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The most flavorful, soft muffin loaded with sweetened apples and streusel crumble. This Apple Coffee Cake Muffins recipe screams fall breakfast!
I used to actually dread fall because it meant that winter, snow and colder weather was coming soon. But now I love fall because it means slightly cooler weather and plenty of time spent outdoors.
Plus sweater weather. I love sweater weather.
Regardless of where you live, the best thing about fall is all of the delicious fall recipes.
Fall Spices and Flavors
Even though the official start of the fall season won’t be here for a few more weeks, I’m diving right into the flavors of fall with these Apple Coffee Cake Muffins. Cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin, apple, and squash are some of my all-time favorite flavors. Especially during the most brutally hot days of summer, I’m dreaming of baking warm apple crisp, pumpkin pie and the best caramel apple spice cookies.
Apple coffee cake muffins are a taste of fall and the perfect way to start the day. Grab a huge glass of milk, or better yet, a glass of apple cider and enjoy the sweet and tart apple flavors. Chunks of apples, crumble topping, and glaze combine to create a breakfast treat or afternoon snack.
The best part of these muffins is the streusel mixture that not only covers the top of the muffins but is swirled throughout. Add some apple chunks and the fall flavors really begin to shine. Bake a batch and enjoy the warm fall flavors, especially if you’ve got kids heading out the door to school.
I’ve been busting out a batch here and there then popping half into the freezer so that the girls can grab a fresh and filling breakfast before heading out the door.
Does Coffee Cake Contain Coffee?
Coffee cake is a moist, tender cake that is usually topped with some kind of streusel topping and served with coffee.
Some coffee cakes may contain coffee, but the name comes from the fact that it is served with coffee, not because it has coffee in it.
Do Apple Muffins Need to be Refrigerated?
No, fruit muffins do not have to be refrigerated. They can be stored at room temperature in a closed container for 2-3 days. For longer storage, store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Can I Freeze Muffins?
You know I freeze muffins ALL THE TIME! It’s so easy for school breakfasts! The kids pull one out and pop it in the microwave and I’ve done nothing yet still managed to feed them hot breakfast.
Apple Coffee Cake Muffins
Apple Coffee Cake Muffins
Ingredients
For the Streusel
- 1 1/2 Cups Flour
- 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1/4 Cup White Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter , (1 stick= 1/2 cup)
For the Cake
- 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
- 1 Cup Sugar, minus 2 tablespoons
- 1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 Large Eggs, whisked
- 3/4 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 2 Cups Flour
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Cup Buttermilk
- 2 Cups Apples, peeled and chopped
For the Icing
- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 3-4 Tablespoons Heavy Cream, (milk is ok)
Instructions
For the Streusel
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugars, salt and cinnamon.1 1/2 Cups Flour, 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, 1/4 Cup White Sugar, 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt, 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
- Melt the butter and allow to cool just slightly so it's still melted but not hot.1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
- Stir the butter into the dry ingredients and do not break up clumps unless they are huge. Set aside.
For the Muffins
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line 3 muffin tins with paper liners. See note on muffin tips for why we use three pans.
- In a standing mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add the oil and mix again.1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, 1 Cup Sugar, 1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
- Crack in your eggs and add the vanilla extract and then give the mixer a final turn before dumping in all dry ingredients. Mix until almost incorporated and then add in the buttermilk and stir until barely combined.2 Large Eggs, 3/4 teaspoons Vanilla Extract, 2 Cups Flour, 2 teaspoons Baking Powder, 1/2 teaspoon Salt, 1/2 Cup Buttermilk
- Make a well in the center of the batter, add about 1 cup of the streusel and 1 cups of apples and cover it back up with batter.2 Cups Apples
- Sprinkle about 1 1/2 cups more streusel on top along with the remaining apple, and using a rubber spatula, gently fold it all in.
- Using a cookie scoop, add the batter evenly into each paper liner and sprinkle generously with streusel.
- Bake 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool slightly then drizzle with the icing and serve warm. (see note)
Icing
- In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla and heavy cream until a steady ribbon of drizzle comes off the whisk. Set aside.1 Cup Powdered Sugar, 1 teaspoon Vanilla, 3-4 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
Recipe Notes
Muffin Liners
Tulip muffin liners help to get a taller muffin dome.Muffin Spacing
It is best when making muffins to place a liner in every other well for the best air circulation, but it’s ok if you need to get it done and fill each well.Make Ahead
This cake is awesome to make ahead! Even two days prior to your event is fine if you cover it well.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Does each muffin really have 5,000 calories?
That would just be depressing, wouldn’t it! No, that would be for the whole batch making each muffin about 350 calories.
Does anyone know how many muffins result from this recipe? Where it says Yield it states, and I quote, “one recipe”. I really hate to sound like a smart guy but “REALLY”, every recipe on the planet yields, “one recipe”. I think everyone looks for whether it makes 6 muffins or 12 muffins (which is usually the average) or 18 or even 24 or somewhere in between some of these.
Hi Pamela! Sorry the yield reads incorrectly! The directions say it makes 12 muffins down in the recipe card.
The recipe says 24 servings. This had me confused be cause there is so little batter.
Hi Jennifer! It has been corrected to read 18 servings. Sorry for the confusion!
Is the nutritional info on these muffins correct? 4,250 calories and 196.6 gm of fat? That doesn’t seem possible! They look delicious, but not for that amount of calories per muffin 😳
Oh boy, it seems to be pulling for the entire pan of muffins!
There is just one word to describe these muffins….YUMMMMTASTIC lol I was looking for an apple muffin recipe, not an applesauce muffin recipe and I came across this. This is a definite keeper! And for the other posters who seem to have a bit of a heavy hand while mixing and over do it – I learned a trick a couple years ago and I’ve had fantastic results since. Once you mix up the batter and scoop it out – THATS when you turn the oven on. Those 7 or 8 minutes or so of resting time relaxes the gluten just enough to get nice fluffy muffins!
Jane, I never knew that tip but I’m totally going to do it. Thanks!!
Literally the BEST muffin I’ve ever put in my mouth! I bake ALL the time, so I’ve tried a lot of recipes. I also found the directions a little confusing with all the back & forth, but they were absolutely worth the extra steps!
Oh my goodness, yay!! I’ll read over the directions again so we can simplify 🙂
I made a batch of these today, theywere delicious!!!
I would at the bare minimum double the streusel (I’m a sucker for streusel!) @nd comp, etely cover the tops of these.
I had a hard time with the steps for this recipe, they were very confusing the way they were written. It would be easier to break down the ingredient list by batter, streusel, etc. I had to reread the steps over and over again to make sure I was doing it right!
I made this recipe in cupcake pans since I dont have muffin pans, and it made 16.
I found myself 4 weeks into my sentence of wearing a cast on my leg. I sat thinking what to do this weekend other than my normal busy tasks. I looked around and saw that sack of apples me and the kids went and picked a few weeks prior and it hit me PINTEREST. After some searching i found “apple coffee cake muffins” and off i went. So as i began the recipe i found i only had Lite sour cream, and wheat flour. But as it may be i decided to make it anyways. These muffins turned out fantastic and were a huge hit with the family.
These smell amazing but I fear I overworked the batter trying to get them into the muffin tin because they were more sticky than most muffin batters. I hope I didn’t ruin them because they’ve been baking for 30 min already and they’re still not done! Also wish I read the comments beforehand…definitely could have made 18-24 instead of filling up only 12 muffin liners – so much spillover! At least my kitchen smells great 🙂
These are delicious! I just finalized eating one and I can not wait till my kids get home from school to try them! I followed the recipe exactly and they came out perfect. Light and fluffy! On a sidenote, may I applaud you for not deleting the negative comments. I have recently started using a lot of online recipes and when they do not turn out well I’ll leave a comment stating such. Usually the bloggers delete my comment though! I’m now skeptical of recipes that only have positive comments, lol!
Oops! Finished eating! Not finalized, lol!
Do they really?! I can’t imagine doing that. It seems like as long as the person isn’t writing “I changed… and it turned out horrible” and then listing 50 things (which happens all the time) I feel like the negative comments could help someone else troubleshoot as everyone cooks and bakes differently. So glad you enjoyed these!
These muffins look delightful! Over the weekend my husband went to his family home and picked dozens of apples off of their apple tree. You mentioned using Baldwin, Braeburn, Cortland, Fuji, Gala or Granny Smith apples, but I wonder if these particular apples will work just as well? What are your thoughts?
Hi Erin, it should be fine, but the different varieties not only bake up differently (softer, mushier etc) but they could make the muffins more wet or sour depending on their sugar and water content. I say go for it, I totally would and as long as they are great to eat on their own they should work great.
I made the muffin today….so yummy! I love muffin recipes without oil… Do you think that I can use this recipe with other fruits like blueberry or without fruit at all? Do I need to add more flour or anything to replace that one cup of apple?
I’m so glad, June! If you use a different berry it could give off more juices requiring a touch more flour, but honestly that’s only if they are really releasing juice so I’d just sub away. If you skip the fruit all together you don’t need to add anything to replace it. 🙂