Cinnamon scented apple cider muffins have double the apple flavor with apple cider in the batter and tender bits of apple in every bite. They go perfectly with hot apple cider!
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: The muffins are healthier than bakery muffins with whole wheat flour and three diced apples. They also have less sugar and butter but are tender and delicious.
How long it takes: just over a half hour
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, muffin tins, oven
Servings: 12 large muffins
If you live in Michigan like I do, apples are everywhere you look during the month of October. We load up with apples from local farm markets and orchards. Freshly picked apples are super crisp, juicy, and sweet. We eat so many of them fresh especially when I have a bowl of my apple dip to go with them. Apples are a perfect snack.
When apples are baked into scrumptious desserts, like homemade apple crisp with ginger or rich apple spice cake, they are transformed. My very first post on this site way back in 2011 was for apple cinnamon muffins and since then, I’ve posted many recipes that include apples as an ingredient. Be sure to take a look at my list of easy apple recipes.
This apple cider muffin recipe is one that I posted several years ago and have since revisited it. We often go back to older recipes to test them more rigorously because we want to make sure every recipe is perfect for you.
I’m sure you’ll love these apple cider muffins. They boast double the apple flavor with apple cider in the batter and LOTS of apples (three of them!). Serve warm cinnamon-scented apple muffins with hot apple cider, an apple cider mule, or an apple cider mocktail. Embrace fall, winter isn’t far behind!
About Apple Cider Muffins
- Homemade muffins aren’t difficult to make. I use the one bowl method so cleanup is always easy. You should be able to get these apple cider muffins into the oven in about 15 minutes. There are no fancy ingredients that you’ll have to run out and buy.
- Homemade apple cider muffins are more economical than bakery muffins. It’s tempting to buy that package of muffins at the grocery store or to pick up muffins at the bakery but why not make your own? You’ll spend way less money and the bonus is that you’ll enjoy the tantalizing aroma of apples and warm cinnamon wafting through your home.
- Homemade muffins are healthier. When you bake your own muffins, you know exactly what goes into them. You can feel good knowing that your muffins are made with wholesome healthy ingredients. These apple cider muffins are made with whole wheat flour and lots of apples (three whole apples!). I’ve cut back the sugar and butter to make them even healthier.
Ingredients You’ll Need For This Recipe
- Apples: Any apple variety will work. Choose one that you like best: if you enjoy eating it fresh, it almost certainly will be great in a muffin, too. There are a few options: peeled or unpeeled, chopped or shredded. I’ll talk more about this later.
- Apple Cider: Doubling up on the apple goodness, apple cider provides flavor and helps keep the muffins moist. In Michigan, apple cider is unfiltered apple juice squeezed from apples; do not use hard apple cider (with alcohol) or apple cider vinegar which is fermented and has a sour flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour/Whole Wheat Flour: I like to use a combination of both flours. The whole wheat flour adds nutrition, flavor, and texture; the all-purpose flour keeps the muffins from becoming too heavy and dense.
- Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger: These warm spices go well with apples and are traditionally added to hot apple cider. You’ll love the aroma and flavor they add to your homemade muffins.
- Eggs: A couple of eggs make this muffin batter rich and flavorful. Eggs also add protein.
- Butter: Only a quarter cup of butter is needed to make these muffins tender. You may be surprised to learn that many muffin recipes contain up to a cup of oil.
- Sugar: Regular white sugar is added to enhance the sweetness of the apples, only two-thirds of a cup. Sometimes I even use less, about ½ cup, depending on how sweet the apples are.
- Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt: Common muffin ingredients which work to leaven the muffins so they are light and fluffy.
- Powdered Sugar: Fancy up the muffins with a drizzle of icing made with powdered sugar and a splash of cider. Totally optional, but why not?
Prepping the Apples
- Always rinse apples before peeling or cutting them.
- Peeled or Not: To prepare apples that you’ll be adding to muffins, you can either peel the apples or leave them unpeeled. The peeling always softens and pretty much disappears when the muffins are baked, especially if the apples are grated. I usually leave the peelings on.
- Grated or Diced: Decide whether you want to see the apples in the muffins or have them take more of a background role. The larger the apple pieces are, the more noticeable they will be in the muffins. Grated apples are almost unnoticeable. Finely diced apples will appear unobtrusively. Larger diced apples will be more noticeable. It’s up to you!
How To Make Apple Cider Muffins
Prep work: Preheat the oven and prep the muffin tins by either spraying them with nonstick spray, greasing them with oil, or lining them with cupcake liners. Gather the ingredients you’ll need.
Prepare the apples: Decide whether you want them peeled or not peeled, grated or diced. You’ll need two cups of apples which is about 3 small apples.
Combine wet ingredients. Crack the eggs into a big bowl and whisk them until they are blended. Stir in the sugar first, then the melted butter. Add the apple cider, stir well.
Add dry ingredients. Carefully measure out the flour. Be sure to use a scoop to lightly transfer the flour from the canister into the cup. Level the top with the flat edge of a knife. Put the flour into the large bowl on top of the egg mixture. Add the spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Lightly mix the dry ingredients together; then stir them into the egg mixture.
Blend the muffin batter just until combined; don’t overstir the mixture. It will look slightly lumpy but shouldn’t have dry bits of flour showing. Fold in the apples.
Fill the muffin tins. Scoop the batter into the muffin tins, about a quarter-cup in each well. The wells should be about three-quarters full. The size of muffin tins varies widely so you may get more or less than twelve muffins.
Bake the muffins. Put the apple muffins in the oven on the center rack and bake for about 17 minutes. Baking time varies depending on the oven temperature and the size of the muffins.
How to tell when muffins are done
Check to see if muffins are fully baked by poking a toothpick into the center of one of the muffins. It should come out clean or with a crumb or two clinging to it. If there is wet batter on the toothpick, continue baking them a few more minutes.
Cool. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes; then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before adding the icing. Be sure to enjoy a warm muffin if you like!
Ways To Change This Recipe
- Cinnamon Lovers: Instead of using the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger combo, use all cinnamon instead (1½ teaspoons). Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the muffins before baking for a crunchy cinnamon top.
- Streusel Topping: Streusel goes exceptionally well with apples. If you like, top the muffins with a layer of streusel before baking. These banana muffins have an easy streusel topping that you can also use for these apple muffins.
- Apples: If you like noticeable bits of apple in the muffins, cut the apples into larger pieces. If you would rather not see chunks of apple, grate the apples (see the cooking tip above).
Storage Tips
Cool apple cider muffins completely before storing in an airtight container. They’ll keep for a few days at room temperature.
Freezer: For longer storage, freeze them in freezer safe bags or containers. Frozen muffins will keep for up to a month. They thaw quickly, making them ideal for lunchboxes. Grab a frozen muffin out of the freezer to add to lunchboxes; it will be ready to eat by noontime.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
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Cinnamon scented apple cider muffins have double the apple flavor with apple cider in the batter and tender bits of apple in every bite. They go perfectly with hot apple cider!
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease, spray, or line muffin tins (makes about 12).
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In a large bowl, whisk eggs until blended. Stir in sugar. Add melted butter, stir well; stir in apple cider until mixture is well combined.
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Add all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and ginger to mixing bowl. Mix dry ingredients lightly with fingertips and then fold into the egg mixture, just until combined.
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Gently fold in chopped apples. Scoop about ¼ cup batter into muffin tins (they’ll be about ¾ full). Yield depends on the size of the muffin tins and how much batter you put into each one.
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Bake for 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before transferring muffins to a wire rack.
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Optional Icing: When muffins are cool, mix powdered sugar and cider. Drizzle icing over muffins. Allow icing to set before storing muffins.
Notes
- If you prefer, shred the apples instead of chopping them for less visible pieces of apple. Apples can be peeled or unpeeled.
- Cinnamon lovers: Use 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon; omit nutmeg and ginger. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with cinnamon sugar before baking.
- Storage: Cool muffins completely before storing in an airtight container. They’ll keep on the countertop for a few days. Freeze muffins in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to one month.
- Recipe updated and revised 8/2023.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1muffin, Calories: 197kcal, Carbohydrates: 36g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 41mg, Sodium: 267mg, Potassium: 95mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 19g, Vitamin A: 176IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 35mg, Iron: 1mg
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.