Apple Cider Muffins

5 from 3 votes

Apple cider muffins are moist muffins made with apple cider, warm spices and fresh apple. They're topped with a buttery brown sugar crumb topping and are a super easy recipe perfect for a fall breakfast, snack or dessert!

Prep Time1 20

Cook Time45

Total Time2 5

Course: Breakfast, brunch

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: muffins

Calories: 262kcal

Author: Natalie

Equipment

Ingredients

Cinnamon Crumble Topping

3½ tablespoons unsalted butter melted
½ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup light brown sugar packed
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Apple Cider Muffins

1¼ cups apple cider reduced to ½ cup, see instructions below
1½ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger or pumpkin pie spice or ground cloves
6 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar light or dark, packed
1 large egg room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup sour cream or full fat plain Greek yogurt, room temperature
1¼ cups diced apples about 1 medium Granny Smith apple (or apple of your choice), peeled, cored, diced into ¼ inch cubes

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cinnamon Crumble Topping

Combine the melted butter, flour, sugars, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set in the fridge to chill while you prepare the batter.

Apple Cider Muffins

In a small saucepan, bring the apple cider to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until cider is reduced down to 1/2 cup. Set in the fridge to cool for about 15 minutes before using.
Line a 12 count muffin pan with paper liners. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugars with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Mix in the vanilla and the egg til completely incorporated. Add the reduced apple cider followed by the sour cream.
Stir in the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined and stir in the apples. Avoid overmixing!
Take the crumble topping out of the fridge. Use a fork to break it up if it's hardened together. Break it into some medium and smaller bits.
Use an ice cream scoop or a 1/4 cup measuring cup to evenly distribute the batter. Sprinkle the streusel on top.
Bake at 350 F for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of a muffin. Set the pan on a rack for 5 minutes then remove muffins from pan and set muffins on a wire rack to cool.

Video

Notes

Apple cider: Use good quality, real apple cider. Apple cider and apple juice are not the same. We’ll be cooking the apple cider on the stovetop to concentrate the flavor. Reducing apple cider intensifies the flavor and tartness of the cider. If you are short on time, you can skip this step and just use apple cider as is. You can also reduce the apple cider the day before and store it in the fridge til you're ready to bake these muffins.

Filling muffin cups: Fill the muffin cups to the top. I use an ice cream scoop to do this because it results in even muffins. It also makes scooping the batter a little less messy! If you don't have an ice cream scoop, use a 1/4 cup measuring cup.

Apples: Dice the apples into small 1/4 inch cubes. If you cut them larger than that, they may not bake all the way through. We only need around 1 medium apple for this recipe. I prefer Granny Smith for this recipe, but Honeycrisp are also great for baking.

Avoid overmixing! Fold in the dry ingredients and apples until just combined. Overmixing can make the muffins tough.

Storage: Store leftover muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Nutrition