Filed Under: apple

I’m starting to get bored of my regular meals, so that means it’s time to start experimenting in the kitchen again. When choosing new recipes I look for two things:

1) Nothing too complicated or complex. If it involves separating egg whites or getting out the sifter it’s a no go. Do I even own a sifter?

2) No weird ingredients. I’m not adverse to buying one or two new spices or veggies for a recipe, but if it turns into a grocery store scavenger hunt that requires me to find eye of newt, it’s out. No toil or trouble.

Lately, I’ve been surfing this thread at a South Beach diet site which has links to tons of recipes. Today I tried:

Apple Strudel Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Topping:

1/4 cup Splenda

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon or to taste

1/8 cup melted margarine

Muffin:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup Splenda

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup apple juice*

1/3 cup Canola oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup apples – peeled, cored and diced

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray bottom and sides of cupcake pan with cooking spray or use baking cups.

For topping:

In a medium bowl, combine Splenda, flour, cinnamon and margarine. Stir until well blended. Separate mixture into small clumps, approximately 1/4 teaspoon each and place on cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Crumble into fine, uniform texture (can be done by smashing chunks with the back of a fork). Set aside.

Once you’ve done the topping, increase oven temp to 400.

For muffins:

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; mix well. In a small bowl, combine apple juice, oil, and egg; blend well. Add dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be lumpy.) Stir in chopped apples.

Fill cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle with topping, pressing it in a little so that it sticks. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 minute before removing from pan. Serve warm.

These were scrumdiddlyumptious. Granted, they took a little bit more prep work than I like. Three bowls? Geez. But I’d say they were worth it. I ended up with 15 muffins, which is 3 more than the recipe says. I think I was just conservative filling up the cups because I hate spillovers. In the future I’ll probably double the recipe and save these muffins as breakfast items for the week. Assuming I don’t scarf them down during the week, which is probably a more likely option.

Conclusion – Definitely a keeper.

* 1/24/06 – I ran out of apple juice while making these last night and substituted Crystal Light instead. Couldn’t tell the difference! I would recommend using Crystal Light instead since it has much less calories.