This Apple Cheesecake Muffins recipe is divine! These little beauties are filled with apples as well as a layer of cheesecake.
I really look forward to the fall weather every year. Not because I don’t like summer, but because I love comfort food and I love to bake with fall flavors. Apples are on the top of that list.
While browsing my favorite food blog, Cooking Classy I came across her recipe for Caramel Apple Mini Cheesecakes. This inspired me and knew I had to do something with similar flavors!
Why This Recipe Works
- Cream cheese in the batter brings out the cheesecake flavor.
- Cinnamon streusel topping adds flavor and texture to these delightful muffins.
- The brown sugar added to the apples gives a caramel flavor that can’t be beat.
These muffins look complicated, but they really didn’t take me very long at all and really are worth the extra effort. I also have other amazing apple recipes you might like to try like my Caramel Apple Cake. Embrace the fall flavors!
What apples For Apple Cheesecake Muffins?
I like to use Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apples as they tend to hold up best when cooked. Use granny smith if you like a tart flavor and Golden delicious if you prefer a sweeter choice.
How to Make Apple Cheesecake Muffins
- Cook the apples.
- Make the cheesecake filling.
- Prepare the streusel crumb topping.
- Layer the ingredients in the. muffin cases.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Cool, serve, and enjoy!
Step by Step Instructions
Chop the apples and add to the pan along with the sugar, cinnamon and cornflour.
I started with the apple mixture so it wasn’t too hot when I added it to the batter.
Melt the butter and cook the apple mixture for around 5 minutes.
Allow to cool.
Make sure you let the apple mixture cool completely before adding to the cheesecake layer. You don’t want them to combine and turn into a custard.
Make cheesecake filling and the crumb topping.
Add a small amount of batter to the muffin cases.
Add the cheesecake mixture and apples.
Add more batter, then the crumb topping.
Bake and cool completely.
This step is important. I tried these warm (who can blame me) and the filling tasted like custard. I thought they didn’t work and was ready to scrap them, but that night, my husband tried them cold and said they were fantastic. He was right! You have to give the fillings time to set. So chill them or let them cool at room temperature for a couple of hours. It really did make all the difference!
Serve and enjoy!
Other Recipes you’ll love
- Blueberry Muffins
- Crumb Cake
- Award Winning Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
- Cornbread Muffins
- Apple Brown Betty
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Let’s Make Apple Cheesecake Muffins
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups all-purpose/plain flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- ½ cup milk
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
For the cheesecake mixture:
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the apple mixture:
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 medium sized cooking apples
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
For the topping:
- ¼ cup butter melted
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup all-purpose/plain flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375f/190C
- Line 12 muffin cups in a muffin pan with paper liners.
- Beat together the sugars, butter, cream cheese and egg until well blended and pale.
- Stir in the milk and then add the flour, baking powder, and salt until combined.
- Fill prepared muffin cups about a 1/4 of the way full. Set Aside.
For filling:
- Peel, core and chop the apples, add them to a small bowl and coat with 1 tablespoon of the juice to keep them from going brown.
- Add the cornstarch and coat the apples evenly.
- In a small saucepan on med heat, melt the butter.
- Add the remaining juice, sugar, salt and cinnamon
- Add the apples to the melted butter and stir well and cook for 3-5 minutes to soften. If the mixture becomes too thick, add a bit more juice.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, vanilla, sugar and egg yolk until smooth.
- Drop a rounded tablespoonful into the center of each muffin. Followed by a tablespoon of the apples and then top each one with the remaining batter.
- Mix together the streusel crumb ingredients and top each muffin evenly.
- Bake 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely before serving.
Tips + Notes
- You can start by cooking the apple mixture so it isn’t too hot when added to the batter.
- Make sure you let the apple mixture cool completely before adding it to the cheesecake layer. You don’t it to combine and turn into a custard.
- Allow the muffins to cool before eating, they taste so much better when set (when hot the center tastes more custard-like than cheesecake)
Ro says
Can these be made in advance? And if so, how long? Thank you! They sound amazing and would be great in a mini bar dessert spread, don’t you think?😊
Erren's Kitchen says
Hi, yes that sounds like a great idea. I would make them and store them in the fridge for a couple of days (due to the filling). I hope this helps 🙂
Kyla Sordino says
Easy recipe with delicious results! Will be making again. WOW!
Erren's Kitchen says
Thank you Kyla, I’m glad you liked them 🙂
Brittlew says
The time it took to prep was way off for me. I started these at 11am and they weren’t completely done until 1:15pm. This is not an easy peasy whip ‘em up in a jiffy kind of recipe like I thought they’d be. The taste however was phenomenal! These won’t be an every Sunday morning kind of bake, but they’d make a delicious special dessert or birthday breakfast treat. I really needed to use some apple and cream cheese I had laying around and this was a really tasty treat. Thank you!
Pam says
Great tasting muffins! Super hit with my daughter-in-law this Thanksgiving. Thank you for posting!
Erren's Kitchen says
That is awesome, Pam Thank you for your feedback!
Merilee says
You mention sugars in the initial instructions but no amount listed in ingredients of anything but white sugar. You comment that you used brown sugar for caramel flavor in you initial posting
How much?
alchan says
Under ingredients only 1 tbs orange juice is listed
For filling:
” Peel, core and chop the apples, add them to a small bowl and coat with 1 tablespoon of the juice to keep them from going brown.
Add the cornstarch and coat the apples evenly.
In a small saucepan on med heat, melt the butter.
Add the remaining juice, sugar, salt and cinnamon”
How much more orange juiceirequired for the “remaining juice” since 1 tbs is already used up to prevent browning of the apples
Erren says
Thanks so much for pointing out the error! Yes, it’s meant to be 2 tablespoons of orange juice. I corrected the recipe.
Sherri says
Can these be made with egg beaters? I am allergic to yolk.
Erren says
I’ll be honest, I really don’t know. The egg yolk is used as a stabilizer for the cheesecake mixture. I don’t know if eggbeaters would do the job. Sorry I can’t be more help on this one.
Michelle says
The recipe was difficult to follow because the pictures and comments do not go in the same order as your steps and in the instructions it was hard to tell which part of the muffin you’re making at what time. It also took me 2 1/2 hours for the whole process. They are super delicious, so I will have to make them again and I’ll have to rewrite the steps with the apples part first because they do need to cool off, just like you mentioned above the pictures.