Cinnamon walnut muffins are made from scratch with easy to find ingredients. These muffins are soft, moist, and filled with cinnamon and chopped walnuts.
You'll love these cinnamon walnut muffins because you only need two bowls and some common baking ingredients. Plus, they're filled with cinnamon flavor and crunchy walnuts.
The best part is that this recipe makes the softest, most tender cinnamon muffins. And they're so easy that you can have a batch ready in about 30 minutes.
I added walnuts, but these muffins are a great base for your favorite mix-ins. Add white chocolate chips, pecans, or top with a drizzle of homemade icing, like a cinnamon roll.
You may also love these spiced apple crumble muffins - both recipes are perfect for fall!
Ingredients and substitutions
Baking is an exact science, so I do not recommend substituting any of the ingredients that I haven't gone over below. Substituting ingredients can cause a change in texture, lift, and moisture in your baked muffins.
Unsalted butter and salt can be substituted with salted butter.
Walnuts can be omitted entirely for a plain cinnamon muffin, or substituted with chopped pecans.
The granulated sugar crust can be substituted with turbinado sugar (as shown in the photos), the recipe works well either way.
You'll need baking powder for this recipe, not baking soda. The two are not interchangeable.
Tips for making muffins
Muffins are a great recipe for beginner bakers. All you need is a spoon and two bowls to get started.
- First, start by mixing your wet ingredients and dry ingredients in separate bowls.
- Stir your ingredients by hand until they are just incorporated, then stop mixing.
- Try to not to over-mix your batter. If the batter is mixed too much after the flour is added, the gluten can become overworked, leading to a tough muffin.
- Take care not to overfill your muffin pan. This won't necessarily make larger or taller muffins - they may spill over while baking and create a mess.
- Line your pan with paper liners or generously grease your muffin pan beforehand. If you've never made muffins without liners before, I'd err on the side of caution and use liners instead. Muffins stuck in a muffin pan can be a huge hassle to clean up. I don't recommend greasing the pan unless you know and trust the pan you're using.
- If you haven't substituted any ingredients, the only reason your muffins will turn out dry is from overbaking. If you've never made this recipe before, start testing your muffins for doneness 2 minutes early. Ovens can run hotter and colder than the next, and your muffins may be done sooner than mine.
Testing for doneness
Here are three easy ways to test muffins for doneness:
- Insert a toothpick into the center of your largest muffin. If it's covered with batter, they're not done. If it's covered in crumbs, your muffins are done.
- Gently press with one finger onto the top of a muffin. If it bounces back immediately, your muffins are done. If an indent is left, your muffins need more time.
- Use an instant-read thermometer. Muffins are done at about 205 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the most reliable and exact method to test for doneness.
Should I use paper liners?
I like using paper liners for both cupcakes and muffins, because it's mess-free and makes for easy cleanup after baking. Plus, you don't have to add extra butter or cooking spray to your muffin pan.
However, when using paper liners you'll want to make sure not to unwrap your muffins before they've cooled completely.
When baking cupcakes or muffins in paper liners, your baked goods will stick to the papers if you try to unwrap them when they're still warm in the middle. They need time to cool completely before they will unwrap cleanly from the papers.
If you'd like to serve warm muffins, you may want to grease your muffin pan (thoroughly) and forgo the liners.
📖 Recipe
Cinnamon Walnut Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (149 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup (170 g) milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup (57 g) chopped walnuts, optional
Topping
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin pan with liners, or grease thoroughly, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, add sugar, melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix until fully incorporated. Add to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Add walnuts and stir to incorporate. Distribute batter between 12 muffin cups.
- In a small bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon for the topping. Sprinkle evenly over the muffins.
- Bake for about 18-22 minutes, or until the top of your muffins pop back when pressed down gently (or a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with crumbs, not wet batter).
- Allow pan to cool for 2-3 minutes before removing muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store cooled muffins in a sealed container.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Muffins will keep at room temperature in a sealed container for 3 days, or up to a week in the refrigerator.
- Baked muffins can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months, tightly wrapped in foil and stored in a freezer safe container.
- If using paper liners, allow your muffins to cool completely before unwrapping or they will stick to the papers.
Hi everyone,
I always have a problem with muffins baking. Every time when I cook them, even if I measure every item and exactly do accordingly through the receipt, my muffin will be like bread not fluffy. They are dense and top and inside of them are like bread.
Can anyone help how can I resolve this problem?
Hi Mary, it's hard to say what's happening without being in the kitchen with you. Here are a few reasons why muffins can turn out dense, maybe one of these tips may help:
- Overmixing the batter, which overworks the gluten, causing muffins to turn out tough. This can happen if you're using a hand mixer or stand mixer instead of a bowl and spoon.
- Expired/old leavening agents. Once they've been open for about six months, they'll lose some of their potency.
- It sounds like you're not substituting/omitting ingredients, but things like using whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour, or applesauce instead of egg, could cause muffins to not rise properly.
- Adding too much flour by scooping straight out of a bin instead of using the spoon and level method or measuring by weight with a kitchen scale. Too much flour can make muffin batter too thick, preventing it from rising properly.
Disappointing, I made these and the muffins were very, very dry!
Hi Kim, I'm sorry to hear that your muffins didn't turn out. Baked goods turn out dry for a few reasons:
- Substituting/omitting moisture-adding ingredients, like eggs, sugar, butter, and milk.
- Adding too much flour - I recommend measuring with a scale or using the spoon and level method, rather than scooping with the measuring cup.
- Overbaking - If your oven runs slightly hotter, your muffins may be done a minute or two sooner than my recommended times.
I tried this recipe yesterday 😋 it was simple recipe ,but turned out extremely delicious, everyone loved it it.best thing was it was not very sweet .can wait to bake them again 🥰
My Chinese friend gave me a huge bag of walnuts and I needed to give her something made with the walnuts so this recipe was a lifesaver. I used less sugar (because Chinese people don't like baked goods very sweet) and a little bit more walnuts in the batter. I also changed the two teaspoons of vanilla to a teaspoon of vanilla and a teaspoon of almond extract because I was afraid the cinnamon and walnut flavors wouldn't blend well without something else to help mesh them together. (Also I just love almond.) I made the topping with brown sugar and also added some chopped walnuts to the topping as well because I thought it would look good (which it did). Anyway, these came out amazing. Very light, fluffy, delicate texture, not heavy at all, which is good with the nuts. Can't wait to make again which I will have to because there are still so much more walnuts in this giant bag I have.
When do you add the walnuts?
Walnuts are stirred in just before pouring your batter into the muffin pan.