Making Apple Memories

There is something about the smell of a fresh picked apple that makes me feel nostalgic about my childhood. When I was 4 years old we lived near an apple tree that was next to some land with sheep. When I smell an apple, I am right back there standing in that field, shoving sun warmed apples through a narrow fence to feed the sheep. It makes me wonder, when my sons are grown, what things will they look back upon and feel nostalgic about. What memories will they cherish and bring a smile to their faces?

There is so much pressure on parents these days to be the perfect mom or dad. I find myself often feeling guilty for not being fun enough, for being too tired, too busy, too impatient. We constantly wrack our brains to figure out how to keep our children entertained at the expense of our own sanity. When did expectations of being a mother expand to also include being the cook, cleaner, bread-winner, teacher, household accountant, healer of wounds, shoulder to cry on, and master finder of all lost items. We juggle our duties all the while trying to raise emotionally stable intelligent individuals that will be a benefit to society.  Somewhere in the midst of all that, we need to find time to take care of ourselves.  And if we’re being honest, how often do we actually give ourselves what we need? That’s always the first thing we sacrifice when our plates are just too full. 

We joke about “mom guilt” but for me it’s a real tangible thing. When my oldest son Jack was born, I developed this dysfunctional need to always be present and push my self to the max in order to meet his every need. But overtime that has lead to burnout, resentment and a loss of self. I have found that it is a moment by moment choice. When I can feel the stress becoming too much, I need to choose me. When I feel the guilt settling in that once again the kids are watching TV so I can make dinner, I need to have grace for myself. 

As I am sitting here smelling these apples that are waiting for me to turn them into delicious muffins, I can’t help but hope that when my boys are grown, they will remember me with love and pride. I continually strive to shed the mental mindset of perfection and instead focus on cherishing my time with my boys while they are still small. So that way, when they are grown and they smell an apple, they are transported back to a memory of standing on a stool, helping their mother bake cinnamon apple streusel muffins.

Now, to get started making these muffins and memories- first of all, I love these muffins! They are so soft, fluffy, buttery and have a nice crunchy streusel topping. I have made these muffins gluten free before for my best friends baby shower. You simply need to substitute your choice of gluten free flour.

A lot of apple recipes will specify a certain type of apple to use and in my opinion with these muffins, you can use whatever you have on hand. You will want to chop the apples into fairly small pieces. If they are too big, they wont have enough time to soften while baking.

Similar to a lot of recipes, once all the ingredients are incorporated together, it’s important to stop stirring. If we over mix our muffin batter, we will start to build up the gluten fibers in the flour and we will end up with a tough textured muffin versus light and fluffy. Lastly, if you’re tempted to skip the streusel topping, absolutely do not! The crunchy top with the soft inside is a match made in heaven. 

If your plate is feeling too full today, my hope for you is that you can find peace in the craziness and take a moment to yourself.  Hope to see you in the kitchen real soon!

XO- K

Cinnamon Apple Streusel Muffins

Moist and fluffy cinnamon apple muffins topped with a cinnamon oat streusel topping.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Snack

Servings 12 Muffins

Ingredients

  

Streusel Topping:

• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp rolled oats
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Muffins:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ¾ cup plain low fat yogurt
• ¾ cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups diced apple
• 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven 375°. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray or line with muffin liners.
• Make the streusel topping: whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and oats. Stir in melted butter until incorporated. Using clean fingers, mix together until it resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
• For the muffins: mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together in a large bowl. Whisk the eggs, milk, yogurt and vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Gently fold the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in diced apple and melted butter.
• Using a large ice cream scoop, divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Crumble streusel topping over each muffin top.
• Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out mostly clean. Let muffins cool in pan for 5 minutes then remove from pan and place onto wire rack. Serve warm and save leftover muffins in air tight container.