Cinnamon Apple Cider Muffins

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.

Prep Time 18

Cook Time 20

Total Time 38

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

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.

Equipment Used

Notes

1) 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.

2) Apples – Any decent baking apples will work for this, tart or sweet. Good choices include Granny Smith, Braeburn, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, etc. 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.

3) 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.

Keyword Apple, Apple Cider, Fall, Muffins

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