Upside-Down Caramel-Apple Muffins

By Melissa Clark

Updated Sept. 2, 2022

Upside-Down Caramel-Apple Muffins
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
55 minutes
Rating
4(704)
Comments
Read comments

I’ve never been much of a muffin maker. If I’m going to bake, I’d prefer to make a whole cake. But there is one kind of muffin that I heartily embrace — an upside-down fruit muffin. Its small, individual size encourages the fruit to condense and caramelize as it bakes. Then, when you unmold the muffin, the fruit transforms into a glistening crown of an irresistible sticky topping.

Featured in: Out of the Pie, Into the Muffin

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
    Subscribe

  • Print Options

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:12 muffins

    For the Apple Topping

    • 3apples about 1½ pounds, peeled, cored and sliced ¼-inch thick
    • ½cup dark brown sugar
    • 8tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
    • Pinch kosher salt
    • ½cup chopped walnuts, toasted optional

    For the Muffins

    • 2cups all-purpose flour
    • ¾cup dark brown sugar
    • 1tablespoon baking powder
    • ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • ¼teaspoon kosher salt
    • 8tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
    • 2large eggs, lightly beaten
    • ¾cup sour cream
    • 1teaspoon vanilla extract
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

367 calories; 22 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 39 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 20 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 163 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by
Cooking Newsletter illustration

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Preparation

  1. For the Apple Topping

    1. Step 1

      Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

    2. Step 2

      In a large skillet over medium-high heat, stir together the apples, ½ cup brown sugar, 8 tablespoons butter and pinch salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender, about 15 minutes. Distribute the apple slices among the muffin cups. Add walnuts, if using, on top of the apple slices.

    3. Step 3

      To make the muffins, in a large bowl, whisk together flour, ¾ cup brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon salt.

    4. Step 4

      In a separate bowl, whisk together 8 tablespoons butter, eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold together until smooth. Distribute the batter on top of the apples. Bake until the muffins are slightly puffed, about 20 to 22 minutes.

    5. Step 5

      Allow the muffins to cool partly in the pan; turn onto a platter and serve warm or at room temperature.

Ratings

4 out of 5
704 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

Debbie

You need to use Granny Smith or a similar dry apple. I made this with Gala apples, which gave off too much water, and even after cooking them down in the skillet, they never caramelized in the muffin tins. I ended up with a delicious muffin with a sad, pale apple compote on top.

Susan-Jane

Yes. My thoughts are to follow the recipe AS IS! Baking is a very precise process. All you folks who comment here about how you changed the ingredients and measurements around are ludicrous. This comment is not directed to only you but to everyone who has been rude enough to doubt the chef's recipe. This is not a competition.

lynn

Followed recipe as printed and they were perfect
as the picture. Readers need to stop criticizing
ingredients and chef. This a recipe site.

phillip roullard

Just made these muffins this morning. After reading the notes, I subed 1/2 oil for the butter in the batter, used 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat flour. I only needed 1/4 cup of butter to caramelize the apples. Everything worked fine with the ingredients I used. They were delicious and my wife really liked them. Now we have 9 more for breafasts! Whoohoo!

Sandy V.

Rave reviews from guests. Used Granny Smiths. I used nonfat plain yogurt because I didn't have sour cream on hand. Batter was very very dry and impossible to mix, so I added more yogurt--1/4 to 1/2 cup? I didn't measure. Still stiff, but workable. I liked that the muffins were not themselves overly sweet. With the size muffin cups I had, there was extra batter--enough for 2-3 more muffins. Next time I would put more of the caramel syrup that the apples cooked in. Definitely will make these again

Lindsay

There were tasty as heck but there’s got to be a better way. I cooked the apples down a lot, until the juice was thick, and I used a slotted spoon to avoid too much juice. The batter was like a biscuit, so I carefully scooped it on top in little teaspoons and tried to smooth it over so it was a solid mass of batter on top. The apples did not fully caramelize and they sort of fell off. Super disappointing because this recipe was a fair amount of work! Not sure I would attempt it again.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.