These Apple Crumb Muffins with Vanilla Glaze are super moist with a buttery cinnamon flavor, and a scrumptious brown sugar crumb topping.  They’re super easy to make and better than any bakery muffin.

Apple crumb muffins.

Have you ever indulged in a big fat bakery-style Apple Crumb Muffin?  If you have, you already know they are a sweet indulgence with a hot cup of coffee, but they can also be quite pricey.  Did you know, you can make your own bakery-style Apple Crumb Muffins at home?  And you can eat them fresh out of the oven.  How can you get any fresher?  I guess, by being at the bakery at 1 in the morning when they are baking them.  By the time you stop by the bakery to get a fresh muffin, that muffin is already a few hours old, so why not make your own fresh muffins at home and pay a lot less per muffin!!

Let’s talk about what’s in these Apple Crumb Muffins and what makes them scrumptious…

MUFFIN BATTER

BUTTERMILK adds lots of moistness to the muffins.  BUTTER adds buttery flavor, and EGGS add structure to the muffins.  BROWN SUGAR adds both moistness and caramel-like notes to the muffins.  Brown sugar goes hand in hand with any apple recipe.  Cinnamon also goes hand in hand with apples.  There are 2 whole teaspoons of cinnamon in the batter and more in the crumb topping.  APPLES are the main star in this recipe…tart green Granny Smith or any good cooking apple, and what would apple muffins be without crunchy nuts.  I chose PECANS, but walnuts work great too.

CRUMB TOPPING

The crumb topping is made of cinnamon, brown sugar, flour, and butter.  It is crumbly, buttery, and delicious and takes less than 5 minutes to mix.

VANILLA GLAZE

apple crumb muffins.

The vanilla glaze is simply, powdered sugar, half & half (or milk), and vanilla.  It’s the perfect finish for these muffins.

Apple crumb muffins.

TIPS

  • Don’t overfill the muffin cups.  I don’t fill them over 3/4 full.  You need room for the crumb topping.
  • Once you sprinkle the crumb topping on the muffins, slightly press it down with your fingers so that it adheres to the batter and doesn’t fall off.
  • Check the muffins for doneness with a toothpick.  If the toothpick comes out clean they are done.  It sometimes hard to tell if they’re done by looking at them, due to the crumb topping.
  • Allow the muffins cool for 5 minutes before drizzling the glaze over them.
  • If you freeze the muffins, freeze them without the glaze.

If you love apple recipes, you might also like these…

Apple Dumplings

Easy Apple Crisp

Rustic Apple Galette

Fresh Apple Cake

Country Apple Pie

Country Fried Apples

If you make this recipe please rate it, and leave a comment below on how you liked it. I love hearing from you!

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Apple Crumb Muffins with Vanilla Glaze

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  • Author: Cindy Gibbs
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 14 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American

Description

These Apple Crumb Muffins are super moist with a buttery cinnamon flavor, and a scrumptious brown sugar crumb topping.  They’re finished with a perfect vanilla glaze and are better than any bakery muffin.


Ingredients

Units Scale

CRUMB TOPPING

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

MUFFINS

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 3/4 cup full-fat buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup peeled, cored, and chopped cooking apple, such as Granny Smith
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

VANILLA GLAZE

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons milk or half & half

 


Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

CRUMB TOPPING

  1. Add the crumb ingredients to a medium bowl and mix with a spatula or your hands until the mixture is thick and crumbly.  Set aside

MUFFINS

  1. Spray or line muffin cups with paper liners.  You will probably need about 14 muffin holders.  If you only have one 12-count muffin pan, you can bake two by themselves, but don’t try to overfill the muffin cups to try and make 12.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, combine the eggs, butter, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Mix on medium-high speed for about one minute until the mixture is thoroughly combined.  Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed, just until the flour is almost incorporated.  You should still see some dry flour here and there.  Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the apples and nuts.
  4. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling no more than 3/4 full.  You need room for the crumb topping.
  5. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the muffin fillings, pressing the mixture lightly into the filling with your hands.
  6. Bake the muffins for approximately 15 to 20 minutes until the muffins are golden brown on top.  Run a toothpick through the crumb topping and muffin to check for doneness, if you’re not sure if they’re done.  Sometimes it’s hard to tell when you have a crumb topping.

VANILLA GLAZE

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients and drizzle over warm or room temperature muffins.
  2. The muffins will stay fresh for up to 2 days at room temperature or 4 days refrigerated.

Notes

Freezing Muffins:  Wrap the muffins securely and freeze unglazed for up to 3 months.  Thaw to room temperature, and warm in a microwave.  Make and drizzle the glaze over the muffins.

Jumbo Muffins:  This recipe will make 6 jumbo muffins.  They will take about 5 – 7 additional minutes of baking time.