apple strudel muffins

I made these as a bribe: I had to give a presentation in class (on this extraordinary object, which in other circumstances - for example, at a party, with bourbon - I'd be happy to talk about at length), it was far too early in the morning, and I thought it was best to distract my audience with muffins. Now I think they may be the perfect decoy in all kinds of situations. They're a little spicy from the cinnamon and nutmeg, not too sweet, soft with apple, and covered with a crunchy strudel topping.


Aren't these baking cups lovely? I bought them in Singapore, at a wondrous store where everything was Japanese and cost $2. I think about that store much more often than is strictly necessary.




Apple Strudel Muffins
adapted from Allrecipes

2 cups plain (all purpose) flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups finely diced apples

For the topping*:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp plain (all purpose) flour
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 375°F / 190°C. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or a 24 cup mini muffin pan, or fill with muffin/cupcake cases.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.

To make the topping, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl. Melt the butter and stir it through the sugar mixture until it forms coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of muffin mix.

Bake 20 minutes in a preheated oven, or 15 minutes for mini muffins, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before removing muffins from the pan. Cool on a wire rack.

* Some of the reviews on allrecipes suggest making double the topping mixture. Then, you fill the muffin pans halfway with the muffin mixture, add half the topping, top up the muffin pans with muffin mixture, and then add the rest of the topping. I think this sounds fabulous, but I didn't try it because I was making mini muffins.