Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Prepare a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan with liners or grease with butter.

For crumb topping, add butter, flour, brown sugar, and walnuts to a small bowl. Use a fork to combine until mixture is small crumbles. Set aside.

For muffins, whisk milk, eggs, and butter together in a bowl. Add brown sugar, applesauce, and vanilla. Whisk until blended. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and carefully fold in just until combined. Fill each muffin tin about 2/3 full with batter and sprinkle evenly with crumb topping.

Bake in the preheated oven just until a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Remove muffins from the pan to cool on a rack.