Apple Whole Wheat Muffins (King Arthur Flour)

blucoat's Note:

These are moist, dark, and delicious muffins from the King Arthur Flour Company. They keep well, are made of 1/2 whole wheat flour, and have brown sugar sprinkled on top for a crunchy texture. If you don't have buttermilk, you can use regular milk + 1 tbsp. of lemon juice or white vinegar. The recipe says it makes 12 muffins, but I usually get about 18. It's a very adaptable recipe and also works well with applesauce and oil rather than butter. You can also throw in 1/4 cup of walnuts, if you like.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 18 medium- ...

• 1 cup whole wheat flour (4 ounces)
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (4-1/4 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 stick, 4 ounces, or for a healthier muffin, use 1/4 c. canola oil and 1/4 c. applesauce)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, divided (5 5/8 ounces)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk (or a mixture of the two) or 1 cup yogurt (or a mixture of the two, 8 ounces)
• 2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped or 1 1/2 cups dried apple nuggets

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin tin, or line with papers and grease the insides of the papers.
2. Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in the buttermilk gently. (If you over-mix, the buttermilk will cause the mixture to curdle.) Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.
3. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar on top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven, cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a rack to finish cooling completely.

Reviews

[Chef #570727]

These muffins are very tasty, adaptable and can be healthy. I modified by using half vanilla greek yogurt for buttermilk and half applesauce for butter. I added a 1/3 cup toffee chips but did not do the brown sugar topping. Sweet enough that my children ate them but not so much that your feel like your eating cupcakes. No one could tell they were half white whole wheat. I will definitely make these again.