Apple-Walnut Muffins

Pour ceux qui lisent mon blog en français, je vous demande de m’excuser : j’ai une petite grippe et je n’ai pas eu l’énergie de traduire cette entrée pour l’instant. Je le ferai bientôt !

Well this whole weekend has been spent in bed with a bad cold (which I probably came down with while baking almond/pine-nut cookies with the six-year-old I baby-sit for who was sick and kept licking her fingers and sticking them back in the batter…). Anyhow, I’ve been more into chicken soup and ginger, honey, lemon tea than fancy creations and Sunday baking. Still, I promised these Apple-Walnut Muffins and lucky for you, the pictures were already taken so I can post them from under my warm comforter!

We got a big bag of apples in the CSA both last week and the week before, and I made a few batches of these muffins (adapted from the Joy of Cooking). I also made some by combining this recipe with the recipe for Brown Sugar Muffins that I posted about earlier this year, and I believe the results would have been delicious had I not forgotten to add an important ingredient… Can you tell I’ve been a bit stressed lately?


This week, the fruit from the CSA is pears, which I’m sure would be good in these muffins too, but D. is rooting for pie. My body, on the other hand, is rooting for more time spent in bed, so we will see.

Ingredients:

2 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
1½ cups coarsely grated or finely chopped, peeled apples

1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
scant ½ tsp salt

5 Tbsp melted unsalted butter
½ cup coarsely-chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 400oF.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Stir in the apples and set aside for 10 minutes. This allows the apples to render their juices with the sugar and eggs and makes for moist muffins.

In the meantime, in a separate bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt). Melt the butter on the stove and chop the walnuts.

Once the apple mixture is done sitting, stir in the melted butter and walnuts. Add the flour mixture and fold in until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Be careful not to overmix. Pour batter into greased (or lined) muffin cups and bake 14-16 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the muffins comes out clean. Let sit 3-5 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan and letting cool on a cooling rack, or eating immediately!