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