If you’ve ever been disappointed by dry day-after muffins, these Apple Muffins are going to blow your mind. They stay 100% fresh for 4 to 5 days! Made with fresh apples, this muffin recipe is quick and you’ve probably already got everything you need to make them (you’ve got apples, right?!)
Stay-fresh Apple Muffins!
If you’ve ever been disappointed / annoyed at stale, dry muffins the day after making them, these Apple Muffins are going to blow your mind!! They’re super moist on the day and they stay moist for 4 to 5 days!!
Here’s the secret to keep muffins moist…
The secret to these stay-moist Apple Muffins are:
Brown sugar instead of white – brown sugar retains moisture far better in baked goods; and
Only 1 egg – Eggs dry out baked goods. Well, the egg white part does. That’s why you’ll find some baking recipes only call for egg yolks – because it binds without drying out the batter.
Moisture in the apples which keeps the muffin crumb fresh for days and days!
And that’s the only difference between the batter for these muffins and the usual muffin mixes. Yet the shelf life difference is amazing!
Miracle stay-fresh muffin recipe
This magic stay-fresh muffin recipe is a great master muffin mix because it’s made with pantry staples:
flour – wholewheat OR white
butter
egg
milk
brown sugar
baking soda
vinegar*
cinnamon (or other spice mix)
No buttermilk, no yoghurt, no sour cream.
I know there are muffin recipes out there that swear by them for moist muffins. But they aren’t required for this recipe. I promise you, these Apple Muffins are going to be super moist straight out of the oven – and they will stay moist for 4 to 5 days. No need to even warm them up!
Wondering what the vinegar is for?
Just a touch of vinegar gives baking soda a kick start, the same effect that buttermilk and yoghurt has when used in batters. Useful for muffins to give that dome a boost.
Customise to your hearts’ content
I’ve made Apple Muffins here, but this miracle muffin batter is just waiting for your own add ins! Just add 2 to 2.5 cups of diced fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, chocolate or other chips – go wild!
For the fresh fruit, just be sure it’s fruit that won’t bleed too much and become mushy when baked. Some fruits I’ve used that work very well include:
Pears
Mango (though, if like me, you love coconut with mango, give these Coconut Mango Muffins a go!)
Berries – blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, mulberries
Strawberries (use small ones)
With the super long shelf life of these Apple Muffins, they are ideal for grab and go snacks, popping into lunch boxes, afternoon teas and just generally devouring on an as-needed basis.
With the sweet little dome, a sparkling sugar crust (if you so choose), tender pieces of apple and a hint of cinnamon fragrance, they look and smell as great as they taste. Enjoy! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Stay-Fresh Apple Muffins!
Ingredients
- 2 level cups apple pieces (peeled) , 0.7 cm / 1/3" cubes (2 large apples, I use red)
- 1 tbsp melted butter , for muffin tim (or use paper liners)
Wet:
- 115g / 0.5 cup unsalted butter , melted (1 stick)
- 1 cup (200g) brown sugar , packed
- 2/3 cup (165 ml) milk (low fat, full fat, non dairy also fine)
- 1 large egg (approx 60g / 2 oz)
- 1 tsp white vinegar (or any other clear vinegar)
Dry:
- 2 cups (300g) wholemeal flour (wholewheat flour)(white also ok, Note 1)
- 1 tsp baking soda (bi carb) (NOT baking powder)
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- Pinch salt
Topping (optional):
- 2 tbsp raw sugar (demerara sugar – large granules)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F.
- Brush a 12 hole, standard muffin tin with melted butter, or line with paper cases. (Note 3)
- Place butter and brown sugar in a bowl, whisk to combine.
- Add milk, then egg and vinegar. Whisk to combine.
- Scatter flour across batter surface, followed by baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Whisk 10 times until the flour is incorporated – some lumps is fine.
- Stir through apple -minimum stirs just to disperse.
- Scoop batter into muffin tin – I use an ice cream scoop – filling it all the way to the top. If using a scooper, leave it the slight ball shape (see video) – don’t smooth the top. You should get 12 (see Note 3).
- Sprinkle with sugar (if using – makes surface slightly crispy), place muffins in the oven.
- Immediately turn down to 180C/350F.
- Bake for 20 minutes (standard) or 18 minutes (fan / convection) , or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Rest in the muffin tin for 5 minutes then transfer to a rack to cool.
- Once fully cooled, store in an airtight container – it will stay moist for up to 5 days. These also freeze very well.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Muffin Mania
Cornbread Muffins (personal fave?)
Life of Dozer
Couldn’t decide which one to share. Both are classic Life-Of-Dozer moments.
lemon juice to replace vinegar. Reduced sugar to 100gm and it’s sweet enough. Sweat right through to cut the apple chunks to 0.7cm. But it’s well worth it. Ice cream scoop really save the day. Thank you Nagi for the foolproof apple muffin recipe!!
These were a big hit! I took a batch to a friend and her sons loved them. I made a second batch and they were just as popular at home. They did what they promised and were just as good on Day 3 as freshly made. They also froze and reheated well. After the first day, the sugar was no longer crunchy, but I’m OK with that. My go to muffin.
For such a simple, straightforward recipe, these are absolutely amazing! Perfect texture, they peel cleanly from the muffin paper liner, not too sweet, and really good distribution of apple chunks as long as it’s finely diced. Lovely buttery flavour, I used cinnamon, ginger and ground cardamom with a bit of fresh grated nutmeg and it was spectacular!
Will try them with toasted walnuts next time too!
(goes off to get more apples) 😆
I made the apple muffins on Sunday for my pregnant daughter in law.
She ate 12 muffins in two days and has asked me for more Nagi .. yum yum 😋 Thanks for a great recipe x
I made the apple muffins on Sunday for my pregnant daughter in law.
She ate 12 muffins in two days and has asked for more Nagi .. yum yum 😋 Thanks for a great recipe xx
Delicious!!! So simple to make, kids loved them as well.
I’ve made this twice now….it really is wonderful. It keeps for days, is wonderful on a camping trip, and for snacking. Highly recommend. (Also, shout out to Dozer and Nagi.)
I made these today with Granny Smith apples and they are delicious. Will definitely make again
I just made these using a couple of kinda wrinkly apples and they’re fantastic. I’ll be taking some one a camping trip this weekend and freezing the rest for later. A real keeper of a recipe.
Hello to you and the adorable Dozer from Oregon.
So good! Will be a favorite! Thank you.
Great recipe.
Easy to put together and stayed moist as advised.
Used some old soft apples rather than throw them out.
Regards
Alix
Love the recipe. Just ate one fresh and warm – not one to usually review recipes but had to for these delicious morsels.
Amazing muffins. Made exactly as written. Great for school lunches too.
OMG these were so surprising – my kids usually turn their noses up at anything slightly containing fruit BUT… they gobbled these up – kids & adults alike loved these. A true winner of a recipe. Thank you Nagi, once again!
Hello, would these work with coconut/light olive oil?
The best muffin recipe. delivers on the freshness and the dome as promised! I have adopted a slightly changed version of this muffins replacing apples to make chocolate chip muffins and white chocolate and berry muffins (with a crumb topping ofc). They turned out to be fab and very tasty! Highly recommend.
Turned out beautiful and tasty,will make again ,I doubled the recipe made 24 ,I added streusel on top ,
Well another winner muffin! These are better than any store bought apple muffins I have ever had. So moist and delicious.
I’ve never reviewed a recipe before but this one is just too good!! I’ve changed a lot with the recipe since first making them. I use half the sugar because the apples make them sweet enough, I add in walnuts and sultanas sometimes and I even use a 6 pan large muffin tin! I just bake them for a bit longer but I’ve never had a failed batch. I ran out of butter at one point so used 100g of oil (slightly less than butter) and they were splendid and I’ve also swapped out the apples for 3 large mashed bananas. This is probably a pretty limitless recipe and so good I know it by heart now!
Absolutely terrific! Go to muffin recipe from now on.