Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins for the home table

This small batch of Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins is tender and flavorful, packed with small, flavorful chunks of apple, chopped walnuts, and warm flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg. To bring it all together, pair it with a sweet, crumbly streusel topping and vanilla glaze!

Reasons You may like These Small-Batch Apple Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

• It's a small-batch muffin recipe, but you can easily double it.
• They're especially soft and tender.
• They're packed with chopped Gala apples and chopped walnuts.
• Warm, flavorful spices of ground cinnamon and nutmeg.
• They're topped with a sweet, crumbly cinnamon streusel topping and vanilla glaze.
• Easily adaptable from using Gala apples to either Granny Smith or McIntosh apples.
• It is a wonderful breakfast or brunch treat for fall.
• They're genuinely flavorful!

What goes in

To make these fantastic apple streusel muffins, you will need the following ingredients:

All-Purpose Flour. Needed for the muffins and the cinnamon streusel.

Baking Powder and Baking Soda. These trusted leavening agents give these warm apple muffins their lift and slightly domed tops. Make sure these babies haven't expired!

Spices. You'll need ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and salt for the muffins. For the cinnamon streusel—just the cinnamon. I used Vietnamese (or Saigon) ground cinnamon from King Arthur Baking, which Enjoy because of its stronger, sweeter flavor. Regular ground cinnamon will work equally as well, though!

Granulated Sugar. Needed for both the apple cinnamon streusel muffins and cinnamon streusel topping. You can use regular white granulated sugar or organic pure cane sugar.

Unsalted Butter. For the muffins, you'll need the butter to be melted. For the streusel, you'll need it to be cold and cubed. I don't recommend using salted butter as a substitute because it's tough to tell exactly how much salt is added. If it's the only type of butter you have access to, then omit the salt listed in the method.

1 Large Egg. Make sure it is at room temperature. This helps ensure the ingredients are properly incorporated.

Buttermilk. Or you can use whole milk. If you would like to use a buttermilk substitute, visit my lemon blueberry streusel muffins recipe.

Vanilla Extract. Helps round out the flavors in these apple-cinnamon streusel muffins. Pure vanilla extract is best.

1 Gala Apple. This should be cleaned, peeled, and diced into small chunks. You can also use a Granny Smith or McIntosh apple as a substitute.

Chopped Walnuts. This is an optional ingredient that can be added to the batter, to the top as a garnish, or left out entirely. Chopped pecans can also be used as a substitute.

Vanilla Glaze. Also optional is the vanilla glaze that's made with powdered sugar, milk (any dairy type), and vanilla extract. If a thicker glaze is preferred, add one tablespoon of sifted powdered sugar at a time until the desired consistency is achieved.

How it comes together

Below is a quick overview of how to make these house-made cinnamon apple streusel muffins. For the full printable recipe, which can be made using US customary or metric measurements, visit the method card below.

Step 1. Make the streusel topping. First, whisk together the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. With either your clean hands or a fork, blend together with the unsalted butter until you have small streusel crumbles. Having a few big crumbles is evenly fine, too.

Step 2. Peel and chop up the apple. Keep the apple chunks small so more can go into the muffins.

Step 3. Whisk the dry ingredients together. Use either a medium- or large-size mixing bowl to whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and salt. Fold in your chopped apples and, if you'd like, chopped walnuts. I sometimes choose to add them, and other times not.

Step 4. Mix the wet ingredients together. Whisk together the egg, granulated sugar, melted butter, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. I whisk together the first five ingredients, then add the buttermilk and vanilla extract. You can use either whole milk or buttermilk. See the quick tips section below for additional buttermilk substitutions.

Step 5. Add the dry ingredients mixture to the wet. Use a spatula for this step instead of a whisk, folding gently until the ingredients are just combined.

Step 6. Scoop, then top with streusel. I used my 3.4-tablespoon cookie scoop to distribute the batter evenly into each muffin liner. I filled each one up to the top. Using standard muffin liners, this method yielded eight muffins. If you use tulip-style liners, you can fill them up just a bit more, yielding six muffins. Top with the cinnamon streusel topping and, if desired, any chopped walnuts (or pecans).

Step 7. Bake! Bake for 8 minutes at 425ºF, then reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Questions on this bake

What muffin/cupcake liners did you use for this apple streusel muffin recipe?

I used standard white cupcake/muffin liners from Wilton, but you can also use tulip-style liners.

How high should I fill each muffin liner?

I filled each liner to the very top using a 3.4 tablespoon-sized cookie scoop. They rose up and domed slightly. For tulip-style liners, you can fill them up even a little more.

Can Use oil instead of butter with this method?

You can, but you may find the muffins are greasier and don't rise or dome nearly as much.

Are there any substitutions for the flour or eggs?

No, not at this time.

Can Use a different type of apple for this muffin recipe?

Instead of a Gala apple, Try using either a Granny Smith or a McIntosh apple.