Filled with cinnamon spice these whole wheat apple muffins are absolutely delicious! The moisture from the juicy apples adds texture and so much apple flavor to every bite.
The motivation...
Like many of my inspirations, I was driven to make these apple muffins based on my leftover ingredients from the week. I had apples sitting in my fridge for 2 weeks and I wanted to find something to do with those apples. Of course, baking the apples into a sweet treat is my favorite thing to do. I made these pure apple muffins because I wanted to highlight the beautiful flavor of apples and apples taste amazing folded into muffins.
Although it is not apple season, I was feeling like I wanted to be reminded of my favorite fall flavors which are cinnamon and apples. Muffins are easy to make and you can mix almost anything into a muffin batter. That is why making these apple muffins is the perfect idea to use up my leftover ingredients in my fridge.
About the process of making these muffins...
I used granny smith apples for these muffins because they are slightly tart apples and balance well with the overall sweetness of the muffins. I normally like my mix-ins to be not too chunky however, I did a rough chop of these apples because they are the star ingredient in this treat.
I decided to go with a purely whole-wheat muffin. You can see a lot of baked goods will only do half whole-wheat and half all-purpose flour. You rarely find a purely whole-wheat flour baked good. The main reason for this is that whole-wheat flour can easily dry out a baked good. Whole-wheat flour adds a nutty flavor and richness to a baked good so I wanted to try to use purely whole wheat. To balance out the dryness from the whole-wheat flour I added creme fraiche and milk. I used creme fraiche because it is more tart than yogurt and I wanted to bring out the tartness of the granny smith apples. Lastly, I needed to add an extra kick in flavor to these fabulous muffins so I loaded it with a ton of cinnamon spice. Cinnamon and apples are a great combination and it came out tasting delicious in these muffins!
A few tips:
Flour - you can substitute the whole wheat flour with all-purpose flour. You can leave out the milk if the muffin batter forms a wet consistency with the all-purpose flour.
Apples - I would recommend the more tart apple variety for these muffins because there is already a lot of sugar. If you use a more sweet apply like a red delicious apple you can use less sugar.
Sugar - I made this a sweeter muffin to balance out the tartness from the apples and creme fraiche. You can use less sugar and these muffins will still come out tasting delicious!
Creme fraiche - you can easily substitute this with yogurt or use all milk if you don't have this ingredient in your fridge.
Spices - I love apples and cinnamon together so it was the perfect spice to add to these muffins. You can add a whole mixture of spices into these muffins if you want an extra kick. I would add ground cloves, nutmeg, and allspice to make those flavors you get in a traditional apple pie or spice cake.
Cinnamon Apple Muffins
Serving size: 12 medium to large muffins
Total Time: 45 minutes
Source: Adapted from smitten kitchen
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup creme fraiche (or yogurt)
1/4 cup milk
2 large apples, peeled and coarsely chopped
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and grease a 12 muffin tin to set aside.
Step 2: In a bowl with an electric mixer, use a paddle attachment to cream the butter and sugars. Mix the sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg and then the creme fraiche and milk until smooth. Fold in the dry ingredients until combined and then fold in the apple chunks.
Step 3: Take a cookie scooper or a spoon and scoop the batter into each muffin. I did two scoops each. Top with a little extra brown sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees. After 10 minutes rotate the muffins, lower the temperature to 400 degrees, and bake for 10 additional minutes or until a fork comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the muffin tray and then remove from the tin and enjoy!
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