Easy Apple and Raspberry Muffins

Name: Easy Apple and Raspberry Muffins
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 3 teaspoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 cup peeled and diced apples (1 medium apple); 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries; 1/2 cup granulated white sugar; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1/2 cup milk (at room temperature); 2/3 cup vegetable oil; 2 large eggs (at room temperature); 1 egg yolk (at room temperature); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; coarse sugar for topping

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These Easy Apple and Raspberry Muffins are light and moist with a delicious sweet-tart combination of apples and raspberries.

Serve them at a weekend brunch or as an afternoon snack.

Need a few more muffins recipes? Try one of these: Sourdough Apple Cinnamon Muffins, Mango Blueberry Muffins, and Panera Blueberry Muffins.

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Why You Will Love This Recipe
Recipe Ingredients
Substitutions and Variations
Step by Step Directions
Recipe FAQs
Expert Tips
More Easy Breakfast Recipes
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Why You Will Love This Recipe

Sweet apples balance the tart raspberries in these tender muffins.
No fresh raspberries? Easily substitute frozen raspberries. No need to thaw.
Customize these muffins by subbing in other fruit. Try fresh blackberries or blueberries.

Fruit is a great way to brighten up your baking. Try one of these other fruit forward recipes: Apple Cinnamon Pecan Scones, Rhubarb Chocolate Cake, Brownies with Raspberry Preserves, Peach Oatmeal Bars, Sourdough Discard Apple Cookies, and Apple Walnut Bundt Cake.

Recipe Ingredients

All you need are a few simple ingredients to make these Apple and Raspberry Muffins.

Raspberry apple muffin ingredients on a dark background.

Flour: This muffin recipe uses more than 3 cups of all-purpose flour. The batter is thick like cookie dough to keep the fruit from sinking to the bottom. For accuracy, the best way to measure the flour is by using a digital kitchen scale.

Tip: If you don't have a digital scale, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it with the back of a butter knife. Try not to compress the flour into the measuring cup. Too much flour creates dense cookies.

Salt: I add at least a pinch of salt to all of my recipes. Salt complements and intensifies the other flavors. For all of my recipes, I use Morton Kosher Salt which packs more densely than Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. If you are using Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt you will want to double the amount of salt you add.

Apples and Raspberries: Sweet apples help to balance out the tart raspberries.

Tip: If you can't find fresh raspberries, you can use frozen raspberries. There is no need to thaw the raspberries before adding them to the batter.

Need some more raspberry or apple recipes? Try these Sourdough Raspberry Muffins, these Raspberry Nutella Brownies, these Sourdough Apple Cookies, these Apple Cinnamon Pecan Scones, this Apple Bundt Cake, or these Raspberry Cupcakes.

Milk: Milk adds moisture and creates a tender crumb. I usually use whole milk, but other dairy milks should work just fine. I have not tested this recipe with non-dairy milks. If you give it a try please let me know how they turn out.

Whole Large Eggs + an Extra Egg Yolk: Eggs act as a binding agent and also add structure and leavening. The extra fat from the additional egg yolk adds extra richness to the muffins.

Save the extra egg white to make this Lemon Swiss Meringue.

Coarse Sprinkling Sugar: For that crunchy, sparkly muffin top, add a sprinkle of coarse sugar. You can also use Sugar in the Raw or Demerara sugar.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

Loaf Pans: Muffins and quickbreads are very similar.
1. Pour the batter into the 2 greased 9x5 loaf pans and bake at 350°F (180°C) for 60 to 65 minutes. The apple raspberry bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
2. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
Mini Muffins:
1. Divide the batter between the cups of a mini muffin pan.
2. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 11-13 minutes. Yields about 24 mini muffins.

Step by Step Directions

Step 1: Move the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Grease one standard 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with muffin papers. Set aside.

Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Dry ingredients with fruit mixed in a metal bowl.

Step 3: Toss the apples and raspberries in the dry ingredients until they are well coated. This will prevent the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the muffins. Set aside.

Step 4: In a medium bowl whisk together the sugars, milk, oil, eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla.

Raspberry apple muffin batter in a metal bowl.

Step 5: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together gently with a spatula until just combined.

The batter will be thick. Allow the batter to rest for 5 minutes.

Tip: Be careful to not crush the raspberries.

Tip: Do not overmix the batter. Overmixing can incorporate too much air causing the muffins to rise quickly and then fall in the center as they bake. Overmixing can also create tough muffins.

Raspberry apple muffin batter in a metal muffin tin.

Step 6: Divide the batter between each muffin cup, filling all the way to the top. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Apple raspberry muffins in a muffin tin.

Step 7: Bake the muffins at 425°F (220°C) for 5 minutes, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (180°C) and continue to bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

Use a toothpick to test for doneness. Insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin, if it comes out clean, the muffins are done.

Tips: Use a cookie scoop to evenly portion the cupcake batter into the muffin pans.

Tip: Starting the muffins at a higher temperature will boost the rise giving you a taller muffin top.

Step 8: Allow the muffins to cool for several minutes in the muffin pan before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe FAQs

What variety of apples is best for baking?

When baking with apples you want to look for apples that will hold their shape and not turn to mush when they are baked. Granny Smith apples are typically the go-to apple when baking but they are not your only option.

My personal favorite is the Honey Crisp apple. It is my favorite apple to eat, which means I always have them on hand. Their not-too-sweet crisp texture also holds up well when baked.

Other Apple Varieties to Try:

Jonagold: These apples are a cross between Jonathan and Golden Delicious apples. They are tart and sweet and hold up well in the oven. They do not store well so make sure to use them up quickly.
Fuji: Sweet, juicy and widely available these firm apples are great for baking.
Braeburn: Another crisp apple that has a spicy-sweet flavor and remains juicy but not mushy when baked.
Mutsu or Crispin: This apple has firm flesh that holds up well when heated.
Pink Lady: These apples have a balanced sweet and tart flavor and will retain their shape when baked.

What is the easiest way to peel apples?

When peeling apples the right tools really do make the job easier. This Y peeler is sharp and makes peeling apples and other produce quick and easy.

If you are peeling larger quantities of apples, I recommend these two items that will make the task much easier.

I have had this apple peeler for several years. It is simple to use and easy to clean.

Recently I was gifted a peeler attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer. It is great for peeling and slicing apples, but it also does a good job of spiralizing other fruits and vegetables.

Can I use frozen raspberries?

When they are in season, there is nothing better than a fresh raspberry. But they can be expensive and hard to find in the middle of winter. Frozen raspberries are a great substitute.

Frozen raspberries are small enough that they can be added directly to the batter while they are still frozen.

How do you stop fruit from sinking to the bottom of the muffins?

Coat the fruit in flour before adding it to the batter. The flour coating will help the fruit stick to the batter and keep it from sinking to the bottom.

The thick batter also helps ensure fruit stays evenly distributed rather than concentrated at the bottom of the muffin. The batter for these muffins is almost as thick as cookie dough.

Do you need muffin liners for baking?

Muffins can be baked with or without liners. If baked with liners they will have a softer outside texture. Muffins baked without liners will be slightly crispier and darker on the outside.

How do you make tall muffins?

To get a tall muffin, fill the muffin pan to the very top with batter and start baking your muffins at a higher temperature and then after about five minutes lower the temperature.

I start my muffins at 425°F (220°C) and then lower the temperature to 350°F (180°C). Starting at a higher temperature gives the baking soda and baking powder a nice boost of heat that encourages rising.

It also allows the outside of the muffin to set quickly giving the inside the structure it needs to keep rising. This trick will only work with really thick muffin batters that have enough structure to support the muffin.

How do you know when the muffins are done?

Baking times for all recipes are only suggestions. The actual baking time will vary depending upon your oven. It is helpful to know your oven and worth purchasing an inexpensive oven thermometer. Oven temperatures can vary as much as 50 degrees plus or minus.

Insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean or with just a crumb or two sticking to it your muffins are done. If there is uncooked batter on the toothpick bake the muffins for a few minutes longer.

Alternatively, you can check your muffins with an instant-read thermometer. This one from ThermoWorks is my favorite. Once the center of the muffins has reached 200 - 205°F they are done.

What is the best way to store these Apple and Raspberry Muffins?

These muffins will stay moist for a couple of days when stored at room temperature. Store them in an airtight container for 1-2 days. Any longer than that at room temperature and the fruit will start tasting fermented especially on warm days.

For longer storage keep them in the refrigerator for up to a week.

They can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap each muffin in plastic wrap and place them in a zip-top bag. Thaw muffins at room temperature.

Expert Tips

Muffins bake best on the middle rack of the oven. Too low and the bottoms will burn, too high and the tops will brown too quickly.
When stirring be careful to not crush any of the raspberries.
Don’t over-mix the batter. A few lumps are fine. Overmixing will create too much gluten causing your muffins to be tough.
The muffin batter will be very thick, almost like cookie dough. This prevents the fruit from sinking to the bottom and helps to give the muffins a tall muffin top.
Use a cookie scoop to evenly portion the cupcake batter into the muffin pans.

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