Apple Streusel Muffins

It's been a long time, eh? Sorry about that. Besides being on holiday for a week, I took a little break from baking, mostly because it's almost Christmas and I do an extraordinary amount of baking for Christmas.

But, as it's Halloween, in the UK retail world tomorrow marks the official beginning of the Christmas season. And I really can't let autumn pass by, Halloween especially, without some seasonal baking.

Apples and pumpkin. Short of candy corn and cranberries, they are the staples of autumn baking. (Can you bake with candy corn, actually? Perhaps I'll experiment on that in the next few days...) Had I not used the last of the eggs for today's muffins today would have provided a double feature, these apple muffins and something else with the pumpkin puree that's s

itting in my fridge. Alas, no more eggs. And it's too rainy to go to the shop.

So it's just the muffins today. But they are plenty. Delicious with spice, nutty on top, great with a cup of Chai Spiced tea.

The recipe calls for flaxseed but I don't have any in the cupboard (can you believe Tesco want 5 quid for a box?). I substituted wheat germ instead, which worked fine. If you don't have either, perhaps whole wheat flour will suffice. Try it and see.

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp apple pie spice (see notes below)

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2 tbsp canola oil

3/4 cup shredded apple with peel

2 tbsp chopped pecans

1 tbsp flaxseed

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350/gas 4.

Sift both flours, baking powder, sugar, salt and spices together. Make a well in the centre, set aside.

Beat eggs. Stir in milk and oil. Add to the flour mix. Stir together until just moistened. Fold in apple. Spoon into 12 muffin cups.

Combine pecans, flaxseed and sugar. Cut in butter until it looks like bread crumbs. Spoon on top of muffins.

Bake 18-20 minutes until skewer inserted comes out clean. They won't look that golden on top so don't overbake (I think I did a little). Check with a toothpick at 18 minutes to be sure then go from there.

For the apple pie spice, as it's not something sold in the UK (this is an American company's recipe), mix together 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 allspice and 1/8 tsp ground cardamom. This will produce more than the 1 tsp necessary but just barely. Feel free to make a bigger batch and store in your spice cupboard. I did.

Spiced Courgette Cake Muffins

Happy September! I have to say, this is now my favorite time of year, from now until January 2nd. I hate January and even the New Year's Day hangover is better than the entire month. But from September 1st till then is absolutely fabulous.

Is it my favorite time of year because the potential for baking is doubled compared to the spring? May be, but even before I fell in love with baking I loved the autumn. Smell of sharpened pencils, leaves on the lawns and crisp air is wonderful. I even enjoyed going back to school! Of course, fall semester in America means Homecoming, football games, back to school dances and pep rallies.

Possibly this autumn I'll attempt to capture that new school year-meets end of calendar year feeling. The sense of something beginning whilst at the same time, nature is getting set to hunker down for the year.

In the mean time I still have summer harvest courgettes to use up!

2 tbsp sunflower oil

100g plain flour

100g wholewheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 egg whites

5 tbsp skimmed milk

225g (8oz can) pineapple in chunks, drained of juice and mashed

250g grated courgette/zucchini

40g sultanas or raisins

40g chopped walnuts

Grease or line a muffin pan. Preheat oven to 190C/375F/5.

Sift together both flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger into mixing bowl. Add the caster sugar and stir.

Whisk together egg whites in small bowl. Mix in the milk and oil. Add mashed pineapple, courgette, sultanas and nuts. Stir together gently. Add fruit mix to flour mix. Stir until just combined, don't overmix.

Divide batter evenly between 12 muffin cases. Bake 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden.

These are relatively moist but if you want a really good frosting, mix together 8oz any soft cheese (quark, cream cheese, marscapone etc) with 1 1/2 tbsp caster sugar, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Let muffins cool slightly before frosting; you don't want to curdle your cheese. Sprinkle with cinnamon or perhaps finely chopped nuts.

This is quite a healthy recipe, especially if you use low- or reduced-fat cheese to top.

Sorry for lack of pictures, again. These things just get eaten too quickly!

Apple Pie Breakfast Bars

I love the accessibility of granola bars. If you're hungry on the go (which I often am) you can just dig into your bag, grab a bar and enjoy.

The problem is, all the recipes to make your own are double or triple the calorie and fat content of store bought ones so I generally avoid making my own. Unless, of course, I cut the bars into tiny thin slices which defeats the purpose of using them as portable means to curb hunger.

This recipe, while not the healthiest granola bar on the market, is still light enough to have with a cup of tea, not as a meal replacement.

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup applesauce

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup raisins

3/4 cup chopped apples

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to gas 5/350F. Line a 13x9in pan with parchment paper. This enables you to keep the shape of the bars, without anything getting stuck.

Combine flour, oats, sugar and spices. Mix together applesauce, egg and vanilla. Add flour and spice mix to applesauce mix. Combine until just wet. Add chopped apple, raisins and nuts. Fold in.

Bake 20-25 minutes. Let cool in pan on wire rack. When cold, cut into bars (should make about 12).

Lemon Courgette Cake

In spite of planting the entire plot this year, the only consistent vegetable we're still harvesting at the allotment is courgette. Gold rush, zucchini and romano varieties. We have 8-ish plants total and even though we pick twice a week, they keep growing. It's astonishing.

I eat courgette at least once a day. I even have a recipe for marrow jam I'll be making this weekend just to use it all up.

So I guess it's time for another courgette cake.

I wasn't sure about lemon and cinnamon and after making it, I'm still not sure. There is a disconnect between the two ingredients. It tastes like it should be two different cakes. It's an edible cake and actually, I quite enjoyed it, but perhaps in the future I make either a lemon cake or a courgette cake.

200g grated courgette

150g caster sugar

1 egg

125ml vegetable oil

200g flour (I used half whole-wheat and half plain)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp lemon zest

Preheat oven to 160F/gas mark 3. Grease a loaf tin

Beat courgette, sugar, egg and oil. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder. Stir in cinnamon and lemon zest.

Stir the dry mix into the wet. Pour into tin. Bake 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

To glaze, mix together 3/4 cup icing sugar and 1 tsp lemon juice. If too dry, add a little lemon juice a drop at a time. Glaze while the cake is still warm.

Low-fat Spiced Apple Raisin Muffins

M and I went away this weekend to Bath to celebrate our anniversary. It was an over-indulgent weekend, as holidays go, and we are both feeling incredibly full of food, even today. I didn't think I'd feel up to baking, as the thought of food has my stomach crying for mercy, but I also wanted to bake something to bring into the office tomorrow. A nice middle ground was to take a spiced apple muffin recipe and make it as healthy as I can. Each muffin has only 1 gram of fat and a lot of nutrients, thanks to whole wheat flour and wheat germ. 

The recipe below is how I made mine but watch for notes on substitutions you can make. 

1 2/3 cup/180g whole wheat flour*

1/3 cup/40g wheat germ

1/2 cup/100g sugar

1/4 cup/40 brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup/100g spiced apple butter (I had left over jars from last autumn's supply)**

1 cup buttermilk or soured milk#

1 egg

1 egg white

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup/45g raisins

Preheat 350F/gas 4

Mix together flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Stir into dry until just mixed. Stir in apple butter followed by raisins. 

Divide into 12 muffin tins. Bake 15-20 minutes. I sprinkled mine with a bit of wheat germ, demerara sugar and cinnamon before they went into the office. A nice crumble-esque topping or oats would be good as well. 

*The original recipe calls for 2 cups plain flour but basically any 2-cup flour mix can be substituted. I used whole wheat flour and wheat germ but oats, spelt, or a mix of any could be used.

**Apple butter (especially spiced) is not easy to find in England, which is why I made my own last autumn. Apple butter is very smooth and will make a moister muffin without the chunks of apple. If you use apple butter but want to chunks, throw in a feel pieces of diced apple as well. If you don't want to make your own apple butter, use 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/8 tsp nutmeg and 1 large diced apple. Add the spices in with the flour at the beginning and the apple in with the raisins at the end. 

#Buttermilk is something else I haven't been able to find in England yet. If a recipe calls for buttermilk, simply add 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup milk. 

On a side note, entirely unrelated to muffins, I was granted Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK last Friday. Means lots more expat baking!