Apples On My Mind...

Two things got my wheels turning this week...

One, my apple trees are in full bloom. Aren't they pretty? It will be quite some time before they bear fruit this year, but they sure look pretty and Spring-y right now!

Two, Amy wrote about buying eighteen pounds of apples for a steal. She came up with lots of yummy uses for them and I was reminded of my Apple Strudel Muffins. What I love most about this recipe is that it uses six full apples to make a dozen muffins. You do the math- this means you actually get a fair bit of fruit in each serving! Always a nice bonus and particularly great for small children. I made dozens and dozens of these last fall and we ate them from our freezer throughout the winter. Yum!

These are fantastic for popping in lunch boxes or in the backpack for preschool snacks. They look "cupcake-y", but pack a lot of fruit per bite!

Apple Strudel Muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour (I sometimes use half whole-wheat)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
6 small-medium apples, chopped very fine

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

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan.
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 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 cooking rack.

Enjoy!
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