Cornmeal Apple Muffins

This recipe came from Olwen Woodier’s Apple Cookbook.  Olwen provides quite a bit of interesting information on heritage apples and their uses, but disappointingly most of her recipes call for modern varieties.  This one called for a Granny Smith apple so I thought I would give it a try with another bright green apple, Rhode Island Greening. It was a perfect substitute.  The chopped apple softened and at the same time held its own so that you knew it was there. The muffins were tasty right out of the oven, but the crunchiness of the cornmeal really revealed itself the next day when we split, buttered and grilled them.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cup flour

  • ¾ cup coarsely ground cornmeal

  • 2 tsp baking powder

  • 1 tsp baking soda

  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon

  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg

  • ¾ cup milk (rice or coconut milk can be substituted)

  • ¼ cup apple juice or cider

  • 1/3 cup honey

  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil

  • 2 eggs

  • 1 medium apple, cored and finely chopped

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease 12 large muffin cups.

  2. In a small bowl beat the eggs.  Mix in the milk, cider, oil and honey.  Blend well.

  3. In a large bowl stir together the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the liquids.  Stir until barely combined. Add the apple to the batter, and gently mix in.  The batter will be lumpy.

  4. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full.  Bake 15-20 minutes until the tops of the muffins are lightly brown and the center springs back when touched.  

  5. Remove muffins from the pan immediately, and cool on a wire rack.

  6. Option: Olwen recommends adding ¾ cup grated cheddar cheese to the batter.  We tried it and found that the cheese flavor was completely overpowered by the cinnamon and nutmeg.  So if you want a more savory muffin, omit the spices, reduce the honey and stir in the cheese.