Filled with juicy tart apples and topped with a delicious sugary streusel, these soft and moist chai spice muffins are the epitome of fall. Enjoy them with a hot cup of tea or coffee to start your day off right.
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Imagine a cool autumn morning with a hot cup of coffee and the aroma of warm spices and apples wafting in the air. Sounds like heaven, doesn’t it?
If you said yes, you’re in luck! All you have to do to bring that little slice of heaven to your home is to bake these muffins. They are the perfect representation of fall, fairly simple to prepare, and both kid and adult approved. So go on now. What are you waiting for!?!
What you’ll love about this recipe
- It’s made from scratch! Preparing muffins from a box mix just doesn’t compare to making them from scratch. Yes, they do require a bit more time and effort but it’s sooooo worth it! Ditching the boxed mix in favor of homemade offers several benefits including fewer (to no) artificial ingredients and fresher taste and texture.
- The fall flavors! With warming spices like cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, brown sugar, and apples one can’t help but think of fall. These classic autumn flavors all wrapped into one emit the most glorious aroma leaving your mouth watering and your tummy rumbling.
- The textures! The combination of the perfectly soft and moist muffin with the tender apple chunks is absolutely divine. I mean, nobody likes dry baked goods. Combine that with the crunchy sugary streusel topping and these babies are out of this world good. So many flavors and textures here for your mouth to explore.
Ingredients (+ notes & substitutions)
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar: For the streusel.
- Brown sugar: The muffin batter calls for light brown sugar. You could, however, swap it out for dark brown sugar. For the streusel, either variety will work.
- Unsalted butter: Like most baked goods, unsalted butter is preferable so you can better control the saltiness. This recipe requires melted butter for the streusel and room temperature butter for the batter.
- Ground cinnamon: One of the key components of chai spice, cinnamon adds warm sweet notes.
- Ground ginger: Another key component of chai spice, ground ginger is another warming spice. It can also be described as spicy or peppery.
- Baking powder: For leavening.
- Baking soda: Also for leavening.
- Ground cardamom: Minty, spicy, and citrusy, cardamom is another spice included in the chai spice mix.
- Ground clove: The fourth spice used in my chai spice mixture, clove is sweet, spicy, and pungent.
- Ground nutmeg: The final spice incorporated into this recipe, nutmeg, is warm and nutty with an earthy sweetness.
- Kosher salt: A little bit of salt incorporated into baked goods enhances the other flavors.
- Eggs: You will need one whole egg as well as one egg yolk and they should be warmed to room temperature first. To quickly warm them, place them in a bowl of hot, but not boiling, water for ten minutes.
- Vanilla extract
- Sour cream: Sour cream adds a tiny bit of tang and makes the muffins moister.
- Milk: The milk should also be warmed to room temp.
- Granny Smith apple: I used one medium apple which yielded about one cup once diced.
How to make these apple chai spice muffins with streusel (+ tips)
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-count muffin pan or line with cupcake liners and set aside.
2. For the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Add the melted butter and stir with a fork until crumbles/clumps form then place in the freezer while you prepare the apple chai spice muffin batter.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or using a stand-up mixer fit with a paddle attachment beat the butter for about one minute. Add the brown sugar and cream for two minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed.
5. Add the egg/yolk and vanilla extract and mix until just combined.
6. While mixing at low speed add half of the dry ingredients followed by the sour cream, then the remaining dry ingredients, and lastly the milk. Mix until just combined, then fold in the apples.
7. Divide the batter between the muffin cups then top with streusel.
Bake for 23-25 minutes until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool for five minutes prior to serving.
Storage
These muffins will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days or in the refrigerator for up to a week. They may also be frozen for up to three months. Make sure to cool them completely and wrap them tightly prior to freezing.
Recommended Products
More breakfast baked goods featuring fall flavors:
- Pumpkin Chai Cinnamon Rolls: Here at Tao of Spice, we’re all about doing things a tad bit “extra”, thus the birth of Pumpkin Chai Cinnamon Rolls. These spirals of pumpkiny goodness are pillowy soft, packed full of fragrant chai spice, and lavishly drizzled with cream cheese icing.
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Coffee Cake: Sandwiched between two layers of moist pumpkin-infused cake sits a luscious cheesecake-like cream cheese filling. To top that off is a crunchy pumpkin spice streusel. This perfect for fall pumpkin cream cheese coffee cake is ideal for breakfast, brunch, or dessert (or all three!!!).
- Pumpkin Sticky Buns: These autumn-inspired pumpkin sticky buns made from scratch are sure to warm your heart. The pillowy soft pumpkin rolls are rolled up with a sugary pumpkin spice mixture and finished off with a maple pecan topping. Mmmmmm.
If you make these apple chai spice muffins I’d love your feedback. Please leave a comment and/or a rating below as I greatly value your opinion. Or snap a pic and tag me on Instagram @taoofspiceblog. Love, light, and happy cooking ya’ll ♥
Apple Chai Spice Muffins w/ Streusel
Filled with juicy tart apples and topped with a delicious sugary streusel, these soft and moist chai spice muffins are the epitome of fall. Enjoy them with a hot cup of tea or coffee to start your day off right.
Ingredients
For the streusel
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, light or dark
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
For the apple chai spice muffins
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, light or dark
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
- 5/8 cup sour cream
- 3/8 cup milk, room temperature
- 1 medium Granny Smith apple, cored and diced to 1/4" cubes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-count muffin pan or line with cupcake liners and set aside.
- For the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Add the melted butter and stir with a fork until crumbles/clumps form then place in the freezer while you prepare the apple chai spice muffin batter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or using a stand-up mixer fit with a paddle attachment beat the butter for about one minute. Add the brown sugar and cream for two minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Add the egg/yolk and vanilla extract and mix until just combined.
- While mixing at low speed add half of the dry ingredients followed by the sour cream, then the remaining dry ingredients and lastly the milk. Mix until just combined, then fold in the apples.
- Divide the batter between the muffin cups then top with streusel. Bake for 23-25 minutes until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool for five minutes prior to serving.
Storage: These muffins will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days or in the refrigerator for up to a week. They may also be frozen for up to three months. Make sure to cool them completely and wrap them tightly prior to freezing.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 261Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 51mgSodium: 222mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 1gSugar: 21gProtein: 4g
The nutritional information provided is computer generated. It is only an estimate and intended for informational purposes only. Nutrition details may vary depending on various factors such as origin, freshness of ingredients, etc