Apple Pie Muffins are super moist and flavorful fall muffin recipe made with red apple chunks, buttermilk, cinnamon, nutmeg and a brown sugar crumb topping.
These tasty bakery-style treats are an Apple Crumb Pie turned into delicious easy muffin for Breakfast on the go. Tastes like a favorite classic fall holiday dessert!
APPLE PIE MUFFINS
Craving Apple Pie for breakfast? No need to roll out the pastry dough, wait for the holidays, or feel guilty about dessert for breakfast with these tasty pie-inspired muffins. Apple Pie Muffins are made with the same warm holiday spices, chunks of fresh apples, and a crumb topping for a bakery style muffin that is easy as pie and tastes like one too.
Apple Pie Muffins aren’t your regular bakery or quick bread muffins. The simple “special” ingredients, found in your pantry or fridge, make a huge difference! Buttermilk makes Apple Pie Muffins super moist and melt-in-your mouth, and swapping brown sugar for white sugar adds even more moisture plus a deep caramel flavor.
These Apple Pie Muffins make a great breakfast for busy school mornings. You can make a big batch that the beginning of the week and they will get you all the way through Friday. They are packed full of delicious red apples for a healty-ish afternoon snack and the crumb topping makes them sweet enough to serve for dessert.
You can make these Apple Pie Muffins healthier by swapping ingredients in our variations section. These Apple Pie Muffins make a great holiday gift too, delivered in a festive basket. If you want to make these extra sweet for dessert, try a powdered sugar glaze, a drizzle of Salted Caramel Sauce, or a dollop of Whipped Cream.
OTHER TASTY MUFFIN RECIPES
Pumpkin Muffins
Banana Bread Muffins
Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
Chocolate Chip Muffins
Tips for Making Apple Pie Muffins
- You want to use a tart, firm apple that will hold up while baking and won’t turn mushy. The best baking apples are Granny Smith, Braeburn, Honeycrisp, or Golden Delicious.
- Gently fold in the apple pieces so that you don’t over-mix your batter. Over-mixed muffin batter loses the air that keeps it light and you get thick, dense muffins.
- There’s no need to peel the apples, just dice apples into small pieces about ¼ inch across all sides. Make sure they are pretty much the same size and small so they cook evenly during the short baking time.
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VARIATIONS ON APPLE PIE MUFFINS
- Buttermilk: You can use sour cream, plain greek yogurt, or whole milk instead of buttermilk in for these muffins. You can make a buttermilk substitute with 1 tablespoon vinegar and 1 cup (minus 1 tablespoon) milk. Let sit for 20 minutes and then bake as usual.
- Healthy Apple Pie Muffins: Swap ½ cup applesauce for the butter and whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour in this Apple Pie Muffin recipe for a healthier muffin. For more fiber, replace 1 cup flour with 1 cup rolled oats.
- Spices: Add more wintery spices like ground cloves, allspice, or cardamon to your Apple Pie Muffins. If you have Pumpkin Pie Spice, use that for easy holiday flavor instead of the nutmeg and cinnamon.
- Mix-Ins: Fold in a ½ cup baking add-ins like dried cherries or cranberries, raisins, chopped nuts like pecans and walnuts, white chocolate chips, or dark chocolate chips. You could also fold in chopped up Salted Caramels or toffee bits.
- Crisp Topping: Make a crisp topping by adding ½ cup rolled oats and ½ granulated sugar to the crumble ingredients. Instead of melted butter, use ½ cup cold butter pieces and mash everything with a fork until pea-sized crumble forms.
- Apple Pie Bread: Grease a 9×5 loaf pan very well and bake Apple Pie Muffin batter in loaf pan for 55-60 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan.
MORE APPLE DESSERT RECIPES
Apple Crumb Pie
Apple Slab Pie with Spiced Glaze
Apple Crisp Crumb Cake
Apple Fritter Bread
HOW TO STORE APPLE PIE MUFFINS
- Serve: You can keep Apple Pie Muffins at room temperature in a sealed container for up to 4 days. Place a linen towel or paper towel under lid to absorb moisture.
- Store: Store Apple Pie Muffins for up to 1 week in the refrigerator in an airtight container or laid flat in a plastic storage bag. Bring muffins to room temperature or warm in the microwave to serve.
- Freeze: Wrap Apple Pie Muffins individually in aluminum foil and store in a freezer safe bag. Freeze muffins for up to 6 months and warm muffins wrapped in the foil in the oven on low heat (300 degrees).
Ingredients
Muffin Batter
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar , packed
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 red apples , diced (about 2 cups)
Crumble Topping
- 1/2 cup brown sugar , packed
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a muffin tin with muffin liners.
- To your stand mixer (or a large bowl with a hand mixer) add the buttermilk, brown sugar, egg, melted butter and vanilla extract.
- Mix on the lowest speed setting until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and add it to the wet ingredients until just combined on the lowest speed setting.
- Fold in the apples, then scoop into the muffin liners.
- To make the crumble, in a medium bowl with a fork, mash together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter in the topping mixture, then sprinkle it over the batter.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes.
Nutrition
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