Apple Cinnamon Muffins are filled with delicious apple bits and perfect cinnamon spice swirl. These easy muffins are perfect for breakfast but indulgent enough to be dessert as well!

Every fall there is a huge surge of people making my Apple Bread Recipe. Over the years I've been asked time and again to adapt it into muffins, and here they are at last! I guarantee you that you will love these delicious, crumbly cinnamon apple muffins.
Why I love this recipe
- They have the perfect amount of apples and the cinnamon sugar swirl takes them over the top.
- They are very much like my apple bread that has over 100 reviews and has been pinned over a million times so you know they will be a hit!
- They are grab and go for breakfast on the run.
- They only require one apple for the entire batch!
Ingredients
- light brown sugar
- ground cinnamon
- white sugar
- butter
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- milk
- large apple
Step by step
- Mix the cinnamon sugar and chop your apples. Set aside.
- Stir up batter in a stand mixer (affiliate link) or with a hand mixer.
- Line a muffin tin with muffin liners and fill each liner half way with batter.
- Top with apples and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Pour in remaining batter and top with remaining apples and cinnamon sugar.
- Pat toppings into the top of the bread with the back of a spoon and bake for 30 minutes.
- Let cool ten minutes before removing from the pan.
FAQs
Choose a firm apple variety such as Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Gala or Fuji. Softer types of apples won’t stand up to the baking.
Applesauce can be a substitute in most recipes that have oil, however I do not recommend them in this recipe. The butter adds a lot to the flavor and shouldn't be substituted.
Yes! Many people like to use a butterknife to swirl the batter and apple cinnamon mixture together before baking. They taste amazing with or without the swirling step so experiment with what you prefer!
Yes, do not skip the muffin liners. These are soft and crumbly in texture and won't hold together well without the liners. These reusable liners are great.
Yes, these muffins freeze well. Simply allow the muffins to cool completely then wrap individually with plastic wrap and store in a freezer bag. When you are ready to eat the muffins, allow to thaw at room temperature before serving.
Keep these in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3-4 days (if they last that long! If you need to keep them longer I recommend freezing them.
I hope you love these yummy apple cinnamon muffins as much as we do. If you try them, please comment and rate them below, I love hearing from you!
PrintApple Cinnamon Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: breakfast
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Apple Cinnamon Muffins are filled with delicious apple bits and perfect cinnamon spice swirl. These easy muffins are perfect for breakfast but indulgent enough to be dessert as well!
Ingredients
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅔ cup white sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ cup milk
- 1 large apple, peeled and finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a muffin pan with muffin liners.
- Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl and set aside.
- In a stand mixer (affiliate link) or large bowl, combine white sugar and butter and mix until smooth.
- Add eggs and vanilla and continue to beat on medium speed until combined.
- Add flour and baking powder, then milk.
- Fill each muffin liner halfway with batter.
- Cover with half of the apples.
- Pat apples into batter with the back of a spoon.
- Sprinkle with half of sugar and cinnamon mixture.
- Pour the remaining batter over apple layer; top with remaining apples and add more brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.
- Pat topping into the batter with the back of a large spoon. Swirl with a butter knife if desired.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool in pan 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Keywords: apple cinnamon muffins, apple muffins
Patsy says
Just whipped these up. I was lazy and took a couple shortcuts. I used self rising flour and used a whisk instead of getting the mixer out. They taste great, not too sweet. Will make again.
★★★★★
Harriet says
So good, just made them last night since I had everything on hand!
★★★★★