Apple Fritter Muffins

I am sure I have mentioned it before, but I am a regular contributor over at my friend, Shannah’s blog, Just Us Four.  She lets me share a recipe every month with her readers, and it’s pretty awesome.  I shared these Apple Fritter Muffins a few months ago, and now I am going to share them with you, too!  I usually share desserts, but I kind of fibbed a bit with this one…I know maybe these aren’t technically a dessert…a muffin is for breakfast, right? So you can eat these for breakfast and not feel guilty that you are really eating a cupcake, right? These are filled with delicious apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon…so yum.  I love apple fritters;  I love the crispy crust and the moist apple chunks when you bite inside of them…but, I don’t love that they are fried.  I was excited to make these a tiny bit healthier by baking, not frying, and I didn’t lose any of the deliciousness.

I know maybe these aren’t the most attractive muffins, but you can’t really expect the sky high muffin top when you have a bunch of apples resting on the filling! But, one good thing about this is that the overage from the filling mix, kind of seeped onto the baking tin, and it crisped up the sides a bit…giving it a little subtle crunch to resemble the fried version even more.

After I broke one of these bad boys open, I pretty much couldn’t wait to inhale eat one. It was sweet, yet not overpowering; the apples were tender and delicious, and the ‘cake’ part of the muffin was moist and the perfect companion to the apples. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the GLAZE.  Swirling some creamy icing glaze on top really puts these over the edge. Perfection.

I told you I couldn’t wait to eat it. Work hazard. It won’t be long until there are a bunch of other empty wrappers scattered about.

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Apple Fritter Muffins

Ingredients

Ingredients for the batter

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup whole or 2% milk
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Ingredients for the Apples
• 2 large granny smith apples peeled and chopped
• 2 TBS granulated sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Ingredients for the Glaze

• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• 2 TBS milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a bowl with an electric mixer), combine butter and 2/3 cup sugar' mix until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla, mix. Removing the bowl from the stand mixer, add the flour and baking powder, and stir by hand with a wooden spoon or spatula until just combined. Add the milk and using a fork, stir until well incorporated and smooth. Set aside.
3. Place apple pieces into a medium sized bowl and sprinkle 2 TBS sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon over the top. Toss well with hands until evenly coated. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Use a fork to get all the chunks out and mix well, set aside.
5. Spray a 12 muffin tin with nonstick spray and line with cupcake wrappers (optional, but definitely spray regardless). Place a heaping TBS of batter into the bottom of the wrapper, top with a heaping TBS of apples, sprinkle brown sugar/cinnamon over the top of apples (about 1 tsp), then top with another heaping TBS of batter. Finish with a regular TBS of apples over the top of the batter. Repeat for all muffins.
6. Place in center of preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through. Put a toothpick into the middle and it should come out without moist batter on it.
7. In a small bowl mix powdered sugar and 2 TBS milk. Drizzle over the top of the muffins and serve!

Recipe Notes

You could also make this as a bread, just cook in a loaf pan for 50-60 minutes, testing after 50 minutes with a toothpick.

Like muffins and cake? Check out some of my other recipes:

– Allyson