Vegan Jumbo Apple Muffins
These jumbo apple muffins are the ultimate breakfast-meets-dessert treat! They showcase apples in three ways, including chopped apples inside the muffins, applesauce in the batter and gooey caramelized apples on top. Each one bakes up with a huge bakery-style muffin top and is finished with an easy buttery crumble. And they happen to be eggless, dairy-free and vegan!
Ingredients You’ll Need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
This recipe uses the same everyday ingredients across the muffin batter, apple topping and crumble! So, even though the ingredient list looks long, you actually don’t need many ingredients!
Apples. I used sweet snacking apples for these muffins as they add natural sweetness and a beautiful apple flavor. Varieties include Pink Lady, Gala, Fuji and Honeycrisp. If you prefer less sweet muffins, feel free to use Granny Smith apples or a mix of both.
Unsweetened applesauce adds even more apple flavor to the jumbo apple muffins! It also gives them some structure and moisture, so they bake into high domes without needing extra flour.
Brown sugar adds a cozy depth of flavor to the muffin batter and crumble topping. We’re also using a little granulated sugar to keep the muffins and crumble light in texture and to add a more classic sweetness.
Prepare the Apple Topping and Crumble
Start by separating the chopped apples into two piles, one just a bit bigger than the other. The larger pile is for the muffin batter and the smaller pile is for the apple topping. When testing this recipe, I tried to split the apples into equal halves but there were too many apples on top (yes, that’s possible)!
To make the topping, add the smaller pile of apples to a large saucepan with the brown sugar, butter, flour and cinnamon. I specifically chose flour over cornstarch to keep the ingredients list as simple as possible.
Cook the apple mixture over high heat until the butter has melted, then reduce to medium-low heat and stir. The mixture is ready when the apples have slightly softened and the juices have thickened. They don’t need to be overly soft as they’ll cook more in the oven. Then, set aside the mixture to cool as much as possible. To speed this up, you can place the apples in the fridge or freezer.
The crumble topping is easy to prepare as you just mix all ingredients in a bowl until combined. Don’t worry if your mixture feels a tad soft, as it will firm up in the freezer. Freezing the crumble also ensures it stays crispy after baking.
Prepare the Muffin Batter
The muffin batter is easy to prepare and comes together in one bowl, just like my simple vegan apple muffins. To make it, mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, stir through the wet ingredients, fold in the apples and you’re done!
Assembling the Jumbo Muffins
I tested these muffins in a standard jumbo muffin pan and my USA Pan Jumbo Texas Muffin Pan (as pictured) and they both bake well! The USA jumbo muffin pan holds around 1 cup of batter per cavity, so if your pan has a smaller capacity, you may need to bake the remaining batter in another pan.
Scoop the muffin batter into the tulip liners, filling each one close to the top. Divide the caramelized apples between the muffins then sprinkle the crumble topping on top.
Expert Baking Tips for Bakery-Style Apple Muffins
These jumbo apple muffins are easy to make but, for the best results, here are a few tips:
- Like all good baking recipes, ensure you measure the flour accurately otherwise, your muffins will be dense and dry. If you’re using measuring cups, please use the spoon and level method to measure the flour. Or, for the best results, use the gram measurements and a kitchen scale.
- Ensure your applesauce and wet ingredients are room temperature, as this will encourage your batter to emulsify properly. This is especially important for thick batters like these muffins! If the applesauce or milk are too cold, the batter can curdle and the muffins will feel oilier than they’re meant to be.
- When baking the muffins, initially bake them at a high heat then reduce the temperature. The initial boost of heat encourages the muffins to bake up (rather than out) so they develop big bakery-style muffin tops.
- When you check the muffins for doneness, insert the toothpick in a few spots. Crumb toppings can scrape wet batter off the toothpick, tricking you into thinking the muffins are ready when they actually need a few more minutes.
Customizing This Recipe
Yes, of course. The muffins will just bake quicker! If you want simpler standard-size muffins, see my classic apple muffin recipe.
Yes! The muffins will bake in around 25-30 minutes. Alternatively, for an easy crunchy muffin top, sprinkle some coarse sugar on the muffins before baking.
Ingredient Substitutions
Unsweetened dairy-free yogurt will work in the same quantity, though your muffins will be slightly less sweet.
Yes, this will work. It’ll just change the flavor and color of your muffins and crumble.
Most of my recipes work well with high-quality 1:1 gluten-free flour blends such as King Arthur’s measure for measure flour. However, I haven’t tested these muffins with gluten-free flour myself, so I can’t vouch for results.
I have a recipe for jumbo blueberry muffins that will work with other berries. You can probably replace the apples in this recipe with other fruits like pears, though I haven’t tested this out, so I’m not sure about cook times etc.
I have plenty of muffin recipes on my website so make sure you check them out too! My pumpkin muffins and carrot muffins are also great for Fall.
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Vegan Jumbo Apple Muffins
Ingredients
- 4 x medium-sized apples, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch or 1 cm chunks (about 560g or 4 2/3 cups after peeling)
Apple Topping
- 3 tablespoons (40g) packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons (35g) vegan butter
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose plain flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Crumble Topping
- ⅔ cup (85g) all-purpose plain flour
- 3 tablespoons (40g) packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15g) granulated sugar
- 3 ½ tablespoons (50g) vegan butter, melted and cooled
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Muffins
- 2 ¼ cups (280g) all-purpose plain flour, spooned and leveled (note 1 for tips and gluten free sub)
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons (40g) granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup (160g) dairy-free milk, room temperature
- ½ cup (130g) unsweetened applesauce, room temperature (or sub dairy-free yogurt)
- ½ cup (110g) neutral flavored oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F). Line a jumbo 6-cavity muffin pan with muffin liners (store-bought or homemade tulip liners will work), or generously grease it with melted vegan butter.
- Divide the apples into two unequal portions, one slightly larger than the other. The larger portion (around 300g or 2 1/2 cups) is for the muffin batter and the smaller portion (around 260g or 2 heaped cups) is for the topping.
Make the apple topping:
- Add the smaller portion of apples and the topping ingredients (brown sugar, butter, flour and cinnamon) to a large saucepan and stir until combined.
- Place the saucepan over high heat and cook until the butter has just melted. Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for around 10 minutes or until the apples are tender with a slight bite and the sauce has thickened. If the sauce evaporates too quickly and the apples haven't softened, add a splash of water, lower the heat and continue cooking. Set aside to cool completely.
Make the crumble topping:
- Add all the ingredients (flour, sugars, melted butter and cinnamon) to a small bowl and mix until combined. Set aside in the freezer to firm up.
Make the muffin batter:
- Add all the dry ingredients (flour, sugars, raising agents, cinnamon and salt) to a large mixing bowl and mix until combined. Add the remaining wet ingredients (milk, applesauce, oil, vanilla, vinegar) and mix until just combined. Initially, the batter will feel very thick but it'll loosen after a few minutes. Add the reserved raw apples and gently fold through.
Assembling and baking the muffins:
- Divide batter between the muffin cups, filling each nearly to the top.
- Spoon the gooey apple topping over each muffin. Sprinkle the crumble on top.
- Bake the muffins at 220°C (425°F) for 5 minutes. Keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for another 28-32 minutes. The muffins are ready when the tops are lightly golden brown and the crumble doesn't look wet. If you insert a toothpick in one of the middle muffins, it shouldn't have any wet batter on it (gooey apple bits or moist crumbs are fine). Try to insert the toothpick in a few spots to check for doneness. If you make the muffins without the apple or crumble topping, bake them for 5-10 minutes less.
- Cool the muffins in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
- Enjoy the muffins warm or at room temperature. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer up to 1 month. The crumble topping will soften after 1 day.
Notes
- To spoon and level your flour, fluff up the flour in its container, use a spoon to add flour to a measuring cup, then level it off with a knife. Using a measuring cup to scoop flour out of a container will pack in too much flour and lead to dry and dense muffins. For the best results, use the grams measurements and an electric kitchen scale.
- Dairy-free yogurt will work instead of applesauce. Your muffins will be slightly less sweet.
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