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APPLE MUFFINS
These muffins are not your average apple muffins! They use apple cider, chunks of apple, plus a cinnamon & sugar topping. These are the best apple muffins and my favorite part about baking these is that your house will smell amazing.
My favorite Fall candle is the Leaves candle from a popular bath & body store. But the smell of these muffins is even better than that.
If you’re looking for more apple recipes that use apple cider than be sure and make my apple cider beef stew and apple cider pudding cake. Top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it’s basically the best thing ever.
HOW TO MAKE APPLE MUFFINS
This recipe mixes up a bit different than a traditional muffin recipe so pay close attention to the directions in the recipe card below. You can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer.
Butter – I use salted butter
Plain Yogurt OR Sour Cream – Either one will work. Make sure the yogurt is plain flavored!
Granulated Sugar & Brown Sugar
Large Eggs
All-Purpose Flour
Ground Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Baking Soda, Salt
Applesauce – It can be sweetened or unsweetened. I always use sweetened because I think it tastes better.
Apple Cider – Yes you could use apple juice but the muffins taste so much better and more “apple-y” with the apple cider.
Vanilla Extract
Chopped Apples – Peel the apple and chop it really small. About the size of frozen peas or black beans is what you want.
MY TIPS & HELPFUL HINTS FOR MAKING THIS APPLE RECIPE
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Can I freeze apple muffins?
- Yes you can! The cinnamon & sugar topping does not stay on the muffin once it’s frozen and then thawed but that does not change the taste of the muffin. If you are freezing, you can either make them as is and just deal with the cinnamon & sugar topping being different or just leave off the cinnamon & sugar topping.
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Can I substitute the applesauce and/or yogurt?
- I would not substitute the applesauce because it adds so much apple goodness to these apple muffins. If you must, you can use an equal amount of oil. But I have never personally made them that way so I can’t for sure say the results of the muffins. I would suggest sticking with applesauce.
- You can use either plain yogurt or sour cream. I have used both and they work just fine in this recipe. I prefer sour cream so that’s what I normally use when I make these. I honestly do not know of a substitute for the applesauce and yogurt. You have two choices so hopefully one of them works for you!
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What kind of apples do I use for apple muffins?
- I prefer to use a sweet & tangy apple for these muffins. Granny Smith is a bit too sour for muffins. I use a Gala apple, Golden Delicious, or Fuji Apple. Golden Delicious apples are our favorite so I normally use them when I make these muffins.
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Chop the apples really small!
- This is the #1 tip for this recipe. Cut them really, really small please! The cook time is not long enough to “bake” apples so you don’t want huge chunks or else you will end up with really crunchy apple muffins. If they are cut small they will soften up slightly during the bake time. Aim to cut the apples the size of frozen peas or the size of black beans.
YOU WILL LOVE THESE OTHER APPLE RECIPES
Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars – These are glorious cheesecake bars with 4 layers! A brown sugar oat streusel makes the crust and the topping. Then it’s filled with a sweet apple cheesecake center. Drizzle with caramel syrup and serve!
One Bowl Applesauce Muffins – These have almost perfect reviews! They bake up perfectly soft, fluffy, with rounded tops. They are very plain looking but trust me, they’re amazing.
Snickerdoodle Apple Cobbler – Cinnamon & sugar apples topped with an easy snickerdoodle cookie mix. It’s like an apple cobbler with soft-baked snickerdoodle cookies on top. Serve with vanilla ice cream for a delicious version of classic apple cobbler.
Slow Cooker Apple Butter – This recipe is only 2 ingredients! It’s a great way to use up apples and it’s delicious on many things like toast, pancakes, waffles, or crepes.
Cinnamon Apple Cider Muffins
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup plain yogurt OR sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup applesauce sweetened or unsweetened
- 1/3 cup apple cider
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup peeled & chopped apple about 1 large apple
Cinnamon & Sugar Topping
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375°. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by lining with cupcake liners OR spraying well with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, or stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and yogurt until the mixture is light and fluffy. About 1-2 minutes. Add the eggs and beat until combined.
- Add the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg into the mixing bowl. Beat on low speed just until combined. *Mixture will be really thick and that is normal. It's ok if there are dry patches because you will add the liquid in the next step.
- Add the applesauce, apple cider, and vanilla extract. Beat until combined and the batter is moistened.
- Stir in the chopped apples with a wooden spoon or spatula.
- Fill the muffins cups nearly full. They will be a little bit more than 3/4 full. *If your muffin pan is smaller than you will get more than 12 muffins. Just use another pan if needed. Don't overfill the muffin cups.
- In a small bowl stir together the sugar and cinnamon for the topping. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon over each muffin.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes. Muffins should be round, puffy, and golden brown looking. When you gently press your finger on the top of a muffin, it should spring back and feel dry. That's when you know it's done. Or you can do the toothpick test as well.
- Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes or until you can handle them to move them to a cooling rack to cool completely. As the muffins cool the cinnamon & sugar topping gets crackly and gives a sweet crunch to the muffins. SO good!
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
I'd love to see it! You can share it with me on @togetherasfamilyblog and follow on Pinterest @together-as-family-blog-recipes or Facebook @togetherasfamilyblog for more!
Mmmm! I have a million apples after our orchard trip too. I am hosting an apple themed baby shower this weekend, so i am ready to get baking soon! I just LOVE apple treats.
apple themed baby shower…. I like it, sounds fun! Apple treats (and pumpkin) are my favorite thing to bake with. Good luck with the baby shower 🙂
Apple banana Bread is a hit in my house. Moist from the banana and crunchy from the walnuts, it makes us smile.
http://www.food.com/recipe/apple-banana-bread-6627?soc=socialsharingpinterest
I used three bananas instead of two.
Thank you Suzanne! Apple banana bread sounds so delicious and I’ve never tried it before. I am one of those people that love nuts in quick bread. So yummy. Thank you for sharing the recipe link, I will make it 🙂
Apple banana Bread is a hit in my house. Moist from the banana and crunchy from the walnuts, it makes us smile.
http://www.food.com/recipe/apple-banana-bread-6627?soc=socialsharingpinterest from Food.com
I used three bananas instead of two.
HMMM first the comment would not go, then both showed up. So sorry.
No worries. I love comments 🙂
I only have white flour, not Whole Wheat, or White Whole Wheat, would it change it too much to use this ? Or should I go out and get the Whole Wheat Flour ?
You would be fine using white flour. The muffins may be lighter in color but it should turn out just fine.
Just made these now. Sept.6th/2018 AMAZING!!! My kids are going to ask for another batch asap. I made for breakfast for tomorrow. Don’t hesitate to make these fellow bloggers.
So glad these muffins were a hit! I have been waiting to see apple cider in the stores just so I can make these. Thanks so much for coming back to leave your comment 🙂
What can I use in place of the yogurt, my husband doesn’t like it.
You can’t taste the yogurt at all in the muffins. It’s just there for moisture. You could also try sour cream perhaps? I can’t say for sure because I have never tried substituting the yogurt with anything.
What could use in place of Apple cider? I dont want to buy a big jug of it just for these muffins.
Apple juice can be used in place of the cider.
Excellent! Substituted dark brown sugar, 1/3 cup low fat small curd cottage cheese (didn’t have any yogurt), 1/2 cup mandarin oranges (didn’t have any apple sauce) — they taste GREAT. My batter was pretty heavy so it helped to scoop with a small ice cream scoop. Didn’t put sugar/cinnamon mixture on top — felt like they were sweet enough for me without it. Will make this recipe again, definitely!
What did you use as a substitute for the yogurt I dont have any and I would like to know
Sour cream would probably work or any type of yogurt (greek, low fat, regular). I have only ever used the yogurt so I don’t know for sure.
Mayonnaise is also a great moisture substitute
I just made these. Followed the recipe to a tee with the addition of 1.5 teaspoon apple cider powdered mix in the sugar topping. These are good, distinctly apple cider flavored. Do not skimp on the chopped apples and make sure to chop them tiny; they made the muffins moist and wonderfully textured. They are not as sweet as I suspected (my apple cider and applesauce had no added sugar) so they make a great breakfast treat. If I were to make these again for dessert instead of breakfast I would add 50% more brown sugar to the mix and serve them with apple butter.
Delicious!
Yay! Thanks for review and rating. And apple butter on these muffins sounds amazing.
Perfect recipie!!! Perfect for a fall breakfast!!! Great flavor and moist!! Thank you, look forward to more of your recipies!!
Thanks for being here and making the recipes. I appreciate it!
These were moist, I added 1/4 cup of oat bran so I used a smidge more sour cream and apple cider. I baked them at 350 F for about 16 minutes. I made some as regular sized muffins ans some as minis.
This looks great! Any reason it wouldn’t work in mini loaf pans instead of muffin tins? Thanks!
It should work in mini loaf pans. Just watch the cook time cause it will need longer to cook through. I will add that I have never tried it in a mini loaf pan but I think it would work fine.