Delicious Apple Cinnamon Muffins 🍎

Cozy up with these homemade Apple Cinnamon Muffins (even in June) — bursting with tender chunks of cinnamon-coated apples and baked to golden perfection. With a soft, buttery crumb and a sweet cinnamon-sugar topping, these muffins make the perfect comforting treat any time of day. Easy to prepare from scratch, they’re a delightful way to bring warm fall flavors into your kitchen year-round. Perfect for breakfast, snack time, or sharing with loved ones!

Muffins:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1½ cups diced apples
• ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
•  ½ cup granulated sugar
• 8 quail eggs (or 2 large eggs), room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup almond milk (or milk of your choice)

Topping:

• 6 tbsp butter, melted
• 1/4 cup (50 g) brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (31 g) ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375º F. Prepare your muffin tins by spraying them with baker’s spray or coating thoroughly with shortening or butter, then dusting with flour. Be sure to shake out any excess flour from the tins.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set this dry mixture aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the diced apples with the ground cinnamon and a bit of flour to coat them evenly. Set the coated apples aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture lightens in color and becomes fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Carefully fold the dry flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Add milk. Mix gently until just combined. Then fold in the cinnamon-coated diced apples.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling each about two-thirds to three-quarters full. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

While the muffins bake, prepare the topping by melting the butter and letting it cool slightly. Pour the melted butter into a bowl that’s easy to dip the muffin tops into. In another bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

Once the muffins are done, remove them from the oven and let them cool briefly in the tin. Then carefully take out each muffin, brush or dip the tops in the melted butter, and immediately coat them in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place the muffins on a plate to finish cooling.