Easy Apple Crescent Muffins
Looking for an easy apple dessert that delivers big bakery flavor with almost zero effort? These Apple Crescent Muffins are the answer. Made with refrigerated crescent rolls and canned apple pie filling, they bake up flaky on the outside and filled with warm, spiced apples on the inside—ready in about 30 minutes.
This simple recipe is the perfect Starbucks Baked Apple Croissant copycat for busy mornings, after-school snacks, or last-minute fall desserts. No fancy skills required, and the results look (and taste) impressive every time.
Why You’ll Love These Apple Crescent Muffins
- Ready in under 30 minutes – Perfect for busy weeknights or weekend brunch.
- Only a few ingredients – Crescent rolls + apple pie filling are the stars.
- Kid-friendly and customizable – Add cinnamon sugar, a simple glaze, or even cream cheese.
- Budget-friendly fall favorite – Uses affordable pantry staples.
- Versatile – Breakfast, snack, or dessert. Works with other pie fillings too.
Ingredients:
- cans of crescent rolls
- apple pie filing
- Optional cinnamon-sugar topping: 1 tablespoon granulated sugar + ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Optional glaze: ½ cup powdered sugar + 1–2 teaspoons milk
How to Make Apple Crescent Muffins (Step-by-Step)
- Preheat the Oven: Start by preheating your oven to 350°F (190°C). Grease a standard muffin tin or silicon muffin tin.
- Prepare the Dough: Unroll the crescent roll dough and separate each can into 4 rectangles. Press two triangles together for each muffin base. Press the crescent rectangle into a muffin tin.
- Add the Filling: Spoon about 2 tablespoons of apple pie filling into the crescent roll muffin tin.
- Sprinkle: If desired, mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, then generously sprinkle over the muffins.
- Bake to Perfection: Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tin.
Pro Tip: For a Starbucks-inspired twist, add a dash of nutmeg to the cinnamon sugar mix to mimic that baked apple croissant flavor.
Tips and Variations for the Best Apple Pie Muffins
- Make-Ahead Option: Assemble the muffins and refrigerate overnight for fresh-baked goodness in the morning.
- Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to a month. Reheat in the oven for that fresh-baked crispness.
- Customizations: Swap apple pie filling for cherry or peach for different flavors. For a healthier spin, use reduced-sugar filling.
Apple Crescent Muffins
Equipment
- muffin tin
Ingredients
- 2 cans crescent rolls
- 1 can apple pie filling
Cinnamon Sugar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Glaze Drizzle
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp milk add more if too thick for you
Instructions
- Preheat you oven to 350℉. Spray your muffin tin well with nonstick spray. I used a silicone muffin tin which made it easy to pop them out.
- Open your crescent roll cans. Press the seams of two triangles together to make a rectangle.
- Press the rectangle piece into one of the muffin tins. Press the top edges together to make a cup inside the tin. You will have 8 crescent muffin cups.
- Scoop about 2 tablespoons of apple pie filling into the crescent cups.
- If desired, sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.
- Bakes in preheat oven for 25 minutes. Let them sit in muffin tin 5 minutes before removing.
- If desired, mix your milk and powdered sugar together to create the drizzle and add to cooled muffins.
Notes
These easy apple pie muffins with crescent rolls are proof that you don’t need fancy skills to create bakery-worthy treats. If you’re a fan of quick apple desserts or Starbucks copycat recipes, this one’s for you!
Other Apple Desserts
An easy apple dessert becomes especially practical when the recipe makes its promise clear: a familiar shortcut, a focused fruit flavor, and a result that suits more than one occasion. Crescent dough is a useful starting point because it brings texture and shape without requiring a separate pastry step. Serving the muffins warm with a small spoonful of cinnamon yogurt or ice cream could also turn the same bake into a simple brunch or dessert option.
The appeal here is the clear promise of a bakery-style apple dessert without turning breakfast or brunch into a major project. Presenting the recipe as easy while still emphasizing flavor sets helpful expectations for readers deciding what to make. It would also be useful to call out when the muffins are best served, since that can help people plan whether they fit a morning spread or a simple dessert.
I wanted to make these right away, so I used what I had on hand; left over cherry pie filling and pkg. of Rhodes frozen dinner rolls. Took out 8 frozen dinner rolls (the smaller ones). Left out just until thawed and then formed dinner rolls into muffin pan compartments; spooned in pie filling and baked in oven according to pkg. instructions.
Iced them when taken out of the oven and again once they where just slightly warm. I did add just a bit of Almond extract to the icing.
I wash lucky to sample 2, but hubby ate the rest.