Apple Pie Streusel Muffins

I promised that I would post the recipe for the Apple Pie  Bread that I ruined the other day,so I’m following through – sort of.

I didn’t want to make another bread, so I decided to adapt the theme into muffins. These muffins are moist, tender, and topped with a crunchy streusel nut topping.

Instead of shredding all of the apple like the bread recipe calls for, I combined the shredded apple with some diced apple. I think I like the texture of the diced apple better, so next time I would do all diced apple.

Adding a swirl of the cinnamon streusel inside the muffins would be great too!

Now when I make muffins, I’m a domed muffin snob. Give me a mile high, fluffy muffin over the flat variety any day. The secret of making sky-scraping muffins has eluded me for a long time, but I recently learned a few tricks that have paid off.

1. Fill your muffin tins full. Not 1/2 way, not 2/3 way. TO THE TOP. Filling only 1/2 to 2/3 full is not enough batter to give you a high-domed muffin. Your recipe that yields 12 regular muffins may only make nine or ten high-domed muffins. If so, fill any empty tins half full with water.

2. You need a thick batter. If you fill your tin with a thin batter, it will flow all over your oven before setting. Your batter should be “spoonable” not pourable.

3. Get your oven hot! I’m talking 425F. Preheat the oven to 425F, then when your muffins have been in for about 5 minutes, reduce the temperature to 375F. If you leave the temperature high, the muffins will bake too quickly, and may become crusty. This initial high temperature will create a burst of steam, which will cause the muffin tops to lift and set.

That’s it! Once you have these tricks under your belt, you’ll never go back to flat muffins again.

Apple Pie Streusel Muffins
prep: 15 min; bake: 25 min; yield: 12 muffins

• 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons low fat plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 cups shredded or diced apple (peeled and cored)

Streusel:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2-3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

2. For the Streusel: In a small bowl combine the 1/4 brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Using a fork cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the chopped nuts, set aside.

3. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the milk, sugars, yogurt, oil, eggs, vanilla,baking powder, salt and baking soda.
5. Fold in flour, stirring just until incorporated. Gently fold in the apples.

6. Divide the batter between 12 muffin tins, making sure each one is filled to the top.

7. Sprinkle the streusel topping over each muffin.

8. Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375F and continue baking for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
     

Enjoy!

Amber