Sky High Apple Pie Muffins / MAYFLOWER

A bit of a different post today based on the fact that the weather is tossing up something of a storm recently and I love baking, so if you haven't guessed already (maybe due to the giant picture of a muffin above), yes this will be a baking post. Baking is something I love doing due to the fact that as well as being able to help me relax you also get an amazing, or sometimes not so amazing, end product which hopefully tastes delicious. Plus points for any activity that produces or involves food I think.

I have baked these muffins a couple of times now and they went down really well with all my friends and family, so I thought why not put them on my blog. The recipe is adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction, who has so many great recipes, so if you like cooking, cakes and sweets especially, you should probably take a look. As the title of this post would suggest these muffins are sky high and they really do look like something that has come from a real bakery and not just your humble home kitchen, they are also relatively healthy, with any butter and oil substituted for applesauce and yoghurt. These muffins are lovely for breakfast in the morning or any time when you get a huge craving for a muffin, which I don't know about you but that's most of the time for me.

Ingredients:

Muffins
I have given the units in grams and cups, whilst baking I personally use cups as I have got these trusty kitchen companions. I would recommend investing in a pair if you get most of your recipes from the internet as converting cups to grams is a bit of a pain.

390g (3 cups) wholemeal self raising flour (I use Allinson's)

1 and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

245ml (1 cup) almond milk (soy or regular can also be used)

110g (1/2 cup) dark brown sugar, packed

60g (1/4 cup) + 2 Tbsp fat free apple yoghurt (I use Shape apple crumble yoghurt which come in a four pack with two rhubarb crumble yoghurts)

30g (1/4 cup) unsweetened apple sauce (this can be made by boiling apples until soft and blending or found in some supermarkets)

50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

3 and 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp baking soda

235g (2 heaping cups) unpeeled apples (I used two whole Pink Ladies)

Oat Streusel Topping
Now for my favourite part, the topping. This doesn't have to be added but it gives the muffin a lovely oaty flavour and crunch.

55g (1/4 tsp) dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp plain flour
2 Tbsp old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius (425F). Spray muffin tin with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. Prepare oat streusel topping by mixing everything together until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Set aside.

3. Prepare the muffins: in a large bowl combine the flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the milk, sugars, yogurt, apple sauce, eggs, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

4. Gently fold wet mixture into the flour, stirring until *just combined* - do NOT overmix. Gently fold in the apples.

5. Spoon the batter into 12 muffin tins, making sure each one is filled to the very top. Sprinkle reserved oat streusel topping over each muffin.

6. Bake for 5 minutes at 220 degrees Celsius, then immediately reduce the oven temperature to 190 degrees and bake for another 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

To bake these muffins I used two silicone muffin cases and filled them to the top with the mixture, I managed to bake 10 muffins. For more details on the recipe click here for the original.