It is a truth universally acknowledged that I spend way too much time reading food blogs. Wayyyyyyy too much. And I've read more than my share of posts on fall recipes. In addition to all the cinnamon-y apple-y pumpkin-y goodness, they all have another thing in common: discussion of this aforementioned goodness always seems to center on two things, weather and smell. It seems food bloggers will preface their recipes with talk about how they're preparing for the upcoming cooler weather or how good the food makes their kitchens smell.
Well, let me tell you, I didn't make these muffins for either of those reasons. I made these muffins because my brother is a butthead. You see, a while back I had made this cheesecake. This incredible banana cheesecake, baked in little glass dishes with caramel drizzled on top.
But my brother wouldn't eat it.
He wouldn't so much as give it a single lick, and told me that he had eaten cheesecake 3 months ago and didn't want any more. Nevertheless, I took pity on the picky butthead that is my brother, and decided to make him muffins. And voila! These graham cracker apple muffins were born.
Although the muffins were not planned for, they are everything a muffin should be: sweet, lightly spiced, warm, fluffy, and soft, with a crisp graham cracker crumb topping. A secret to making this muffins is cooking the apples before adding them to the batter. This releases their juices, increases their sweetness, and infuses them with the cinnamon flavor. I hate it when there's chunks of half-cooked sour apples in baked goods.
So make them today. They're easy, tasty, and will make picky twelve-year-olds happy. Oh, and they're all autumn-y and will make your kitchen smell good and all that stuff.
-Caroline
Click here for the printer-friendly recipe.
Graham Cracker Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Adapted from
Yields: 12 Muffins
Ingredients:
For the Muffins
1 ½ cups apples, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons cinnamon
¼ cup brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
⅓ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup whole milk
⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Topping
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a microwavable bowl, mix together the apples, cinnamon, and sugar. Microwave for about 1 ½ minutes or until apples are soft, stopping every 30 seconds to give them a stir. Let cool.
- Mix together the flour, salt, granulated sugar, baking powder, and graham cracker crumbs.
- Mix together the milk, oil, egg, and vanilla. Mix in the cinnamon apple mixture.
- Add the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Spoon the batter into a greased muffin pan.
- Make the crumb topping. Mix together the flour, sugar, graham cracker crumbs, and cinnamon. Mix in the melted butter, and stir until the mixture looks like coarse wet sand.
- Sprinkle the topping on top of the muffins, and bake the muffins for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.