hot apple pie muffins

yesterday it was in the mid 90s here in Cambridge, MA. it was, in other words, the perfect day to put together Ikea furniture and paint it. after I completed one dining room chair, it was clear that the paint mixer at my local hardware store had misinterpeted the color sample I had picked out. instead of spring green, the chairs are the furniture equivilent of little green men. with three out of six chairs assembled and painted, I decided that the hot weather should be used more appropriately. it was time to bake. here's the recipe for hot apple pie muffins, so named because they were apple and I was hot.

for muffins:

• 1.5 cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice - I had none, so I used pumpkin pie spice
  
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 3/4 cup apple cider - I had none so I used water
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup grated apple
• 1/2 chopped apple

for topping:

• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice - again, I used pumpkin pie spice
• pinch of slat
• 3 tbsp canola oil

preheat the oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a muffin tin.

topping goes like this: mix together all the dry ingredients. then pour in the oil one tablespoon at a time. in between tablespoons, mix the ingredients with your fingers to get it crumbly.


muffins go like this: sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt. create a well in the center and add the apple cider (which may actually be water), oil, and vanilla. mix the whole thing together and then fold in the grated and chopped apple.

fill each muffin cup just below the rim. add a thick layer of the topping. my cookbook says to sprinkle the topping, but part of what I love about apple pie is the crusty top, so I say lay it on.

pop in the oven. 22 minutes later you should have lovely muffins that look like this:

of course, I still had dining room chairs that looked like this: