My kitchen is full of apples, but not as full as it was about a week ago, when we came home from a local orchard with an enormous quantity of Golden Delicious, Cortlands, Mutsus, and Macouns. In the days since then, I've put them to use in a variety of ways both sweet and savory, including today's maximum-bang-for-your-minimum-buck standby: muffins. This version features a combination of classic seasonal signifiers, and I promise that the mere smell of them baking away in the oven will remove any lingering doubt that decorative gourd season has officially arrived.
Bring through my lips to my awaken'd mouth
The triumph of a bakery! O Fall,
If muffins come, can pie be far behind?
Pumpkin, Apple, and Walnut Muffins
Ingredients~ 2.5 cups flour
~ 1 tbsp. baking powder
~ 1/2 tsp. each: salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger
~ Dash nutmeg
~ 2 small, tart apples, diced
~ 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
~ 1 cup pureed pumpkin
~ 3/4 cup plain, unsweetened almond milk (or a little more)
~ 1/3 cup maple syrup
~ 1/4 cup canola oil
~ 1 tsp. vanilla extract
~ 2 tsp. sugar mixed with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Directions
~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit and coat a muffin tin with cooking spray.
~ Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl and sift well.
~ Add the diced apple and chopped walnuts and mix well to coat them with the flour mixture.
~ In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, almond milk, maple syrup, canola oil, and vanilla extract and stir until smooth.
~ Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and gradually add the pumpkin mixture, stirring with each addition until all the ingredients are combined.
~ Spoon the batter into your prepared muffin tin, and sprinkle the tops with the sugar/cinnamon mixture.
~ Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
~ Allow the muffins to rest in the pan about for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Suppose I want to make a nut-free version of this. I assume I could swap soy milk for the almond, but should I just leave the walnuts out or substitute with something else? These would be perfect for my daughter to take to school, but a classmate has a severe nut allergy we need to be mindful of.
ReplyDeleteIf you substitute raisins for the walnuts (and yes, soy or rice milk for almond) they'd be just as delicious!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWe made these and they were terrific! We left out the oil and syrup and substituted oatbran for 1 cup of flour and they were so yummy! All of Fall in a muffin!
ReplyDelete