Tuesday 11 September 2018

Apple cereal muffins

English apples


Apple season is upon us. We have several apple trees in the garden, including two old trees, which Eddie loves to climb on. These two trees have eating apples which are quite tart in taste. They're best picked by the end of September, and keep very well in boxes over winter, getting sweeter and sweeter.
I don't know what the variety is, they are not Gala or Braeburn. And we've got a big crop again this year. A lot of our neighbours have apples of their own, and you often see buckets of apples outside homes, offering them for free.

English apple varieties


I also have a young Golden Delicious tree, which my Mum planted a couple of years ago, and this year we had quite a few apples. They were on a small size but pretty good.


Needless to say, there are just too many apples for us to eat. I still have some of the apple preserves left from the last year. And I've been offering apples left and right to anyone who's willing to take them.
Now is the season, when I'm trying to use apples as much as possible. Thankfully, we love them in all kinds of bakes.
Yesterday morning I was baking a batch of apple muffins.

what to do with apple glut



Apple cereal muffins
Ingredients (makes 10-11)
2 medium apples
2 medium eggs
150g dememare sugar
125ml milk (plant-based or dairy)
80g butter, melted
250g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2tsp cinnamon
a handful of cereal as a topping, or nuts (pine nuts or flaked almonds)

Start by grating two apples. You don't have to peel the apples, it will only add to the texture of the cupcakes. In a big bowl mix the grated apples, demerara sugar and two eggs. Add the flour, milk, melted butter, baking powder, cinnamon and mix well.

Spoon the cake mix into the paper muffin cases and sprinkle the cereal on top.
Place the muffin tin (I put the muffin cases in the muffin tin so that they keep the shape rather than go flat) in the oven preheated to 180C and bake for about 20+ minutes. The muffins should be golden brown in colour and well-risen.

easy breakfast muffins


They are very fluffy in texture, moist and sweet. Good for breakfast or in a lunch box. They will keep well for 2-3 days in a tin.

what to do with the apple glut

You can leave them as they are, or drizzle a bit of icing on top. As Sasha is off school this week, until his school transport is sorted out, he helped me decorate the muffins with the glaze and fruit stars.

easy muffins


Sasha scoffed a couple of muffins as soon as they slightly cooled. Eddie ate one after school, and ceded "Not bad!" - Thanks for your kind words, son!

In this recipe I used Dorset Cereals Spectacular Grains Raspberries & Apple with toasted spelt & popped buckwheat which was one of the products in the latest Degustabox food box.
You can use any of the healthier cereal or granola as a topping.
Ingredients include grains (68%) [wholegrain toasted wheat flakes, toasted sweetened malted barley flakes, toasted sweetened malted spelt flakes, wholegrain malted oat flakes, wholegrain barley flakes, popped buckwheat, sultanas, dried apple slices and freeze dried raspberries, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and more.

I also used a Good Hemp Unsweetened Dairy Free Drink (also found in the last Degustabox), as I wanted to find out how it works in baking. I've tried the hemp milk in coffee, and wasn't very enthusiastic about it. It has an acquired taste. However, in pancakes and muffins you hardly notice the difference.
And as we don't follow the vegan diet, I have eggs and butter in my recipe.

what to do with the apple glut

And here are a few of the apple recipes that might help you to go through your apple glut:

Apples stewed in apple cider

Apple bread

Apple Sharlotka

Belgian Apple Tart

Apple Turnovers

What do you do with apples - preserves, bakes, salads?

8 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you, Tracy! My boys ate them all. They're so easy to make.

      Delete
  2. Hmmmmm they look fabulous - and a great way of using up some of the products from the last Degustabox :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Cheryl! What did you make with the Good Hemp milk?

      Delete
  3. yum! you are right, it's the time for apples.. I bought a bunch of strange, english small apples yesterday and planning to use them in a cake this weekend :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. English apples are the best right now. I trust them more than the perfect-looking, GM-laden American produce, or suspiciously identical apples from Holland or Belgium.

      Delete
  4. sound great apart from the hemp milk, tried it once and found it very unpleasant.
    Always amazes me how well fruit grows without interference yet growers use pesticides etc.
    Your cakes look great and well decorated Sach.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Elaine! I do absolutely nothing with these apple trees, and they produce lots of fruit every year. Definitely no pesticides or any chemicals.

      Delete