Soft, tender and moist high altitude apple crumb muffins, full of fresh apple flavor and warm fall spices, topped with buttery brown sugar streusel. This high altitude apple muffin recipe is sure to please everyone!
Looking for more apple recipes? You’ll love caramel apple crumble with toffee bourbon sauce, brown butter apple bars, deep dish apple crumb pie, and apple cider layer cake with maple buttercream.
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Why You’ll Love These Muffins
All the Best Fall Flavors. Apples, brown sugar, vanilla, and cozy spices are such good flavors for fall, making these perfect for a chilly weekend breakfast.
Standard Pantry Ingredients. This is a simple recipe, with standard, uncomplicated ingredients that you’re sure to have on hand.
A Crowd-Pleasing Recipe. Everything about these muffins is delicious, from the soft, tender crumb of the apple muffins, to the brown sugar crumble. What’s not to love?
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- Flour. Plain, all-purpose flour gives the crumble topping structure.
- Sugar. Use dark brown sugar for a richer, deeper color and flavor.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness. I always use coarse Kosher salt in my baking.
- Butter. Melted butter binds everything together and makes the topping crisp as it bakes.
Muffins
- Flour. Plain, all-purpose flour gives the muffins strength and structure as they rise.
- Salt. Coarse Kosher salt balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the apples.
- Baking Soda. Leavens the muffin batter.
- Spices. A blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom and vanilla add depth and flavor to these apple crumb muffins.
- Sugar. Dark brown sugar is best with apples, and adds moisture and sweetness, with a hint of molasses.
- Eggs. Gives the batter structure.
- Sour Cream. Moisture, richness and acidity, for a tender, moist crumb.
- Butter. A little unsalted butter adds flavor and moisture.
- Apples. Grated (not chopped) honey crisp apples adds moisture and apple flavor.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a standard muffin pan with 14 paper liners. Lightly spray the papers and the top of the pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, combine all of the topping ingredients until moistened and crumbly. Set aside.
- To make the muffin batter, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and spices in a bowl.
- Separately, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, sour cream, melted butter and vanilla. Peel and core the apples, then grate them with a box grater (don’t use the tiny holes, or it will just turn the apples into juice). Measure 2 packed cups of grated apples and stir them into the wet ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir together just until moistened.
- Divide the batter between the muffin cups, filling them full.
- Spoon the crumble on top of the batter. It may seem like too much crumble, but it’s not. Just heap it on, and gently press it into the batter.
- Bake the muffins on the center oven rack at 425 F for 5 minutes. Without opening the door, turn the heat down to 375 F and bake for about 12-15 minutes more, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the muffins in the pan for 2 minutes, then gently lift them out and let the cool on a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes.
- Enjoy the muffins warm, with softened butter.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of apples did you use?
I used honey crisp apples in this muffin recipe.
Can I use freeze-dried apples instead?
Yes, freeze-dried fruit is excellent for baking, and they work great in these apple muffins. Omit the 2 cups of fresh grated apples, and add 1 cup chopped freeze-dried apples + 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce.
Can I add apple butter or boiled apple cider to the batter?
While I haven’t tested it in this recipe, I think you could probably make a great muffin by substituting apple butter for some of the grated apples for a richer, deeper flavor.
Boiled apple cider (a concentrated apple syrup) is an excellent ingredient for baking, and I use it in my appledoodle cookies for a more intense apple flavor. Try adding 2-4 tablespoons of boiled apple cider to the muffin batter with the wet ingredients. Reduce the grated apples by the same amount.
What add-ins would be good in these?
I like to add chopped pecans or walnuts to apple muffins, and raisins would also be delicious. If adding raisins, be sure to hydrate them first in warm water until they’re soft and plump, so they don’t absorb the moisture from the muffins and dry the muffins out.
Will this recipe work as jumbo muffins?
Yes, you can make these in a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan, but they will take longer to bake.
How long do these stay fresh?
Leftover muffins should be cooled completely, then stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
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High Altitude Apple Spice Crumb Muffins
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Standard-Sized Muffin Pan
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- â…“ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
Muffins
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- â…› tsp ground cardamom
- ½ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups grated apples (from 3 peeled and cored medium-sized apples)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a standard muffin pan with 14 paper liners. Lightly spray the papers and the top of the pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, combine all of the topping ingredients until moistened and crumbly. Set aside.
- To make the muffin batter, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and spices in a bowl.
- Separately, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, sour cream, butter and vanilla. Peel and core the apples, then grate them with a box grater (don't use the tiny holes, or it will just turn the apples into juice). Measure 2 packed cups of grated apples and stir them into the wet ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir together just until moistened.
- Divide the batter between the muffin cups, filling them full.
- Spoon the crumble on top of the batter. It may seem like too much crumble, but it's not. Just heap it on, and gently press it into the batter.
- Bake the muffins on the center oven rack at 425 F for 5 minutes. Without opening the door, turn the heat down to 375 F and bake for about 12-15 minutes more, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the muffins in the pan for 2 minutes, then gently lift them out and let the cool on a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes.
- Enjoy the muffins warm, with softened butter.
Notes
- Leftover muffins should be cooled completely, then stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
- For even more apple flavor, try adding 2-4 tablespoons of boiled apple cider (a concentrated apple syrup) to the muffin batter with the wet ingredients. If adding the boiled cider, reduce the grated apples by the same amount.
- Instead of the fresh grated apples, this recipe also works great with freeze-dried apples. Omit the 2 cups of grated apples and add 1 cup chopped freeze-dried apples + 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce.
- Another option is to try substituting apple butter for some of the grated apples for a richer, deeper flavor.
- You can also make these in a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan, but they will take longer to bake.
Would this work well as a sweet bread? I love your other bread recipes.
This would probably work just fine baked in a loaf pan. I’m not sure how long it would take at 350 – my banana bread takes a full 55 minutes to bake – so you might start checking it for doneness at around 40 minutes to be safe.
Thanks for the delicious recipe. Baking these in CO at 6400 feet. I substituted butter for Miyoko’s plant butter and sour cream for Siggi’s coconut milk yogurt. I wasn’t sure if the coconut yogurt would react with the baking soda as well as sour cream would so I added 1 teaspoon of white vinegar. They rose beautifully and tasted delicious. I’ll be making these again.