Have you encountered the craving of a certain food you used to buy to go with your freshly brewed coffee. Or the quick and healthy(er) breakfast alternative to a sugary cereal. Yes that's right, the muffin. Whether it be blueberry, cranberry or chocolate, the muffin is a food type that is introduced into our american lives in the early years.
Now is time for my confession. I'm not a huge fan!! Please don't judge me, we all have different tastebuds, my brother for example is a regular muffin orderer. But when I woke up this morning, with a stack of soccer books and cookbooks miraculously still on my bed, I thought of breakfast foods. Something that wasn't pancakes, or topped with syrup, but something that still brought thoughts of childhood.
I looked through the cookbook Vegan Baking Classics by Kelly Rudnicki. I found Apple Muffins. I was intrigued and finding that I already had all the ingredients I decided to make them. So I came upon a sweet surprise... Their fantastic with a nice dense yet fluffy texture unlike other vegan recipes I have tried. The apples add a really nice tart taste to smooth out the sweetness of the muffin. Better than the vegan ones at Whole Foods and quite a simple recipe. Really, really good. I hope you enjoy it....
Apple Muffins
by Vegan Baking Classics-Kelly Rudnicki
Yield:12 Muffins
Muffins
4 tablespoons dairy-free margarine
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup soy or rice milk (I used almond)
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups dice, peeled apples, divided (I added all the apples in the batter instead of half in half on top.)
Topping
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and spray a 12 cup muffin tin (I used a large 6 tin,) with dairy-free baking spray. (I just coated with vegetable oil on a paper towel.)
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment*, combine the melted margarine, applesauce, and vegan milk. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and the 1/2 cup sugar with a wire whisk. Add the dry ingredients to the apple mixture, and stir by hand with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in the 1 cup chopped apple. Do not over mix.
3. Using cookie scooper, fill the prepared muffin cups with batter, and top each with the remaining 1/2 cup diced apples.
4. To make the topping, in a small bowl, combine the 1/4 cup sugar and the 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and sprinkle the mixture over the muffins. Bake for 20-25 minutes, (mine took way longer) or until an inserted cake tester (or toothpick in my world) comes out clean.
*I just used a smaller bowl and added that to the dry ingredients.
Hope you enjoy as much as I did, oh and by the way, your house will smell fantastic for hours afterwards.
