Instructions

Step 1

First, set your oven to 375°F so it's nicely warmed up while you prep the rest. Grab your muffin tin and line it with paper liners — this keeps cleanup easy and prevents sticking. While the oven heats, you can start measuring out your dry ingredients or prepping your crumble topping, since you'll want everything ready to go once the batter comes together.

Step 2

Start by making the crumb mixture so it's ready when you need it. In a medium bowl, whisk together ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Pour in 6 tablespoons of melted butter and whisk vigorously for about 1-2 minutes, until the sugar starts to dissolve and the mixture looks glossy. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir in ¾ cup all-purpose flour until the mixture resembles wet sand—some clumps are totally fine, this is exactly what you want. Set this aside at room temperature while you prepare the muffin batter.

Step 3

Grab a small mixing bowl and whisk together 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon until everything's evenly distributed with no streaks of flour remaining. This should only take about 30 seconds — you're looking for a uniform, golden-brown mixture with no clumps. Set this aside while you work on the wet ingredients; the baking soda will stay fresh and ready to react when it meets the apples and sugar later.

Step 4

Grab your largest mixing bowl and add the sugar and eggs. Whisk them together vigorously for about 2 minutes until the mixture lightens in color and becomes creamy — you want it to look almost fluffy. Pour in the apple butter and keep whisking until it's fully incorporated and your mixture looks smooth and rich. Now add the oil, yogurt, and vanilla extract. Whisk everything together until you have a silky, well-combined batter with no streaks of oil or yogurt remaining. The mixture should be pourable but thick — that's exactly what you want for these muffins.

Step 5

Now grab your whisk and sift in that flour mixture, sprinkling it over the wet ingredients in three additions. Fold everything together with a rubber spatula using gentle, figure-eight motions until you barely see any dry streaks remaining—no more than 15 to 20 strokes total. The batter will look a little shaggy and uneven, and that’s exactly what you want; overmixing now will give you tough muffins instead of tender, delicate crumbs. Stop folding as soon as the last few flour pockets disappear, even if it looks slightly lumpy.

Step 6

Grab your muffin tin and get ready to fill those cups! Scoop that luscious apple butter batter into each cup, filling them up about ¾ of the way—you want them plump but not overflowing. Now sprinkle that crumbly cinnamon-sugar topping generously over each one, pressing it down just slightly so it adheres. Slide your muffin tin into the oven and bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until the centers are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. You'll know they're ready when the tops are golden brown and your kitchen smells like fall in the coziest way possible. Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack—these beauties need a moment to settle before you dig in!