I know what you’re thinking. It’s hot, it’s summery, and I’m sharing a muffin recipe. Yes, yes I am. I am always in the mood to bake- even when it’s full fledged salad season, there’s nothing like homemade bread to accompany that salad. And in my book, muffins are always good for breakfast, afternoon snack, or an accompaniment to a simple supper- as was the case last night.
These are easy and no-fuss muffins. The graham in the muffin comes from the addition of graham flour. I buy Bob’s Red Mill brand, and I really love what it adds to baked goods. It’s actually a kind of whole wheat flour, but it’s got a slightly coarser texture, so replacing some of the all-purpose flour with the graham flour adds a nice nutty flavor, and changes up the texture as well. We really enjoyed these muffins- and they were just as great as leftovers this morning for breakfast. I strongly suspect that if you took that apple out of the muffin and used a fresh peace instead- the muffins would be just as delicious.
I did have the idea last night of crushing up some actual graham crackers with a fork, and tossing that with a bit of butter and cinnamon sugar for a streusel of sorts to top the muffins. (Doesn’t that just sound tasty?) Well, no graham crackers were to be found, so a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar sufficed as a topping- although the muffins are just sweet enough on their own to not necessarily need the sugar sprinkling.
Apple-Graham Muffins
1 egg 2/3 cup milk 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup graham flour (whole wheat can substitute) 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 Tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup chopped nuts 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced 2 tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon Directions:
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
In a mixing bowl, beat together the egg, milk, oil and vanilla. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the flours, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Whisk together until well combined- making sure to eliminate any brown sugar lumps.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and begin mixing together gently. When there are still a few spots of visible flour remaining, add the apples and nuts and fold them in.
Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups.
Combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the cinnamon sugar.
Bake in a 400ºF oven for 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the muffin comes out clean.
Allow to cool for five minutes in the pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 12 muffins.