Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Muffins

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Fresh Out of the Oven!

Fall is in the air, and once temperatures drop I get into a baking frenzy.  I don’t mind heating up the kitchen when the oven is turned on! Yesterday I tried a half batch of these muffins to see if they would be something my grandkids and kids and friends might enjoy.  The answer is YES, for sure.

Next, I tweaked the King Arthur flour recipe (I noted that other bloggers used this basic formula as well).  My changes are truly my own, adding some crunchy, sparkly turbinado sugar for the topping, using less than two apples and measuring the quantity instead since apples are so many different sizes. I also made a full, full muffin rather than smaller, more numerous ones indicated in the original recipe, and added some lemon zest just because.  

Several changes I made were out of laziness – making soured milk rather than buttermilk?  I was too lazy to go to the store. Using salted butter because I was too lazy to go to the store … are you getting the picture?

Anyway, these turned out to be so good, and they stay fresh for a few days and freeze for up to a couple of months.  (HAHAHA, as if). The only downside here is that once you put these into the oven, you will have a mound of dishes and measuring utensils to clean.  Someday I am going to have a sidekick sous chef to follow me around the kitchen, to wash everything, sweep and mop the floor and then disappear. In my dreams.

Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

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Muffin Ingredients
  • 1 stick (½ cup) salted butter, at room temperature
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup buttermilk (OR 2% milk + 1 Tbsp white vinegar-let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes)
  • 1 cup King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour
  • 1 cup unbleached white flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 pinches table salt
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 2 tsp lemon zest (Use your microplane grater)
  • 2 slightly rounded cups peeled, cored, and chopped apples (I diced mine about ⅓-inch in size and my apples were large so it took 1 ¾ apples to equal a slightly heaping 2 cups)
Topping Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp turbinado sugar (raw cane sugar)
Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour a pan with 12 full-size muffin cups and set aside.

Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, lemon zest and set aside. FYI I always sift my baking soda and baking powder-they are lumpy.  Remove one tablespoon of this flour mix to toss with the apples.  

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg to the buttermilk (or soured milk you made) and mix gently. Add in the milk/vinegar mixture quickly. (If you over-mix, this will cause the mixture to curdle.) Stir in the dry ingredients.  Toss diced apple with the reserved flour mix and fold in these apple chunks to the batter.

Combine the dark brown and turbinado sugar in a bowl and set aside (for the topping).

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups (I just butter or spray mine) with an ice cream scoop and sprinkle the brown sugar/turbinado sugar mix on top of each. With a damp finger, even out the topping and batter.  The muffins will be very full.

Ready for Baking

Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees then turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional five minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for five minutes in the tin, then carefully place them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Try one while warm.  

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