Apple & Cinnamon Muffins with Brown-Sugared Almond Topping

There's something about the combination of apples and cinnamon that reminds me so much of my childhood. It roots from my mother's love for making apple pie; I would get so excited when we would peel and core the apples, slice them and then generously dust them with ground cinnamon. The aroma of baking cinnamon would float majestically around the kitchen then escape to the rest of the house, awakening our hunger for mother's mouthwatering apple pie.

When I found this recipe in Nigella Lawson's Kitchen cookbook, I decided to bake up a batch of muffins right away. I had already recently baked some apple pie so what better alternative to baking with apples than some apple and cinnamon muffins?

Sure, it doesn't have the charming flakiness of a pie crust but it definitely makes any morning coffee or tea sweeter. Speaking of taste, what I loved most about these muffins was their subtle sweetness. It has a lot to do with the fact that recipe calls for about a half a cup of brown sugar and a half a cup of honey. That counteracts real nicely with the apples and cinnamon and you don't end up feeling like you've been hit with a bus filled with sugar.

 Roughly chopping up the almonds to toss them with some brown sugar and cinnamon.

Generously sprinkle them on top!

The muffins came out light and fluffy, the apples in the batter were juicy and aided in keeping the cake moist.  The only thing I would probably do different the next time I make these is toasting the almonds before sprinkling them on top. I thought maybe they would bake a little bit in the oven but they stayed pretty much raw which isn't distasteful or anything, but lightly toasting them would definitely give them a nicer crunch, I think! Overall, they were great for breakfast munching, afternoon snacking or shameless midnight indulging. *evil grin*



I'd like to know: What are some foods that remind you of your childhood/home?


Apple & Cinnamon Muffins (from Nigella Lawson's Kitchen cookbook)

2 eating apples*
250g plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
125g light brown sugar, plus 4 teaspoons for sprinkling
125ml honey
60ml runny natural yogurt
125ml flavorless vegetable oil
2 large eggs
75g natural (unblanched) almonds**

• Preheat the oven to 200°C and line your muffin tin with papers.
• Peel and core the apples, then chop into small dices and put them to one side.
• Measure the flour, baking powder and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon into a bowl.
• Whisk together the 125g brown sugar, the honey, yogurt, vegetable oil and eggs in another bowl or jug.
• Chop the almonds roughly and add half of them to the flour mixture, and put the other half into a small bowl with the second teaspoon of ground cinnamon and the 4 extra teaspoons brown sugar. This will make the topping for the muffins.
• Now, fold the wet ingredients into the dry. Add the chopped apple, and stir to combine but don't over mix. (Nigella notes: A lumpy batter make for a lighter muffin)
• Spoon this bumpy batter into the muffin papers, then sprinkle the rubbly topping mixture over them.
• Pop the tin into the preheated oven, and bake for about 20 minutes, by which time they will have risen and become golden.
• Take the tin out of the oven and let it stand for about 5 minutes before gingerly taking out the muffins and placing them on a wire cooling rack.

*I used 3 apples
**I recommend lightly toasting the almonds :)