Apple muffins, comforting little cakes especially during the fall season, when apples dominate the most. Freshly baked apple muffins sweeten people’s days all across the globe and today, Hana’s Recipes will show you how to easily prepare them under 40 minutes in your home kitchen!
Firstly something interesting: The history of apple muffins
According to many valid theories, the history of apple muffins dates back to the 19th century in America. Since the colonial times, muffins have generally been valued in many American regions. In the case of apple muffins, they particularly became favourite in North America, especially in the region called New England which was well-known for the high number of apple orchards.
As already introduced, muffins in general have had a special sweet place in people’s hearts in America. However, as settlers started to experiment and incorporate other various ingredients when baking muffins, fruit items such as apples gradually became a natural addition that was being utilised more often within traditional recipes. Unsurprisingly, this was primarily the case of North American regions like the mentioned New England.
As the popularity of apple muffins was rising, cookbooks started to pay more attention. The very first printed recipe was created in the late 19th century. The recipe process was calling for diced or grated apples that were mixed into the muffin batter, together with ingredients such as cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices (often based on people’s preferences as well). It probably goes without saying that the apple muffin recipe was evolving over time and many variations were introduced, also due to cultural influences from the rest of the world. Bakers began with adding new food items such as raisins, nuts, later also oats for a better texture as well as aroma and flavour of the apple muffins.
Since the beginning of 20th century until these days, muffin-baking process has become much more accessible and common for the home environment. This has led to even more experiments done by home cooks, mainly in terms of enhancing the flavour of the apples in muffins as well as the overall ingredient list. Nowadays, apple muffins remain an irresistible treat for people across the whole world. They enjoy this dessert for breakfast or as a simple snack, together with a warm cup of tea or coffee.
Let’s get to baking! What do you need for the recipe?
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups of spelled wholemeal flour (or plain flour),
- ½ cup of cane sugar (crystal),
- ½ of baking powder,
- 1 piece of vanillin sugar,
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon,
- ½ cup of milk,
- ¼ cup of oil,
- 2 eggs,
- 3-4 smaller apples,
- Nuts (depends on your preference),
- Cocoa (depends on your preference)
Preparation
1Start with mixing flour, baking powder, sugar, vanilla sugar and cinnamon in one bowl. You can also add cocoa, chopped chocolate or nuts, however this is all optional and based on your preference. In the second bowl, mix milk, oil and eggs.
2Clean and grate the apples into the shape of noodles.
3After that, mix all the used ingredients together. Add the grated apples and mix once again.
4
Line the muffin tray with paper cups. You can also bake them in silicone forms. Fill the cupcakes with apple dough and if you wish, you can arrange chopped walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts (depends on your choice) on top of muffins.
5
Bake at a temperature of 180°C for about 20-30 minutes. They should turn golden on top. Let them cool properly, so that the apples harden and the dough separates nicely from the cupcakes.
All done, good job! Now you can fully enjoy your juicy apple muffins! If you are uncertain about some of the steps above, take a look at the similar videorecipe for apple muffins right below. Always better to compare, right?
Are there any apples left? Don’t worry, Hana’s Recipes got you fully covered! Try out the photorecipe for delicious apple pie!
FAQ 1: Can I use the applesauce instead of fresh apples?
Yes! Although fresh apples are always a better choice for nicely baked apple muffins, it is definitely possible to use the applesauce as a substitute. It should be kept in one’s mind though that the overall texture will be altered. The content of the muffins will be moistured slightly, so perhaps it is a good idea to adjust the amount of other liquid ingredients in the recipe accordingly.
FAQ 2: Can apple muffins be gluten-free?
Absolutely! You can easily make gluten-free apple muffins, if you manage to substitute wheat flour with a gluten-free flour blend. It is always beneficial to double check the other ingredients as well, just to make sure your apple muffins will be 100% gluten-free at the end and those with dietary limitations can enjoy such cakes too.
