In the brief window of time between dropping my eldest daughter off at preschool, getting the twins down for their morning naps, preparing lunch and then picking the preschooler up again from her half-day of away-play, the heap of bright red and green shiny apples was staring me down, challenging me to quickly convert their toothsomely tart selves into a warm, fragrant, scrumptious snack. I met their dare, of course, with muffins. Okay, so I’m anthropomorphizing hanging fruit — maybe I need to get out more — but what ev’.

aromatic, moist, and chock full of fruit, these muffins make a wonderful way to start the day.

a cheeky mixed bowl of apples.

Muffins can be made in minutes. Generally speaking, all you need is 45 minutes — from mixing bowl to serving plate — to whip up a dozen perfectly portable, relatively nutritious muffin morsels.

Baked apples, cinnamon, allspice and brown sugar are always a winning combination that tastes delicious and will also fill your entire house with a warm, homey aroma. Buttermilk adds a rich-tasting tangy flavor, and because it is an acidic ingredient, buttermilk also helps tenderize the gluten in the batter, giving the finished muffin more body and a smoother texture. And don’t worry, despite its fatty name, buttermilk is actually quite low in fat.

apple curl.

bring those apples down to size: chop your apples in large chunks for big bites of baked apple or in a smaller dice for the same flavor with a finer texture.

Spiced Apple-Buttermilk Muffins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Spiced Sugar Topping Ingredients

¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground allspice

Muffin Batter Ingredients

2 medium apples
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg

12 standard sized paper baking cups

sprinkle generously with the ginger-cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Spiced Sugar Topping Directions

1. In small bowl or cup, mix brown sugar (¼ cup), cinnamon, and allspice.
2. Set aside.

Muffin Batter Directions

1. Line 12 muffin-pan cups with paper baking cups (or grease unlined muffin-pan cups).
2. Peel, core and dice apples; you should have about 2 cups.
3. In large bowl, mix flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
4. In small bowl, with wire whisk or fork, mix buttermilk, coconut oil, vanilla, and egg until blended.
5. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture just until moistened — mixture will be lumpy, do not over-mix. Should you fail to heed this warning your muffins will resemble bite-sized bricks.
6. Fold in apples.
7. Immediately spoon batter into lined muffin-pan cups.
8. Sprinkle spiced sugar topping over muffins.
9. Bake in preheated oven (400 degrees F) for  25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
10. Remove muffins from pan; serve warm or cool on wire rack and reheat if desired.

like a good hug, these muffins are best served warm.

Substitutions & Additions

• Like a bit of crunch? Try adding ½ cup smashed or chopped pecans or walnuts to the batter when you fold in the apples.
• For a more toffee-like flavor, try using Demerara sugar or Muscovada (Barbados) sugar instead of ordinary brown sugar.
• You can substitute up to half of the brown sugar in the muffin batter with unsulphured molasses.
  

  served simply: split & drenched in buttery goodness.

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