Soft and fluffy apple crumble muffins are stuffed with apple pieces and piled high with a buttery crumble topping.
Of all of the different dessert recipes that I make for this site, my favorite thing to make (as of late, anyway) is a batch of muffins.
I think it’s because I’ve sort of developed a knack for making them. A while back, after a lot of trial and error, I developed the perfect basic muffin recipe. Perfect in my opinion, anyway, which means soft, fluffy and flavorful muffins every time.
My basic recipe is just that: the plain, basic fundamentals for a light and fluffy muffin, so each time I set out to create a new muffin recipe, I spend some time tweaking it to best suit the ingredients I’m trying to highlight that day, changing a few things here and here to properly develop the taste and texture I’m looking for.
Not once has my muffin base let me down.
These muffins–these springy-soft and fluffy muffins (one of which I’m devouring as I write this) were inspired by Friday’s Caramel Apple Cheesecake dip. As often happens, one recipe on the blog will beget another, if only to use up excess ingredients and not have to throw them away.
So, to use up the pile of apples sleeping on my countertop, I chopped them up and tossed them into my slightly altered muffin base. This time, I added a generous addition of cinnamon to complement and draw out the apple flavor, and a buttery, irresistible, sky-high pile of brown sugar and cinnamon crumbles (which are nice and gently crunchy against the soft apple base).
They are the ultimate breakfast muffin. The ultimate misty Monday morning pick-me up muffin. The ultimate anytime muffin.
Now excuse me, I think I’ll go have another.
Apple Crumble Muffins
Fluffy apple studded muffins with a mile-high streusel topping.
Ingredients
Crumble
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup brown sugar tightly packed
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 6 Tbsp salted butter melted
Muffins
- 1/2 cup canola oil vegetable oil would also work
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice stirred into 1/2milk and allowed to sit for 5 minutes0
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cup peeled and chopped apples I prefer my apple pieces chopped smaller rather than larger
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 375 F and line a 12-count muffin tin with paper liners (or grease and flour).
Crumble
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Prepare the crumble first by whisking together flour, sugars and cinnamon.
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Pour the melted butter into the mixture and, using a fork, stir until crumbles form. Set aside.
Muffins
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In medium-large bowl, whisk together oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and buttermilk. Whisk well until all ingredients are well combined (about 1 minute).
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Add eggs, whisking until combined.
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Stir in vanilla extract.
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In separate, medium-sized bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
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Gradually stir flour mixture into wet mixture until just combined (do not over-mix!).
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Gently fold in apple pieces.
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Divide batter into prepared muffin tins (filling each about 3/4 of the way full).
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Top with crumble topping, splitting evenly among muffins.
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Bake on 375F for 25 minutes (toothpick inserted in center should come out mostly clean with no wet batter on it).
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Allow muffins to cool before eating.
You May Also Like:
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins
Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
Oh Sam, this sounds crazy delicious! I bet this would be perfect anytime of day, especially with a good cup of coffee. Love the crumble topping too, it makes such a difference. Thanks for sharing!
These muffins look so delicious! Love all the crumb 🙂
These muffins look so deeeliocus, Sam. I can have these for breakfast everyday. Fantastic share!
These look delectable! I love apple in muffins and that crumble topping would make any day a good day.
These muffins look incredible, Sam! Apple crumble is one of my favourite autumn desserts. Love the idea of topping the fluffy muffins with cinnamon crumble mix! 😀
Mm, I always love a good muffin…and these look perfect! I love the crumble topping and the fact that they’ve got a nice dose of cinnamon in them – so lovely and suitable for the season!
That crumble does look seriously perfect!!
Yum yum yum! I absolutely love apple crumble and muffins – so this combo sounds so amazing Sam! These look so beautiful. I wish I could grab one out of my screen and eat it right now!
These are gorgeous, Sam! I love your pictures. I love muffins! For some reason, they are super satisfying to make. I’m not sure why. Pinned :)!
Oh Sam, what I would do for a taste of one of your delicious muffins! They look INCREDIBLE!
Mmm, I love how crumbly they look! These look scrumptious!
These are perfect for the harvest season when apples are at their yummiest! Thank you for this!
So glad you like them, Whitni! 🙂
These look fabulous! I like the ‘rustic’ look of the muffin papers. How big did you cut the papers? What is the best way to make them work? If you could just email me a response I’d really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
-M
Hi MaryAnn! I sent you an e-mail response but I wanted to share the answer here as well in case others had the same question as you.
I followed these instructions (link below) in order to make muffin papers out of the parchment paper:
http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-pretty-muffin-liners-out-of-parchment-paper-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-213478.
Basically it required cutting the parchment into approximately 5″ squares and pressing them into the muffin tin using a small can or jar (I also used a v8 can as suggested in the link because I happened to have some on hand).
It was a bit of a pain,especially since the parchment paper tends to roll), but after the first few it gets easier (and they do look so nice, don’t they?!).
I hope this helps!
These were delicious. However, I should have halved the topping mixture as it made way too much.
Glad you liked them, Shelly! I’m definitely guilty of overloading my muffins with topping; I’m addicted to those crumbles! Thanks for commenting! 🙂
Hi Sam! These muffins look absolutely delish! Can’t wait to try them but I was wondering whether I needed to cook the apples before hand? Is the Apple mixture going to be crispy or soft like an apple pie mixture?
Hi Sara! No, you do not have to cook them beforehand. They are not crispy, so more soft like an apple pie Apple, but not mushy. Since they are chopped up they cook nicely in the muffins. I hope this helps! I’d love to hear how you like them!
Just made these and they were really tasty. Easy to follow instructions, thanks for the recipe!
So glad you liked them! Thanks for commenting, Carolyn! 🙂
We loved these, Sam!! Thanks so much for this recipe. I used the extra crumble topping on banana bread. Fantastic!
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed! Thank you for coming back and letting me know that you liked them, Alyson! 🙂