Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Cinnamon Apple Streusel Muffins


What better thing to do on a cold post-Christmas day, but make muffins?  You know Adam's game.  He was pushing his chair up to the chopping block as soon as I asked "Do you want to bake muffins?"  That boy is going to be a chef by the time he's grown.

I wanted to make something with apples, so I adapted 2 recipes I got off of the net to make this apple strussel muffin. 

Adam loved eating the raw strussel topping while we baked so much that he muttered "Mmmm, yummy" with each fistful.  Only in childhood can you eat raw butter and sugar without guilt.

It's made with 1/2 white flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour.  I use a white whole wheat that is lighter than the average whole wheat.  If you're not interested in using whole wheat, you can just replace it with white flour.

Don't overfill the muffin tin, as the muffins will all meld together to make one massive streusel-topped apple muffin mess.  On the other hand, that might not be a terrible problem to have.....

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Apple Streusel Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup natural applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
 2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch pieces (I used Granny Smith)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-capacity muffin pan with cooking spray.


In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.


In a large bowl, whisk the sugar and oil until combined. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in the applesauce and vanilla.


Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined. Gently stir in the apple chunks.


Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Sprinkle with the steusel mixture (see recipe below).  Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.


Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack.

Streusel Topping

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened  
Mix ingredients well together, either with a pastry cutter, fork or even you hand.

3 comments:

  1. There's no sugar listed in the muffin ingredients, but in the recipe it says "remaining 3/4 cup sugar", is that all I need, or should there be other sugar?

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  2. Aw, good catch! I modified the original recipe and didn't catch the error. It's fixed now. Yes, the 3/4 cup is all you need for the muffin part.

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