Apple Streusel Muffins

These applesauce muffins are the perfect fall breakfast. My kids love the streusel topping!

Apple streusel muffins are such a tasty little treat for breakfast - especially in the fall! These are sweet enough with the streusel topping, but my kids do love that glaze drizzled over the top. Feel free to skip it for a less sweet muffin.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 22

Total Time 42

Servings muffins

Calories 318kcal

Author Karly Campbell

Ingredients

For the muffins:

1/2 cup butter room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cinnamon applesauce
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice

For the streusel:

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup softened butter

For the glaze:

1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon milk

Instructions

To make the muffins:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line the muffin tin with papers.
Add butter and sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the applesauce.
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and apple pie spice. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix the batter.
Use an ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into the muffin tins, about 2/3 of the way full. The batter will be thick.

To make the streusel:

To prepare the streusel, add the sugar, flour, and cinnamon to a medium bowl and stir with a fork to combine.
Add the butter and use a fork to cut the butter into the flour until the mixture is made of coarse crumbs.
Sprinkle the mixture evenly over all of the muffins.
Bake muffins at 425 degrees for 5 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Do not open the door to the oven. Bake for 18 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool completely.

To glaze:

When muffins are cool, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk and drizzle over the tops.

Video

Notes

Applesauce: You can use regular applesauce here, but we like the punch of flavor that the cinnamon adds. Just stir in a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter if you use plain applesauce.

Glaze: The glaze is completely optional. You can skip it entirely for a less sweet muffin.

This recipe was updated in August 2026 to give the muffins more lift (added baking powder and adjusted baking temp) and flavor (added apple pie spice to punch it up). The attached video is based on the original recipe (it's missing the baking powder + apple pie spice). The end result is a delicious, apple-spiced muffin with a light texture topped with crunchy streusel.

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