I am having so much fun reading all your interesting contest answers and questions! Keep 'em coming- the contest ends tomorrow at midnight!
In the meantime, I've been sustaining baking compulsions (that whole spring-time revitalization thing going on). Therefore another recipe - Whole Wheat Apple Muffins.
These were super yummy, a nice change of pace and kept well. The lower guilt factor compared to some of my other baking was a large bonus too. Fruit! Whole wheat! See healthy stuff! If you wanted to go even healthier you could substitute half the butter with applesauce which I think I will do next time to also boost the apple flavor. The other modification I made was the original recipe called for one Tablespoon of cinnamon. Now that stopped me in my tracks as I was making this and though I'm not a huge fan of cinnamon that still seemed like a lot. So I cut back but I still feel I could have used less. The cinnamon overpowered a bit- even Mr. Pieknits commented they seemed very "masala-y". So here I've recommended just 1 teaspoon.
Also I dusted mine with Turbinado sugar instead of regular brown sugar, because well- wee sparkly!
Recipe and all that after the cut so as not to totally bombard those here just for the knitting. :)
Whole Wheat Apple Muffins
via Smitten Kitchen
Yield: I got around 18
1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat flour
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed (OR 1/4 brown sugar, 1/4 turbinado sugar)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk or yogurt
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour an 18 cup muffin tin and set aside (or make a batch and a half if you only have a 12 muffin tin like me).
Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in the buttermilk or yogurt gently. (If you over-mix, the buttermilk will cause the mixture to curdle.) Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.
Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar (or Turbinado sugar) on top. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
But they aren't wheaty? Because I really hate that! Health--bah!
I don't like cinnamon either and I have found that puts us in the slim minority. Actually, I like fake cinnamon, like red hots, but not the real think.
I made Morrocan Veg. Stew yesterday night and between the cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and nutmeg, I felt like I was making a dessert!
I love muffins! I made some a few weeks back that had cranberries in them. I can't wait to try yours. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Ah, another delicious looking recipe with drool-worthy photos! I'm such a sucker for muffins, too. I'll have to try them!
those look really good. you can never have too many muffin recipes!
*Sigh* you have the most delish recipes! Thanks for sharing!
I love the whole health type muffin...sadly i am the only one in the house! Hubby believes twinkies will make you live forever..the preservatives and all. Me? I grew up all wheat, all homemade. Those look delicious!
My mouth is watering looking at these - I especially like the reduced guilt factor! Thanks for posting the recipe, I will definitely be making some!