I rarely post entire recipes, mostly because everything I make is yanked off the internet anyway and I can just link to the originating post. But I will make an exception for these truly mouthwateringly stupendous apple muffins from (where else) smitten kitchen, because I don’t think it’s so much a solo recipe as a technique.

The magic of this set of instructions is that gives you an amazing base for any kind of fruity muffin. I plan to try it with apples and blueberries, peaches, and bananas – unless my colleagues get sick of muffins first…

I have even converted the ingredients to sensible metric measurements, for your convenience!

Apple Muffins
Makes 12 large or 18 medium muffins

140g whole wheat flour
140g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
113g unsalted butter, at room temperature
95g granulated sugar
95g dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
236ml buttermilk or yogurt
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 230°C. Grease and flour muffin cups.
2. Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Cream the butter in a large bowl. Add the granulated sugar and 42g of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy.
4. Add the beaten egg and mix well. Mix in the buttermilk gently. (If you over-mix, the buttermilk will cause the mixture to curdle.) Stir in the dry ingredients, then fold in the apple chunks.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining brown sugar on top of each muffin.
6. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 200°C, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe Notes

• I used all plain flour because I had no whole wheat. It was still yummy, but I suspect it would be even better with whole wheat.
• If you don’t have buttermilk (I didn’t), substitute a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar + however much milk you need to make up the 236ml. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes before using it.
• I used light brown instead of dark brown sugar. It was fine.
• 5 minutes baking time after turning the heat down to 200°C was enough for me. Muffins came out perfect.
• I used an electric handheld mixer for every mixing step up to the buttermilk. I handmixed that plus the dry ingredients, and then gave it another quick blitz with the electric mixer before adding the apples.
• Speaking of buttermilk, when you get to that step, you may feel (as I did) that something has gone horribly wrong because it won’t mix properly. The butter-and-egg mixture kind of floats in the liquid in clumps. Do not panic. It will all even out once you add the flours.
• If you check out the comments at smitten kitchen, you will see that this recipe is virtually endlessly flexible, e.g. you can use sour cream/yogurt instead of buttermilk, doesn’t matter if you have no egg, can sub applesauce for half the butter, throw in a banana or some nuts if you like… really, go wild!