Apple Cinnamon Muffins

I bake a lot of desserts, but haven't really ventured into muffins very much. I decided to make some for breakfast for the boys and after some recipe experimenting they turned out to be a big hit!

Makes 12. Total time: 40-45 minutes

You will need:

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup peeled and chopped apple, about 1 medium sized apple*
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon         
• Misc.: muffin pan, muffin/cupcake wrappers or non-stick spray

Streusel Topping:  

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with wrappers or spray with a nonstick spray.

2. Make the streusel topping and set aside.

     2a. Mix cinnamon, sugar and flour together. Cut in the butter using a pastry tool or cut crisscross with two knives to combine until crumbly. DM Tip: I usually end up using my hands to combine the dry ingredients with the butter.

3. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
4. Beat together oil, egg, and milk. Add in apple pieces.
5. Pour all of flour mixture into into milk mixture.
6. Stir together until flour is moistened. It will still be a little lumpy and that's ok.
7. Place batter evenly among the muffin tins.
8. Top with streusel.
9. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

*DM Notes: The first time I made these, I used a nice sweet red apple and left the peel on. The apples had a nice flavor, but they were pretty mild. I then tried the recipe with a Granny Smith apple, which had a slightly stronger apple flavor. The boys of course could not agree which one they liked the most: Higgins loved the red apple muffins and Bernardo loved the Granny Smith apple muffins.