Apple-Spice Muffins with Oat Streusel

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Enjoy a little bit of fall in each muffin.

Apple-Spice Muffins with Oat Streusel
Photo: Photographer: Greg DuPree, Food Stylist: Emily Neighbors Hall Prop Stylist: Audrey Davis
Active Time:
15 mins
Total Time:
1 hrs 10 mins
Yield:
12 muffins

This muffin has it all: a fluffy apple pie-spiced cake, a crunchy streusel topping, and an apple cider glaze.

We use Fuji apples in these muffins because on the Brix scale (a food-industry measurement of sweetness), they almost always rank at the top, above other varieties . Developed in Japan in the 1930s, Fuji apples are also full of flavor with a firm, crisp texture and are best used in recipes with other bold ingredients (like the apple pie spice in this muffin), where you still want the fruit to shine through. If you can't find Fuji apples, you can use Gala or Pink Lady.

It's also no accident that we call for half of the apples in this recipe to be grated. When grated and stirred into batter, apples add moisture to baked goods, and in this case, help create a super moist muffin.

The rest of the apples in this recipe are left in chunks, so that every muffin has delicious pockets of baked apple throughout. Although these muffins are a great way to start the day as breakfast, they are decadent enough to double as dessert, too.

Ingredients

MUFFINS

  • Baking spray with flour or 12 paper liners

  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened

  • ¾ cup granulated sugar

  • ½ cup sour cream

  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

  • 2 large eggs

  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 ½ tsp. apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice

  • 1 tsp. baking powder

  • 1 tsp. baking soda

  • ½ tsp. kosher salt

  • ¼ cup whole buttermilk

  • 1 large (8 oz.) peeled Fuji apple, half chopped (about 3/4 cup) and half grated (about 3/4 cup)

STREUSEL

  • cup all-purpose flour

  • cup uncooked old-fashioned rolled oats

  • cup packed light brown sugar

  • cup chopped pecans

  • ½ tsp. apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice

  • ¼ tsp. kosher salt

  • 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

Directions

  1. Prepare the Muffins: Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with baking spray with flour or line with paper liners.

  2. Beat butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add sour cream, vanilla, and eggs, and beat on medium speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.

  3. Whisk together flour, apple pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in chopped and grated apple until evenly combined. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups (about 5 tablespoons batter per cup); set aside.

  4. Prepare the Streusel: Whisk together flour, oats, brown sugar, pecans, apple pie spice, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in butter until combined and crumbly. Top each filled muffin cup with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the Streusel.

  5. Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.

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