One of my favorite things to do in the fall is go apple picking. It simply does not feel like autumn has arrived until I am dancing down an apple orchard picking fresh apples off trees. I managed to go apple picking at the last possible moment this year and boy am I glad I did! Here is one of my new apple recipes made from my freshly plucked apples!
Apple Muffins with a Streusel Topping
Active Time: 15-20 Minutes
Total Time: 45 Minutes
Servings: 12 Oversized Muffins
Ingredients
3 Cups AP
Flour
2 Cups
Granulated Sugar
2 tsp Ground
Cinnamon
½ tsp Nutmeg
½ tsp Ground
Cloves
1 tsp Baking
Soda
½ tsp Baking
Powder
4 Eggs
1 ¼ Cup
Vegetable Oil
1 tsp
Vanilla
3 Cups of
apples cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 Cup
Crystalized Ginger cut into small pieces
Streusel Topping
1 stick of
Unsalted Butter
½ Cup AP
Flour
½ Cup Rolled
Oats
½ Cup Brown
Sugar (preferably dark)
1 tsp
Cinnamon
1 tsp
Vanilla
Directions:
Preheat oven
to 350. In a bowl of a mixer mix together the sugar, oil, and eggs until it
becomes light and smooth and light yellow. Meanwhile combine all of the dry
ingredients and add them ½ cup at a time until the mixture is smooth. Fold in
the apples and crystalized ginger and scoop the batter into a cupcake tin with
liners just shy of the rim if you want oversized muffins and 3/4 of the way if you want regular sized muffins.
In a
separate bowl combine the Streusel topping ingredients. Use your hands to break
down the butter and the dry ingredients. If the mixture is still too wet add an
addition ¼ cup of oatmeal until you reach the desired consistency.
Place the muffin tin on a parchment lined cookie sheet and generously
sprinkle the tops of the muffin batter with the streusel topping and bake the
muffins for 10-14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
Serve warm with salted butter.
As I have mentioned a couple times before, I kind of have an obsession with blueberry muffins. I also LOVE Earl Gray tea so I figured why not combine them into one delicious breakfast treat?! Yep, I did it: Earl Gray Blueberry Muffins.
Earl Grey Blueberry Muffins
Active Time: 20 Minutes
In Active Time: 45 Minutes
Servings: 18 Muffins
Ingredients:
6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter - Room Temperature
2 3/4 Cups Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 Cup Sugar
1 Large Egg
2 Egg Yolks - A Martha Stewart Trick
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Cup Milk
Earl Grey Tea Bags (3 Bags)
16 oz Frozen or Fresh Blueberries
Turbinado Sugar for Sprinkling
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line the muffin tins with cupcake liners. Pour the milk into a small saucepan and add 3 bags of Earl Grey Tea and simmer. Pour the milk into a measuring cup to cool. When the milk is cool, add the apple cider vinegar into the milk and set aside. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer combine the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until completely incorporated then add the vanilla. Pour in a third of the dry ingredients and alternate with a third of the milk. Continue until all ingredients are added and you end with milk. Gently fold in the blueberries and fill the cupcake tins to the top and sprinkle with turbinado sugar and place in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
Serve warm!
Blueberry anything is a weakness for me, but blueberry muffins? Forget it. I LOVE blueberry muffins. So I thought I would experiment with my favorite blueberry muffin recipe and add a little spring pizzazz to them. I have to say they are pretty delicious!
Lemon Blueberry Thyme Muffins
Active Time: 20 Minutes
In Active Time: 45 Minutes
Servings: 18 Muffins
Ingredients:
6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter - Room Temperature
2 3/4 Cups Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 Cup Sugar
1 Large Egg
2 Egg Yolks - A Martha Stewart Trick
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Cup Milk
16 oz Frozen or Fresh Blueberries
Fresh Thyme (8-10 sprigs)
Zest of One Lemon
Turbinado Sugar for Sprinkling
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line the muffin tins with cupcake liners. Pour the milk into a small saucepan and add 5 sprigs of thyme and simmer. Pour the milk into a measuring cup to cool. When the milk is cool, pour the lemon juice into the milk and set aside. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer combine the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until completely incorporated then add the vanilla and thyme - from about 4 sprigs. Pour in a third of the dry ingredients and alternate with a third of the milk. Continue until all ingredients are added and you end with milk. Gently fold in the blueberries and fill the cupcake tins to the top and sprinkle with turbinado sugar and place in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
Serve warm!
I recently attended a wedding in Falmouth, MA. The day after the wedding my childhood friends and I happened upon Betsy's Diner. Now from the outside it looks like any nondescript diner with the promise of a decent scrambled egg and bottomless coffee. Boy were we wrong. This little gem of a restaurant has a hidden secret: the best blueberry muffins on Cape Cod. They were SO good that I had to call over the chef to find out if they were made in-house - which they are - and to tell me the secret to his magical blueberry muffins.
Here is my take on some of the best blueberry muffins I have every tasted.
Blueberry Muffins
Active Time: 20 Minutes
In Active Time: 45 Minutes
Servings: 18 Muffins
Ingredients:
6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter - Room Temperature
2 3/4 Cups Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 Cup Sugar
1 Large Egg
2 Egg Yolks - A Martha Stewart Trick
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Cup Milk
16 oz Frozen or Fresh Blueberries
Turbinado Sugar for Sprinkling
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line the muffin tins with cupcake liners. Pour the lemon juice into the milk and set aside. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer combine the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until completely incorporated then add the vanilla. Pour in a third of the dry ingredients and alternate with a third of the milk. Continue until all ingredients are added and you end with milk. Gently fold in the blueberries and fill the cupcake tins to the top and sprinkle with turbinado sugar and place in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
Serve warm!
When I was a little girl, there was this fab little shop on Cape Cod that sold muffins. It was aptly called The Muffin Shop. The Muffin Shop did not play when it came to making the perfect muffin. If you brought those suckers to any breakfast, brunch, or even the beach they would be gone in a blink of an eye.
This is my homage to The Muffin Shop.
Banana Muffins
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
In Active Prep Time: 20-25 Minutes
Yields: 12 Muffins
Ingredients
2/3 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Oil
4 Ripe Bananas* and the juice
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp All Spice
1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
Turbinado Sugar for decoration
*When my bananas get to the point of no return, I put them in my freezer with the peel still on, until ready to use them. When i am ready to make my muffins, I take them out of the freezer, put them in a bowl and allow them to thaw.
Directions:
Preheat the oven at 350. In a bowl combine all of the dry ingredients: Flour, Baking Powder, Soda, Salt, Cinnamon, and All Spice. In a second bowl, mix together bananas - including juice, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well ad slowly add dry ingredients. Mix until entirely incorporated. Pour batter into a lined muffin tin. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar liberally on the top of the muffins and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean with inserted.
*I also like to make a bourbon sauce to pour over the muffins. You can find that recipe in my Past the Point of No Return blog post.
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}