These jumbo apple pie muffins muffins have three layers: a soft muffin base loaded with diced apples, a layer of cinnamon-cooked cinnamon apples in the middle, and a crunchy streusel crumb topping on top of those apples. That's the whole apple pie in a muffin form - one muffin, three textures.
I bake these guys when I want 6 big muffins for snacking and breakfast; and they absolutely possess the BEST flavors of an apple pie in a completely not overwhelming way (I don't over do the cinnamon here). The apples get simmered down with cinnamon separately first, so by the time I add them on top of the batter they're already soft and syrupy. I add some cornstarch there to thicken the apple mixture and prevent it from spreading too much on top of my muffins.
Of course I use my favorite hot-oven-then-drop trick (425°F for the first 10 minutes, then down to 375°F without opening the door), which is what gives these their domed, bakery-style tops. The initial blast sets the outside fast so the muffin can climb before the structure firms up.
🍎 Jumbo Apple Pie Muffins Summary
- 🧈 Crumb topping: flour, sugar, cold butter, rubbed by hand into shaggy crumbs
- 🍏 Apples simmered low and slow with butter, sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon
- 🥣 Classic creamed-butter muffin batter, folded with apple chunks
- 🔥 Baked hot first (425°F), then dropped to 375°F for a tall, bakery-style rise
- 🧁 Makes 6 jumbo muffins
- 🗓️ Best the day they're made, but they keep well wrapped at room temp for a couple of days
✅ Quick Chooser: Cinnamon in the Batter and Streusel, or Not?
I kept cinnamon out of the muffin batter and the streusel on purpose, and only put it in the apple filling. We don't put cinnamon in the apple pie crust, do we? So therefore I don't put it in the muffin either, just the apple mixture. Here's how both versions actually taste, so you can pick based on what you're going for.
🍂 Cinnamon Only in the Apple Mixture
Best for: a cleaner apple flavor up front, with the cinnamon spice showing up only in the apples (thus staying true to the apple pie logic) instead of running through the whole muffin.
The batter tastes like a plain butter muffin until you hit the apple layer, and then the cinnamon hits all at once. It keeps the muffin itself and streusel tasting buttery and a little sweet on their own, so the spice isn't fighting with the vanilla.
🍁 Cinnamon Added to the Batter and Streusel Too
Best for: an all-over spiced muffin that tastes closer to a snickerdoodle-meets-apple-pie, where every bite carries a little warmth.
How to do it: add ½-¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon to the dry ingredients in step 2 of the muffin batter, and whisk another ¼-½ teaspoon into the streusel mix along with the flour and sugar. Don't add more than that or the apple filling's cinnamon gets muddy instead of layered.
Texture note: the streusel with cinnamon in it browns slightly darker and smells stronger straight out of the oven, but it doesn't change how it crumbles or sticks to the filling.
Want a spiced muffin all the way through? Add cinnamon to both. Want the apple layer to stand out as its own moment? Leave the batter and streusel plain, the way this version is written.
Apple Crumble Muffins (Apple Pie Muffins with Streusel)
Ingredients
Crumble/Streusel
- ¼ cup regular sugar packed (71g)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour 84g
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter cold and diced (56g)
Apple Pie Filling
- 2 medium apples peeled and chopped (240g)
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter 28g
- ¼ cup regular sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Apple Muffins
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 250g
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature (113g)
- ½ cup regular sugar packed (107g)
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup milk room temperature (120ml)
- 1 apple medium peeled and chopped
Instructions
For the crumble/streusel
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the diced butter. Use your fingers to work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles crumbs. You can squeeze a handful and break it apart to get bigger chunks. Refrigerate until ready to use.
For the apple pie filling
- Combine apples, butter, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, in a medium-sized pan over medium-low heat. Stir frequently until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.
- Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Set aside to cool.
For the muffins
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a muffin tin.
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl beat the butter, sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add in eggs and vanilla. Mix until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Mix until just combined.
- Toss the chopped apples in 1 tablespoon of flour and fold into the batter.
- Scoop the batter evenly into each cupcake liner. Top each muffin with a spoonful of apple pie filling, then sprinkle with crumble. Gently press on the crumble so it sticks to the filling.
- Bake for 10 minutes at 425°F, then reduce the oven temperature to 375°F without opening the oven. For regular sized muffins bake an additional 15-18 minutes. For jumbo muffins bake an additional 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Optional: Drizzle with caramel sauce, if desired.
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