TWD: Apple Streusel Muffins

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie was selected by Katrina of Baking and Boys: apple nut muffin cake. Somehow September turned into October, and Shane and I still have not had a chance to get to the orchard for some apple picking (something we’ll hopefully remedy this coming weekend), so this is the first apple treat of the fall. I’m getting a late start this year but this was a great way to kick off the apple baking. Not only are there apples in the recipe, but other ingredients that make me think of fall baking like cider, cinnamon, oats and raisins.

I took a few liberties with the recipe. Dorie mentions in the headnote that she originally planned to make muffins from this recipe but ending up throwing the batter into a square baking pan at the last minute because she was in a rush. I wasn’t in the mood for a square cake so I stuck with her muffin plan, which worked out great. A half recipe yielded 9 muffins for me. I omitted the nuts in the recipe as well as the raisins – the former because I don’t like them, and the latter because when I opened my box of raisins they were hard little rocks. I probably could have soaked them in boiling water to plump them up, but it was already nearing midnight and I was tired, so I just left them out entirely. Finally, I couldn’t resist adding a streusel topping – muffins with streusel topping are my favorite! The baking time for my muffins was short – probably only about 13-14 minutes, as compared to the 30-35 suggested for the cake.

The muffins were as delicious as I hoped they’d be! Very moist and tender with a little added texture thanks to the streusel on top. Definitely a great fall breakfast 🙂 Many thanks to Katrina for hosting this week! She shared the recipe for the cake on her blog today and I’m including the streusel recipe I used below.

Streusel Topping
barely adapted from Smitten Kitchen

(Note: Make the streusel first and set it aside while you make the muffin batter)

1/4 cup (31 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (28 grams) white whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon (13 grams) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons (38 grams) light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons (42 grams) unsalted butter, melted

To make the streusel: Stir the flours, sugars, cinnamon and salt together in a small bowl. Add the melted butter and stir until the mixture is crumbly.