Spiced Apple Muffins
Alright, alright, GP is not actually a guest blogger for SPC. She’s extremely busy promoting her new cookbook, My Father’s Daughter or I’m quite confident she would have done it. Just as I’m sure our invitations to her NY celeb-packed dinner party the other night got lost in the mail. Ahem. I really do love this cookbook – it’s beautifully designed and is full of recipes I want to make. It’s a good mix of healthy and more decadent recipes but all look approachable for the home cook/parent. Paltrow’s passion for family and food and how they connect are genuine. I also appreciated what she has to say about how having kids changes your relationship to food. After years of strict adherence to a macrobiotic regime, motherhood gave her a reason to loosen up. Isn’t that what we really want to pass on to our kids, a healthy, balanced approach to food?
These apple muffins would be a great baking project for the weekend. But you could make anything at all from the cookbook by winning one of the two copies we’re giving away. And now, over to my friend Gwyneth. – C.M.
These next two muffin recipes are based on my friend Darlene’s healthy recipes. D, as I call her, is a master at baking with alternative ingredients. The spelt flour has more nutritional value than regular wheat flour and it is easier to digest to boot. These are macrobiotic and super healthy, and my kids, as well as all visitors, gobble them up.
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Ingredients
- or the crumb topping
- 1/4 cup white spelt flour
- 1/4 cup whole spelt flour
- 1/4 cup whole rolled oats (not instant and not steel-cut)
- 1/4 cup unrefined dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Pinch sea salt
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon soy milk
- for the muffins
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 cup finely diced peeled apple (about 2 small apples)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus 2 tablespoons for greasing pan
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons real Vermont maple syrup
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons soy milk
- 1 cup white spelt flour
- 1 cup whole spelt flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 cup lightly toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with papers or oil it with two tablespoons of the vegetable oil.
For the crumb topping, combine all the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
Add the vegetable oil and soy milk and rub everything together with your fingers—the mixture should be pebbly. Set the mixture aside.
For the muffins, in a small bowl, toss the cornstarch with the apples. I
n another large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of the vegetable oil and all of the syrup and soy milk.
Sift in the remaining ingredients (except for the walnuts) and fold in the apples and walnuts.
Evenly distribute the batter in the muffin cups and bake for 25–30 minutes, or until a toothpick tests clean.
yield: 1 dozen muffins • active preparation time: 15 minutes total preparation time: 45 minutes
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Hey, thanks for stopping by!
We're Ceri and Laura, a couple of magazine-editors-turned-food-bloggers. Also, we're mothers obsessed with delicious, healthy, family food. We're constantly thinking of ways to make your time (and our own!) in the kitchen easier and more productive, but still nostalgic for the days when dinner was cereal eaten over the kitchen sink.
5 Comments
Alex F. Fayle
April 15, 07:55I make muffins with maple syrup rather than sugar as well. Very yummy…
Jacqueline
May 25, 09:59I made these with my son today…not a very good recipe. There is no instruction on what to do with the crumble topping so I assumed that I was to crumble in on top of the batter before going into the oven..? After 25 minutes on gas mark 4 i checked and the mixture was still like batter….another 5 minutes….and another, needless to say not a good recipe when precision required in baking….not to mention my son salivating at the oven door. Really disappointed.
Ceri Marsh
May 25, 14:49Hi Jacqueline,
I’m so sorry to hear that! That is frustrating! Were they good once they were finally done?
I apologize for your frustration. I know how hard it is when you’ve psyched your kids up to help out with baking and then it doesn’t go well. Not fun!
Thanks for letting us know.
Ceri
heather
October 17, 09:34these were so delicious! and I really love her cookbook..the banana walnut ones are good too…I agree it was odd they didn’t tell you what to do with the crumb…i put it on top…They were done in 25 minutes…I also cheated and added an egg to the batter along with a tbsp ground flax ; )
Isabelle
September 04, 17:48Here is a tip I learned from a professional baker: When using alternate flours, let the batter sit in the pan cups for at least 5 minutes or longer to make sure the mixture is fully hydrated. Some flours do not absorb liquid as quickly as wheat flour.