Apple Butter Spice Muffins
Submitted by KitchenVixen74
Apple butter spice muffins with cinnamon, ginger, brown sugar, honey, and a generous swirl of apple butter for a moist, deeply spiced fall breakfast muffin.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
25 minREADY
40 minApple butter spice muffins lean on apple butter as both flavor and moisture source. The slow-cooked apple paste brings concentrated apple flavor that fresh applesauce can’t match, plus an inherent caramel-toffee depth from the long reduction. Add cinnamon, ginger, brown sugar, and a drizzle of honey and you’ve built a muffin that tastes like a fall orchard in every bite.
The instructions are explicit on stroke counts: 10 to 15 strokes to combine, then minimal strokes to fold in raisins. That precision matters. Muffin batter relies on undermixing to stay tender. Stir 25 strokes and you’ll develop gluten, ending up with rubbery, tunneled muffins instead of soft cakey ones.
Melt the butter and let it cool before adding it to the wet ingredients. Hot butter will scramble the eggs in the bowl, leaving you with curdled streaks. A few minutes off the heat is enough.
Don’t let the muffins cool completely in the tin. The recipe is firm on this for a reason: trapped steam softens the bottom crust and turns it gummy. Five minutes is enough to firm them up, then transfer to a rack.
Pro Tips
- Use a thick, dark apple butter for the deepest flavor. Thin or pale apple butters bring less character.
- Add ¼ teaspoon of cardamom or allspice with the cinnamon for more complex spice notes.
- Fill the muffin cups three-quarters full for tall domes. Less and they bake flat; more and they overflow into mushroom tops.
Variations
- Top each muffin with a streusel of brown sugar, flour, and butter before baking for added crunch.
- Stir in ½ cup of chopped pecans or walnuts for nutty texture.
- Drizzle a simple powdered sugar and apple cider glaze over cooled muffins for bakery-style finish.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃).
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients (the first 7 ingredients) and make a well in the center.
In smaller bowl, combine wet ingredients (the next 6 ingredients).
Pour wet mixture into the inchwell inch of the dry ingredients and stir just to combine (10-15 strokes).
Fold in raisins with as few strokes as possible.
Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups (if you don’t use muffin liners, spray the pan with cooking spray).
Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until cake tester comes out clean.
Remove muffin tin to cooling rack and cool 5 minutes before removing muffins from tin.
Do not let muffins cool completely in the tin.
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