Cinnamon Stuffed Apple Muffins

Make a batch of these Cinnamon Stuffed Apple Muffins if you want a cozy fall treat! They are filled with a delicious cinnamon walnut filling and make your home smell like autumn!

These easy, homemade muffins make breakfast or brunch extra special for your kids. These Apple Cinnamon Muffins are the BEST! If you’re looking for more apple-y baking ideas, take a loot at my Cinnamon Sugar Apple Fritters or my Brown Sugar Cinnamon Apples!

Please, just look at them. Aren’t they pretty? I’m convinced I’ve never seen a muffin that beautiful before.

These muffins are like an extra-cozy stuffed apple, and I’m HERE for all that fall goodness.

Why stuffed apples? Oh I’m glad you asked my friend. It’s because these appley guys are stuffed with the most delicious filling reminiscent of, well you guessed it, stuffed apples!

These Cinnamon Stuffed Apple Muffins

• have a delicious hidden filling full of warm spices
• are packed with shredded apple to keep them moist and tender
• can be baked into regular or jumbo muffins, and they work in a loaf pan as a bread, too!

I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record (can we actually still use that saying or do we have to say “a faulty iTunes download”?), but these are one of the goodies I look most forward to during the fall/winter months.

I even made them when I met my in-laws for the first time, and well, it went pretty great ?

Now I make many a healthy muffin, but these are most definitely the decadent, cake-like kind.

If you want a healthier apple cinnamon baked good, take a look at my Greek Yogurt Apple Cinnamon Muffins, my Cinnamon Apple Bars or my Applesauce Bread!

How to Make Cinnamon Apple Muffins:

Read on for the detailed steps, or scroll down for how to freeze these muffins, more tips to make this recipe foolproof and the printable recipe card.

► 1 Prep: I like to get all prep work out of the way first, because baking with little kids in the house gets really messy otherwise ?

Now you can make these in a regular muffin pan or in a jumbo pan (or even a loaf pan…), I’ve made them both ways and they’re always delicious! Though I do LOVE this recipe as jumbo muffins – like personal sized cakes.

By the way, you can get any size muffin pan here! (This is an affiliate link and I make a commission for purchases made after clicking through).

Preheat the oven to 420°F (I like to start muffins at a high temperature for a few minutes, it gives them a nicer dome!) and line a 12 cup muffin pan (OR a 6 cup jumbo muffin pan) with muffin liners.

By the way, I LOVE my If You Care muffin liners. No muffin ever sticks to them!

My favorite muffin liners are from If You Care – I never had a muffin stick to them! You can buy them here on Amazon (this is an affiliate link and I earn a commission for purchases made after clicking through).

► 2 Make the filling: The filling for these muffins is super easy to make! Just combine ground nuts, sugar, cinnamon and a little bit of heavy cream (OR half and half, OR milk) in a bowl and set it aside.

► 3 Combine the muffin ingredients: When making light and fluffy muffins, it’s important to combine the wet and dry ingredients separately first.

That way you can mix them together really well, but don’t need to stir the batter much after combining the two. Which is key to a fluffy muffin!

So, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, spices and salt in a medium bowl.

Then add the eggs, oil and vanilla extract to a separate bowl. Whisk them together well.

I like grating the apples straight into the bowl with the wet ingredients to keep them from browning!

I love using my microplane box grater for smaller amounts – it works great and I don’t need to lug out my food processor!

See which box grater I have here on Amazon! (This is an affiliate link and I make a commission for purchases made after clicking through.)

Then stir the grated apple into the other wet ingredients.

► 4 Make the batter: Add the wet to the dry ingredients and fold together JUST until combined. Do not overmix, or you’ll end up with dense and gummy muffins!

Do not use a whisk for this, always use a spatula or a wooden spoon!

► 5 Assemble the muffins: Evenly distribute ¾ of the batter among the prepared muffin cups. I always do this with a cookie scoop for mess-free and even batter distribution!

I have a cookie scoop similar to this one on Amazon! (This is an affiliate link and I earn a commission for purchases made after clicking through.)

Roll the filling into balls. If the filling is too sticky to roll, add a little more ground nuts.

Place one into the middle of each muffin. Cover with the remaining batter.

► 6 Bake the muffins: Before you put the muffins into the oven. reduce the temperature to 400°F. Bake regular muffins for 10 minutes and jumbo muffins for 15 minutes.

WITHOUT OPENING THE OVEN, reduce the temperature to 360°F and finish baking regular muffins for around 15 minutes (or 20 for jumbos).

Check with a toothpick, if it comes out clean after sticking it into the off-center of a muffin (don’t stick it into the filling), the muffins are done.

► 7 Cool the muffins: I like cooling the muffins in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes.

Then I remove them from the pan and set them on the rack to cool completely.

Or just mostly complete, these are DELICIOUS eaten warm!

Tips for these Apple Muffins:

• I’m using a jumbo muffin tin, because did you see the muffins from bakeries? They are HUGE! Like little personal-sized cakes. These work perfectly fine in a regular muffin pan, too, but if you want to make true Starbucks-style muffin, use a jumbo pan.

• Don’t be afraid to fill the muffin cups almost to the top.The recipe asks for a higher baking temperature during the first 20 minutes which will result in the outside of your muffins setting while the inside is still baking. This will get you a nicely domed muffin but ideally no overspill!

• Don’t overmix the batter. Really, I never paid much attention to it when I was younger, but it makes such a difference! Lumps are completely okay (really. really, really.) and will make your muffins light and airy and perfect.

Can you freeze these cinnamon apple muffins?

Yes, you can!

To freeze, let the muffins cool completely before packing them up in freezer-friendly bags or containers.

Label with the name and use-by date (freeze for up to 3 months) before adding them to the freezer.

To defrost, remove them muffins from the bag or container and place them on a rack on the counter for a few hours, until no longer frozen.

You can warm them in the oven or microwave for a few minutes, if you like!

More Fall Treats You’ll Love:

• Quick Apple Crisp
• Crockpot Apple Cobbler
• The Best Pumpkin Bread

And if you liked these recipes, there’s plenty more to make family meals easier for you! Be sure to join my FREE recipe circle here to get easy recipes by email.

P.S: If you tried this recipe, why not leave me a comment below to let me know how you liked it?

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