Mini muffins are so much fun to make. They make the perfect sized snack and they fit so well into kids lunches. I use my mini muffin pan so often. Most variations store really well in the freezer too, so you can make a big batch and then pull them out of the freezer one or two at a time. We almost always have some variety of mini muffin in our freezer.
This recipe is originally from Sally’s Baking Addiction, with a few modifications. I used snap dragon apples, which I have been low key obsessed with since I used them to make Caramel Apple Crisp. The recipe called for cubed apples, but I grated mine instead because I wanted the apple to be a little bit more incorporated into the batter.
This was my first time making this recipe, and the batter was fairly wet, so in the future I would use muffin liners with these muffins, since as you can see in my photo, wet batter spreads a bit when it comes over the top of the muffin wells and you get flatter tops. You can also add a bit more flour to the the batter, but this can also make the muffins a little tough/more dense, so I would just use liners.
There is an optional glaze for these that I didn’t use, because I wanted them to be only mildly sweet. I think they would be delicious with the glaze too though.
Apple Cinnamon Crumb Muffins
Ingredients
For the topping:
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 2/3 cup flour
For the muffins:
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs room temp
- 1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream room temp
- 1/4 cup milk room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups shredded apples around two medium apples
Icing (optional):
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
For the crumb:
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Melt the butter and drizzle it over the top. Toss with a fork or whisk until clumps form.
For the muffins:
- Preheat the oven to 425 for full size muffins, 350 for mini muffins. Whisk the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- In a stand mixer, cream the butter, both sugars and the vanilla until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Add the sour cream and the eggs and mix until combined (it is ok if it looks a bit curdled at this point).
- Scrap the bowl and with the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients and mix until just barely combined.
- Stir in the apples.
- Spray your muffin pan with baker's joy or use muffin liners. I suggest liners for these since the batter is on the wet side.
- Fill the muffin wells almost to the top. Sprinkle the crumb mixture on top.
- If making mini muffins bake at 350 for about 12-13 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If baking regular size muffins, start at 425 for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 for another 15 minutes or so, or until toothpick is clean.
- Cool for 5 minutes in the pan then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling. If using the icing, drizzle over cooled muffins.
For the icing:
- Mix the ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Drizzle over the muffins.