Apple and Sultana Mini Muffins

It's Spring! It's Spring! It's finally here! Yippee! And a beautiful 24 degrees celsius it is too in Sydney.

To celebrate the arrival of Spring, and to celebrate my inner domestic goddess, I've slaved for hours in the kitchen to bake you some Apple and Sultana mini muffins.

Oh alright. I fibbed. You caught me out. The truth is, I had one lonely unloved apple that I wanted to use up, and a surplus of sultanas left over from the sultana and cornflake cookies baked last week.

But the muffins look lovely, don't they?

Recipe adapted from Taste.com.au
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (300g) self-raising flour, sifted
• ⅔ cup (150g) caster sugar
• 1 cups (250ml) buttermilk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• ⅓ cups (80ml) vegetable oil
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 finely chopped pink lady apple, skin on
• ½ cup (85g) sultanas

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Place flour and sugar in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, oil and cinnamon. Stir through apple and sultanas.
3. Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 12-hole, 1/2 cup muffin pan, taking care not to overfill.
4. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Serve warm or cold.

Notes:

• I used a mini muffin pan, halved the recipe and got 12 mini muffins.
• I used mini cupcake liners, thus avoiding the need to grease the muffin pan. Less washing up!
• I sprinkled rolled oats over the top of muffin mixture prior to baking for some crunch and bite.

Happy baking!

Apple Crumble Apologies

I was a witch of a wife to Mr Pantry last week. The poor man, I'd bet he was thinking he'd gotten a very raw deal indeed. He was great though, and tried his best to cheer me up, but eventually decided that the best and probably safest thing to do was to leave me alone to fume, while he pretended to be a churchmouse (Geddit? He was quiet).

So, to say Sorry, I made him a dessert. If only he has a sweet tooth for chocolate, I could just share my chocolate stash, that would be so convenient. But this isn't about me. I'm trying to do a bit of grovelling, show that I am sorry, and I resolve to be less of a witch... next time. This can be done in under an hour, not bad for grovelling.

Recipe from adapted from Donna Hay Modern Classics Book 2 and Quinn's Baking Diary:

Prep time 20 minutes

Cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 apples (I used Pink Lady apples), peeled, cored and chopped
• ½ tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp sultanas
• pinch of cinnamon
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 20g butter (I used 25g)
• 1½ tbsp dark brown sugar
• 2 tbsp rolled oats
• 2 tbsp crumbled walnuts (I used almonds)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
  

Method:

1. 
   
   Preheat oven to 180°C. Place the apples, caster sugar, sultanas, cinnamon and lemon juice in a bowl and stir to combine.
2. 
   
   Transfer apple mixture into 2 small oven-proof serving bowls or ramekins.
3. 
   
   To make the topping, place flour, butter, dark brown sugar, rolled oats and crumbled walnuts in a bowl and mix well to combine. Scatter topping over the apples, covering the apples completely.
4. 
   
   Bake for 15- 20mins or until the toppings are golden brown and crisp and the apple is soft.
5. 
   
   Serve warm, with thick (double) cream or ice-cream.

Notes:

• Serves 2.
• This is a very forgiving dessert, so feel free to play around with the ingredients. Plain flour can be substituted with self-raising flour or wholemeal flour. I used Pink Lady apples, but usually Granny Smiths (green apples) are used instead. I don't have them in the house because I find them a bit tart for eating. Don't like apples? Use pears, berries, cherries, peaches, plums... the possibilities are endless. No nuts in the house? Use almond meal, or omit nuts. You can even substitute with muesli if you want to.
• Lemon juice can be omitted. Or use 1 tsp lemon rind if you like.

Have a sweet day (hopefully not filled with witchy witches!)