Resources / Seasonal recipes / Apple spiced muffins

Apple spiced muffins with generous vanilla buttercream

Name: Apple spiced muffins with generous vanilla buttercream
Cook time: 25 min
Yield: 50 muffins
Ingredients: 1,250 g Country Range plain flour; 62.5 g Brakes baking powder; 12.5 g Fine table salt; 37.5 g Sysco ground mixed spice; 550 g Caster sugar; 10 eggs Large eggs; 750 ml Champion fresh milk; 450 ml Oil; 850 g Bramley cooking apples, cut into small cubes; 1,050 g Champion salted butter; 2,300 g Gem icing sugar; 20 g Organic natural vanilla extract; 15 g Ground cinnamon; 10 g Ground ginger; 10 g Ground nutmeg; 5 g Whole cloves, finely ground before use

A seasonal café bake for October through December: apple and mixed-spice muffins with a generous vanilla buttercream swirl and a light warming-spice dust. Pair them with a spiced pumpkin latte or our gingerbread latte.

Recipe supplied by the Prepsheets team · Costing recorded 14 October 2026 · Batch yield: 50 muffins

Recipe overview · 50 muffins

The topping is part of the product, not an uncosted extra. This batch provides approximately 67.4 g of buttercream per muffin before piping losses, plus 0.8 g of spice dust. Buttercream costs approximately €0.26 per muffin, roughly half the ingredient cost. Pipe consistently to keep portions, presentation and margins consistent.

Ingredients per muffin: €0.51
Ingredients + 5% wastage: €0.54
Labour per muffin: €0.40
Total unit cost: €0.94

Example selling price incl. VAT: €3.85
Example selling price ex VAT: €3.53
Food margin: 84.73%
Margin including labour: 73.32%

Batch ingredients: €25.68
Batch ingredients + 5% wastage: €26.96
Batch labour · 55 minutes: €20.17
Total batch cost: €47.13

A seasonal bake with strong margin potential. With warming apple and spice flavours and a generous buttercream finish, this muffin is a tempting counter option from Halloween through Christmas. Based on the supplier prices and labour costs shown here, a €3.85 selling price delivers an 84.73% food margin, or 73.32% after the recorded labour and 5% food-wastage allowance, calculated on sales excluding VAT. That makes it a good margin maker on these figures. If your ingredient or labour costs are higher, you may need to increase your selling price to protect your margin. Cost the full topping, keep portion sizes consistent and allow for your other business overheads when setting your price.

Worked example using the recipe’s 9% VAT setting and a chef rate of €22/hour. Your supplier prices, labour, selling price and applicable tax may differ. Margin is calculated excluding VAT, after the stated food, wastage and labour costs, before other overheads. Displayed figures are rounded.

Apple Spiced Muffin in Prepsheets showing yield of 50, generous buttercream, ingredient and labour costs and margins — The actual recipe overview in Prepsheets. Click to enlarge.

Ingredients ＋ Add Ingredient

	INGREDIENT		START QTY	END QTY	CALORIES	COST
≡	Step 1: Mix Until Just Combined
≡	390702	Country Range Plain Flour (6x1.5kg) Managed AN	1250g	1250g	4743	€1.10
≡	35023	Brakes Baking Powder 1x850 GM Managed AN	62.5g	62.5g	121	€0.31
≡	31220	Salt- Fine Table (1kg) Local AN	12.5g	12.5g	0	€0.01
≡	33710	Sysco Classic Ground Mixed Spice 6x450 GM Managed AN	37.5g	37.5g	108	€0.34
≡	63768	Caster Sugar Mckinney’s (10x1kg) Managed AN	550g	550g	2200	€0.77
≡	477571	Eggs Large Loose 1×30 Dozen Managed AN	10unit	10unit	960	€5.00
≡	485634	Champion Fresh Milk Managed AN	750ml	750ml	480	€0.75
≡	25845	Oil Local AN	450ml	450ml	4050	€2.07
≡	5018420	Apples Cooking Bramley 13kg Case Managed AN	850g	850g	366	€1.18
≡	Butter Cream
≡	5023520	Champion Salted Butter 20x454 GM Managed AN	1050g	1050g	7760	€6.82
≡	63799	Gem Icing Sugar (4X3Kg) Managed AN	2300g	2300g	9200	€4.15
≡	113279	ORGANIC NATURAL VANILLA EXTRACT Local AN	20g	20g	58	€1.98
≡	Pumkin Spice
≡	612110	Musgrave Excellence Ground Cinnamon Managed AN	15g	15g	37	€0.13
≡	386385	Schwartz For Chef Ground Ginger Managed AN	10g	10g	35	€0.39
≡	A054420	Organic Nutmeg Powder Managed AN	10g	10g	53	€0.44
≡	84810	Brakes Whole Cloves 1x400 GM Managed AN	5g	5g	17	€0.23

＋ Add Section

Method

Make the batter: Cut the apple into small cubes. Mix the muffin batter ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix, as this can make the muffins tough.
Bake: Divide the batter evenly between 50 muffin cases. Bake at 160°C for approximately 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool: Allow the muffins to cool completely before icing.
Make the vanilla buttercream: Beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the icing sugar, then add the vanilla extract. If needed, add a little milk to soften to a pipeable consistency.
Pipe generously: Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe a generous swirl onto each muffin.
Finish: Mix the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and finely ground cloves, then lightly dust over the buttercream.

The supplied baking setting is 160°C; fan/conventional is not specified. Check against your oven and use the doneness check rather than time alone.

Make ahead · finish for service

The recipe notes specify freezing the undecorated muffins for up to two months, then defrosting and icing for serving. Prepare the buttercream separately for the number of muffins being decorated.

Use your kitchen’s freezing, labelling and defrosting procedures. The recipe’s shelf-life fields have not been set; the note is not a validated shelf-life declaration for the finished iced product.

Finish the quantity you expect to sell, rather than icing all 50 automatically. Accurate batch yields, consistent topping portions and realistic production quantities help keep avoidable overproduction and food waste down.

See how Preplists turns your production plan into stock-adjusted supplier orders →

Allergens

Contains: Eggs, Milk, Wheat Gluten.

May contain: Barley Gluten, Celery, Khorasan (Kamut) Gluten, Mustard, Oat Gluten, Rye Gluten, Spelt Gluten.

As recorded for the products in this Prepsheets recipe. Check the actual supplier specifications and your kitchen’s cross-contact controls when making or labelling it.

Calculated nutrition · per 100 g

Energy: 1,578 kJ / 376 kcal
Fat: 17.87 g
of which saturates: 11.2 g
Carbohydrate: 50.38 g
of which sugars: 37.15 g
Protein: 2.94 g
Fibre: 1.06 g
Salt: 0.543 g

Recorded calculated serving weight: approximately 160 g, including topping. Weigh a finished muffin to confirm the serving weight after baking losses. Values depend on the recorded ingredients and yield.

Cost your own seasonal menu

Prepsheets connects ingredients, recipe yields, portions, labour, allergens and supplier requirements.

Try Prepsheets

Grab a time with Brian

From recipe to label · display, takeaway and freezer

The same recipe information supports the labels you need through preparation, storage and service. Here are three examples for our Apple Spiced Muffin.

Customer display label

Show the muffin’s price, contains allergens and may-contain information at the counter.

Wrapped-to-go label

Include the ingredient list, allergen information and calculated nutrition for the recorded recipe.

Published example corrected to match the recipe overview: saturated fat 11.2 g per 100 g and the field labelled Salt. Use your own current ingredient specifications, finished yield and label requirements when producing labels for sale.

Freezer label · ready when you batch bake

Freezing some of your muffins? Create your freezer labels immediately from the recipe in Prepsheets and send them straight to your printer. Keep the batch number, frozen-on date and allergen information with the muffins, with space to record defrosting details.

The example shows a frozen-on date of 14 October 2026 and a use-by date of 13 December 2026, reflecting this recipe’s two-month freezing note. Establish the appropriate shelf life for your own product and process through shelf-life testing or guidance from your local environmental health or food safety authority. Follow the relevant requirements wherever your kitchen operates, and set frozen and defrosted use-by dates accordingly. This example does not validate a two-month shelf life for every product.