Apple Oat Muffins

Dear Reader - I hope you have recovered from any Thanksgiving induced food comas enough to look at the pictures of my most recent baking adventure. I'll give you a few more moments to recover while I tell you about how I spent part of my weekend. This was one of the most beautiful Thanksgiving weekends I can remember, and I was lucky enough to do one of my favourite fall activities with some of my high school friends: apple picking. 

Every year, sometime around the first crisp, sunny day in September, I start to wish I was apple picking. The last time I attempted to actually go apple picking was in the fall of my third year at Queen's. My friend Kyle and I chose a Saturday morning we were both free, and drove west from Kingston, along Bath Rd (Highway 33) in search of an apple orchard. We faced one major obstacle that day, however: the rain. It was a downpour, and the thought of picking apples while getting drenched did not quite appeal to me... so we bought already picked apples from a fruit stand instead. 

I know everyone will be pleased to hear that this weekend's apple picking excursion was much more successful! We went to a great place called Devins Orchards not too far north of Toronto. We had clear blue skies and bright, bright sun and five varieties of apples to pick from! It was great to catch up with my friends, Charlotte, Jean and Vianna while we sampled the different apples and picked a few pounds each to take home. 

I focused on picking the ideal baking apples, and came home with a selection of Cortlands and Empires. These apples have a good sweet-tart balance for baking. I baked a batch of some of my favourite muffins, apple oat. I've adapted this recipe from Canadian Living to include a topping that will leave you wondering why we would ever eat muffins that don't have a sugary, cinnamonny oat topping. These muffins are great for breakfast, as a coffee break snack, or any time of day - Enjoy!

THE RECIPE: 

1 ¾ cups quick cooking rolled oats

1 ¾ cups plain yogurt (I use 0%, but can use 1 or 2%)

2 eggs

1 ½  cup apples, peeled and diced

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups whole wheat flour (can use 1 cup regular, 1 cup whole wheat flour)

¾ cup brown sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

¾ cup dried cranberries (or raisins) (optional)

Topping:

¼ cup brown sugar

3 tbsp quick cooking rolled oats

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease muffin tray or line with paper muffin cups.

2. In small bowl, stir together yogurt and oats. These will need to stand for 10 minutes, so in the meanwhile, prepare the dry ingredients.

3. In large bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

4. Whisk eggs, apple, oil and vanilla into yogurt and oat mixture.

5. Pour yogurt mixture into the large bowl, over the dry ingredients. Add the dried cranberries, and stir until moistened. Be careful not to over-mix.

6. Spoon batter into muffin tray. For small muffins, fill cups halfway to three-quarters full, and for larger muffins, fill closer to the top of the muffin cup. Sprinkle each muffin generously with topping.

7. To prepare topping, combine brown sugar, oats, cinnamon and melted butter.

8. Bake muffins in centre of 375°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes (depending on size of muffins) or until golden brown. Let muffins cool in pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to rack and let cool completely. Makes around 12 muffins.

At Devins Orchards

Perfect apple picking weather!

Assembled ingredients, ready for Step 4 of Recipe

Freshly picked Cortland and Empire apples

The finished result - you'll have to bake these yourself to know how delicious they smell!

Happy Eating!

- Caroline