Apple Muffins with Crunchy Oat Bottom and Maple Cinnamon Glaze
Crumble bottom:
1 1/2cups quick oats
1/2 cup butter melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
Muffin batter:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup quick oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2-3 medium apples, diced (about 3 cups of apple chunks)
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
4 eggs
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup regular milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice)
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Juice from half a lemon
Dash of cinnamon
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease muffin tins, or line with paper liners.
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease muffin tins, or line with paper liners.
Make the crumble mixture for the bottom: Stir all ingredients together until combined and set aside.
Batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (Flour, oats,baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon,ginger, nutmeg, and allspice) then stir in the apples until coated. Make a well in the center.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, melted butter and sugar, then pour into the well in the dry ingredients.
With a wooden spoon, mix the dry and wet ingredients together, using big, slow circular scrapes. Be sure to incorporate the dry ingredients on the bottom of the bowl, but stop as soon as everything is incorporated. DO NOT over mix!
Fill each muffin tin with a small scoop of crumble, and pat down with your hands or the back of a spoon. Then fill with muffin batter on top of crumble, filling tins about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely in the tin, then gently run a knife along the outside edge to release the muffins.
Mix together glaze ingredients (add more syrup if it's too stiff, or more sugar if it's too runny), and glaze cooled muffins. YUMMY!