Indulge in The Best Jumbo Apple Streusel Muffins: A Perfect Fall Brunch Treat

Prepare to be swept away by the irresistible aroma and delightful flavors of these jumbo Apple Streusel Muffins. Far from your average muffin, these magnificent treats are a celebration of sweet and spicy notes, perfectly balanced with the refreshing tang of fresh apples. They are an absolute showstopper for any brunch, a comforting companion to your morning coffee, or a delightful afternoon snack that truly embodies the essence of homemade baking. While utterly delicious year-round, these muffins truly shine in the fall, filling your home with an intoxicating fragrance that captures the cozy spirit of the season. Every bite promises a tender crumb, a generous streusel topping, and a delicate glaze that will have everyone asking for more!

For those who love to go the extra mile in the kitchen, or simply wish to avoid a trip to the store, consider making your own Homemade Applesauce. It adds an unparalleled depth of flavor and moisture to these muffins. Click the link to explore my easy-to-follow recipe!

Essential Ingredients for Irresistible Apple Streusel Muffins

While the ingredient list for these Apple Streusel Muffins might appear extensive at first glance, don’t be deterred! This comprehensive list is a testament to the three distinct layers of deliciousness you’ll be creating: the incredibly moist muffin base, the crunchy, spiced streusel topping, and the sweet, delicate finishing glaze. Each component plays a vital role in achieving the extraordinary texture and flavor that makes these muffins stand out. We promise, the effort is well worth it for what might just be the most tender and moist apple muffins you’ve ever tasted!

Many of the items on this list are likely already nestled in your pantry, making these delightful muffins surprisingly accessible to bake on a whim. From all-purpose flour and baking essentials to common spices, you might only need to grab a few fresh apples. I find myself particularly drawn to baking these after a bountiful apple-picking excursion in the fall, when the crisp, fresh fruit inspires truly exceptional treats. Let’s delve into the key ingredients that give these muffins their signature charm:

For the Flavorful Streusel Topping:

• Light Brown Sugar: Provides a rich, caramel-like sweetness and a lovely moist texture to the streusel.
• Toasted Walnuts (rough chopped): Adds a delightful crunch and nutty flavor. Toasting them beforehand enhances their aroma significantly.
• Cinnamon: The quintessential fall spice, bringing warmth and aromatic depth to the topping.
• Unsalted Butter (melted): Binds the streusel ingredients together, creating that signature crumbly texture.
• Vanilla Extract: A touch of vanilla complements the apple and spice flavors beautifully.

For the Perfectly Moist Muffin Batter:

• Applesauce (homemade recommended): This is our secret weapon for incredible moisture, natural sweetness, and a subtle apple flavor.
• Granulated Sugar: Balances the tartness of the apples and provides overall sweetness to the muffin base.
• Vanilla Extract: Enhances the sweet notes and adds a comforting aroma.
• Sunflower Oil (or other neutral oil): Contributes to a tender, soft crumb without adding unwanted flavors.
• Large Eggs (room temperature): Provide structure and richness, helping the muffins rise beautifully. Room temperature eggs emulsify better with other ingredients.
• Whole Milk: Adds moisture and a creamy richness to the batter.
• All-Purpose Flour: The foundational dry ingredient for our muffin structure.
• Baking Soda & Baking Powder: These leavening agents work together to ensure your muffins are light, fluffy, and rise perfectly.
• Kosher Salt: A crucial ingredient that balances all the sweet flavors and enhances the overall taste.
• Cinnamon & Nutmeg: These warm spices infuse the muffin batter with classic apple pie-like notes, creating that irresistible fall aroma.
• Granny Smith Apples (small diced): Provide a burst of fresh, tart apple flavor and delightful texture in every bite. Dicing them small ensures even distribution and prevents them from sinking.

For the Sweet Finishing Glaze:

• Confectioners’ Sugar (sifted): Forms the smooth, sweet base of our drizzle. Sifting prevents lumps.
• Whole Milk: Adjusts the glaze to the perfect drizzling consistency.
• Vanilla Bean Paste: Adds a more intense and authentic vanilla flavor with beautiful flecks of vanilla bean.

For precise ingredient measurements and detailed instructions, use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of the post, or scroll directly to the bottom of the post where you’ll find the full recipe card.

Crafting Your Jumbo Apple Streusel Muffins: A Step-by-Step Guide

Baking these jumbo Apple Streusel Muffins is a truly rewarding experience, and with a few key steps, you’ll achieve bakery-quality results right in your own kitchen. I personally love using a jumbo muffin pan to create those impressive, generously-sized muffins that remind me of a treat from a high-end bakery. Let’s walk through the process to ensure your muffins are perfectly moist, fragrant, and adorned with that irresistible streusel and glaze.

1. Prepare Your Pan and Streusel:

Begin by preheating your oven to 350°F (175°C). Next, prepare your jumbo muffin pan. Generously butter each cup of the pan – even if it’s non-stick. This step is crucial for achieving a beautiful golden crust and ensuring your jumbo muffins release easily once baked. While the oven warms up, quickly assemble your streusel topping. In a small bowl, combine the light brown sugar, roughly chopped toasted walnuts, cinnamon, melted unsalted butter, and vanilla extract. Mix with a fork until crumbly, resembling wet sand. Place this mixture in the refrigerator to chill; this helps the streusel maintain its texture and prevents it from melting too quickly during baking, ensuring a delightful crunch.

2. Mix the Muffin Batter:

In a large mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients for your muffin batter: applesauce, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, sunflower oil, room temperature eggs, and whole milk. Whisk these together until they are well combined and smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, kosher salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. The key here is not to overmix; a few lumps are perfectly fine and will lead to a more tender muffin. Finally, gently fold in the small diced fresh apples. Ensure they are evenly distributed throughout the batter.

3. Fill and Bake:

Evenly scoop the muffin batter into your prepared jumbo muffin tin, filling each cup almost to the top. This recipe is designed for generous, bakery-style muffins. Once the batter is distributed, retrieve your chilled streusel topping and generously sprinkle it over the top of each muffin. Ensure an even coating on all muffins for maximum streusel enjoyment. Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. The muffins should be beautifully golden brown and incredibly fragrant.

4. Prepare the Finishing Glaze:

While your muffins are baking and cooling slightly, prepare the luscious finishing glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the sifted confectioners’ sugar, whole milk, and vanilla bean paste with a fork. Mix until the glaze is smooth and thick enough to drizzle, but not too runny. The beauty of using a fork for mixing is that it helps achieve the ideal drizzling consistency and allows for a lovely, sporadic pattern when applied, giving your muffins a rustic and inviting look.

5. Cool and Drizzle:

Once the muffins are baked to perfection, allow them to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. This crucial step helps them firm up and prevents them from falling apart when transferred. After 10 minutes, carefully remove the muffins from the pan and transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Once fully cooled, take your fork-mixed glaze and artfully drizzle it over each muffin. The coolness of the muffins prevents the glaze from melting instantly, allowing it to set beautifully. Serve these glorious jumbo Apple Streusel Muffins and prepare for rave reviews!

Expert Notes & Baking Tips for Perfect Muffins

Achieving bakery-level muffins at home is easier than you think with a few simple tricks and considerations:

• Jumbo vs. Regular Muffin Pans: I personally adore baking these in a jumbo muffin pan for that impressive, generous size. However, this recipe is easily adaptable for a standard 12-cup muffin tin. If using a regular tin, you might yield 10-12 muffins, and the baking time will be shorter, typically around 20-25 minutes. Regardless of the size, always ensure you generously butter the tin. This not only prevents sticking but also contributes to a wonderfully crisp, golden-brown exterior.
• Dicing Apples for Success: When dicing the apples for the muffin batter, cut them into fairly small, uniform pieces (about ¼ to ⅓ inch). This is crucial for two reasons: small pieces cook through evenly and are less likely to sink to the bottom of the muffin cups, ensuring you get a delightful apple burst in every bite.
• To Liner or Not to Liner: For jumbo muffins, finding the right-sized paper liner can be a challenge, which is why I typically skip them and rely on thorough buttering. If you’re using a regular muffin tin, you have the option to use muffin liners. If you opt for liners, you can skip the buttering step for the pan itself. Just ensure the liners are placed correctly.
• Don’t Overmix! This is perhaps the most important rule for tender muffins. Mix the wet and dry ingredients only until just combined. A few streaks of flour are perfectly acceptable. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour, resulting in tough, chewy muffins instead of light and fluffy ones.
• Room Temperature Ingredients: For the best emulsion and a smooth, uniform batter, ensure your eggs and milk are at room temperature. This helps them incorporate more easily with other ingredients.
• Storage: Once completely cooled, store your apple streusel muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, freeze them in a single layer, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or gently warm in the microwave.

Smart Substitutions for Your Apple Streusel Muffins

One of the joys of home baking is the flexibility to adapt recipes to your pantry, dietary needs, or personal preferences. Here are some smart substitutions you can make for these delightful apple streusel muffins:

• Nuts: If you have any nut allergies or simply prefer not to use them, feel free to leave the walnuts out of the streusel topping entirely. For those who enjoy nuts but want a different flavor, pecans make an excellent substitute for walnuts, offering a slightly sweeter and butterier note. Alternatively, for a nut-free crunch, consider adding rolled oats to the streusel.
• Spice Blend: While cinnamon and nutmeg provide a classic, comforting flavor profile, you can easily swap them out for pre-mixed apple pie spice. This blend typically includes cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and sometimes ginger or cardamom, offering a more complex and robust “fall” flavor with a single ingredient.
• Applesauce: I love to use my Homemade Applesauce for its fresh taste and control over sweetness, but if you’re short on time, store-bought unsweetened applesauce works perfectly in a pinch. Just be aware of the sugar content in sweetened varieties and adjust the granulated sugar in the muffin batter accordingly.
• Oil Choice: Sunflower oil is my go-to for its neutral flavor, but any neutral-tasting oil will work wonderfully in this recipe. Excellent alternatives include canola oil, vegetable oil, or light olive oil. The goal is an oil that won’t impart a distinct flavor to your muffins.
• Gluten-Free Option: To make these scrumptious muffins gluten-free, simply swap the all-purpose flour for a high-quality cup-for-cup gluten-free flour mix. Ensure the mix you choose contains xanthan gum for proper structure and texture.
• Apple Variety: I typically reach for Granny Smith apples due to their tartness, which beautifully contrasts the sweetness of the streusel and glaze. However, feel free to use any apple variety you have on hand or prefer. Honeycrisp, Fuji, Gala, or Braeburn apples are all fantastic baking apples that will lend their unique flavor and texture to your muffins.
• Dairy-Free Adaptation: Making these muffins dairy-free is straightforward. For the streusel, substitute the unsalted butter with an equal amount of solid coconut shortening or your favorite dairy-free butter alternative. For the glaze, replace the whole milk with any plant-based milk substitute (like almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk) or even a splash of water, adjusting for desired consistency.
• Sugar Reduction: If you prefer less sweetness, you can slightly reduce the amount of granulated sugar in the muffin batter and brown sugar in the streusel. Just keep in mind that sugar not only provides sweetness but also contributes to moisture and browning.

Did you bake these delightful Apple Streusel Muffins? I would love to hear from you! Please let me know by leaving a review or comment below. And don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter to get the latest recipes delivered straight to your inbox. You can also follow along and share your creations with me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!

📖 Recipe Card

Yield: 6 jumbo muffins

Jumbo Apple Streusel Muffins

Prep Time:
15 minutes

Cook Time:
35 minutes

Total Time:
50 minutes

These jumbo Apple Streusel Muffins are a perfect brunch treat. They feature an incredibly moist apple base, a crunchy, spiced streusel topping, and a delicate sweet glaze. Loved especially in the fall, they fill the house with an amazing aroma and deliver tender, flavorful results!

Ingredients

for the streusel:

• ½ cup Light Brown Sugar
• ½ cup toasted Walnuts, rough chopped
• 2 tablespoons Cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

for the muffin batter:

• 1 ½ cups Apple Sauce
• ½ cup Granulated Sugar
• ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ½ cup Sunflower Oil
• 2 large Eggs, room temp
• 3 tablespoon Whole Milk
• 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1 ½ tablespoon Cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1 ½ cups Granny Smith Apples, small diced

for the glaze:

• ½ cup confectioners sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon Whole Milk
• ½ teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and generously grease a jumbo muffin tin with butter and set aside until needed.

for the streusel:

1. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, melted butter, and vanilla to form the streusel. Reserve in the refrigerator until needed.

for the muffin batter:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the applesauce, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, sunflower oil, room temperature eggs, and whole milk until fully combined.
2. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, kosher salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and small diced apples to the bowl and fold together until no flour streaks remain (do not overmix).
3. Scoop the batter into the prepared jumbo muffin pan and top with the chilled streusel evenly over each muffin.
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes on the center rack of the oven, until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean and the muffins are golden brown.
5. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then remove to a cooling rack.
6. Let muffins rest until completely cool before glazing.

for the glaze:

1. In a small bowl, mix up the sifted confectioners’ sugar, whole milk, and vanilla bean paste with a fork until the glaze is thick and smooth. Use the fork to drizzle over the cooled muffins.

Notes

Notes & Tips

I love making these in the jumbo muffin pan, but you could make them in regular muffin tin if you’d like. Just be sure to generously butter the tin, whichever one you use. If using a regular tin, baking time will be shorter (approx. 20-25 minutes) and yield 10-12 muffins.

When you dice the apples for the muffin batter, cut them fairly small (¼ to ⅓ inch) so they will float evenly in the batter and not sink to the bottom, ensuring a delightful apple burst in every bite.

I do not use a muffin liner for the jumbo size, as finding the right fit can be tricky. However, if you use a regular tin, you could skip buttering the pan and opt for muffin liners instead.

Do Not Overmix: Mix the muffin batter only until the dry ingredients are just incorporated. Overmixing can lead to tough muffins. A few lumps are fine!

Room Temperature Ingredients: For a smoother batter and better rise, ensure your eggs and milk are at room temperature.

Storage: Store cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Substitutions

If you have any issues with nuts, you could leave the walnuts out of the streusel. Alternatively, you could swap them for pecans for a different flavor, or rolled oats for a nut-free crunch.

Instead of separate cinnamon and nutmeg, you could substitute for a pre-mixed Apple Pie Spice blend for a complex warm spice flavor.

I use my Homemade Applesauce in this recipe for superior flavor and moisture, but you could swap it for store-bought unsweetened applesauce in a pinch.

Sunflower oil is what I tend to keep in my kitchen, but any neutral oil will work for this recipe, such as canola oil, vegetable oil, or light olive oil.

If you would like to make these muffins gluten-free, swap the All-Purpose Flour for a reliable cup-for-cup gluten-free flour mix (ensure it contains xanthan gum).

I used Granny Smith apples for their tartness, but you could use any apple you like or have on hand, such as Honeycrisp, Fuji, or Gala.

If you would like to keep this recipe dairy-free, swap the butter in the streusel for coconut shortening or a dairy-free butter alternative. For the glaze, replace the whole milk with any milk substitute (almond, soy, oat milk) or a splash of water, adjusting to desired consistency.

You can slightly reduce the sugar in both the batter and streusel if you prefer a less sweet muffin.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• Nordic Ware Jumbo Muffin Pan, Six 4in Cups, Natural
• OXO Good Grips 11-Inch Silicone Balloon Whisk – Red
• OXO Good Grips 3-Piece Stainless-Steel Mixing Bowl Set

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 667Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 73mgSodium: 392mgCarbohydrates: 93gFiber: 6gSugar: 53gProtein: 9g

This is an estimated caloric value, actual numbers may differ based on the ingredients used.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram