Apple Cake Muffins

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Apple cake muffins

Another way to use up some apples! I love a good Jewish apple cake, but my mom inspired me to make individual apple cake muffins after describing the ones she gets at a local deli. I fiddled with my apple cake recipe to end up with a muffin that is evenly flavored and not too eggy. This iteration is perfect for breakfast, dessert, or a mid-day pick-me-up. And did you check out my muffin top?! It’s a thing of glory! I’ll tell you how to get your own (aside from eating all 12 of the muffins this recipe makes).

Apple cake muffins

To make these tasty muffins, get a medium-sized bowl, and pour in 1/3 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. Whisk the cinnamon and sugar together. Then, get 3 apples. Peel the apples, and slice them into small cubes, omitting the cores and seeds. Put the apple cubes into the bowl, and then use a rubber spatula to toss the apples around until they are evenly coated in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Apple cake muffins

Preheat your oven to 350º F, and start making the cake batter. To a large bowl, add 3 cups of flour, 1.5 cups of sugar, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Then, make a well in the center of the ingredients, and pour in 1 cup of vegetable oil, 3 whisked eggs, and 3/4 cup of orange juice. Starting in the center of the bowl, mix the ingredients together until the batter is smooth. Add half of the diced apples to the bowl, and stir them into the batter.

Apple cake muffins

Grease a muffin pan very well. Here is the key to getting a great muffin top: fill each muffin mold to the brim with the cake batter. To the brim! Recipes always say to fill the tin only 3/4 of the way to give the muffin room to expand. Ignore that terrible advice! Filled to the top, the cake batter expands up and over, creating a glorious top. Sprinkle the remaining diced apples over the tops of the cake batter.

Apple cake muffins

Put the muffin pan in the oven, and let it bake for approximately 35-40 minutes, rotating the pan around half-way through the cooking time, until the cakes are fully cooked. You should be able to stick a toothpick into the muffins and pull it out cleanly, and the muffin tops should be golden brown.

Apple cake muffins

Let the muffins cool until you are able to handle them, and then use the tip of a knife to loosen the edges of the muffin tops from the pan. Give the muffins a little twist to loosen them from the tin, and then pull them out to finish cooling. If you leave the muffins in the tin for too long, they might be difficult to remove and the tops might break off- so sad! Enjoy these apple cake muffins on their own or toasted with a schmear of apple butter or regular butter. Parfait!

Shopping list:

  • Sugar- just shy of 2 cups
  • Cinnamon- 1 tablespoon
  • Apples- 3
  • Flour- 3 cups
  • Baking powder- 1 tablespoon
  • Salt- 1 teaspoon
  • Eggs- 3
  • Orange juice- 3/4 cup
  • Vegetable oil- 1 cup
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Simply Simmered Apple Butter

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Apple butter

Apple butter always seemed like such a mystery. I wondered how it was made and what ingredients it required, but I never suspected that the answer would be so simple. A quick Internet search told me that apple butter is nothing more than reduced applesauce. I tested that theory, and the Internet turned out to be right! Unlike the apple butter I saw being made at the orchard, an outdoor chimney, gigantic pot, and industrial stirrer were not required. Applesauce, a pot, and a spatula were the only equipment I needed.

Apple butter

To make your own apple butter, put some applesauce in a small pot (add about twice the volume of apple butter you hope to end up with). I used some of the applesauce I recently made, but I see no reason why store-bought applesauce would not work just as well. Bring the applesauce to a simmer, and stir it around with a spatula every few minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn. I watched TV and stirred the applesauce during the commercials.

Apple butter

As the applesauce simmers, it will reduce and thicken. When the applesauce stops bubbling, it means that most of the water has cooked out of the applesauce and that it cannot reduce any further. At this point, the applesauce should have reduced by half and is ready to be spread wherever you like it. So simple! I like mine on a toasted slice of cranberry walnut bread. Transfer the apple butter to a container and store it in the fridge. And enjoy the wonderful smell of warm apples for the rest of the day!

Shopping list:

  • Applesauce
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Let’s Get Applesauced

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Applesauce

I can’t decide whether I prefer this gloriously citrused applesauce warm from the oven or cold from the fridge, but I am certain that I love it spooned alongside some golden, crispy potato latkes. I couldn’t resist, and you shouldn’t either. Besides, making applesauce is a wonderful and relatively hands-free way to use up at least 3 of your possibly 27.5 pounds of freshly picked apples. Spiced with cinnamon and allspice (the allspice marries perfectly with the citrus), this applesauce is a wonder to behold (reference, anyone?). Especially considering that the baked apples whisk into a sauce of the most perfect consistency, and without the slightest whisper of a “blender” or “food processor,” this recipe is a true fall wonder.

Applesauce

To make this applesauce, get a medium sized, oven-proof pot with a lid. To the pot, add the zest and juice from 1 orange and 1/2 lemon. Add in 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice. I really love the allspice.

Applesauce

Preheat your oven to 350º F. Then, get 3 pounds of apples, whatever variety you prefer. Peel the apples, cut them in half, remove the seeds and stems, and then cut the apple halves into 4 wedges each. Add the apples to the pot, and toss them around to coat them in the citrus juice and spices.

Applesauce

Pop the lid on the pot, and put the pot into the oven. Let it cook for 1.5 hours. I was really looking forward to the smell of cooked apples fragrancing my apartment, but I didn’t pick up on the glorious smell until 1 hour into the cooking time, so don’t despair, it will come! After the cooking time is up, the apples should be completely soft, reduced, and thickened up.

Applesauce

Stick a whisk in the pot, and stir the apples until they purée themselves into a beautiful sauce. I was shocked at how effortless the whisking was, and it made the sauce into the perfect consistency. Not watery, and nicely textured with very small apple bits.

Applesauce

The apple sauce really is delicious both warm and cold. I made a batch of potato latkes especially to eat with the applesauce, but I also go through a lot of applesauce when I make my granola bar bites. The flavorful applesauce will add a whole other component to them, and I can’t wait to try it out. I hope you love this applesauce as much as we do…it would be hard not to!

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten.

Shopping list:

  • Orange- 1
  • Lemon- 1/2
  • Brown sugar- 1/4 cup
  • Cinnamon- 1 teaspoon
  • Allspice- 1/4 teaspoon
  • Apples- 3 pounds
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