Description
These bakery-style apple cinnamon muffins are incredibly moist, tender, and loaded with fresh apple chunks. Featuring warm cinnamon spice and a perfectly domed top, these easy homemade muffins are perfect for breakfast, brunch, or snacking. Simple to make with pantry staples and absolutely delicious!
Ingredients
Scale
For the Muffins:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil)
- ½ cup sour cream, full-fat (or plain Greek yogurt)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1½ cups fresh apples, peeled and diced (about 2 medium apples)
For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping (Optional but Recommended):
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease the cups generously with butter or non-stick spray. This temperature creates the perfect rise and golden top.
- Prepare the apples: Peel and dice 2 medium apples into ½-inch cubes. You should have about 1½ cups of diced apples. Pat them dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Set aside. Removing moisture prevents soggy muffins and helps the apples distribute evenly in the batter.
- Mix dry ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk for about 30 seconds to ensure everything is evenly distributed and there are no lumps. This step is crucial for even rising and flavor distribution.
- Combine wet ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract until smooth and well combined. The mixture should be homogeneous with no streaks of sour cream visible.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients: Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold the mixture together until just combined. The batter will be thick and slightly lumpy – this is perfect! Stop mixing as soon as you no longer see dry flour streaks. Overmixing develops gluten and results in tough, dense muffins.
- Fold in the apples: Gently fold the diced apples into the batter, distributing them evenly. Again, use a light touch – you want the apples throughout the batter without overmixing. The batter will be quite thick, which is exactly what you want for tall, bakery-style muffins.
- Fill the muffin cups: Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Fill each cup about ¾ full (they’ll be quite full – that’s okay!). This amount of batter creates those beautiful domed tops. If you have any leftover batter, you can make 1-2 extra muffins.
- Add the topping: In a small bowl, mix together the 2 tablespoons of sugar and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. Generously sprinkle this cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of each unbaked muffin. This creates a delicious, slightly crunchy sweet topping.
- Bake to perfection: Bake in the preheated oven for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs (no wet batter). The tops should be golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed. Start checking at 22 minutes – ovens vary!
- Cool properly: Remove the muffin tin from the oven and let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes. This brief rest allows the structure to set. After 5 minutes, carefully transfer the muffins to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. This prevents soggy bottoms from trapped steam.
- Serve and enjoy: These apple cinnamon muffins are delicious warm or at room temperature. Enjoy them plain, or spread with a little butter for extra indulgence!
Notes
- Apple variety matters: Choose firm apples that won’t turn to mush when baked. Granny Smith provides a nice tart contrast, while Honeycrisp or Pink Lady add natural sweetness.
- Room temperature eggs: Cold eggs from the fridge won’t mix as smoothly into the batter. Let them sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before using.
- Don’t overmix: The single biggest mistake in muffin-making is overmixing. Mix just until ingredients are combined – lumpy batter makes tender muffins!
- Uniform apple pieces: Dice apples into uniform ½-inch pieces so they distribute evenly and bake consistently.
- Oven temperature matters: 375°F is the sweet spot for these muffins. Lower temperatures result in flat muffins; higher temperatures cause over-browning.
- Muffin size variation: If your muffins are smaller or larger than standard, adjust baking time accordingly. Mini muffins bake in 12-15 minutes; jumbo muffins take 30-35 minutes.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 245
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 210mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 34g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 35mg