The Best Apple Muffins

Hey there. It’s been a while, I know. My list of excuses is long, as always, and consists of things as valid as homework and as lame as “I couldn’t write a blog post because I’m too busy teaching myself how to do embroidery.”

But hey, I did start to embroider a doughnut (sprinkles yet to come), and while it wasn’t edible per se, I think it still counts. At least a little bit.

Now about these muffins. They look small and unassuming, I know, but beneath that polka dotted wrapper lies a bundle of apple-y joy. The key to this recipe, originally from The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook by Christopher Kimball, is that it consists of a ton of apples sparingly coated by a cinnamon-laced batter. Each bite contains, as my mother just put it, “warm apple goodness,” without all that extra filler so common in fruit muffins; Kimball even titles the recipe “Raw Apple Muffins.”

But perhaps the best thing about these is that they are just about the easiest baked good you could make. Aside from the twenty minutes or so in the oven, the prep time is almost nonexistent. Perfect for those mornings when you’ve got a hankering for something homemade but nowhere near enough patience to deal with scones or those pesky croissants.

The Best Apple Muffins

from crumbsandnibbles.com, originally from The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook by Christopher Kimball

Makes about 24 muffins

Ingredients:

4 cups diced apples (I like to peel the skins off)

3/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) melted butter

1/4 cup neutral oil such as canola, vegetable or corn

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 325 F. Grease 2 muffin tins with butter or use liners.
2. In a medium bowl, combine apples with the sugar.
3. In another bowl, stir together the eggs, butter, oil, and vanilla. Add the apples and stir to coat.
4. In another bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients then gently fold into the apple mixture. Fill muffin cups at least 3/4 full and sprinkle with some sugar. Bake for 12 minutes, turn the pans, and bake another 12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy immediately!

Happy nibbling!