9 September 2011

Fat Friday...


When I was younger I thought we had an orchard at the back of our garden.

For real.

Turns out that orchard was just a few spindly fruit trees and a heavy does of parental sarcasm, but at 7 I took their word as law [sometimes].

So to me, an orchard was five greying trees, heavy with moss and distinctly lacking in fruit. For a good few years they refused to give up the goods, sometimes due to complete over-pruning [or something like that] on my dad's part, and sometimes just out of pure stubbornness.

Stubborn trees...who knew.

And now? Now of course I'm well aware that the orchard I used to believe in is nothing more than a few fruity twigs, but the two trees left have decided to produce a bumper crop this year.

You know what's coming next.

Apple Crumble Muffins.

Lightly spiced and heavily crumbed, these crunchy muffins make the perfect breakfast.

Or snack.

Or I'm-bored-what-shall-I-eat solution.

INGREDIENTS adapted from "1 mix, 50 muffins"

Preheat the oven to 200C // 400F // GM 6 and line a muffin tin with 12 cases [or, if you really like making a lot of work for yourself, grease with butter]

First of all we're going to make the crumble topping [ingredients seen in the lower ingredients picture]. Mix the flour and cinnamon lightly, cube the butter and rub it in with your fingertips - you know what we're looking for here, that bread-crumby texture [basically, lumpy is good...yay!]


Stir in the sugar and set aside for later.

Now for the muffins [ingredients seen in the upper ingredients picture].

Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl. Stir lightly and add the sugar - mix until evenly incorporated.

Core and dice the apples [you can peel them too if you like, but I like to leave the skin on for extra texture] and stir into the flour mixture until well coated.




In a small jug, lightly beat the eggs and whisk in the milk and oil. Let's take a moment to look at those beautiful bubbles....


BUBBLES!

Ahem. It's the simple things.

Pour the egg mixture gradually into the dry ingredients, continually stirring until just combined.




Remember not to over mix as this can make muffins heavy and compact!

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases [or greased tins] and scatter the crumble topping over the surface of each portion.




Bake for about 20 minutes, turning half way through until evenly golden and well risen.



You could leave them to cool, which of course I'd advise, or you could snaffle one right away with a bit of vanilla ice cream and a lack of usual table-manners.

Crumbs = food appreciation. Embrace the mess.



xxx

26 comments:

Leanne Cornelius said...

These look delicious x

Temporary:Secretary said...

I've been going through your fat friday posts and i am going to send it to the boyf (niki at hero and cape) and I'm going to get him to make me all these treats! He's rubbish at baking but these pics and instructions are so good, it can't possibly go wrong! x

Miss Raj said...

Oh my oh my. these look AMAZING! i am definitely going to try these on Sunday, this is amazing! your fat friday recipes are absolutely the best - i look forward to them so much! xxxx

Ronn said...

i absolutely adore your writing style and wait with glee for fat fridays :)) x

Roza said...

Yet again, you haven't failed to make my mouth water! They look so utterly delic!
xxx
www.alittlebitofroza.blogspot.com

Miss Lottie Rose said...

OMG, these look amaze!
xx

Rachel said...

These look SO GOOD,
now all i can think of is eating a cross between an apple muff and apple crumble!
i'm definitely making these.

Rachel
xoxo
http://procrastinatingrachel.blogspot.com/

Lucy said...

These look like the most amazing thing ever in the whole wide world! I know what I'll be doing tomorrow! Thanks for this fab recipe and have a super weekend :)

Lucy xxx

Laura said...

Thanks for the comment! In reality I'd never be able to wear the JC's because I'm tall, and I'm monstrous with the heels I usually wear (5 inches but less platform) so the JC's would make me unbearably tall! Maybe just to wear around the house... not really justifiable though. These apple muffins look AMAZING, I love the big chunks of apple rather than it just all grated to combine with the mix. Definitely worth trying instead of my usual chocolate-based stuff!

Laura, hearts of sand

Law1sfab said...

This looks so sos yummy, I love all the detail photos too. I wanted to make my bloke some nice treats this would be perfect (plus I could eat half of them)
thanks for sharing and I love your photos xxx

Michelle / Daisybutter said...

These look so ridiculously good! Defs going to have to give this a whirl when I get a spare hour or so (: Lovely photos too sweet. Have a good weekend! xx

eliza said...

Ahh, definitely trying these. I love apple crumble and I love muffins, so can't really go wrong, can I?

A formal is like a prom, or a celebration dance thing. We dress up and have a fancy dinner then do some fancy dancing, hehe :P

x

Diary of a Young Designer said...

this looks sweet! definitely gonna try!

xo
style roulette

Miss T said...

I have wanted to make some of these beauties for aages now, but the recipe I had was too complicated so now I can give it a go with your simpler one yaaay (: x

daisychain said...

omg amazingggggg. I bet they'd be great with other fruits too!

rosedl said...

need those in my belly right now! X

Julia Henderson said...

oh gosh they look delicious, i'm going to try making some this weekend! xx

Louise Nowelle said...

These look incredible, I actually need to eat them now.... hmm, I might have to bake next week! x

Ellie, I Like Ginger Biscuits said...

These look bloody good, think I'll try them out. I love apples baked in anything. It could be considered one of your five a day, no? :)

Carly said...

these look amaaazinnng, i NEED to make these.
i am now following your blog, i hope you can follow back.

www.clm-trash.blogspot.com
love FASHIONPROJECT x

Maria Fallon said...

OMNOMNOM these look amazing!

Maria xxx

Anonymous said...

I love this post. All of your pictures are amazing and the food looks heavenly.



xx



BOXMOONBABBLE.COM

Unknown said...

These look so yummy! I love anything flavoured with apple so this recipe is definitely getting bookmarked!

Love Hearts and Crosses - Quirky Jewellery and Accessories said...

oh my these look tasty! my sister has a giant apple tree in her garden and is constantly feeding me apple based deserts at the moment. crumble is my fave, but the whole crumble muffin mixture sounds even more awesome. may just have to pass the recipe on...


xxx

Anonymous said...

why do you have a "fat day"?

Caroline said...

I love apple crumble/apple pie .. anything with baked apples in! Will have to give these a try! x