No mixer required.
I had a bunch of apples that were sitting on the counter begging me to be used. These were super-quick to mix up and get in the oven on my lunch break. And apparently tasty-looking enough to attract people out in the ‘Rona to get a couple shoved thru the door at ‘em.
No mixer required. You heard me. That's always awesome. And when I say grate half the apple, doooo it. You will get lots more appley (is that even a word?) flavor.
Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar (lightly packed)
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Apple Pie Spice
1/3 Cup Buttermilk (room temperature)
1 Large Egg (room temperature)
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Medium to Large Apple, peeled/cored (grate half, small dice on the other half)
Streusel
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar (lightly packed)
5 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
2 Tablespoons Cold Butter
Pinch Salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin tins or place paper liners (I prefer paper liners).
Combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl and whisk until well-combined.
Whisk wet ingredients together in a small bowl and add to dry ingredients using a mixing spoon and mix well, but don't overmix. This mixture will be very thick. Don’t panic. You’re about to add the apples and get a whole new perspective. Add grated/diced apples and mix in. Better, right?
Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full. Filled just right, this recipe will yield 1 dozen regular-sized muffins.
Prepare the streusel by combining the dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Cut in cold butter with a pastry cutter or fork/knife until all the butter is cut in. The mixture should not form a dough, but should actually have a bit of a sandy texture. This is ok. It will streusel up just fine in the oven.
Sprinkle streusel mixture on top of each muffin and press down gently onto the top of the batter so it stays on the muffin.
Bake in 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let sit in tin for about 5 minutes before removing to wire rack.
Notes: If you don’t have brown sugar, go ahead and use white granulated sugar. It just won’t have the richness that brown sugar lends, either in the muffin itself or the streusel. I also used buttermilk in this recipe for two reasons. First, buttermilk yields a moister muffin. It also helps balance sweetness when using a sweeter apple. Which leads me to the apples. Why grate half and dice half? Grating half will give your muffin more apple flavor, and the small dice will give it texture. It’s all about balance in both flavor and texture. Granny Smith apples or other apples that are a little more tart are perfect for this recipe because of the complexity of flavor they give as well as a balance of sweetness. But you can use any kind of apple you want, really. Just know a sweeter apple will give you a sweeter muffin. Too sweet of an apple will make your muffin a little one-note. Just sayin’. This particular muffin is not too dense, either. If you prefer a more dense muffin, reduce the amount of oil. Have at it, kids.
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