Apple Crumble Muffins (with Pie Filling)

Apple Crumble Muffins filled with apple pie filling and topped with streusel and a vanilla glaze. They are soft and mildly sweet, making the perfect coffee time treat, snack, or breakfast just like our cinnamon muffins.

Raise your hand if you love muffins! They are some of my favorite American baked goodies like apple hand pies, apple pie, and apple cobbler.

And I don’t discriminate: I enjoy them in different flavors.

These are ideal for Autumn! They remind me of a layered apple cake because it has a delish apple pie filling.

The difference is they are portioned and portable. Awesome, right?!

Take them to work and enjoy a scrumptious afternoon treat. 

Best Apples for Apple Pie Filling

Firmer apples are ideal for baking in general, including for apple pie filling, this apple streusel cake and gluten-free apple crisp,  and our apple crumble muffins.

Among them are:

• Red Delicious
• Gala
• Honey Crisp
• Granny Smith
• Pink Lady
• Golden Delicious
• Northern Spy
• Jonagold
• Braeburn
• McIntosh
• Cortland

Some are tart and others sweet. You can pick one or mix it with another type from the list above for our apple crumb muffins.

At all costs, avoid soft or mushy apples that break down more quickly when baking.

Although we used a store-bought apple pie filling (chopped), choose a mix of 2 firm sweet and tart apples listed above (such as Gala and Granny Smith) to make the apple pie filling from scratch.

There will be a balance of flavor (sweet and tart) and you can still bite into the filling, experiencing a contrast of texture from the firm apples and soft muffin batter.

Making Streusel or Crumble

There are 2 ways: you can either cut the cold butter into flour or you can use melted butter.

Although using cold better can be more time-consuming, you have more control over the size of the crumble or streusel and they hold better.

To make the streusel for this apple crumble muffins, we cut the cold butter into smaller pieces and mixed it with the flour and the other ingredients to make pieces of the size of peas. Of course, I could make large crumbles but they would not work well as a topping for these muffins.

How To Make Apple Crumble Muffins

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F (204° C). Line a standard muffin pan with paper liners and set it aside.
2. Make the crumble topping: In a small bowl, stir together flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Then add the small pieces of cold butter. Mix with your hands until crumbly (and the crumble are pea-size), cover, and chill in the fridge until ready to use. PIC. 1
3. Make the muffins: In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together eggs and granulated sugar until combined. Then mix in Greek yogurt, oil, and vanilla extract until the batter becomes pale yellow.
5. Mix in the flour mixture into the batter until homogeneous and thick. PIC. 2
6. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling ½ of each cup. Tap the pan onto a countertop to set the batter. Add a heaping Tablespoon of the chopped apple pie filling in each cup, and gently press the apples into the batter using the back of a spoon. PIC . 3 Top the filling of each cup with a Tablespoon of the batter and then with the crumble topping. PIC. 4
7. Place the muffin tin on the middle rack of the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 375° F (or 190° C). Bake for 19-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Place the pan on a wire rack and let the muffins cool for 5 minutes while you make the glaze.
9. For the glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until homogeneous and smooth. PIC. 5 If needed, add more powdered sugar (if too thin) or more milk (if too thick). Drizzle over warm apple crumble muffins and let it set. PIC. 6

Making Apple Pie Filling from Scratch

1. In a Dutch oven or pan, toss apple slices with lemon juice (as soon as you cut them) and then water. Remove a little bit of water and combine with cornstarch until the mixture is not lumpy anymore. Add to the pan.
2. Stir in the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well combined.
3. Bring to a boil on high heat. Then lower the heat to medium and let simmer until apples are softened and the sauce has thickened. It takes around 4-8 minutes.
4. Let it cool before chopping the apples into bite-size and using as filling for our apple crumble muffins.

NOTE: Chill any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and eat warm with your favorite ice cream.

How to Store Apple Streusel Muffins at Room Temperature

Store the cool apple cinnamon muffins in a container at room temperature for up to 3 days. To keep the crunchiness of the crumble topping or streusel, cover the top of the muffins loosely with plastic film instead of using a lid.

Or you can leave the muffins in the tin and cover them with plastic.

How to Store Apple Crumb Muffins in the Fridge or Freezer

Let the apple muffins cool completely and then store them in a ziplock bag or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.

You can freeze them for up to 2 months (without the glaze). 

Thaw them overnight in the fridge or on the counter for about 60-90 minutes before serving. If you want, warm them up in the oven at 350°F (175°C) for 5- 10 minutes.

More muffin recipes to enjoy:

• Mango coconut streusel muffins
• Pumpkin coconut muffins (flourless)
• Corn muffins
• Keto egg muffins
• Orange cardamom muffins

PIN & ENJOY!

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