them in an airtight container or wrap each muffin tightly in plastic wrap, then store them in the freezer for up to three months.

My guide on how to store muffins provides more tips on keeping them moist and delicious after they're made.

Flavor Variations

One of the things I love most about these apple and cinnamon crumble muffins is their versatility! You can customize both the crumble and the muffins with different add-ins to put a twist on the original flavors:

For the crumble:

Spices: Warm up the flavor by adding cinnamon, ginger, or cardamom, as in my cinnamon streusel muffins recipe.

Dried Fruits: Add freeze-dried apples to enhance the apple flavor even further. You can also use oranges, pears, or strawberries, such as in my strawberry shortcake crumble.

Different Sugar: For a more caramel-like flavor, make a brown sugar crumble by omitting the white sugar and using only brown sugar. You can also use all white sugar or add coconut sugar for a more tropical flavor!

Other Add-Ins: Give your crumble additional texture and flavor by mixing in chopped nuts, oats, or coconut.

For the muffins:

Spices: To enhance the muffin flavor, add warm spices such as pumpkin pie spice, ginger, or cardamom.

Chopped Nuts: Add finely chopped nuts to the muffin batter for a bit of crunch. Pecans and walnuts are both delicious options that pair perfectly with apples!

Chocolate Chips: Add white or milk chocolate chips to the batter to make tasty apple chocolate chip muffins.

Other Fruits: Instead of making your base muffins apple flavored, incorporate other fresh fruits such as blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries.

With Toppings: To put a delicious finishing touch on your muffins, drizzle on some of my homemade caramel sauce, walnut butter, or pecan butter!

Expert Tips For Making Apple Crumble Muffins

Always use the highest quality ingredients to give your apple cinnamon muffins the best flavor and texture. I recommend using 82% fat, European-style butter for the crumble and thick Greek or Turkish-style yogurt for the muffin batter. You can also use sour cream as a substitute for yogurt.
Avoid using soft, mushy apples that won't hold their shape well during baking. I recommend sweet apples, such as Honeycrisp, Fuji, or Pink Lady, when making apple muffins with a crumble topping. If you prefer a tart flavor, consider using Granny Smith apples.
Room-temperature eggs, butter, and yogurt are all necessary for the ingredients to emulsify properly. See my guide on how to soften butter quickly for more tips on achieving the right temperature without using a microwave. To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, place the whole egg in a bowl of hot water for approximately five minutes.
Do not attempt to speed up the process by mixing the baking soda and vinegar in advance. The longer it sits, the slower the bubbly chemical reaction will be, and the cupcakes will not rise as much when they bake.
When making the muffin batter, it helps to first whisk the sifted dry ingredients together in a separate bowl to ensure that each component is evenly distributed throughout the batter.
To avoid overbaking and dry cupcakes, use the toothpick test rather than judging by time to determine whether they are done. I recommend checking for doneness after 23 minutes.

What Equipment To Use

A digital scale is a must-have piece of equipment in any baking recipe. It provides much more accurate and consistent measurements than measuring solely by volume.

Likewise, a digital oven thermometer is handy, as it ensures the correct oven temperature, no matter which brand of oven you have (believe it or not, they can vary by a degree or two)!

Lastly, you will need a good, nonstick cupcake tin for baking apple cinnamon crumble muffins. I use a 12-cavity cupcake tin in this recipe. If your cupcake tin is not nonstick, grease the pan well so the muffins come out easily!

If you loved this Apple Crumble Muffins recipe, you will want to try some of my other irresistible apple-filled breakfast recipes perfect for fall:

For even more sweet desserts to start your day on a sweet note, check out my roundup of the Top 35 Best Sweet Breakfast Recipes!