These Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Applesauce and Brown Sugar Cinnamon Streusel are a delicious and easy to make sweet treat to enjoy for a breakfast on the go, with your afternoon tea or as a dessert in your kids lunchbox!
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You just gotta love a baked good that simply smells and tastes like Autumn and Winter. Isn't Apple and Cinnamon the ultimate Fall ingredient association!?
And what better way to enjoy these flavours than packed in individual apple muffins and topped with a deliciously crunchy cinnamon streusel!
Ingredients
These apple cinnamon muffins try to pack as much of the fruit as possible, with the two essential ingredients being fresh pieces of apples and applesauce.
To make the Cinnamon Apple Muffins, you will need (Scroll down to recipe card for all quantities)
- Apples
- Melted Butter - can be replaced with a neutral flavoured oil like Canola Oil
- Eggs - at room temperature
- Brown Sugar
- Unsweetened Applesauce - preferably homemade applesauce
- Milk - I used Full Cream Milk but you can use a Dairy Free Milk as well if preferred
- Plain / All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Ground Cinnamon
- Salt
For the Streusel Topping
For the Cinnamon Brown Sugar Streusel topping, you will simply need the common basic ingredients needed for any streusel.
- Plain/AP Flour
- Almond Meal
- Brown Sugar
- Ground Cinnamon
- Butter
More Apple Cinnamon Recipes:
- Apple and Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread
- Apple Pie Bliss Bites from Goodie Goodie Lunchbox
- Easy French Apple Cake
- Apple Upside-Down Cake
- Apple Loaf Cake
- Puff Pastry Apple Tartlets
- Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal
- Apple Crumble Cheesecake
How to make Applesauce Muffins
To make these cinnamon muffins with apples, you first need to prepare your small pieces of apples that will be placed in the batter.
If you decided to use your own homemade applesauce, it is preferable to make it a day ahead so it has had time to cool down completely.
Here is how to prepare the super Easy Apple Pie Muffin Batter:
- Wash, peal, core and slice your fresh apples into small cubes. Make sure to cut them small enough so that they can be well mixed within the batter.
- Melt your butter and leave it to cool down.
- In a large bowl, whisk the Eggs and Brown Sugar until foamy. Add the melted butter and when incorporated, the Applesauce and the Milk.
- Sift in the dry ingredients: Plain Flour, Baking Powder, Ground Cinnamon and Salt.
- Finally, when your batter is fully mixed, fold in the small cubes of fresh apples.
Make sure to grease your muffin tin properly if you decide not to use liners or the muffins may stick to the tin.
It is also important to leave your apple muffins to cool down completely before trying to remove them from the tin. The baked apples will make the muffins quite fragile when still warm.
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Streusel Topping
There are two ways to make a crumble topping for muffins: by hands or with a food processor.
With both techniques, the process is the same: mixing all the dry ingredients together then cutting in the butter to create a thick sand-like dough.
- By Hands:
- Cut your butter into small pieces; it should be a bit soft.
- Mix all of your dry ingredients in a large bowl, making sure there are no large lumps of powder.
- Add the butter and use your fingers to rub it into the dry ingredients. Gently press it between your palms and fingers until all the butter is covered by the powders.
- With a Food Processor:
- Place all the dry ingredients in the bowl of your food processor and blits a couple of times to mix it all together.
- Add the butter and pulse until you get a homogeneous sand-like texture.
Keep the streusel crumbs aside until you have filled all of your muffin tins with the apple cinnamon muffin batter. Then, sprinkle some streusel over each muffin and press it gently into the batter so that it sticks to it.
More Crumble Recipes:
FAQ
To make these apple muffins, you will want to use apples that will hold their shape while baking and bring a deliciously sweet and tangy taste to the muffins too.
Although there are dozen of apple varieties that you could use, here are the ones I recommend: Fuji, Pink Lady, Jonagold, Jazz, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Granny Smith (for a more crisp finish).
Read more about how to choose the best apples for baking here
These applesauce muffins will always taste better when eaten fresh. I recommend eating them within 2 to 3 days, stored in an air-tight container at room temperature (if not too warm).
Otherwise, you can keep them in plastic bags or container in the fridge for a few more days, but they will eventually become a bit hard and the streusel will loose its crunch.
The apple cinnamon muffins can easily be frozen for a few months if wrapped properly in plastic wrap and aluminium foil. I recommend to bake them without the streusel topping if you know you will freeze them.
More Muffins Recipes Ideas:
- Lemon Raspberry Muffins
- Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins
- Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Orange Poppy Seed Muffins
- Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins
Made this recipe? Let us know if you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below! And don't forget to share your creation on Instagram with the hashtag #abakingjourney and tag @a.baking.journey
Recipe
Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Streusel Topping
Ingredients
Streusel Topping
- 1/3 cup (50gr) Plain Flour
- 1/4 cup (25 gr) Almond Meal (or almond flour)
- 1 1/2 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1/2 teasp. Ground Cinnamon
- 2 1/2 tbsp Cold Butter
Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- 2 Large Apples
- 1/2 cup (120gr) Butter, melted
- 2 Eggs
- 1/4 cup (50gr) Brown Sugar
- 1 cup (150gr) Unsweetened Applesauce
- 1/4 cup (60ml) Full Cream Milk
- 1 1/2 cups (225gr) Plain Flour
- 1 1/2 teasp. Baking Powder
- 1 1/2 teasp. Ground Cinnamon
- 1 pinch Salt
Disclaimer
I highly recommend using the measurements in grams & ml (instead of cups & spoons) for more accuracy and better results.
Instructions
Streusel Topping
- Place the Flour, Brown Sugar and Ground Cinnamon in a large bowl
- Cut the cold butter into small cubes and add them to the dry ingredients. Rub the butter into the flour to create small crumbs. All the dry ingredients should be coated in butter, and the streusel should look like wet sand. Set aside.
Apple Cinnamon Muffins
- Preheat your oven on 180'C/350'F and grease a Muffin tin (see note 2).
- Peal, core and dice the Apples into very small pieces. Set Aside.
- Melt the butter and set aside to cool down.
- In a large bowl, whisk the Brown Sugar and Eggs until foamy. Add the melted Butter, then the Applesauce and the Milk. Whisk until combined.
- Sift in the Dry Ingredients: Plain Flour, Baking Powder, Ground Cinnamon and Salt. When combined, fold in the Apple dices with a spatula.
Putting the Muffins together
- Pour the Muffin batter into each Muffin Pan. Cover each muffin with some Streusel Topping. Gently press the streusel into the muffin batter.
- Bake the muffins for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tip of a knife comes out clean. Leave to cool down completely before removing from the pan.
Notes
- You can make the Streusel Topping either by hands or directly in your food processor. Try not to get crumbs that are too small as you want to create some crunch over your muffins!
- Make sure the tins are properly greased if not using liners. Without a liner, make sure to let the muffins cool down completely before removing them from the tin as they will be a bit fragile when warm.
