With fall in the air, I've been excited to bake again. Fall baking summons those warm spices, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, the perfect complements to apples and pumpkins. And with cooler temperatures, I'm happy to turn the oven on again. Baking warms up the house, and the smell of something delicious in the oven invites us in so that we are happy to be indoors and don't have a chance to miss the warmth and long nights of summer.
These muffins are hearty, with more fruit and nuts than batter. They may be funny-looking, but each bite is a mouthful of goodness. The recipe is inspired by Marion Cunningham's Raw Apple Muffins originally published in her Breakfast Book and reprinted in Gourmet. Marion Cunningham is one of my culinary heros. She thinks people should cook at home and has devoted much of her life to getting more of us to do that. David Lebovitz wrote this wonderful tribute to her. If you have a minute, check it out. It is inspiring.
Marion Cunningham also overhauled the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, the 1983 version of which I inherited from my grandmother. The cookbook is loaded with recipes for many basic foods, and I turn to it again and again. My copy of the book is also filled with recipes that my grandmother wrote on cards and clipped from newspapers and magazines. My favorite souvenir is the 1963 accounting from my grandmother's women's group, the Aloha Club, complete with menus and an expense accounting. (Why this 1963 accounting appears in a 1983 cookbook, I cannot understand. Did she save it for 20 years?)
When I made these muffins this time, I only made one version. Sometimes I make multiple variations of a recipe to appeal to each child. The last time I made almond granola, I ended up with three batches, one with everything, one with nuts but no raisins, and one with raisins but no nuts. But this time, in the vain hope that the children might just eat them as they were intended, I told them that they could just pick out anything they didn't like. The muffins smelled so good when they were baking that they were unfazed. And the perk has been that when Chloe picks out all her walnuts, she passes them to me. Yum.
Chunky Apple Muffins
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 cups (4-5 medium) tart apples, skins on, cored and diced
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup raisins
1 cup walnut pieces
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Line two 12-cup muffin tins with baking cups or oil them. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add the apples and syrup to the egg-oil mixture and mix well. Add the flour mixture and stir until just mixed. The batter will be very stiff. Stir in the raisins and walnuts.
Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling each about 3/4 cup full. Make sure that there is a sufficient amount of batter in each cup to hold the fruit and nuts. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, approximately 25 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the muffin tins for a few minutes, and then turn them out onto a rack to cool completely.
those look amazing.
Posted by: suna | October 15, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Suna, I hope you make and enjoy them. I just went to your blog and it is lovely. I'm looking forward to following it.
Posted by: Margy | October 15, 2009 at 11:22 AM