Tender apple crumb muffins with caramelized cinnamon apples and a crunchy crumbly brown sugar crumb topping. Make a batch for a teacher in your life!
Here in my little part of California, school has been back in session for a couple of weeks. This means summer is over for all the kids out there, but also for the hardworking teachers who put so much time, effort, money, and love into their students.
As someone whose mom and sister are both teachers, and who did a little substitute teaching right out of college (it *broke* me), I can say from experience that teaching is one of the toughest jobs out there.
So this recipe is for them. Instead of bringing your favorite teacher an apple, I hope you’ll make some apple crumb muffins for a teacher in your life. I did!
These muffins are an apple cinnamon dream, packed full of caramelized fruit, they are sweet, cinnamon spicy, and amazing. And the crunchy streusel top is just the icing on the cake.
How to Make Cinnamon Apple Crumb Muffins
This is a super easy, straightforward recipe to make. You start with some diced apples–I like Granny Smith, but use your favorite baking apple–and cook them with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, until the apples are softened and brown sugar has caramelized into a thick, gooey sauce.
Make up my quick and simple muffin base, made with either yogurt or sour cream (it’s up to you), so they are so moist and tender, and incredibly fluffy. Add the apples and let the brown sugar swirl its way into the batter.
Then you mix up a simple brown sugar streusel, drop it over the top of the muffin batter, and bake. In about 16 minutes, you are going to have some big, beautiful muffins on your hands!
This is a small-batch apple crumb muffin recipe, so as written, it yields six, but you can double it with no preparation changes. Functionally, small-batch recipes bake up just fine in modern muffin pans (no need to fill empty slots with water, etc.), but if you want a 6-cup pan, this is the one I own*. It’s cute, compact, and is less to clean, so I love it. 😉
Looking for some more teacher treats?
- My Samoa Cupcakes are a huge hit with all the teachers I know
- They are also pretty fond of my Gooey Chocolate S’mores Cupcakes
- Try Honest and Truly’s Homemade Chicago Style Popcorn Mix for a sweet/salty treat
For more fall recipes, try Dutch Apple Pie, Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Donuts, Small Apple Cinnamon Cake, and Small-batch Apple Pie Bars.
Cinnamon Apple Crumb Muffins
Ingredients
Cinnamon Apples
- 1 cup peeled and diced apples*
- 1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoon (25g) packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Muffin Base
- 2/3 cup (80g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon all spice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons (1.5oz) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg white
- 3 tablespoons sour cream or plain yogurt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Streusel
- 2 tablespoons (25g) packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (15g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line muffin tin with 6 liners.
Cinnamon Apples
- In a small saucepan, combine apples, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Bring to a simmer, and cook until apples are softened and sugar is caramelized, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Muffin Base
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, all spice, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, cream softened butter and sugar. Add egg white, yogurt/sour cream, and vanilla, and mix well. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Fold apples into the mixture, making sure to scrape all the caramelized sugar out of the pan with them. Fold just until apples are distributed throughout the batter. You don't want to completely mix in the swirls of sugar and cinnamon.
- Divide batter between prepared muffin cups.
Streusel
- In a small bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add in melted butter and stir until completely mixed. The mixture is going to seem a little wet, but don't worry about it. Drop small scoops of the streusel over the top of your muffins. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
*Links marked with an asterisk are affiliate links, which means I receive small commission if you make a purchase using them. There is absolutely no additional cost to you.
