Apple Muffins

Apple muffins with cinnamon are the perfect snack and breakfast on the go. They are tasty, fulfilling, and packed with apple flavor, and have a soft and light texture.

To boost the taste of this delicious fruit, we add grated and chopped apples to the batter.

The grated apple binds with the muffin batter, making it super flavorful and perfectly moist. The apple pieces get soft and juicy, making these muffins wholesome, extra tasty, and nutritious.

Making them is very easy. First, you'll mix wet and dry ingredients to form a batter.

Second, stir in the grated and chopped apples. Third, bake them for 27 minutes until golden brown on top.

In less than 40 minutes, you'll have fruity, soft, moist, and nutritious apple muffins you'll love.

Apples

You'll need three medium apples for 12 muffins. You can use whatever apples you have at home without worrying too much about the variety.

However, if you are going to the store anyway, we recommend Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Rome Beauty, and Gala apples. They make lovely sweet muffins.

If you like a tarter muffin, try Granny Smith apples, Winesap, or Cortland apples.

We have a slight preference for sweet apples compared to tart apples.

Other varieties that you can use are Braeburn, Melrose, and Jonagold.

Flour

All-purpose flour makes lighter, fluffier, and prettier muffins.

If you want a more wholesome muffin recipe, you can use 50% all-purpose flour and 50% whole-wheat flour.

We have not tried gluten-free flour for this recipe, but a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend should work okay.

Vegetable oil

To make muffins, avoid melted butter and opt for neutral vegetable oil instead. Butter is excellent for making cupcakes with a flat top, but if you want a tall, light, and soft dome, canola or sunflower oil is your best choice.

Sugar

White or brown sugar are both okay. Optionally, you can add a pinch of salt to bring out the flavor from the other ingredients.

Milk

You can use any milk. We use unsweetened soy milk, almond milk, or oat milk.

Baking powder

Baking powder is essential to make the apple muffins light, airy, and with a tall top. Make sure your baking powder hasn't been open for too long. It's always best to use unopened and recently bought baking powder.

There's no need for baking soda.

Cinnamon

Add cinnamon to the batter for a cozy and warm cinnamon aroma. You can add vanilla extract or the grated zest of half an orange for even more flavor.

Note: our recipe does not require eggs, as the grated apples are the perfect binder for the muffins. Also, we prefer not to sprinkle sugar, crumb toppings, or streusel topping because we often eat these for breakfast.

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a 12-muffin pan (or two 6-muffin pans) with muffin liners.

Tip: if you don't have muffin liners or paper liners, you can use 5-inch squared pieces of parchment paper.

Wash, dry, cut the apples in half, and remove their core. You can keep the peel on.

Chop two apples into ⅓-inch dice. Grate one apple with the large wholes of a box grater. Set aside while you make the batter; it's ok if they get a little brown.

Step 2: Mix the batter

In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: milk, sugar, oil, and vanilla extract.

In a separate medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and whisk for a few seconds until combined. Don't overmix.

Important: overmixing develops the gluten in the batter, making the muffins too tough and compact, not fluffy and airy.

Add the grated and chopped apples to the batter and fold them with a spatula until fully coated but without overmixing.

Tip: it's going to look like there are a lot of apples, and that's fine. Also, the batter should be thick, as the apples will add moisture as they bake.

Step 3: Bake

With the help of a spoon, transfer the batter to the muffin pan, ensuring the batter sinks fully into the muffin liners.

You can fill the muffin liners to the brim; the apple pieces can pile up on top.

Bake at 350°F or 180°C for 27 minutes, until the muffins are golden-brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

Let the muffins cool down on a wire rack for 15 minutes before taking them out of the muffin tin.

Then let them cool down a little more and enjoy them as a breakfast, snack, or dessert.

Blueberry muffins

Same batter, different fruit? Try these beautiful and delicious blueberry muffins. They have a soft and juicy crumb packed with melty blueberries.

Check out our blueberry muffins recipe.

Apple cake

What to turn the muffins into a cake? You can make this moist, soft, beautiful, and delicious apple cake with the same batter. This one's a readers' favorite because it's effortless to make and a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

Check out our easy apple cake.

Room temperature: you can store the muffins at room temperature in a dark corner of your kitchen and a plastic bag for up to 4 days.

Freezer: let the apple muffins cool down completely, transfer them into a freezer-friendly bag, and freeze for up to 3 months. Then, thaw them in the microwave.

Tips

Don't overmix the batter.

Honestly, that's the biggest tip we can give you. Mix the batter for a few seconds without overmixing to prevent gluten development, which makes the muffins heavy and tough.

Use fresh baking powder

If you are not a regular baker, it's possible that your baking powder is old and has lost its raising properties. We always recommend using new, unopened, and recently bought baking powder to get the best results.

More apple recipes

If you love adding apples to your baked goods and savory dishes, get more inspiration from these reader favorites:

• Baked apples with cinnamon and walnuts
• Easy apple tart with homemade pie crust
• Bircher muesli with grated apple
• Red cabbage slaw with slices of green apple and grated carrot

Whether you're looking for your next sweet snack or a wholesome dessert, these baked goods will bring new inspiration:

• Vegan zucchini bread with chocolate chips
• Oat muffins with blended oats and peanut butter
• Sweet potato muffins with easy microwaved sweet potato
• Easy banana bread with a 1-bowl and 1-fork technique

For many more breakfast ideas, check out our breakfast category page.