Fall has arrived and, with it, an abundance of crisp, delicious apples. These apple almond buttermilk muffins are moist and fragrant – great for a simple breakfast or special enough to serve on Thanksgiving morning while watching the parade!
The Recipe
by volume by weight
apple filling:
2 medium apples 200 grams apples
1/4 cup sugar 49 grams sugar
2 tablespoons water 28 grams water
1 teaspoon lemon juice 4 grams lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 3 grams cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt 1 gram salt
streusel topping:
3 tablespoons sugar 37 grams sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar 37 grams brown sugar
5 tablespoons butter 70 grams butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon 6 grams cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt 2 grams salt
3/4 cup all purpose flour 90 grams all purpose flour
muffins:
1 cup soft butter 226 grams butter
1 cup brown sugar 198 grams brown sugar
1/2 cup honey 170 grams honey
3 large eggs 204 grams eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla 4 grams vanilla
1 teaspoon salt 4 grams salt
2 teaspoons baking powder 8 grams baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda 12 grams baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour 240 grams all purpose flour
1½ teaspoons cinnamon 9 grams cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 grams nutmeg
1/2 cup buttermilk 120 grams buttermilk
2/3 cup plain yogurt 190 grams plain yogurt
1 cup toasted, sliced almonds 100 grams toasted, sliced almonds
Directions
Make the filling first so that it has time to cool. Peel and dice the apples.
Place two thirds of the apples in a saucepan with the remaining filling ingredients and cook until soft and jam like. Stir in remaining apples and cook just until the pieces are almost done. Remove from the heat and let cool completely. It should look like chunky applesauce.
To make the streusel, finely dice the butter and keep it cold. Mix the remaining ingredients together and add the cold butter. Use a fork to cut the butter into the dry mixture until the streusel forms pea sized pieces. Keep cold until ready to use.
For the muffins, heat the oven to 350F. Cream the soft butter, brown sugar, and honey together until light.
Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until thoroughly combined. Mix the remaining dry ingredients together and then mix the yogurt and buttermilk together. Alternate adding the wet and dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture and mix well after each addition. Stir in the almonds.
Spoon a bit of the muffin batter into the bottom of each muffin paper.
Be sure the batter covers the bottom of the container. Spoon cool apple filling into the center of each muffin and then cover with the remaining batter.
Sprinkle the top of each muffin with streusel and a few almonds. Be sure to press the streusel gently into the top of the batter so it will adhere.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes.
Alternatives
Be sure to choose flavorful apples that will hold their shape when cooked. I used Macintosh in these pictures but many types of apples will work well. Cortlandt, Paula Red, Northern Spy, and Macoun are all good selections.
I love these muffins made with almonds but any nuts you like will work. Walnuts and pecans are both great choices.
If you like, both the filling and the streusel can be made ahead of time. Having both of these items ready means that these apple almond buttermilk muffins get into the oven with a minimum of fuss. That works really well for a busy holiday morning such as Thanksgiving or Christmas!
