Lazier, Healthier Apple Muffins

I love to make apple muffins around here. They smell great, taste yummy, and my kids are always excited about them. I love my Apple Strudel Muffins which I posted here and, from the number of hits that post gets, I think other people must like apple muffins too!

Like so many of you, I've been getting good deals on apples lately ($1.19 for 3#) and that's a good excuse to bake up some yumminess. Yesterday I set out to do that but thought to myself, "Now JessieLeigh? How can you make these healthier... You may not feel that white flour is the devil in the way some people do, but what would make these suckers better for you?" Less sugar and (almost) all-wheat flour would be a good start.

I was gung-ho!

But remember what I love about these muffins? The fact that they use SIX apples? I was feeling lazy.

I cut the apple off the core but did not peel it. I tossed the chunks, peel and all, in my food processor and used that in the recipe. Know what? No one noticed. Lazy + extra fiber = an excellent way to go.

So, with further ado, here is the new, improved apple muffin recipe... the Lazy Healthy Apple Muffin.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
6 small-medium apples, chopped very fine WITH skins left on

(topping)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan. (Or 24 cup mini muffin tin.)
   
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.
4. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in butter (cold butter works best!) until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.
5. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a cooling rack.

*Bake 10 minutes for mini muffins.
**I opted NOT to eliminate the topping because, well, you gotta live a little, people! But doing so would further health-ify these and would also make them even lazier. ;)
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This post is linked to Cupcake Tuesday, hosted at Hoosier Homemade.