These Cinnamon Apple Cider Muffins are a great start to some fall baking, but also make a great breakfast all year round. In order to get some great apple flavor in every bite, these muffins use both apple cider and diced, cooked apples with plenty of cinnamon. They’re finished with a crunchy crumb topping with more brown sugar and cinnamon, without being an overly sweet muffin.
One of the problems with a lot of baked apple treats is that apple can be a fairly subtle flavor, so these cinnamon apple cider muffins try to ramp up that flavor with apple cider and cooked apple chunks. Cooking the apple beforehand also helps to keep the muffins moist and flavorful without getting soggy. Uncooked apples can tend to weep when they cook, releasing extra water and shrinking.

Ingredients for Cinnamon Apple Cider Muffins
Most of the ingredients for these muffins are pantry staples, and the rest are right in the name, so you’ll need some cinnamon, apples, and apple cider.
Flour – You’ll need some flour for the muffins and the crumb topping. Normal all-purpose flour will work fine.
Sugar – Use both white granulated and brown sugar. Again, you’ll need some for the crumb topping, the muffins, and for cooking the apples with.
Butter – Unsalted butter works best, but you won’t need it at room temperature since you’ll be melting it for all three applications here.
Eggs – Two large eggs
Cinnamon – Ground cinnamon for the topping, the muffins, and the apples.
Oil – Just a ¼ cup of vegetable oil will help keep the muffins soft and moist.
Apple Cider – Use a ½ cup here for extra apple flavor. I wouldn’t replace with apple juice as it is sweetened and has less of an apple flavor.
Yogurt – Use a ½ cup of unflavored, whole milk yogurt here. Normally buttermilk or whole milk works well, but since this batter would be too thin with it, you’ll want yogurt to help thicken it back up. Can also use full-fat sour cream instead.
Apples – I use two apples here, but you could use just one if you prefer less chunks. I also dice them about ¼” and cook them. If you prefer bigger pieces of apple, dice them about a ½” instead. As for the type of apple to use, go with any usual baking apple like Granny Smith, Braeburn, Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, etc. I used one Granny Smith and one Pink Lady here, but you can stick with 2 of the same apples as well.
Misc. – Usual baking suspects as well: baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract.
How to Make Cinnamon Apple Muffins
Start by cooking your apples a little bit and making the crumb topping. Then you’ll combine everything and place into a muffin tin and bake. Cooking the apples first keeps them from weeping in the oven and adding too much liquid as the muffins bake, it also infuses them with a lot of flavors when cooked with cinnamon and sugar.
Cinnamon Apples
Start with the apples. Peel them and slice them off the core, thinly cut the pieces and dice evenly into ¼” pieces. Heat a 10” skillet over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter. Once the pan is warmed and the butter melted, add the diced apples along with 2 packed tablespoons of brown sugar and a ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon. Cook, stirring often until slightly browned, about 10 minutes.
Crumb Topping
While the apples are cooking, make the crumb topping. In a small mixing bowl whisk together ⅔ cup of all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, 4 packed tablespoons of brown sugar, and ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Melt a ¼ cup of unsalted butter and mix into the dry ingredients with a fork. As it starts to come together, use the fork to break up larger clumps and use gentle pressure to keep it chunky. You want a mixture of different sized pieces of crumb, so don’t overmix until it looks like a paste.
Once the apples are cooked, set the crumb topping and the apples aside so they can cool.
Cider Muffins
Preheat your oven to 425°F/220°C.
In a large mixing bowl, add 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon table salt, and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Whisk to combine and set aside.
In another mixing bowl, add a ½ cup of packed brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons of melted, unsalted butter, 2 large eggs, and a ¼ cup of vegetable oil. Whisk together until well combined. Add a ½ cup of apple cider and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and combine. Finally, add the ½ cup of whole-milk yogurt and combine.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until well combined with very few pockets of dry flour left. Now fold the diced apples into the batter.
Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with baking spray or use butter and flour. You can also use muffin liners if you prefer. Fill each of the cups with batter, there should be enough to fill it almost all the way up. Now add the crumb topping to the top of each muffin, covering them completely with the crumbs.
Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet and place into the oven. Bake for 5 minutes at the 425°F/220°C temperature and then rotate the pan and lower the temperature to 350°F/175°C and bake an additional 15-18 minutes. Check after 15 minutes with a cake tester or toothpick until it comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs. Set the muffin pan on a cooling rack and allow to cool before removing the muffins.
Storing and Alternatives for Cinnamon Apple Muffins
Storage
Muffins stored in an air-tight container tend to turn soggy as the moisture moves from the inside to the outside of the muffin, turning the nice crumb topping very soft. If you wish to store muffins at room temperature, allow them to cool completely, then line a container or zipper lock bag with a paper towel and place the muffins on top, with another paper towel covering the tops. This will soak up the moisture and the muffins should keep for 3-4 days like this.
Alternatively, you can store in a container or bag in the refrigerator for up to a week, but it will reduce the quality and change the texture of the muffins. You can also freeze the muffins in a container or bag for up to 3 months.
Alternatives
Toppings – If you’re not a fan of streusel like crumb toppings, you can also top with a simple cinnamon sugar mixture. Simply omit the butter and flour, then reduce the brown sugar to 2 tablespoons and whisk together with the 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. Add to the tops of the muffins right before baking as usual.
Apples – The amount and size of the apples is down to personal preference. I used two apples and diced small at about ¼” thick, this gives a good amount of small apple chunks in each bite. If you prefer bigger chunks, dice the apples at a ½” size instead, or even a little larger. If you want less apple chunks, reduce to one apple instead. I wouldn’t recommend more than two apples however, or it could start messing with the baking process and not rise properly.
Size – This recipe is for 12 standard muffins, but you could also make jumbo or mini muffins instead. To make jumbo muffins, change the baking times to 5 minutes at 450°F/220°C and another 20-25 minutes at 350°F/175°C. For mini muffins, skip the initial high heat and bake at 350°F/175°C for 12-15 minutes.
📋 Recipe
Cinnamon Apple Cider Muffins
Ingredients
Apples:
- 2 medium apples , peeled and ¼” diced
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar , packed
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Crumb Topping:
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar , packed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup unsalted butter , melted
Cinnamon Apple Cider Muffins:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup brown sugar , packed
- ¼ cup white granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup unsalted butter , melted
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup apple cider
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole-milk yogurt
Directions
Cinnamon Apples
- Start with the apples. Peel them and slice them off the core, thinly cut the pieces and dice evenly into ¼” pieces. Heat a 10” skillet over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter. Once the pan is warmed and the butter melted, add the diced apples along with 2 packed tablespoons of brown sugar and a ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon. Cook, stirring often until slightly browned, about 10 minutes.
Crumb Topping
- While the apples are cooking, make the crumb topping. In a small mixing bowl whisk together ⅔ cup of all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, 4 packed tablespoons of brown sugar, and ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Melt a ¼ cup of unsalted butter and mix into the dry ingredients with a fork. As it starts to come together, use the fork to break up larger clumps and use gentle pressure to keep it chunky. You want a mixture of different sized pieces of crumb, so don’t overmix until it looks like a paste.
- Once the apples are cooked, set the crumb topping and the apples aside so they can cool.
Cider Muffins
- Preheat your oven to 425°F/220°C.
- In a large mixing bowl, add 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon table salt, and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, add a ½ cup of packed brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons of melted, unsalted butter, 2 large eggs, and a ¼ cup of vegetable oil. Whisk together until well combined. Add a ½ cup of apple cider and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and combine. Finally, add the ½ cup of whole-milk yogurt and combine.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until well combined with very few pockets of dry flour left. Now fold the diced apples into the batter.
- Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with baking spray or use butter and flour. You can also use muffin liners if you prefer. Fill each of the cups with batter, there should be enough to fill it almost all the way up. Now add the crumb topping to the top of each muffin, covering them completely with the crumbs.
- Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet and place into the oven. Bake for 5 minutes at the 425°F/220°C temperature and then rotate the pan and lower the temperature to 350°F/175°C and bake an additional 15-18 minutes. Check after 15 minutes with a cake tester or toothpick until it comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs. Set the muffin pan on a cooling rack and allow to cool before removing the muffins.
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