Hello. It has been a long while since I posted here in my little corner online. I do not know where the time has gone. This entire year, I feel I am behind everything. Just recently, I feel I am catching up with everything and I now I want to enjoy the last bits of autumn before winter makes it appearance.
Today I want to share my new favorite carrot cake recipe with you. I cannot tell you how much I like this carrot cake. I have to restrain myself not to make this carrot cake too often, otherwise I end up eating this indulgent cake every day which I did a few weeks ago.
I used to make a carrot cake batter with vegetable oil but I replaced the oil with butter which gives the cake more flavor. I also used to make a cream cheese frosting but I replaced it with a mascarpone frosting which tastes heavenly. My mascarpone cream frosting is cat approved as well. My cat was quite curious while shooting the photos for this recipe. I suddenly found the cat on the table while taking the photos. It took me some time to convince the cat to take a seat on the chair but the cat was interested in the carrot slices on the plate that was on the edge of the table. I could not figure out why the cat was so interested in the carrot slices which were meant for decoration. It took me a few seconds until I realized that there was a little bit of mascarpone cream on one of the carrot slices and this is why the cat was interested in the carrots. For a second, I thought my cat decided to become a vegetarian.
Enjoy the second half of November and I hope you try out this delicious carrot cake recipe.



Makes 9 mini carrot cakes

CARROT CAKES

  • 75 g / 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons walnuts
  • 145 g / 1 1/2 cups pastry flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 115 g / 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, soft
  • 145 g / 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg (medium sized)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
  • 150 g / 2 cups carrots, finely grated
  • 100 g / 6 1/2 tablespoons plain yogurt, full fat
  • Preheat the oven to 150 °C / 300 ° F. 
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Distribute the walnuts on the baking sheet and roast the walnuts for 15 minutes. Let the walnuts cool for a few minutes; chop the walnuts roughly. 
  • Turn the oven to 175 °C / 350 °F. 
  • Grease and flour a muffin tin or line the muffin tin with paper cups.
  • In a small bowl, place flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and walnuts and mix the ingredients well. 
  • In a medium sized bowl, whisk butter and sugar until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla sugar  or extract and mix well. 
  • Add the grated carrots, yogurt and the flour mixture and stir until all ingredients are well combined. 
  • Distribute the cake batter into 9 muffin moulds.
  • Bake the cakes for 20 to 25 minutes. If you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean, the cakes are done. 
  • Let the cakes cool completely. 

FROSTING & ASSEMBLING

  • 125 g / 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon mascarpone
  • 125 g / 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon heavy cream
  • 15 g / 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • Place the mascarpone, heavy cream and powdered sugar in a bowl and whisk until thick and creamy. Be careful, not to overmix the cream, otherwise it becomes too thick. 
  • Place the mascarpone cream into a piping bag with a closed star piping nozzle and pipe the cream onto the middle of each little cake.
  • The cakes taste the best fresh but you can also prepare the cakes a day ahead. Keep the cakes in the fridge until consumption.
I always liked pumpkin but this fall season it really hit me and I am enjoying the pumpkin season to the fullest. I like making simple pumpkin soups which I make at least once a week. Every time I puree my pumpkin soups I am flabbergasted by the intense orange color. I always add a little bit of pumpkin seed oil (it is a speciality from Styria, Austria) and a few roasted pumpkin seeds and my bowl of soup looks like a piece of art. Every time I tell myself what beautiful color nature has to offer (who needs artificial color). Besides delicious soups there are so many different things that one can make out of pumpkin but my favorite sweet treats are little mini pumpkin bundt cakes. These petite pumpkin cakes are incredible moist and they are also very quick and easy to prepare. I made these bundt cakes a lot this fall season  - they were my edible gifts of this fall season - and I think I sweetened up the every day life of quite a few people.
NOTES: I do not know where you are located in the world but in my little corner of this world canned pumpkin puree does not exist (maybe it does but I never came across it) and I am not sure if I would use it if I had access to it. Making your own pumpkin puree is very easy. My favorite kind of pumpkin is hokkaido, also known as red kuri squash) because you can use the skin of the pumpkin and I like the slightly sweet flavor of this pumpkin. Feel free any kind of pumpkin that you like most.
Preheat your oven to 175 °C / 350 °F. Cut the pumpkin in half, crape out the pulp and the seeds. Cut the pumpkin into small chunks. Place the pumpkin pieces onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 25 to 35 minutes until the pumpkin is very soft (the baking time depends on the size of the pumpkin pieces). Scoop out the pumpkin flesh (skip this step if you use hokkaido pumpkin) and place the flesh in a food processor or a blender and puree it until smooth.  You can keep the pumpkin puree in the fridge for two days or you can also freeze the puree. 

Makes 10 mini bundt cakes or muffins *

INGREDIENTS

  • 100 g / 1 cup pastry flour or 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 2 pinches of nutmeg
  • 2 pinches of cloves
  • 75 g  / 1/2 cup chocolate (50%), chopped
  • 50 g / 1/2 cup walnuts (I like my nuts toasted), chopped
  • 1 egg (medium size)
  • 50 g / 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 50 g / 4 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 50 ml / 3 tablespoons coconut oil (melted), alternative canola oil
  • 150 g / 2/3 cup pumpkin puree*, see my notes above
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • Powdered sugar, for decoration
* I like using mini bundt cake moulds because I adore the shape of bundt cakes (the size of my mini gugelhupf moulds are: 7 cm / 2.8 inches diameter and 4 cm / 1.5 inches height). But of course you can use a muffin tin instead of a gugelhupf pan.

DIRECTIONS

  • Preheat the oven to 175 °C / 350 °F. 
  • Grease and flour your gugelhupf moulds or muffin moulds. In case you use silicon moulds you can skip this step. 
  • Mix flour, baking soda, salt, spices, chopped walnuts and chocolate in a medium bowl. 
  • Whisk egg and both kinds of sugar until well combined. You do not need to use a standing mixer or an electric mixer. Use a simple egg whisk. 
  • Add coconut oil or canola oil, pumpkin puree and orange juice and mix well. Add the flour mixture and stir with a (perferable wooden ) spoon until all ingredients are well combined. 
  • Spoon the cake batter into the bundt cake pan or muffins tin. Fill the batter almost to the top because the cakes does rise just a little bit. 
  • Bake the cakes for 17 to 20 minutes or if you insert a toothpick and it comes out clear the cakes are done.
  • Let the mini cakes cool, unmould the bundt cakes and sprinkle the cakes with powdered sugar.


Finally it is warm enough and I can go on bike tours in the countryside again which I was longing for the last couple of winter months. While it was still very cold and the roads were slippery from snow and rain I was longing for spring and  dreaming of riding my bike. It was a very long winter with lots of snow and I could not wait for warm spring days. Finally spring has arrived and last Thursday I went on my first little bike tour (I biked 82,5 km/ 51 miles) in the Bavarian countryside and it was simply breathtaking. It is such an incredible feeling sitting on my bike, cycling through small villages, seeing the mountains - the Alps - in a distance which are still covered with snow, listening to birds chirping, breathing fresh air and enjoying the slow pace of the countryside.

My view from a bench where I was enjoying a little lemon cake. 

On my bike ride I also came across a country bakery where I bought a big bag of different kinds of buns and it turned out that the buns were one of the best buns that I had in years. Discovering this country bakery filled me with so much joy and inspired me at the same time. I will revisit the bakery very soon in order to buy more delicious buns, take photos of this bakery and to have a little chat with the baker who was very kind while I was choosing the buns (but at that time I did not know how delicious the buns were). For sure I will write a separate post about this unique country bakery.

Buns - in Bavaria they are called Semmeln - from the country bakery. The photo is taken with my phone. 
One also needs refreshments for a bike tour.  I usually take a little bit of chocolate, licorice and an apple with me. But for my first bike tour of this year I decided to make my favorite lemon cake in order to celebrate my first bike tour of the season. I usually make my lemon cake in a loaf pan but I thought that mini cakes were easier to take on a bike tour than a slice of lemon cake.



I do not why it never crossed my mind making little lemon cakes instead of a loaf cake since I love making everything in miniature version. And the mini lemon cakes taste even better than my lemon loaf cake. It is a moist, fluffy and very lemony cake which I like very much (they are also very quick and easy to make) and I also think it suits the spring season very well.
I hope you will like these lemon cakes as much as I do and maybe the cakes are in the basket for your next picnic or bike tour.




Makes 8 - 10 little cakes *

INGREDIENTS

  • 100 g / 7 tablespoons of unsalted soft butter
  • 100 g / 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs (medium)
  • 100 g / 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 75 g / 5 tablespoons of yogurt, full fat
  • 3 organic lemons, zest finely grated
  • Powdered sugar
* The size of the cake tins I use: 7 cm / 2.8 inches diameter and 2.5 cm / 1 inch height. You can also use a muffin tin.

DIRECTIONS

  • Preheat the oven to 190 C° / 375 °F.
  • Grease and flour your cake tins.
  • Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add one egg at a time and beat until all ingredients are well combined.
  • Mix flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.
  • Add flour mixture, lemon zests and yogurt to the butter-egg mixture and mix until all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not overmix the batter.
  • Pour batter into the cake tins, almost all the way to the top.
  • Bake the lemon cakes for 25 to 30 minutes. If the cakes are getting too brown at the end of the baking time, cover the cakes with aluminium foil. If you insert a toothpick and it comes out clear the cakes are done.
  • Let the cakes cool, unmold and sprinkle the cakes with powdered sugar.
My love for gugelhupf - or bundt cake as it is called sometimes, in particular in the States - has been well documented on the blog. I wrote about the possible origins of the gugelhupf (of course this means my perspective of the gugelhupf history because who knows who holds the truth of cake history and the chair of cake history has yet to be invented). I also wrote about the story behind the Franz Joseph Gugelhupf and there are all different kinds of gugelhupf recipes here on the blog. I cannot have enough of gugelhupf recipes in my life and I cannot get enough of eating gugelhupfs.





Today I want to share a raisin gugelhupf recipe which I developed a few weeks ago. I do not know how many times I made these gugelhupf ever since. I love the taste and the texture of this recipe. The gugelhupfs have a crispy outside; the inside of the gugelhupfs are very moist but they are not too dense at the same time. Describing or analyzing cake texture is really difficult and I am struggling to find the right words for it. You have to taste the food with all your senses and it does not matter how hard you try finding words for it, it always scratches the surface. It is the same in music. Have you ever read anything "smart" about Mozart's piano concertos (by the way, is there anything more beautiful than the second movement of the A-major , KV 488, piano concerto)? I have not and I doubt I ever will.


Back to the gugelhupf recipe. I really love these little raisin cakes and all my taste testers were thrilled about the cakes.  One of my taste testers liked my gugelhupfs so much that she kept two cakes in a tin for six days in order to save them for a weekend picnic and I was told that the gugelhupfs were still moist. I could not believe this but if I knew how much she liked the cakes I would have given her a batch of freshly made gugelhupfs for her picnic. Even though the gugelhupfs keep moist for several days I think the cakes taste the very best on the day that they are made since they loose the crispy outside over time.
If you do not own any mini gugelhupf moulds you can also use a muffin tin. I tested them out in a muffin tin and it worked out perfectly - the baking time is the same - but I must admit that the cakes taste a a little bit better when baked in gugelhupf moulds. Maybe it is because of the hole in the middle of the gugelhupfs which adds more of a crispy ouside. I can imagine that a donut tin would work as well but I have not tried it out ( I must confess that I do not even own a donut tin).  If you do not like raisins, dried cranberries are a good alternative.


NOTES: As you may have noticed I always write my recipes in grams. I think it is the best and most accurate way to measure ingredients (and very common here in Europe) but I am aware that some of you might not own a kitchen scale or you are used to the cup measurement method . In order to make my recipes more accessible and convenient I decided to convert the ingredients from gram to cup and add the conversion to the ingredients list. I hope this addition will be helpful to some of you.
Makes 10 Mini Gugelhupfs * or 10 muffins 

INGREDIENTS

  • 125 g / 1 stick and 1 tablespoon butter (softened)
  • 125 g / 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs (medium)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 150 g /1 cup and 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
  • 75 g / 1/2 cup raisins
  • 75 g / 1/4 cup of yogurt (full fat)
  • 50 ml / 1/4 cup milk (full fat)
  • Confectioners' sugar (for decoration)
* The size of my gugelhupf moulds are: 7 cm / 2.8 inches diameter and 4 cm / 1.5 inches height.

DIRECTIONS

  • Preheat the oven to 200 °C / 400 °F.
  • Butter and flour your gugelhupf moulds or muffin moulds.  If you use muffin moulds I recommend not using any cupcake liners because the liners prevent that the muffins will be crispy on the outside. Just make sure you grease your tin well. In case you use silicon moulds you do not have to grease your moulds.
  • Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add one egg at a time and whisk until well mixed.
  • Mix flour, baking powder and raisins in a separate bowl.
  • Add the flour mixture along with the milk and yogurt to the egg-butter mixture and stir until all ingredients are well incorporated but do not overmix the batter.
  • Fill the gugelhupf moulds 3/4 with the batter.
  • Bake the gugelhupfs or muffins for 15 to 17 minutes (or until a golden brown surface). If you insert a toothpick and it comes out clear the gugelhupfs are done.
  • Unmold the cakes and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar as soon as they are completely cooled.

I admit it: I am officially an addicted muffin baker.
In fact I do not mind my addiction and I like it. There is nothing more fun than creating new muffins recipes and I am curious how many muffin recipes I will have posted at the end of this year. But do worry my next recipes on this blog won’t be any muffin recipes, in case you have an aversion to muffins.
I was inspired to make lemon poppy seed muffins since a friend of mine was raving about a lemon poppy seeds muffin at Starbucks and some time ago she gave me one of these muffins to try. I am not a big fan of desserts at Starbucks and I found the Starbucks lemon and poppy seed muffin just mediocre and though I can do a better muffin and I think I achieved this goal.
And my new love for poppy seeds continues.
Makes 4 muffins

INGREDIENTS

Cake

  • 120 g all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
  • 50 g granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
  • 75 ml milk
  • 1 egg, medium size
  • 50 g unsalted melted butter
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

Glaze

  • 2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
  • ½ teaspoon juice of a lemon 

DIRECTIONS

  • Line your muffin pan with paper liners or grease the pan.
  • Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
  • Mix flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds in a big bowl.
  • Whisk sugar, vanilla sugar, milk and egg until well combined.
  • Add the wet ingredients, melted butter and lemon zest to the dry ingredients. Mix until all ingredients are well combined. Do not overmix because you want to have a moist muffin. If you mix the batter too much it develops gluten (if you make bread you want this but not for a muffin or a cake batter) and this causes that the muffins become dry.
  • Fill the muffin batter into the pan.
  • Bake for 20 minutes until the top of the muffins are slightly golden in color.
  • Let the muffins cool in the pan, then remove from the pan.
  • Mix the confectioner’s sugar and the lemon juice. The glaze should have a very thick consistency. Spread the icing on the top of each muffin and let it dry.
3

A few weeks ago I wrote here that I hardly made any muffins last year but I guess this changed this year. Yet again I am sharing a muffin recipe with you which I made bright and early today and I could not wait to share the recipe with you. I originally planned to write about my Swedish princess cake experience which I made yesterday. I put this on hold and share this apple muffin recipe because I absolutely love the result. The recipe is very similar to the raspberry muffin recipe that I posted a few days ago. This time I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil and I think in the future I will experiment more with olive oil because it seems to be an excellent alternative to butter or vegetable oil. Like the raspberry muffins, I used only a little bit of sugar and I added again oats and walnuts. In addition, I added some unsweetened coconut flakes which was a great choice. First I was a little bit hesitant if it was a smart decision adding shredded coconut but it complements the flavor of apples, cinnamon and walnuts perfectly. To sum it up it up, these apple muffins are another yummy guilt-free breakfast muffin but of course you can enjoy these muffins with your afternoon tea or coffee as well. In fact, this morning I had a berry smoothie and had this apple muffin this afternoon with a cup of peppermint tea.
I am not only looking forward to tomorrow’s breakfast but I already have ideas for new muffin creations. I admit it: I become a slightly addicted muffin baker.
Makes 6 muffins

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 50 g muscovado sugar *
  • 1 egg, medium size
  • 100 g buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 60 g whole wheat flour
  • 60 g pastry flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 30 g rolled oats
  • 20 g unsweetened shredded coconuts
  • 40 g walnuts,  roughly chopped 
  • 2 apples, medium size
  • 2 tablespoons almond flakes
* If you do not have any muscovado sugar on hand (it is a very dark unrefined brown sugar), you can substitute it with regular brown sugar. I like the taste of muscovado sugar a lot and it is a little bit “healthier” than granulated sugar.

DIRECTIONS

  • Line your muffin pan with paper liners or grease the pan.
  • Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
  • Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds.
  • Whisk the scraped out seeds of the vanilla bean, muscovado sugar, egg, buttermilk and olive oil until it is well combined.
  • In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients: whole wheat flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, oats, coconut flakes and chopped walnuts.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until it is well combined but do not overmix.
  • Peel the apples and grate the apples coarsely.
  • Fold in the grated apples to the mixture.
  • Fill the batter into the muffin pan. Sprinkle the top with almond flakes.
  • Bake the muffins for 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Let the muffins cool in the pan; remove from the pan.
The last two weeks I had troubles eating breakfast. I usually have half of a banana before my morning run and when I come home and after taking a shower I have breakfast which usually consists of non-fat Greek yoghurt or cottage cheese with fruits and nuts. But in the last two weeks I prepared my breakfast and after one bite or two I was unable to finish my breakfast. I just had my tea in the morning and I was not hungry until 2 pm. I know it is not healthy at all and I know that I did not eat enough during the last two weeks. I have no idea why my body refuses my daily breakfast, maybe I have too much stress these days or maybe I should try some other breakfast options. So the other day, when I found myself craving a raspberry muffin, I thought this would be a good opportunity to experiment in the kitchen and try to make “healthier” muffins which one can enjoy guilt-free for your morning breakfast. I am more than happy with the result and I think I will make these raspberry muffins on a regular basis. I used only a little bit of sugar and I think this is the perfect amount of sweetness for a breakfast muffin (of course you can add some more sugar or maybe drizzle a little bit of honey on the muffin before you enjoy your muffin). The muffins are incredible moist. 
One more remark before you can go into the kitchen and make these muffins. Have a look at the beautiful handwriting on the letter. It is the courtesy of my friend who always sends me such beautiful letters and handmade cards. I wish I had such a talent. You can check out her two blogs here (you can learn all about inks and pens) and here (a mishmash of different things).


Makes 6 big muffins

INGREDIENTS

  • 50 g muscovado sugar *
  • 100 g butter milk
  • 20 g vegetable oil
  • 1 egg, medium size
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 60 g whole wheat flour
  • 60 g wheat flour
  • 30 g rolled oats
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 30 g walnuts, coarsely chopped
  • 200 g frozen raspberries
* If you do not have any muscovado sugar on hand (it is a very dark unrefined brown sugar), you can substitute it with regular brown sugar. I like the taste of muscovado sugar a lot and it is a little bit “healthier” than granulated sugar.

DIRECTIONS

  • Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
  • Line your muffin pan with paper liners or grease the pan.
  • Whisk the sugar, butter milk, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla extract in a big bowl.
  • Mix the dry ingredients: whole wheat flour, wheat flour, oats, baking powder and soda, salt, walnuts.
  • Add the dry ingredients mixture to the wet ingredients mixture. Mix until it is combined but do not overmix.
  • Fold in the raspberries into the batter.
  • Bake the muffins for 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Let the muffins cool in the pan, then remove from the pan. Sprinkle the muffins with confectionary sugar.

Happy 2013 to all my lovely readers!
At the end of last year I was browsing through some of my baking books and recipes that I cut out of newspapers and magazines.
While browsing through these recipes, I realized that I do not make a lot of muffins; at least in 2012 I made hardly any muffins. I have no idea why because I have an impressive selection of cute muffin cups.
So to start off the New Year I made some walnut muffins which contain no granulated sugar but honey and maple syrup and no wheat flour but whole wheat flour. I guess the muffins are a little “healthier” than any regular chocolate muffins and these walnut muffins taste delicious.
A recipe would not be complete without a bakingwithmarianne advice: do not substitute the walnuts with hazelnuts or almonds. I have done this in the past but this was not a good idea because the muffins turned out very bitter. I do not have an exact explanation for it but I think the combination of orange zest and almonds or hazelnuts made the muffins bitter.
Oh and one more word: I am a little bit obsessed with instagram and if you like you can follow me there. My user name is bakingwithmarianne. I post a lot of food pictures (are you surprised?) but photos of my every day life as well.
Makes 20 muffins

INGREDIENTS

  • 100 g walnut flour
  • 100 g whole rye flour
  • 100 g whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 5 teaspoons of unsweetened cacao powder
  • 1½ teaspoons of vanilla extract
  • Zest of one organic/untreated orange, finely grated
  • 150 g unsalted butter, soft
  • 175 g honey
  • 75 g maple syrup
  • 3 eggs, medium size
  • 50 g roughly chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

  • Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
  • Mix the walnut flour, whole rye flour and whole walnut flour, baking powder, 4 teaspoons of unsweetened cacao, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and zest of ½ orange.
  • Whisk the butter, 150 g honey and maple syrup until fluffy. Then add one egg at a time.
  • Add the flour mixture to the batter and mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.
  • Line a muffin pan with muffin cups and pour the batter into the muffin cups.
  • Mix the chopped walnuts, ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract, zest of ½ an orange, 25 g honey.
  • Put the walnut mixture in the middle of each muffin.
  • Bake the muffins for 15 to 20 minutes.
  • You can keep the muffins in an airtight container or in a tin and the muffins stay fresh for up to three days. I even found the muffins taste better a day. 

The recipe is adapted from the baking book "Kuchen und Torten" by Annette Wolter, GU  which is my first baking book that I received for my 11th birthday.
4
Believe it or not but this week I bought my very first muffin. I can’t remember that I ever went to a bakery in my life and bought a muffin. I always thought it is such a waste to buy muffins because making muffins are so easy and quick. This week I was in such a hurry and had to do a lot. After having breakfast at 6:30 am and not having eaten anything until 5 pm I was starving. I went to a bakery but all the sandwiches were not appealing to me but then I saw a single wholemeal apple muffin and I thought I should give it a try. To my surprise this muffins was incredible delicious.
I was so inspired by this apple muffin that I decided to make my own version of this muffin. I love, love creating my own recipes, even though there is a risk that I fail. But if I succeed and my creation turns out well I could not be happier. My Apple Almond Muffins were a success creation and it this put me in such a good mood all day long. For my taste the muffins were even better than from the bakery (the next day the muffins taste even better). In addition, these muffins are a little bit healthier than chocolate muffins for example.
Makes 6 big muffins

INGREDIENTS

  • 75 g unsalted butter
  • 125 g apples (2 medium size)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 50 g all purpose flour
  • 50 g whole wheat flour
  • 75 g almond flour
  • 25 g fine rolled oats
  • 50 g whole cane sugar (such as Muscovado)
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 egg
  • 50 g yogurt
  • 50 ml whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon almond flakes

DIRECTIONS

  • Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
  • Melt the butter and let it cool down.
  • In the meantime coarsely grate the apples. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the apples.
  • Mix flours, ground almonds, rolled oats, sugar, baking powder and soda, cinnamon and salt.
  • Add the egg, yogurt and milk to the cooled down melted butter and mix well.
  • Stir the butter-egg mixture together with the grated apples to the dry ingredient mixture.
  • Stir until the dry ingredients are moisture. Don’t over mix because then this will make the muffins tough.
  • Fill the batter into muffin cups (almost to the top) because the muffins will rise only a little bit. Sprinkle the muffins with almonds flakes. 
  • Bake the muffins for 20 - 25 minutes.