Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) butter, melted (see note for using oil)
- ⅓ cup (71 g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (71 g) packed light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup buttermilk (see note for regular milk)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ⅔ cup (237 g) all-purpose or white whole wheat flour (see note)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 ½ cup (160-170 g) small-diced apples; peel and core apples before dicing (see note)
- Coarse, turbinado or brown sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, buttermilk, egg and vanilla until well-combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Whisk until just combined (it's ok if there are a few dry streaks).
- Add the apples and stir until evenly combined - don't over mix.
- Divide the batter evenly among the muffin tin, filling the cups 2/3 full.
- Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a bit of coarse, turbinado or brown sugar, if using.
- Bake for 17 to 18 minutes until the tops of the muffins spring back lightly to the touch.
- Remove the muffins from a tin to a cooling rack to cool completely. These muffins are tasty warm, but even more delicious as they cool and the flavors have time to deepen.
Notes
Oil: if using oil in place of butter, use a neutral-flavored oil, like grapeseed, canola or vegetable and increase the salt by a pinch or two.
Buttermilk: regular dairy milk (or possibly a dairy-free milk) can be substituted for the buttermilk - the muffins may not be quite as light and fluffy (the buttermilk helps with that!). If you don't have storebought buttermilk, an easy substitution is using 1/2 milk + 1/2 sour cream or plain yogurt (for this recipe, that would be about 3 tablespoons of each).
Flour: if using whole wheat flour, stick to a white wheat variety (for a lighter texture). I prefer using half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour. The muffins will be more dense and slightly heavier if using 100% whole wheat (still yummy).
Apples: use apples that are firm and crisp, sweet and tart. I prefer using Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples for this recipe (half of each!), but they are very adaptable to any number of apple varieties.