These moist, delicious apple crumble muffins will be the best thing to appear on your breakfast or dessert table 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
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 back 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 give it even more apple flavor. You can also use oranges, pears, or strawberries, like 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!
Ingredient Substitutions
One of the most frequently asked questions is whether you can substitute ingredients to accommodate allergies or dietary restrictions. The short answer is yes, although they may yield different results. The key is to keep the ingredient ratios the same.
Below are a few substitutions you may need to make:
Flour: See my flour guide for how to make gluten-free muffins or use another type of flour. You can also make the crumble for your apple crumble muffins with oats. Pulse them in a food processor first for the best turnout.
Butter: Need dairy-free muffins? See my butter substitution guide for how to make these muffins without butter without sacrificing flavor.
Egg: If you have an egg allergy or want to make vegan muffins, you can try one of these many egg substitutes.
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 in place of yogurt.
- Avoid using soft, mushy apples that will not stand up well during baking. I recommend sweet apples such as Honeycrisp, Fuji, or Pink Lady when making apple muffins with crumble topping. If you prefer a tart flavor, you can use Granny Smith.
- 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 getting it to the right temperature without microwaving. 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!
Try Some Of My Breakfast Recipes
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:
- Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Pie Filling
- Apple Pie Cookies
- Apple Roses with Puff Pastry
- Apple Bread Pudding
- Cinnamon Apple Babka
- Spiced Apple Cake
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!
Have You Tried This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on the recipe card and consider leaving a comment as well! I would love to hear about how your dessert turned out and your feedback also helps other Readers!
Apple Crumble Muffins
Ingredients
For the brown sugar cinnamon muffins
- 110 g (½ cups) Oil no flavor vegetable oil
- 55 g (¼ cups) Butter gently melted but use at room temperature
- 100 g (½ cups) Granulated sugar
- 100 g (½ cups) Brown sugar
- 2 Egg room temperature
- 120 g (½ cups) Yogurt thick Greek or Turkish style at room temperature
- 250 g (2 cups) All purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ taspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoon Cinnamon powder
- ½ teaspoon White vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- 2 Small or 1 Large Apple approximately 200g apples cut into very small chunks
For the crumble topping
- 150 g (1¼ cups) All purpose flour
- 100 g (½ cups) Granulated sugar
- 50 g (¼ cups) Brown sugar
- 110 g (½ cups) Unsalted butter room temperature
- pinch of salt
US customary cup measurement is an indicative figure only. Measure the ingredients with a digital scale by weight (gram). Baking is art but also science which requires precision and accuracy.
Instructions
For the crumble
- Cut butter into small chunks and let it come to room temperature.
- Whisk together flour, salt, granulated sugar, and brown sugar, then add the room temperature butter chunks to the mixture and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon just until the dry ingredients are coated with the butter.
- You can make sand-like crumbs or larger crumbs by simply pressing the mixture together using your fingers.
- Place the streusel into the fridge, while preparing the muffin batter.
For the brown sugar cinnamon muffins
- Heat oven to 175 C / 347°F (no fan).
- With an electric hand mixer, whip the oil, very soft, room-temperature butter, eggs and yogurt, and the two kinds of sugar together until pale and fluffy. This is your wet ingredient.
- Mix vinegar and baking soda together in a small bowl, it will be super bubbly. Immediately fold the mixture into the muffin batter.
- Spoon or pipe the batter into 12 cavities of a cupcake pan, then press the small apple chunks into the batter.
- Finally, finish with a thick layer of crumble on top.
- Bake the muffins for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Let them cool on a cooling rack.
- Serve them fresh or store them at room temperature for 2-3 days.
Notes
- Use a combination of white and (light or dark) brown sugar for the best texture and beautiful butterscotch flavor in your muffins.
- The eggs, yogurt, and butter should all be at room temperature for the muffins.
- Use good quality 82% unsalted butter for the crumble at room temperature.
- A digital scale is required for a consistent, happy baking experience.
- Always pre-heat your oven and consider using a digital oven thermometer for the best results.
- Each oven is different, so you might need to adjust the baking time slightly.
- Do not overbake your muffins, which can result in a dry texture.
- Cut the apples into rather small chunks and press them into the batter properly. It is a better technique than mixing the apples into the batter beforehand, as that often results in all the apples ending up at the bottom of the muffins.
- For the crumb, some recipes recommend using melted butter or cold butter. With cold butter, you would have to work the mixture a bit longer, as the butter slightly needs to be warmed up to coat the dry ingredients, but eventually, the same result can be achieved. With melted butter, you would have to chill the mixture for the butter to somewhat set and being able to form the crumbs. Therefore, I suggest working with room-temperature butter, which is just perfect for creating the crumbs.
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