Apple Spice Muffins with Streusel Topping. Can you ever have too many muffin recipes? I think not! Especially when you are talking about deliciously tender muffins. Chock full of apples and spice and topped with a yummy streusel topping!
This recipe I am sharing with you today has been adapted from a Robin Hood Flour baking book entitled, quite simply, Baking.
Robin Hood is the flour I grew up with and the flour that I used all of my married life until I moved over to the UK. I have always trusted their recipes implicitly, which is why when I was looking for a good basic baking book to buy when I recently moved back to Canada, I chose to buy one of theirs.
I have been collecting their recipes for years and years. In the old days, a few times a year, they always had a baking booklet inserted into many of the major Canadian magazines, especially near the holidays.
I had a whole collection of them and was sad to have had to leave them behind in the UK. I am sure I will be able to find them someplace. Recipes which are that good surely have a place in most kitchens.I even had my mother's old Robin Hood Christmas Baking leaflet. I am so hoping that I have it in one of my boxes. Oh great Cosmos, please pretty please with sugar on it!!
In any case I do have a copy of it in my Google Documents as I had scanned and uploaded it as a Christmas Gift to all my readers a few years back. You can access that here if you wish to.
I have a great love for all things Vintage. Vintage kitchenaelia, vintage linens, etc. I have always said I was born too late.
But then in the next breath I have to say I am glad that I was born when I was because if I had been born too much earlier, I probably wouldn't still be here! I am not quite ready to go just yet!!
That is why I am working hard embroidering cotton tea towels for my kitchen to be, knitting/crocheting dish clothes, etc. I know they will bring me joy for many years to come.
I love things like this plate which the muffins are sitting on, which Dan calls the man-plate. A heavy stoneware oval plate my sister picked up at a yard sale once upon a time.
And this very pretty little tea cup from my mother's collection of tea cups, that are now my tea cups. I admired and wished for these cups all the days of my childhood.
This is an especially pretty pattern, hand painted with pink and mauve blossoms, edged with green and gold.
Made in England, the pattern must be called Roslyn. At least that is what is stamped on the bottom. There is only one of them.I wish I knew its history. Was it a gift to my mother when she got married? Probably because it looks really old. In those days people often gifted others with pieces from their own collections when someone got married.
And here is a closer look at the tea-towel embroidery work. It is from an Aunt Martha Transfer pattern. I have done a lot of those through the years as gifts for other people. Now I will have some for myself.I thought the apple butter one was a very apt one to use as a prop for my Apple Spice Muffins. I hope you will agree. It is also one my favorite ones from the ones I have embroidered so far! But back to the muffins.
These muffins are begun in a way which is somewhat unusual for a muffin. The dry ingredients are measured into a bowl and then the butter is rubbed into them. A portion of this is set aside to use for the topping. They are very wholesome using almost as much old fashioned oats as flour.
I love using oats in baked goods. They always give what you are baking a nice, nutty wholesome flavor and texture. There is no oil in this recipe, just butter. And there is no need to melt it either . . . just rub it in.
Once you've done that and reserved some of the mixture for the topping it follows the rules of pretty much any muffin. Whisk together the wet ingredients and add all at once to the dry.
It has ever been so. Do be careful not to overmix your wet and dry ingredients. A gentle hand is needed. It is most acceptable for muffin batter to be lumpy and to even contain a few dry streaks, "few" being the key word here.
Peeled, cored and grated apple form a part of the wet ingredients in this recipe. As the muffins cook the apples release moisture and flavor into the muffin.Do be sure you pick apples that have plenty of tart juicy flavors. I would recommend Granny Smith and that is what I used.
You will need about 2 medium apples, grated. Cinnamon and nutmeg also add to the flavor. I always like to grate my own nutmeg. That way I can know it is as fresh as fresh can be! Old nutmeg can taste musty and unappealing, but freshly grated nutmeg? Well that's a different kettle of fish and tastes a-maz-ing!
Once you have the simple batter mixed together you spoon it into prepared muffin cups. I lined mine with paper liners, but if you butter your muffin cups really well, they shouldn't stick.As you can see, these muffins turned out perfectly. (I'd expect nothing less from Robin Hood.) Slightly domed with just the right amount of holes and tunnels throughout the interior.
Not too sweet, but only slightly so, with the flavor of the spices and the apple shining through. Perfect to enjoy with a morning or mid-morning, or even mid-afternoon hot cuppa!
Best served warm, but they can be frozen for future use. Simply thaw them out for about 30 seconds on high in the microwave. Split and spread with cold butter. Yummity yummity yum yum yum!!
Apple Spice Muffins
Yield: 12Author: Marie RaynerPrep time: 10 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 35 MinThese crumble topped oat and apple filled spicy muffins are wonderfully moist and delicious. You can replace the apple with an equivalent amount of grated zucchini (courgette) if you wish.Ingredients
- 2 cups (280g) plain all purpose flour
- 1 cup (90g) old fashioned oats
- 3/4 cup (150g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1 TBS baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (120g) butter
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 cup (240ml) milk
- 1 cup (about 2 medium) grated apple, peeled and cored
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C/gas mark 6. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Alternately butter really well. Set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or two round bladed knives until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Remove and reserve 1/2 cup (75g) for the topping.
- Whisk together the eggs, milk and grated apple. Add to the dry ingredients all at once. Stir to combine, just until moistened. Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Sprinkle the reserved topping over top of each muffin, patting down gently.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the tops spring back when lightly touched.
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