Apple Cheddar Muffin
intro
Tender, moist sweet-savory muffins pairing tart fresh autumn apples with salty sharp cheddar, perfect for cozy mornings or portable on-the-go fall snacks.
Ingredients
Steps
Prep oven and muffin tin
Preheat your oven to 190°C (375°F) with a rack positioned in the middle. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners, or lightly grease each cup with 1g of softened butter to prevent sticking. Set the tin aside while you prepare the batter.
Whisk dry ingredients
In a large 3L mixing bowl, combine 240g all-purpose flour, 50g granulated sugar, 10g baking powder, 2.5g baking soda, 3g fine sea salt, and 2g ground cinnamon. Whisk vigorously for 30 seconds until all dry ingredients are evenly distributed, with no visible clumps of cinnamon or baking powder remaining.
Coat add-ins in flour
Add the 1cm-diced 180g apple and 170g shredded sharp cheddar to the dry ingredient bowl, stirring with a rubber spatula for 20 seconds until every piece of apple and cheese is lightly coated in flour. This flour coating prevents heavy add-ins from sinking to the bottom of the muffins during baking.
Mix wet ingredients
In a separate 1.5L medium mixing bowl, whisk together the 2 room-temperature large eggs, 180ml room-temperature whole milk, 57g cooled melted butter, and 5ml vanilla extract. Whisk for 45 seconds until the mixture is completely smooth, with no streaks of separated egg yolk or congealed butter visible.
Fold batter gently
Pour the entire wet ingredient mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and coated add-ins. Use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture together in 10-12 broad, gentle strokes, stopping as soon as no dry flour patches remain. The batter will be thick and lumpy; do not overmix, as this develops gluten and creates tough, dense muffins.
Portion batter into tin
Scoop the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full (approximately 60g of batter per cup). Sprinkle the reserved 15g of extra shredded cheddar evenly over the top of each muffin portion to create a crispy, cheesy baked crust.
Bake and cool muffins
Place the muffin tin on the middle oven rack and bake for 18-20 minutes at 190°C (375°F), until the tops are light golden brown and a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a middle muffin comes out with 1-2 moist crumbs attached (no wet batter). Remove the tin from the oven, let muffins rest in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Tips
2.Do not overmix the batter—lumps are completely normal, and overstirring develops gluten in the flour that leads to tough, chewy muffins instead of tender, soft ones.
3.If using an extra-sweet apple variety like Gala or Fuji, reduce the granulated sugar by 15g to keep the balanced sweet-savory profile between fruit and salty cheddar.
OMG these apple cheddar muffins are a GAME CHANGER for school lunches! I swapped the regular flour for whole wheat to add a little extra fiber and my kids didn’t even notice. They begged for seconds before they even finished their first one. So easy to throw together on Sunday for meal prep too!
Made these for our neighborhood potluck last weekend and people were hounding me for the recipe all night! The sweet-savory combo is chef’s kiss, I added a little extra sharp cheddar on top before baking for that crispy cheese crust. 10/10 will make again.
These were just fine, but I felt like they needed a little more cinnamon for my taste. The apple flavor was a bit muted too, I’ll probably dice the apples smaller and toss them in cinnamon sugar next time. Easy recipe to follow though, no issues with the instructions.
As someone who burns toast 50% of the time, I was shocked how perfectly these turned out! Total beginner level, I used a honeycrisp apple I had sitting in my fridge and shredded sharp cheddar from the block, they came out so moist and flavorful. My roommate ate three in one sitting lmao
Made these for my book club brunch yesterday and everyone raved! I loved that they weren’t overly sweet, so they worked perfectly alongside mimosas and fruit salad. I did add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt on top right before they went in the oven and it elevated them so much.
I make these every fall before our day hikes, they’re the perfect portable snack! Not crumbly like a lot of muffins, so they don’t make a mess in the backpack, and the protein from the cheese keeps us full for miles. Already have a batch in the oven for our trip this weekend.
Has anyone tried making these with a 1:1 gluten free flour blend? I’m hosting a playdate next week and two of the kids have celiac, so I need a GF option that doesn’t taste like cardboard. These look perfect otherwise!
Wait I was skeptical about apple and cheddar together in a muffin? Like that combo sounds weird for a baked good? But my husband begged me to make them and I’m eating my words—SO good. The sweet apple and salty cheddar balance each other perfectly, I’ll never doubt a weird combo again lmao
These are a staple in my weekly meal prep! I batch bake a dozen every Sunday, pop them in the freezer, and grab one on my way out the door to work in the morning. 30 seconds in the microwave and they taste fresh baked. Saves me so much money on overpriced coffee shop muffins!