These coffee cake muffins are easy to make and dappled with fall flavor from cinnamon and diced apple. They are just like classic coffee cake, just in muffin form!
Because coffee cake flavors (cinnamon) are synonymous with cozy mornings, this version adds diced apple to the batter to make them even better for fall.
The muffins are easy to make with a mix of sour cream and melted butter, pantry staples, and a dappling of spices in the crumb topping.
One of my favorite recipes from my Lynn's Dessert's series is her Peach Coffee Cake, but I'm more of a muffin person, so for the last couple of years I've been adjusting that recipe to make these coffee cake muffins. It's finally ready to share and I think you're going to love it!
Main ingredients
- Sour cream: Choose full-fat sour cream, as reduced fat or fat-free can affect the texture of the coffee cake. This adds a lot of richness to the muffins.
- Apple: One large apple, which yields one heaping cup of diced apple. I don't peel the apple skin because it softens during baking, but you can if you prefer a more uniform texture.
- Eggs: We're using two eggs.
- Brown sugar crumb: This is brown sugar, melted butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and a pinch of salt. I also tested this with coconut oil because I ran out of butter and it worked just as well. Cardamom is optional if you don't already have it on hand.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sour cream, and granulated sugar. The sour cream may separate if the butter is hot, but it will come back together with more stirring. Stir in the eggs and vanilla until a golden batter forms.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir this into the wet ingredients about 1 cup at a time, until a thick batter forms.
- Sprinkle the diced apple with flour. Fold it into the batter. The flour keeps the apple from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.
- Add a heaping spoonful (about 2 tablespoons) of batter to each muffin paper. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Top with another heaping spoonful of batter, then sprinkle with the crumble.
- Bake at 425F for 5 minutes, then without opening the oven door, reduce the oven temperature to 350F. Bake for another 18-20 minutes, or until the muffins are domed (it's okay if it's a subtle dome) and pulling away from the edges of the muffin tin.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire cooling rack. Enjoy!
Top tips
- Let the muffins cool completely before drizzling with icing or it will just dissolve into the muffin. Which still tastes good, but doesn't have the same visual pizzazz!
- This works as a standard coffee cake muffin recipe as well, just omit the apple. If you want to turn this into a coffee cake, I recommend sticking to the Peach Coffee Cake recipe (sans peaches), which has slightly different ingredients.
Storage tips
- Storage: Keep coffee cake muffins at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
- Freezing: These muffins freeze very well. Let cool completely before freezing in an airtight container. Pop in the microwave to thaw quickly or thaw overnight on the counter.
More fall baking
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Recipe
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Apple Coffee Cake Muffins
These muffins are just like classic coffee cake but in a handheld size and with the addition of diced apple.
Ingredients
For the muffins
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup neutral oil
- ¾ cup sour cream full-fat
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 large sweet red apple diced
For the crumb topping
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon plus more for sprinkling
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom optional
Powdered Sugar Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk more as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease well.
- For the crumb topping: Stir together ¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup flour, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon cardamom. It should be mostly crumbly.
- For the muffins: In a mixing bowl, whisk together ¼ cup melted butter, oil, sour cream, and granulated sugar. The sour cream may separate, but it should come back together with more stirring. Stir in the eggs and vanilla until a cohesive golden batter forms.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 ½ cups of the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir this into the wet ingredients about 1 cup at a time, until a thick batter forms.
- Sprinkle the diced apple with flour, about 1 tablespoon. Fold it into the batter.
- Add a heaping spoonful (about 2 tablespoons) of batter to each muffin tin. Sprinkle with a layer of cinnamon. Top with another heaping spoonful of batter, then sprinkle with the crumble.
- Bake at 425F for 5 minutes, then without opening the oven door, reduce the oven temperature to 350F. Bake for another 18-20 minutes, or until the muffins are domed (it's okay if it's just a subtle dome) and pulling away from the edges of the muffin tin.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire cooling rack. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk until smooth. It should be easy to drizzle. Add extra milk 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed. Drizzle the cooled muffins with the glaze and enjoy!
Notes
- Storage: Keep coffee cake muffins at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
- Freezing: These muffins freeze very well. Let cool completely before freezing in an airtight container. Pop in the microwave to thaw quickly or thaw overnight on the counter.
Nutrition
Calories: 332kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 5gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 55mgSodium: 91mgPotassium: 129mgFiber: 1gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 322IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 47mgIron: 2mg
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