These brown butter apple cider muffins are super moist and full of flavor from the fall spices and apple cider! Topped with a brown sugar crumble and light vanilla glaze, they're super easy to make and perfect for breakfast or a quick snack!
You might also like these apple cider donuts or these brown butter blueberry muffins!
Jump to:
Ingredient Notes
You only need a few ingredients to make these brown butter apple cider muffins!
Brown Butter - My favorite ingredient of all time is brown butter!! Brown butter is just unsalted butter that has been melted and gently cooked to bring out a toasty, nutty flavor. If you've never made brown butter before, you can check out this post with all my tips for how to make brown butter!
Almond Flour - Substituting a portion of the flour for almond flour is one of my favorite tricks! It yields tender baked goods with a slightly nutty flavor. But if you prefer, just substitute all purpose flour.
Apple Cider - Not to be confused with apple juice, apple cider is way more flavorful and can usually only be found in stores during the fall and winter months. We're going to take apple cider and reduce it down so that we can super concentrate the flavor! You of course can skip this step, if you prefer. Just be sure to only add ½ cup of liquid to the muffin batter!
Applesauce - The applesauce adds both moisture and extra apple flavor to the apple crumble muffins! Unsweetened apple sauce is best! You could also substitute plain full-fat yogurt or sour cream instead.
Spices - I use a blend of cinnamon and nutmeg in these apple spice muffins. But you can also substitute 2 teaspoons of your favorite fall spice blend (like apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice, chai spice, etc.).
Optional - You could also add ½ cup of chopped pecans or walnuts to the muffin batter.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
Apple Cider Reduction
In a small saucepan over medium heat, simmer the apple cider until it reduces down by half so that you have ¾ cup (be sure to stir occasionally). This usually takes about 15 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let cool completely before using.
How to Make Apple Cider Muffins
Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a muffin tin with muffin liners.
Make the crumble topping by whisking together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Pour in the melted brown butter and mix until small clumps form. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the brown butter, brown sugar, and sugar.
Add in the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined and smooth.
Whisk in the applesauce until fully combined.
Then stir in the dry ingredients and ½ cup of the apple cider reduction until fully incorporated.
Spoon the batter into your muffin cups so that they are almost full. Generously sprinkle crumble mixture over muffins, gently pressing it into the top of the batter.
Bake at 400°F for 18-22 minutes for regular sized muffins. Rotate the pan about halfway through so that the muffins brown evenly.
Remove the apple crumble muffins from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
To make the glaze, whisk the together the powdered sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Then slowly add in apple cider reduction 1 tablespoon at a time until your desired consistency is reached.
Once the apple cider muffins are cool, drizzle with the glaze. Note: I recommend only glazing the muffins you're planning to eat immediately!
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Recipe FAQ's
These muffins will keep at room temperature (without the glaze) for up to 4 days. Once glazed they're best eaten the same day.
No! You can use regular unsalted butter if you prefer.
No, but I highly recommend it because reducing the apple cider concentrates the flavor.
Yes! For mini apple cinnamon muffins, reduce the baking time to 15-20 minutes.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More Recipes You Might Like!
If you love this recipe, please leave a star rating at the bottom of the page! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers.
Also be sure to add us as a trusted site on Google so that our recipes show up more in your searches!
For more delicious, scratch-made recipes you can subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on social media!
Recipe Card
Brown Butter Apple Cider Muffins
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Apple Cider Reduction
- 1 ½ cups apple cider
Streusel Topping
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons unsalted brown butter, melted
Apple Cider Muffins
- ½ cup unsalted brown butter, melted
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup almond flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ cup apple cider reduction
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-4 tablespoons apple cider reduction, as needed
Instructions
Apple Cider Reduction
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, simmer the apple cider until it reduces down by half so that you have ¾ cup (be sure to stir occasionally). This usually takes about 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let cool completely before using.
Muffins
- Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a muffin tin with muffin liners.
- Make the crumble topping by whisking together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Pour in the melted brown butter and mix until small clumps form. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the brown butter, brown sugar, and sugar.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined and smooth. Whisk in the applesauce until fully combined.
- Then stir in the dry ingredients and ½ cup of the apple cider reduction until fully incorporated.
- Spoon the batter into your muffin cups so that they are almost full. Generously sprinkle crumble mixture over muffins, gently pressing it into the top of the batter.
- Bake at 400°F for 18-22 minutes for regular sized muffins. Rotate the pan about halfway through so that the muffins brown evenly.
- Remove the apple crumble muffins from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
- To make the glaze, whisk the together the powdered sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Then slowly add in apple cider reduction 1 tablespoon at a time until your desired consistency is reached.
- Once the apple cider muffins are cool, drizzle with the glaze. Note: I recommend only glazing the muffins you're planning to eat immediately!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Comments
No Comments