So Jocelyn may have been hoping her post on kolaches would prompt me to do the same, but nope, it’s her muffins instead.  I took one look at that post and thought, “Wow, has it really been so long since I made muffins?  I want some!”  Blueberry muffins were one of my first posts, but I hadn’t really done anything with muffins since then.  I’d always intended to post more varieties of muffin, though, so here you go!

You really do have to chop the apple and nuts very finely, but it’s well worth the effort:  The first time I made these, last week, I forgot to put in the spices, and everyone still told me they were amazing.  This time I remembered, and Ginny in particular thought they were just so much better!  The apple gives them moisture and texture, and the nuts give them a nice crunchiness, too.  You don’t have to use pecans, of course; walnuts or even almonds would do just fine, though I’d think twice about, say, peanuts.  But enough chat; time for muffiny goodness!

Apple Nut Muffins

Yield:  1 dozen muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups dough mix
• 1/8 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 T + 1 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 medium-size baking apple
• 1/3 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts are ideal)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
2. In a stand mixer, combine the dough mix, xanthan gum, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and mix well.
3. Add the egg, milk, and oil, and mix well again.  Set aside.
4. Peel and core your apple, then dice it into fine pieces.  You really do want your apple pretty finely chopped; if the pieces are too big, you won’t so much have an apple muffin as a muffin with unexpected sections of apple, which is gross!
5. Chop the nuts just as finely as the apple.
6. Add the apple and nuts to the batter and fold them in thoroughly.
7. Lightly grease a muffin pan, or put in muffin cups, then distribute the batter evenly among the 12 cups.  They’ll be about 3/4 full.
8. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes.  They won’t look golden brown thanks to the amount of apple bits in them, but they will be a shade or two darker than when they started.  Eat and enjoy!

And again, with visual aids for your superior education:

Apple Nut Muffins

Yield:  1 dozen muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups dough mix
• 1/8 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 T + 1 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 medium-size baking apple
• 1/3 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts are ideal)

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
2.  In a stand mixer, combine the dough mix, xanthan gum, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and mix well.
3.  Add the egg, milk, and oil, and mix well again.  Set aside.
4.  Peel and core your apple, then dice it into fine pieces.  You really do want your apple pretty finely chopped; if the pieces are too big, you won’t so much have an apple muffin as a muffin with unexpected sections of apple, which is gross!
5.  Chop the nuts just as finely as the apple.
6.  Add the apple and nuts to the batter and fold them in thoroughly.
7.  Lightly grease a muffin pan, or put in muffin cups, then distribute the batter evenly among the 12 cups.  They’ll be about 3/4 full.
8.  Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes.  They won’t look golden brown thanks to the amount of apple bits in them, but they will be a shade or two darker than when they started.  Eat and enjoy!