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    Home » Breakfast and Brunch Recipes » Sweet Breakfast and Brunch Recipes

    Published: Sep 10, 2020 · Modified: May 8, 2025 by Renée · This post may contain affiliate links · 4 Comments

    Apple Cider Donut Muffins

    Jump to Recipe
    A vertical close up photo of an Apple Cider Donut Muffin with cinnamon sugar and a title text overlay graphic

    Get your pumpkins at the pumpkin patch but make your Apple Cider Donut Muffins at home! They're just as good as at the pumpkin patch. Maybe even better!!

    Closeup photo of an apple cider donut muffin with cinnamon sugar coating.

    These easy to make apple cider donut muffins are coated with cinnamon sugar which gives them a slight crunch on the outside while the inside is tender and moist! They're incredibly delicious!!

    Be still my apple cider donut loving heart!!

    Table of Contents Found Here
    • The ingredient list:
    • Basic kitchen tools and equipment needed:
    • Can these apple cider donut muffins be frozen?
    • When is the best time to make and serve these donut muffins?
    • Additional recipes using apple cider:
    • The easy instructions:
    • Printable Recipe Card
    • Please comment if you've made this recipe.

    Subscribe to my Kudos Kitchen channel on YouTube. IT'S FREE!! Thanks, and I can't wait to see you there!!

    Vertical photo of apple cider donut muffins with cinnamon sugar coating and apples in the background.

    The ingredient list:

    **Note - The following lists of ingredients plus kitchen tools and equipment contain affiliate links (highlighted in blue) for your consideration and shopping convenience.

    • All-Purpose Flour
    • Baking Powder
    • Salt
    • Grated Nutmeg
    • Ground Cinnamon
    • Grapeseed Oil (or other neutral-tasting light oil)
    • Brown Sugar
    • Egg
    • Apple Cider
    • Apple, (finely diced) I used Gala
    • Butter
    • Granulated Sugar

    Basic kitchen tools and equipment needed:

    • Large Bowl
    • Wooden Spoon
    • Whisk
    • Large Measuring Cup
    • Measuring Cups
    • Measuring Spoons
    • Muffin Tin
    • Pastry Brush
    • Nutmeg Grater
    • Small Bowl
    • Bakery Boxes optional (for sharing muffins with friends and coworkers)
    Overhead photo of a dozen Apple Cider Donut Muffins on a wooden board with apples, acorns and autumn leaves.

    Can these apple cider donut muffins be frozen?

    Yes!

    Cool them completely after baking and then wrap them well in a single layer in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months.

    Thaw completely before eating.

    When is the best time to make and serve these donut muffins?

    I love these muffins best when it's apple season but they're delicious year-round.

    Why not make them for:

    • PTA Meetings
    • Book Club
    • School Bake Sale
    • Office coworkers
    • Library Aids
    • Teacher Appreciation
    • Church Meetings
    • Breakfast and Brunch
    • Card Club
    • Dinner Parties
    • Thank You Gifts
    • Nurses Thank You
    • People you love.
    One dozen Apple Cider Donut Muffins on a wooden board with apples and autumn leaves in the background.

    Additional recipes using apple cider:

    *Apple Pie Wedges (as seen in the featured video) from (yours truly) Kudos Kitchen

    *Apple Cider Braised Chicken Breasts (pictured below) from (yours truly) Kudos Kitchen

    Closeup photo of apple cider braised chicken breasts with sweet potatoes and onions on a white plate.

    *Apple Cider Bread Machine Mix from Budget 101

    *Roasted Apple Cider Chia Pudding from Spabettie

    Save this for later.

    We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

    Email forwarding service for saving information.

    *Apple Cider Pancakes (pictured below) from (yours truly) Kudos Kitchen

    A stack of apple cider pancakes with syrup being poured down on them.

    *Caramel Apple Spice Cheesecake Dip from Dip Recipe Creations

    *Apple Cider Margaritas from A Nerd Cooks

    *Sunflower Crunch Salad (pictured below) from (yours truly) Kudos Kitchen

    Colorful closeup photo of sunflower crunch kale salad with dried cranberries, carrots, cabbage, and kale.

    *Apple Cider Donut Muffins (pictured below) from (yours truly) Kudos Kitchen. This is the place! 🙂

    Vertical title text image of Apple Cider Donut Muffins with cinnamon sugar coating and apples, leaves and pine cones in the background.

    The easy instructions:

    • Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
    • Peel and small dice one apple (approximately 1½ cups)
    • Mix together the cinnamon and sugar.
    • Brush the inside of the muffin tin with melted butter and generously add cinnamon sugar to each well.
    • Shake the tin around until the cinnamon sugar evenly covers each well.
    • Set aside
    Two apples on a cutting board with a peeler.
    Diced apples on a cutting board.
    Cinnamon and sugar in a bowl.
    Cinnamon sugar in a glass bowl with a spoon.
    A pastry brush with melted butter in a muffin tin.
    cinnamon sugar being spooned into muffin tins.
    Muffin tins coated with cinnamon sugar.
    • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, grated nutmeg, and ground cinnamon.
    • In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, apple cider, and oil.
    • Pour the apple cider/oil mixture into the flour mixture and add the diced apples.

    Dry ingredients in a bowl.
    Dry ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.
    One egg in a glass bowl.
    Apple juice being added to an egg in a bowl.
    Oil being added to a glass bowl.
    A liquid mixture being added to dry ingredients.
    Diced apples being added to a bowl.
    The ingredients in a bowl for making Apple Cider Donut Muffins.
    • Stir the muffin batter until fully incorporated.
    • Fill the prepared muffin tin with the batter to ⅔'s full.
    • Bake the muffins in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
    • Remove from the oven and immediately brush the tops of the muffins liberally with a mixture of melted butter and apple cider.
    • Liberally sprinkle the tops of each muffin with the remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture. Twice. 🙂
    • Cool for 10-15 minutes and then run a knife around each muffin and carefully remove them from the tin.
    • Cool the muffins on a baking rack until completely cooled.

    The batter for making apple cider donuts muffins.
    A cookie scoop scooping apple cider donut muffins into a muffin tin.
    A muffin tin filled with donut muffins before baking.
    A baked tin of apple cider donut muffins.
    Melted butter being brushed over muffins.
    Cinnamon sugar being sprinkled over muffins.
    Cinnamon sugar on top of muffins in a tin.
    Apple cider donut muffins on a cooling rack.

    When you make today's recipe (and I hope that you will), I'd appreciate it if you'd take the time to come back and give it a star rating along with a comment on why you rated as you did.

    Search engines such as Google appreciate comments and ratings and, in turn, will show my recipes to more people. Please look for the pink star rating box within the printable recipe card. Thank you!!

    Printable Recipe Card

    A bunch of apple cider donut muffins on a wooden board with autumn leaves and apples in the background.

    Apple Cider Donut Muffins

    Renee Goerger
    Slightly crunchy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. Apple cider donut muffins are everything you love about apple cider donuts, except they're easier to make at home!
    Have you made this recipe?Please Comment and Rate
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save recipe Save this recipe
    Prep Time 10 minutes mins
    Cook Time 30 minutes mins
    Total Time 40 minutes mins
    Course Breakfast and Brunch, sweet breakfast
    Cuisine American
    Servings 12 muffins
    Calories 260 kcal

    Equipment

    • muffin tin
    • measuring cups and spoons
    • wooden spoon
    • whisk
    • Mixing Bowls
    • apple peeler
    • chef's knife
    • cutting board
    • large cookie scoop
    • pastry brush
    • cooling rack
    • kitchen timer
    • oven gloves
    • kitchen scale optional

    Ingredients
     
     

    To make the muffins:

    • 1 medium apple peeled, cored and finely diced.
    • 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
    • ¾ cup brown sugar loosely packed
    • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • ⅛ teaspoon grated nutmeg
    • 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon divided
    • ⅓ cup grapeseed oil or other light, neutral-tasting oil
    • 1 large egg
    • ¾ cup apple cider (or juice) plus 1 tablespoon
    • ½ cup granulated sugar
    • 5 tablespoons butter melted
    Get Recipe Ingredients

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 350-degrees (F) or 175 degrees (C)
    • Peel and dice 1 medium apple.
    • In a small bowl stir together the granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of the ground cinnamon.
    • Brush each muffin well liberally with melted butter, reserving the remaining melted butter. Set aside.
    • Add approximately 1½ teaspoons of the cinnamon sugar to each buttered muffin well and gently shake and turn the tin to distribute the cinnamon sugar evenly around each well.
    • Set the muffin tin aside.
    • Reserve the remaining cinnamon sugar for later.
    • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and remaining 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
    • In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, and apple cider.
    • Add the apple cider mixture to the flour mixture, along with the diced apples, and stir well to combine.
    • Add the muffin batter to the prepared muffin tin filling to ¾'s full.
    • Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
    • Add 1 tablespoon of apple cider to the reserved melted butter. Stir well.
    • Brush the tops of the baked muffins liberally with the remaining butter/apple cider mixture.
    • Liberally sprinkle each of the buttered muffins with the remaining cinnamon sugar.
    • Allow the muffins to cool 10 minutes and then run a knife around each tin to loosen the muffins and carefully move them to a wire rack to cool completely.

    Notes

    To freeze: wrap the muffins well in a single layer freezer-safe container for up to two months.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Calories: 260kcalCarbohydrates: 38gProtein: 3gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 286mgFiber: 1gSugar: 23g

    I sincerely hope you've enjoyed today's recipe for apple cider donut muffins as much as I've enjoyed bringing it to you!

    A dozen apple cider donut muffins on a brown board with pine cones and apples.

    Should you have any questions or comments regarding anything you've seen on my site, please don't hesitate to reach out to contact me. It is always my distinct pleasure to get back with you just as soon as I possibly can!

    Thank you so much for visiting me today in my Kudos Kitchen. I hope you found something you'll love and that you will come back and visit me often. Please know that there is always room for you around my kitchen table!

    Please don't forget to like and follow me across all of my SM channels, and while you're at it stop by and say hello! I'll be looking for you! 🙂

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    Until we eat again, I hope you have a delicious day!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      4.62 from 18 votes (18 ratings without comment)

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    1. Sandy says

      September 17, 2020 at 6:08 pm

      Can you make them nite before and how do you store them (refrigerate or Counter) Want to make them for work

      Reply
      • Renée says

        September 18, 2020 at 6:03 am

        Hi, Sandy!
        These are perfectly fine to make the night before, or even two days before.
        You can store them either on the counter or in the fridge. I've done both but I like them best served at room temp.
        I hope this helps.
        Enjoy the muffins and take good care,
        Renee

        Reply
    2. wilhelmina says

      August 28, 2019 at 1:46 pm

      These are absolute perfection! I will be making these donuts all season long!

      Reply
      • Renée says

        August 28, 2019 at 2:48 pm

        I will too, Wilhelmina! Good call!

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Renee! I've been a passionate home cook for over 40 years. I specialize in easy-to-make comfort food dishes from appetizers to desserts and everything in between.

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