Apple Strudel Muffins

Fresh Granny Smith or Fuji apples make these Apple Strudel Muffins with a delicious cinnamon crumb topping absolutely scrumptious. The cinnamon crumb topping adds the finishing touch to this muffin. The nutmeg and cinnamon are essential to bringing out the flavors of the apples and giving the cake part of the muffin a boost in flavor. We liked them best slightly cooled but still warm from the oven. This definitely had a few more steps than a package mix but the end result is worth the extra steps. We love making these for family visits. Be sure to read the TIPS before starting!!

Apple Strudel Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup chopped apples

Streusel Topping

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Materials

12-cup muffin tin
Large Bowl
Spoon
Pastry Cutter for the topping
Bakers Joy or other baking spray

Steps to Making the Apple Strudel Muffins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan. We used Bakers Joy but you can also use baking cup liners.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth.
Mix in vanilla.
Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. The mixture will be very thick and sticky!
Fill almost to top with muffin mixture. It doesn't rise as much as other muffins but because it is a thick batter, it will not spill over but give you a nice rounded muffin top.
In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in room temperature butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Do not use melted butter or it will a wet mixture that you won't be able to sprinkle. Sprinkle over the tops of each muffin in the muffin pan. Be generous and use up your topping, this is the best part!
Bake 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. The tops should be a golden brown. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool about 10 minutes on a wire rack and serve warm.

Tips

I mixed the dry ingredients gently with a whisk to blend. Use room temperature butter to make it easier to beat. If you have a microwave setting to soften the butter, that works well too. I beat the butter and sugar first, then added the eggs and vanilla.
This is the stickiest apple strudel muffin mix I have ever worked with so I just put on a couple gloves and used my hands. I was worried when I saw how thick and sticky it was and was tempted to add something but don't!! I just packed it gently into the muffin cup about 3/4th's of the way up to the top of the muffin cup.
I saw some comments mention adding a splash or milk or a TBS of apple sauce. I will be trying that next time and updating our results.
We chopped the apples into small pieces so that it would spread more evenly throughout the batter.
Be sure to use a pastry cutter or a fork to get the strudel topping crumbly. Do not melt the butter or it will be one big lump. If you over mix or use a spoon you will get a lumpy doughy like texture.
Store in an airtight container and eat within a couple days. If you need to store them for more than two days, refrigerate and warm them up in a toaster oven. It also can be fresh saved or put in a freezer Ziploc for a couple months.

Freeze Apple Muffins for Later?

Yes, you can freeze apple muffins for up to 3 months. Wrap each muffin individually in foil after making sure they’re cool, or use a vacuum sealer and remove some of the air without crushing the muffins and then seal. Then place them in the freezer. To thaw, the simplest way to defrost apple muffins is to unwrap them and place them on the countertop at room temperature. You can also warm them up in a 175C oven (loosely wrapped in foil) for about ten minutes. We often use a toaster oven to reheat and then toast on a light setting, bottom rack to help re-crisp the topping.