Apple-Cinnamon Walnut Muffins
2015-11-19 08:05:52
Warm, fluffy homemade muffins with a crunchy cinnamon-sugar sprinkle, soft apples and crunchy walnuts are a PERFECT treat for that special family brunch! It's fun to make, especially when you can present them in these easy wax-paper muffin liners! Make sure to watch my video on Youtube and I'll show you how to make them!
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Muffins
- 1 granny smith apple peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch thick cubes
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1-1/4 cup (300ml) chopped toasted walnuts
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature (we use Earth Balance, a non-dairy butter alternative)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) natural brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (120ml) of honey
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240ml) almond milk
- 1-1/2 (350ml) cups unsweetened apple sauce (see recipe below for homemade apple sauce)
Topping
- 2 Tbs brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Homemade Apple Sauce
- 3 medium sweet, baking apples such as Honey Crisp, Pink Lady, or Fuji
- ½ to ⅔ cup water
- 1 cinnamon stick
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Combine wheat flour, baking powder, nutmeg, ground ginger, cinnammon, and salt in a large bowl.
- In a separate mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and honey.
- Add the eggs to the butter mixture, one at a time, whisking well after each egg is added.
- Whisk in the vanilla, apple sauce and almond milk to the wet mixture.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Gently fold in the apple pieces and walnuts.
- Place muffin liners in a muffin tin. Scoop batter into liners, using an ice cream scoop. Tap the tin on the table to remove air bubbles.
- Make topping by mixing brown sugar and cinnamon until well combined. Sprinkle the tops of the uncooked muffins with chopped walnuts and cinnamon sugar.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in one of the muffins comes out clean.
- Cool on a rack, and enjoy!
Homemade Apple Sauce
- Roughly peel all the apples and core them. Slice the apples about 1 cm thick.
- Add the apples to a saucepan with 1/2 cup water. Add the cinnamon stick. Cover and let it simmer on a low flame for 15-20 minutes.
- Add a bit more water if it starts drying out. Conversely, cook them uncovered if there's too much water.
- What you're looking for at the end are well softened apples with very little liquid.
- Once the apples are cooked, remove the cinnamon stick. Either purée the apples in a food processor or mash them with a potato masher if you want a chunkier applesauce.
Homemade muffin liners
- Cut a 6 by 6 inch piece of wax paper.
- Center it over a cup of your muffin tin.
- Push the wax paper into the muffin tin cup with a slightly smaller cup or glass, folding the paper around the glass as needed.
- Keep the glass in the muffin tin until you are ready to scoop in your batter. Quickly remove the cup and replace with the batter. It it totally ok if the sides of the wax papers are folded. That makes it look very rustic and cool!
Cook With Amber https://cookwithamber.com/