Hi Everyone!
As promised, we will be posting more on our blog, starting with this to die for Apple Cinnamon Muffins recipe I stumbled upon by CookieandKate! I’ve baked these delicious muffins a couple of times now, but always at night so the lighting was always horrible for pictures. But today is THE DAY! ✨ I finally found time today to bake these bad boys in the AM ☀️ and took tons of photos, even featured the baby brother, Andrew! Let me tell you this, baby brother APPROVES! He is very hard to please because he’s at the “I-don’t-care-for-clean-eating, I-love-junk-food” age. Though I’m not sure if some people ever grow out of that. But I digress, all that’s important is that HE APPROVES!
The recipe is SUPER simple and not very time consuming at all. ⏰ I’ve always LOVED ❤️ apples pies, so this is such an excellent healthy substitution for that because it really reminds me of an apple pie with real diced and grated apples in each muffin! I love that Kate incorporated apple sauce and yogurt into this recipe because I would have never thought to include them in a muffin mixture! So creative and fun! Above all, my favorite is the crunchiness of the Granny Smith apples in the baked muffins. I do love a good, refreshing treat to start and end my day!
One thing to point out is that I diced and grated my apple a bit larger than Kate because I really like the crunch on the apples in my muffins to make the flavor even more distinct! I also opted out of sugar completely since the muffins are sweet enough just with all the honey and natural apple flavors! I try to opt out of sugar completely anytime I bake/cook just to be on the healthier side! I’m not very fond of super sweet things anyway so I can do without the extra sugar! One tip I would give you is that if you use honey , Kate suggests baking at 325 degree Fahrenheit for 23-25 minutes. I baked for 23 minutes my first few times, and wanted to be bold and try 25 minutes today. I wish I hadn’t because I like moist much better than dry muffins! I had my other batch in the fridge so I had my brother try both the 23 min & 25 min muffins and SURPRISE! He liked the dryer 25 min version better. He said it’s crunchier and chewier than the moist 23 min muffins. I guess everyone has their preference! Let me know yours!
Without further ado, here is the recipe below from CookieandKate!
INGREDIENTS
1¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup grated apple
1 cup apple diced into ¼” cubes
⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup maple syrup or honey*
2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
½ cup plain Greek yogurt (I used full-fat but any variety should do)
½ cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any grease).
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Blend well with a whisk. Add the grated and chopped apple and stir to combine.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil and maple syrup and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then add the yogurt, applesauce and vanilla and mix well. (If the coconut oil solidifies in contact with cold ingredients, gently warm the mixture in the microwave in 30 second bursts.)
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). The batter will be thick, but don’t worry! Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake muffins for 13 to 15 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for two days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.
NOTES
Recipe adapted from my healthy carrot muffins.
*IF YOU ARE BAKING WITH HONEY: Honey tends to brown quickly, so to avoid overdone muffins, bake muffins at 325 degrees Fahrenheit until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 23 to 25 minutes.
MAKE IT VEGAN: This is really my best guess, but I think you could replace the eggs with flax “eggs” and replace the yogurt with vegan buttermilk—try mixing 1½ teaspoons vinegar with a scant ½ cup non-dairy milk. Let it rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the other liquid ingredients. (You could also try using more applesauce in place of the yogurt but I’m not sure it’s acidic enough to counteract the bitter taste of the baking soda.)
Let me know if you end up trying this recipe! I would love to relive that “AHA! Found-my-apple-pie-substitution” moment with you again!
xoxo,
Elisa