Applesauce Spice Crumb Muffins
How many times have I said that muffins are my love language?!
It’s 100% possible to have a food love language. Ribs and mashed potatoes would be another top contender.
I think I love muffins so much because in my book they are an anytime food. Breakfast. Morning snack. Afternoon snack. Dessert.
It covers all the bases!
We’ve been swimming in muffin land since I started working on this recipe.
For almost every recipe I’ll make a regular batch and a gluten free batch.
Then I was testing out different crumb toppings.. 48 muffins later.
There is no way Ryan and I can consume all of the food I make & test, so a ton of it goes to work with Ryan on a pretty regular basis.
But this week I dropped some muffins off at our church and they were a bit hit! I should make that a regular thing.
Questions about the recipe
Do I have to use unsweetened applesauce?
No. That’s what I choose to use, but you could use regular applesauce or even cinnamon applesauce. I wouldn’t suggest using chunky applesauce as it will change the texture of the muffins.
Do I have to put the crumble on top?
Nope! Crumble is gooooood, but sometimes I want a less sweet muffin so skip the crumble if you want to! The baking time will be about the same.
Why should I bake the muffins at 425ºF for 7 minutes then turn the temperature down to 350ºF?
Baking the muffins at an initial higher temperature helps the muffins rise quickly, creating more of a domed muffin top – which everyone loves!
Can I bake these muffins without liners?
I’m not sure! I almost always use muffin liners but if you don’t and you’ve had good success without them, comment and let me know!
Can you freeze apple muffins?
Yes! Allow the muffins to cool completely. I like to wrap two muffins together (the bottoms of the muffins touching) in plastic wrap, then place all the wrapped bundles in a ziplock bag.
To thaw, either let them come to room temperature on the counter or place as many as you need in the microwave for 15 second intervals.
Applesauce Spice Crumb Muffins
A family favorite fall apple muffin recipe - applesauce spice muffins with a brown sugar crumb topping. Every time we make these spice muffins, we get tons of compliments!
Ingredients
Muffins
- 1 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
Crumb Topping
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Line a regular sized muffin pan with liners.
- Make the crumb topping: In a small mixing bowl combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter. Mix together with a fork until crumbly and wet. Set aside.
- Make the muffins: In a smaller mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In a separate larger mixing bowl, combine the applesauce, brown sugar, and vegetable oil, whisk together. Add in the eggs, whisk again. Using a spatula, gently mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Fill each muffin cup almost to the top. The 12 muffin cups will be full, but that's good! Using your fingers, crumble a generous amount of topping on each muffins.
- Bake at 425ºF for 7 minutes. Then keeping the muffins in the oven, turn the oven down to 350ºF and bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the muffin pan. Once the muffins cool, you can add a powdered sugar glaze (powdered sugar + milk) if you'd like!
Notes
This recipe turned out great using gluten free flour too! We love King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour.
Mmm these sound delicious. I love muffins with a crumb topping!
I add!ed chopped apple and pecans and the recipe turned out great!
These muffins were amazing! I made them without muffin liners and they didn’t stick to the muffin tin at all!
I made these to take to the neighbor. They were so yummy!!!!!!
Yay! That makes me so happy!
Hi – this sounds delish, but we are not “muffin” people – we prefer breads (I know, we are weird!) So, I was wondering if this recipe would work as a “bread” in a loaf pan(s) rather than a muffin pan???
Please let me know if you think this would work!
Thanks so much!
Gini
Hi Gini! I’m guessing yes, that you could bake in a loaf pan. Usually loaf baking time is 45-60 minutes!
I may have missed reading this above… But do these muffins freeze well?
Yep! You can freeze the muffins. Allow the muffins to cool completely. I like to wrap two muffins together (the bottoms of the muffins touching) in plastic wrap, then place all the wrapped bundles in a ziplock bag.
To thaw, either let them come to room temperature on the counter or place as many as you need in the microwave for 15 second intervals.
Hi Beth, these look great. I’d like to see the nutritional info on your recipes. Where can I find that info?
Hi Rita! I recommend entering it into a online nutritional calculator.
Made as per the instructions and they are teenager approved. My son stole one just as i was taking them out of the pan. Didn’t even get the drizzle on. He said they were very good.
Haha! Too funny! Glad they are a hit!
Hey there ! Was wondering how it would turn out if I added some chopped up apple into the batter as well? And how much would you recommend?
Hi Rachel! I haven’t tried it, but I would suggest 1 cup of finely diced apples.
I have to say that I made the muffins for the first time and are loved by the kids. I do Large muffins and don’t use muffin liners. The muffins came right out of the pan.
So glad they were a hit!
Turned out great
I used King Arthur Gluten Free flour, homemade applesauce and Apple cider for the glaze.
I love the king arthur GF flour!
This recipe is great! The first time we made it we added chopped pieces of candied ginger and chopped frozen apple.
Since then I’ve had to go gluten free, so this time I blended GF oats in a blender so that it was about half oat flour half rolled oats, and substituted this for the flour. Came out great! a little crumbly, but moist and delicious!
So glad you tried it out Theresa!
Oh my heavens! These were amazing.
These wew so good with gluten free flour! I will be making them again and again! Thank you!
I love these!! Top is nice and crunchy and the inside is tender and mildly sweet. Perfect crunch & sweetness. Thank you !!