I totally had a different New Thing lined up for today. As I had a mega sleep-in (I slept through my alarm and everything - I think that was a first, as my alarm tone is the old-fashioned car horn), I did not get to the place to do the New Thing... It will happen soon though. It must. Anyway, sporadically I need to cull my fruit. I can't quite eat it at the same rate it is delivered, so when I know that some items have been there a while I have to find some way to use them up. I had a pear, 2 kiwi fruit and 3 apples in the too-ripe-to-be-enjoyed pile. Stewed fruit sprang to mind. Also, on Wednesday I had bought a cookbook (very much on impulse) called Cooking from the Market: Fruit, and there's a recipe in there for Apple Cinnamon Muffins.
New Thing #1 then, was to make my own fruit puree. I didn't use sugar (I'm not a fan of sugar), and I didn't peel my fruit (nutrients, people). I also decided to refrain from taking a post-puree photo - no-one wants to see something that looks like, well, vomit.
Then, the muffins.
Preheat oven to 200C, and lightly grease a 12-hole standard muffin tin or line the holes with paper cases. Melt 150g unsalted butter.
Sift 310g (2 1/2 cups) self-raising flour and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon into a bowl and add 125g (2/3 cup) soft brown sugar. Make a well in the centre. Whisk together 350mL milk, 2 eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and pour into the well in the flour. Add the melted butter.
Fold the mixture gently with a metal spoon until just combined. Add 400g pureed cooked apple (or ready-made apple puree, or stewed fruit), and stir it through the mix. Don't overmix, it will still be a bit lumpy.
Fill each muffin hole with the mixture - they will be quite full but they don't rise very much. Sprinkle with 60g finely chopped walnuts. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until golden. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool.
They smell amazing and taste wonderful. As a bonus, this is the first time I think that the muffins have all come cleanly out of the tin. This is the first time in ages - like, years - that I've made muffins. Win.
They look so delicious Anna! I might skip the kiwi fruit but the combination of apple and pear sounds great!
ReplyDelete