Easy Homemade Apple Butter Muffin Recipe

If you’ve been wondering what to do with some leftover apple butter, look no further than these easy and delicious apple butter muffins!

Made with common pantry ingredients, this apple butter muffins recipe comes together in a snap for easy morning breakfasts or afternoon snacks.

They’re also lightly sweet and easy to bulk up and make your own so that everyone in the family will find something to love in this delicious treat.

Built In Flavor

Using apple butter as the star ingredient means these muffins already have built in flavor. Apple butter is usually already heavily spiced and sweet meaning there’s not a whole lot more to do to make them into flavorful muffins.

Absolutely feel free to use your own homemade slow cooker apple butter if you have it. Store-bought apple butter will also work, just be sure to use something with good flavor and all-natural ingredients for best results.

You could add extra spices if your apple butter isn’t spicy enough for your taste.

Low in Additional Sugar

I used maple syrup in these muffins to increase that fall apple, maple combination that is always so tasty. It’s a small amount as much for flavor as it is for sweetening. Honey could also be used for sweetening here.

Generally speaking, apple butter is quite sweet on its own meaning that more sugar feels unnecessary in the recipe, however feel free to adjust as necessary for the right amount of sweetness for your taste.

Fat Choices

I went with basic vegetable oil but you could use any liquid fat here – melted butter or coconut oil would also work.

Up the apple flavor and lower the fat content in these muffins by substituting unsweetened, pureed applesauce for the vegetable oil.

Flour Substitutions

To keep this easy, the recipe is made with all purpose flour but you could substitute based on your own preferences.

A gluten-free blend would likely work (but has not been tested).

Substitute half of the all purpose flour with whole-wheat flour for some whole grain crunch.

Optional Additions

Want to bulk up the muffins or change the texture slightly? Try adding some of the following:

• Mix in up to 1 cup of chopped nuts or seeds
• Stir in up to 1 cup of dried fruit, like raisins
• Make apple muffins by adding a cup of chopped fresh apples

Add a Topping

I think the muffins are perfect just as is, but there options to make it a bit different.

• Add a streusel to the muffin tops before baking for crunch and sweetness.
• Sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar on top of the muffins prior to putting in the oven.
• Drizzle a little caramel or apple cider glaze on top of cooled muffins
• Add a dollop of cream cheese frosting for something truly over-the-top

How to Serve

The great thing about fluffy muffins is that they don’t need much else to be a light meal or basic snack. Serve muffins with a hot or cold beverage of choice and no one is likely to complain.

They are quite delicious slathered with a bit of peanut butter for a more filling snack.

Make it a more substantial breakfast by serving the muffins alongside some scrambled eggs and bacon.

Tuck them into lunch boxes or serve as a snack alongside some fresh fruit.

How to Store

Keep the muffins in an airtight container where they will stay fresh for up to 5 days at room temperature.

The baked muffins freeze beautifully. Make a double batch if you have a lot of apple butter on hand.

Simply place the baked muffins into a plastic bag or other freezer container. Thaw as needed, use up within 6 months for best flavor (and before freezer burn).

Check out some of our other favorite apple inspired muffins recipes: