Cupkins: Apple Cider Muffins

Hope you all had a Happy Labor Day! It was a gorgeous day, relaxing day.

Today is the first Monday of September (can you believe it's September already!?) and it's the first official Cupkins post. Joanne at Ready, Set, Craft! and I will be collaborating every month to bring you a cupcake and muffin that share the same theme.

I know some of you are probably sad about this being the last summer holiday- but as much fun as summer is I have to admit that I really get excited for fall. It's my favorite time of year! I'm also excited about the theme for this month... Apple. To me nothing says it's the start of fall in New England better than apples.

My Cupkins recipe is for Apple Cider Muffins. It's inspired by the yummy apple cider donuts that are everywhere this time of year.

You'll need:

1 cup apple cider

1.5 cups of flour

3/4 cups of sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 Cortland apple (or other variety for use in pies)

1/2 cup of applesauce

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

1 egg

cinnamon to taste- probably about 1 tablespoon.

nutmeg- just a pinch, a little goes a long way!

Topping:

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray your muffin pans with non-stick spray or use muffin liners. This will make 6 large muffins or 12 regular sized muffins.

Bring apple cider to a boil in a sauce pan- reduce to 1/4 cup of liquid. Remove from the stove to cool.

Peel and dice your apple.

Mix the dry ingredients into a bowl.

Add the apple sauce, egg, oil and cooled cider reduction. Stir just until the ingredients combine. Don't over mix. Also don't rinse out the cider pan yet, you'll need the sticky leftovers later!

Fold the diced apple into the batter.

Put an even amount of batter into each muffin cup and bake for 18 minutes (for large muffins) or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, turning halfway through baking.

Remove the muffins from the pan to cool. Once they are cool enough to handle- but still warm it's time to top them. Mix your cinnamon and sugar together on a plate. Brush the tops of each muffin with the left over sticky cider in your sauce pan- you don't need a lot it just helps the cinnamon/sugar to stick. Roll the tops of each muffin in the cinnamon sugar to coat.

Hope you give them a try! And click on the cupkins logo below to see Joanne's fabulous Carmel Apple Cupcakes!

Update 10/9/09: There have been a few links to this post recently (which I greatly appreciate and am very flattered by). If you were interested in apple cider muffins you might also like some of the other Cupkins posts- October's Jack-o-lantern pumpkin muffins and August's Peach and Spiced Pecan Muffins. Cupkins is a monthly collaboration so check back for more muffin and cupcake recipes!
You might also like to check out my carousel cake.