Apple season is upon us, and as we’ve already discussed that pies are not my favorite thing to make, and after achieving great success with apples in cake form, I turned my focus to the next logical apple vessel: muffins.
I recently inherited a wonderful America’s Test Kitchen cookbook, called the “Quick Family Cookbook.” While it’s not winning any awards in the style department, it is chock-full of AMAZING recipes. And, I see that it’s super cheap on amazon. If you don’t own this book, quickly run to amazon (or your local bookstore, whichever you prefer to support) and pick up a copy right now. Like, “now,” as in before you even finish reading this post.
Do it.
Anyway, back to the muffins!
They require ingredients that you probably have on hand and very minimal effort, and what you get in return is a light, flavorful muffin packed with apple flavor. This muffin is light enough that it won’t make you feel guilty about going in for a second one, and flavorful enough to sate even the strongest apple craving.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups applesauce
- 1 cup sugar
- 10 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F degrees and prepare a 12-cup muffin tin (either grease or line with liners)
- 1. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt to combine.
- 2. In a separate bowl, mix the applesauce, vanilla, and sugar. Whisk in the melted butter until smooth, then whisk in the eggs one at a time, being careful not to overmix. .
- 3. Gently fold the applesauce mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. It might be a little lumpy, that's OK.
- 4. Portion batter into prepared muffin cups, Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool slightly before removing from the pan.
Notes
These are great with a sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon sugar (because what doesn't taste better with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar?) For my usual cinnamon-sugar, I mix 1 teaspoon of cinnamon with 1 Tablespoon of sugar).s - sprinkle on top of muffins before putting them into the oven.
Try adding chunky applesauce or some apple chunks to boost up the apple-appeal even further.
[ Adapted from The America’s Test Kitchens Quick Family Cookbook ]
Lordy! These sound amazing. Also, I love a recipe that doesn’t require me to put on pants, get into the car, and fetch ingredients at the grocery store. I like a recipe that I can make in my pyjamas with my hair standing up on end. (What happens when I sleep? What happens to my hairs?)
If it’s anything like what happens to my hair, I imagine that there is a hair monster who comes out from under the bed and ties it into fantastical knots while you sleep.
Ooooh, I so see a batch of these muffins in my future! Perfect for a Fall baking morning 😉
They really are, Ashley! I hope you enjoy them!
“not winning any awards in the style department” OUCH, burn, lol. They really don’t though; their cookbooks are what i imagine Home Ec textbooks to look like, you know? Very thorough, all the words. I hope chris kimball doesn’t see this or he will CRY SO HARD.
apple muffins = win. my mom’s best friend used to make the absolute best apple cake, and i’ve never been able to duplicate the flavor or texture in any quick bread or muffin. now: i shall try again with your dorky-textbook muffins.
You know what? I listened to an episode of ATK and he said chipotle “chih-pot-al” … like chip+bottle. He is dead to me. DEAD I SAY!
This would probably totally work, I’ll check the book to see if there are any alterations for baking in a pan. 🙂
How did I miss this post!? Well, better late than never. I love muffins and do not make them enough! These sound positively delicious.
They take like 5 minutes to make, you should totally make them!
OMG it looks soooooooo divine! 🙂 I’m addicted to your blog now haha
Check out my blog post…one of my fav. recipes
Have a great day
LOVE Maria at inredningsvis – The Swedish home decor blog