Mummy Dogs

It’s always fun to come across holiday themed cozy mysteries and THE DIVA HAUNTS THE HO– USE, by Krista Davis, is the perfect choice for the Halloween season. Domestic diva, Sophie Winston, is in charge of organizing a community haunted house in an old boarding house, that is supposedly really haunted. Grown men have practically run from the house screaming and refuse to step foot back in, so she has her hands full trying to get it put together before the debut. Sophie has enlisted her twelve-year-old niece along with other pre-teen and early teen kids to help her plan the event. The kids are more than thrilled to be in a “real” haunted house, especially when they find that a vampire had supposedly lived there.

Sophie’s nemesis and ex-husband’s girlfriend, Natasha, decides she won’t be outdone by Sophie’s haunted house and throws a high-class Halloween party for the town’s influential. But things go terribly wrong when Sophie, her niece and Natasha’s niece stumble upon one of the party-goers who turns out to be dead, staged to look like one of her gruesome vignettes. What is even more puzzling are the two puncture wounds in the murdered guest’s neck.

Soon vampire theories are flying and Sophie’s haunted house is threatened to be shut down. When Sophie is attacked (but saved by her loyal dog, Daisy) she’s determined to find out who the murderer is and find out who or what is behind the bizarre occurrences happening in her haunted house.

In addition to a fun and only slightly scary story (the only kind I like!) Sophie or Natasha begin each chapter with tips for celebrating Halloween. The tips range from crafty to decorating to costumes to food and are a great way to get in the mood for Halloween! I also really enjoyed how Sophie interacted and included her twelve-year-old niece in all the holiday prep. I was fortunate enough to have my eleven-year-old granddaughter and her best friend come spend the day with me, so I enlisted their help in making the Mummies….or as we’ve always called them, Mummy Dogs. Emmy has been making them for our Halloween dinner for almost eight years now! Thanks Em and Tess for helping me out!!! And thanks, Krista, for allowing me to share your wonderful Halloween story and Mummies recipe!

A huge THANK YOU to Krista Davis for providing an autographed copy of THE DIVA HAUNTS THE HO– USE to one lucky winner! Please comment below for a chance to win. Contest ends Thursday, October 22nd at 11:59 pm PST. Winner will be announced on this page and on Cinnamon & Sugar’s Facebook page, as well as notified by email (so check your spam folder!) Open to U.S. residents only.

Mummy Dogs

Ingredients

1 package refrigerator crescent rolls
1 package hot dogs (beef, chicken, or soy, doesn’t matter)
Yellow mustard

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Unroll the crescent dough and slice into long strips.

Wrap strips around each hot dog, leaving a small part uncovered where the eyes will be.

Use mustard to create two dot eyes.**

Bake 12 – 15 minutes or until light golden brown.

Other Variations

Slice thin arms and legs into the hot dogs and wrap the crescent rolls strips around each limb. Bake as directed.

**Alternate eyes:

Cut small rounds from any thin sliced cheese (Em and Tess used Halloween themed smoothie straws).

Use a regular sized straw and punch a hole in the middle of the first cheese round.

Using the regular sized straw, create a round from olives and place in the small hole you created in the first cheese round.

Attach to mummies with mustard AFTER they have baked.

Mummy dogs have been a Halloween tradition in our family with Emmy helping to prepare our pre- trick-or-treat dinner since she was three-years-old!

Halloween Cookies

The month of October marks the beginning of the “holiday season” ….starting with Halloween. One of my favorite ways to acknowledge whatever particular holiday to be celebrated is with decorated sugar cookies! I’ve come up with a tasty cookie dough that is quick to mix up and is almost fail-proof. I love the fact that this dough makes a large amount so I can mix up once and freeze portions of it to use as I need during the holidays! It tastes WAY better than store bought too!

I have also included three videos of Halloween Cookies to give you inspiration to create your own cookie masterpieces! I’m not a professional decorator or videographer so please bear with me during my learning process…I love to experiment and hope you enjoy learning with me!

My cookie recipe is below the Halloween Cookies videos.

WAWA’S SUGAR COOKIE DOUGH RECIPE

Ingredients
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups (1 pound) unsalted butter, room temperature (not margarine)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia or 2 teaspoons vanilla or any other favorite flavoring

Instructions
Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Add Fiori di Sicilia (or choice of flavoring) and mix until blended. Measure and whisk dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then slowly add to the butter and sugar mixture while the mixer is running on very low speed. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and dough comes together.

Divide dough into thirds and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for 1 hour or overnight. I make my dough several days in advance and keep refrigerated. If you made the dough ahead of time and it’s super firm, let it sit on the counter for an hour before rolling out, or soften in microwave for 15 seconds.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees – make sure it reaches that temperature before baking.

Sprinkle your rolling surface lightly with flour and dust your rolling pin with flour. I like using a silicone rolling mat and rolling pin. Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and put into the refrigerator for at least ten minutes prior to baking. This will help keep the cookie shapes intact. If your dough is warm before baking, your shapes may spread too much.

Use as little flour as necessary to keep cookies from sticking. That’s why I like working with a silicone mat and rolling pin.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pan half way through baking time. The edges of the cookies should just be starting to turn golden. Cool on baking sheet for five minutes then remove to a wire cooling rack until completely cool. Store at room temperature in an air tight container.

We like our cookies on the thin side and I can get 70 – 80 3-inch cookies.

Tip

You can freeze this dough to use at a later time. Double wrap a portion of dough with plastic wrap then place in a freezer safe ziplock bag. Remove from the freezer the day before you need it and let defrost in the refrigerator overnight, leaving tightly wrapped. Roll out and bake as directed once fully defrosted. If the dough seems too firm, let it sit on the counter for 1/2 hour or so to soften before rolling out.

ROYAL ICING

Ingredients

3 tablespoons Meringue Power (I use Wilton brand)

4 cups, 1 pound confectioners’ sugar

5 tablespoons warm water

Instructions

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer).

Tips

It is imperative that your bowls, spoons, spatulas, beaters and any thing else that comes in contact this icing is grease free. I use Dawn Liquid Dish soap on these items because I know it will remove any trace of residual grease.
For stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.
Cover the icing bowl with a damp paper towel or plastic wrap in between working with it.
For longer storage, store in ziplock bag in the refrigerator. Icing will keep for one week.

Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue

My brief encounters with sweet potato pies have left me feeling like they were second-class citizens to autumn’s star, pumpkin pie. And in reality, I am the only one in our family who likes pumpkin pies so I rarely make them. Now don’t get me wrong, we like sweet potatoes…simply baked with a bit of butter, or roasted with fresh rosemary and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. But in pie? Pumpkin seemed just fine.

Then I picked up the book IF MASHED POTATOES COULD DANCE by Paige Shelton and found her recipe for Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue. I’ve made Paige’s Lemon Meringue Pie which is to die for and her ultra lemony cupcakes, Basha’s Pucker-Ups, are still my granddaughter’s choice for birthday celebrations….so I decided to give her sweet potato recipe a closer look. Gone were the brown-colored traditional pumpkin pie spices and instead were bright, fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. I was intrigued…and made the pie. After my family sampled the gorgeously bright orange pie sitting on a bed of crispy brown crust and topped with the fluffiest, creamiest meringue ever, I realized pumpkin pie had probably been banished from our feasts. And when my lemon-loving granddaughter went for seconds I knew it was a done deal. But that’s okay because I agree that a new autumn star has been found!

In addition to providing tasty recipes, Paige creates a very intriguing story in IF MASHED POTATOES COULD DANCE. Betts Winston and her Gram run Country Cooking School in Broken Rope, Missouri. The town caters to tourists and when a bus carrying a foodie group breaks down, Betts and Gram are asked to take the tourists in and provide shelter and distraction in the way of a cooking class. Betts has her hands full trying to manage the tourists who aren’t so happy when they find they could be sleeping on cots and then one of them seems to be missing money. On top of that Sally Swarthmore shows up. Dead for more than 100 years and accused of murdering her parents with an ax, Sally wants to find her old diary which could prove she is innocent. Since Betts and Gram are the only ones who can see and talk to ghosts, Betts feels compelled to help Sally.

After finding better accommodations for the group, three of the members disappear overnight and then Jake, Bett’s best friend and the town’s fake sheriff, finds one of them murdered, a rope knotted around the body’s neck. It’s not long before Betts is pulled into the middle of trying to find the remaining two missing tourists before they’re found murdered and trying to help Sally find her diary and exonerate her before the ghost’s time is up in this realm.

I love how the author weaves both historical settings and mysteries into current day mysteries. The “old west” comes alive through Sally’s eyes and hearing her stories. There were plenty of twists and turns to keep me guessing who the culprit was in both intertwined plots which kept me turning the pages faster and faster!

I also had the wonderful opportunity to read the first book in Paige Shelton’s new series debuting next March, THE CRACKED SPINE. Scroll to the bottom for a sneak peak!

A huge THANK YOU to Paige Shelton for providing an autographed copy of IF MASHED POTATOES COULD DANCE to one lucky winner randomly chosen! Please comment below for a chance to win. Contest ends Thursday, October 15th at 11:59 pm PST. Winner will be announced on this page and on Cinnamon & Sugar’s Facebook page, as well as notified by email (so check your spam folder!) Open to U.S. residents only.

Be sure to take a look at the video showing you how to make the pie, located below the recipe. If you subscribe to receive the email version you will need to click on the actual website to view.

Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue

Author’s note: There is absolutely nothing I like about sweet potatoes – except for sweet potato pie. Those poor sweet potatoes, they sometimes do get a bad rap, but their popularity is growing. They are a healthy food, and cooks and chefs are getting more and more creative developing recipes that include them. Although I have an aversion to sweet potatoes, many of my family and friends are recommending ideas that make them more…interesting.

But without hesitation, I adore sweet potato pie. Hope you enjoy this recipe, too.

Ingredients

For the Crust

1/2 package refrigerated pie crust
Parchment paper
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon, whipping cream

For the Filling

1/4 cup salted butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
3 cups, cooked, mashed, sweet potatoes, lightly packed (this is three to four scrubbed potatoes, each poked with a fork a few times and baked in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes)
(My note: I found I needed about 2-1/2 pounds of sweet potatoes. I also cooked them in the microwave which sped up the process.)
1 cup half-and-half
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the Marshmallow Meringue

3 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow cream (such as Fluff)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

For the Crust

On a lightly floured surface, roll the piecrust into a 13-inch circle.
Fit the crust into a 9-inch, deep dish pie plate. Fold the edges under and crimp.
Prick the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork.
Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans.
(My note: at this point I refrigerate my crust for about 10 minutes to firm it back up. This helps keep it from slumping during baking.)
Bake 9 minutes.
Remove the crust from the oven and take out the weights and parchment.
Whisk together the egg yolk and cream, and brush the mixture on the bottom and sides of the crust.
Bake 6 – 8 minutes more or until the crust is golden.
Transfer to a wire rack and cool.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

For the Filling

In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter, sugar, salt, and eggs until well blended.
Add the sweet potatoes, half-and-half, lemon zest, lemon juice, and nutmeg.
Stir until the mixture is well blended.
(My note: for super smooth consistency and to speedily mix it up, use an immersion stick blender.)
Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust.
Shield the exposed crust edges from the heat by covering it with aluminum foil.
Bake for 50 – 55 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove the pie to a wire rack and cool completely – about 1 hour.

For the Marshmallow Meringue

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large metal or glass bowl, beat the egg whites, vanilla extract, and salt with an electric mixer at high speed until foamy.
Gradually add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.

Author’s note: When making meringue, I prefer to use a heavy-duty stand mixer, but a hand mixer works as well. I always use metal bowls to make meringue as these yield high-volume beaten egg whites; some people use only copper. Glass bowls are also acceptable, but do not use a plastic bowl, as it may contain grease or fat residue that will inhibit the foaming of the egg whites!

Beat a quarter of the marshmallow cream into the egg white mixture.
Repeat three more times with the remaining marshmallow cream, beating until smooth.
Spread the meringue over the pie.

Author’s Note: I spread it to about an inch away from the sides of the pie and make a pointy peak (or a few) in the middle. I think it’s prettier that way.

My note: I use the back of the spoon to make lots of pointy peaks over the meringue because that’s how my mom taught me to make it…

Bake for 6 – 7 minutes or until the meringue is lightly browned.

Tips

Precook the sweet potatoes a day or two in advance (I used the microwave to cook), mash then refrigerate. Warm the mashed sweet potatoes for a couple minutes in the microwave until slightly warm, just prior to using. Make sure to not get them steaming hot otherwise they may scramble the eggs in the sugar mixture if added too quickly. If the sweet potatoes are added directly from the refrigerator cold, extra baking time will be necessary which results in overly-browned crust.
Separate the eggs while they are still cold, then allow the whites to come to room temperature while the pie is cooling. Room temperature whites whip up fluffier than cold whites.

Sneak Peak of Paige’s new series debuting March…..

THE CRACKED SPINE is the first in the Scottish Bookshop Mystery series from author Paige Shelton and the story starts off with a bang from the very first paragraph! You know you’re in for a wonderful ride following the protagonist, Delaney Nichols, as she begins a new adventure leaving her old life behind in Wichita, Kansas and moving to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Delaney is laid off from her position at a small museum in Wichita and answers a help wanted ad placed by the owner, Edwin MacAlister, for a position at a book and rare manuscript shop in Edinburgh. Upon reaching Scotland, she meets and befriends the other two employees who work in the shop: Hamlet, the young man who has had a rough life and Rosie, the elderly woman who is quite the character and takes her adorable dog, Hector, everywhere with her.

Delaney from Kansas in America, as everyone in Scotland seems to call her, is barely getting settled in when Edwin’s sister is brutally murdered. Edwin had entrusted his sister, who battled drug addiction most of her life, with an extremely rare and valuable manuscript which is now missing. With Edwin grieving both the loss of his sister and the manuscript, Delaney decides to start asking questions and see if she can help her new boss. It’s not long before she is pulled in to wanting to find the murderer, especially when her young co-worker, Hamlet, becomes one of the suspects.

THE CRACKED SPINE was a charming read and I loved how the author used Scottish words and accents in the dialog. It added authenticity. Paige also portrayed the new people in Delaney’s life as warm, caring, openly friendly people which is exactly what I experienced firsthand during a wonderful visit to Scotland. There were also a lot of twists and turns in the plot so I was kept guessing about the real culprit. I certainly will be following The Scottish Bookshop Mystery series closely and wait in anticipation for the next installment!

I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. All views and opinions are my own.

Chocolate Drizzled Pumpkin Spiced Madeleines

Not long ago I happened upon a video on a food blog about Madeleines. I was intrigued by these scalloped-edged, cake-like cookies. They look so elegant yet substantial and I am embarrassed to say I have never even eaten a Madeleine much less tried to bake one. So I set about to remedy that despite my worries that these were complicated. Thanks to my friend, Cynthia, I didn’t have to spring for a Madeleine pan and then find a place to store it. She graciously allowed me to borrow the pan and even offered to let me borrow it again whenever I desired to bake more of these tender, cakey cookies…but after making these I might just need to ask “Santa” for my own pan!

Given the season I knew I wanted something to celebrate autumn and I quickly decided pumpkin with pumpkin pie spices would be the perfect cookie combination. The batter came together ultra quick – much like mixing up quick bread or muffins – and there was nothing complicated about it at all! The Madeleines cooked up in about the same time as a traditional cookie but instead of being flat and shapeless, they puff up with a beautiful scalloped pattern. Pretty enough to serve with a light dusting of powdered sugar or dressed up even more dipped in white chocolate and then drizzled with a darker chocolate these cookies will be certain to impress your guests and your family!

Chocolate Drizzled Pumpkin Spiced Madeleines

Ingredients

Cookies

3/4 cup (4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup pumpkin puree

Drizzle

1 cup (6 ounces) white chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vegetable shortening
1 tablespoon dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

Cookies

Spritz a 12 cookie Madeleine pan with non-stick baking spray that contains flour, or grease pan with vegetable shortening and dust with flour.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin spice together in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.

Beat the eggs, granulated sugar and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until thickened, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the pumpkin puree and beat until full incorporated.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and stir just until flour is moistened. Repeat until all flour has been added.

Add 1/3 of the butter to the batter and fold until incorporated. Repeat until all the melted butter has been added.

Divide the batter between the 12 Madeleine cookie wells. I used a 2-tablespoon spring-loaded cookie scoop for this.

Bake for 12 – 14 minutes or until cookie springs back slightly when gently pushed. These cookies are more cake-like than cookie so will feel similar to a cupcake.

When done, remove from oven and transfer from the pan to a wire rack. Allow to completely cool.

Drizzle

Place 1 cup white chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon vegetable shortening into a microwave safe glass dish.

Microwave on high heat for 30 seconds. Remove from microwave and stir vigorously. Reheat in additional 10 second intervals until the chips are melted, stirring well after each heat cycle.

Dip the cooled Madeleines into the melted white chocolate, scalloped side down, about 1/3 of the lower part of the cookie.

Place the dipped cookie on to a parchment lined baking sheet.

Once all the cookies have been dipped, place the baking sheet into the refrigerator to allow the chocolate to set, about 10 minutes.

While the Madeleines cool in the refrigerator, add 1 tablespoon dark chocolate chips to the leftover melted white chocolate.

Heat in the microwave for 15 seconds on high power. Remove and stir vigorously to melt the dark chocolate chips.

Place the melted chocolate into a disposable pastry bag or small ziplock bag. Snip a corner of the bag and drizzle over the white chocolate dipped Madeleines

Allow the chocolate to set, about 30 minutes at room temperature, before serving.

Holly Holliday’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Autumn is my favorite time of the year. Typically in Southern California (and unfortunately this has NOT been a typical year!) the air is cool and crisp while the sun still provides some warmth. I love the rich flavors autumn brings as well with warming spices such as cinnamon, which pairs perfectly with pumpkin and apples. The best of autumn harvests….

As my mind turns towards cooler weather and autumn foods, I was happy to discover that numerous authors also follow the trends of the seasons. I recently picked up TOWN IN A PUMPKIN BASH by B.B. Haywood, which is the fourth book in the Candy Holliday Murder Mystery series. I was immediately transported to the small town of Cape Willington, Maine which is preparing for the annual Halloween pumpkin bash festival. Candy Holliday works for the local newspaper but agrees to help her best friend, Maggie, run a pumpkin patch which in turn helps out an elderly farmer keep the pumpkins from going to waste.

Candy and Maggie also offer a Pumpkin Hollow Haunted Hayride for their customers with a few fun and spooky things set up along the ride. Just as they are getting ready to start their tour a man, who only introduces himself as T.J., joins the group. As they enter their “graveyard” to check out the headstones they find someone has left a real dead body lying there…and it becomes apparent that the person was murdered.

It doesn’t take long for Candy to find that the murder victim, Sebastian Quinn, was the same man who was supposed to meet with them that morning to rent a supposedly “haunted” house. To add to the haunt factor, they found his dead body in the same location where an unsolved and unnamed murder victim was found twenty years previous. Being a reporter, Candy is pulled into wanting to find out what happened to both Sebastian and the unknown murder victim. On top of that, T.J. turns out to be trying to lure her into finding an old diary missing from a prominent family. It’s up to Candy to find the threads that tie an old diary, an unsolved murder, and the dead body in her pumpkin patch together before another innocent person becomes the next target.

Even though I haven’t read any of the previous books in this series this was still a very enjoyable book. It was easy to get to know the characters and a bit of their back stories without getting confused. There are a lot of twists and turns in the plot that kept me guessing and turning pages long after I should have been asleep… The author also has a “mystery” running through the series of books which intrigues me and I will certainly be reading them to find out more about the story.

I enjoyed this book not only for it’s ability to keep me guessing but also for providing the ambiance to celebrate the season with the story along with several yummy pumpkin recipes! It was hard to decide which one to make and share but in the end Holly Holliday’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread won me over with the addition of chocolate chips to a traditional autumn quick bread. This bread is amazingly tender and full of creamy bittersweet chocolate chips and crunchy walnuts with a hint of seasonal warming spices. The perfect way to welcome fall!

Thank you to B.B. Haywood for allowing me to share Holly Holliday’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread recipe!

I have also provided a quick video tutorial on how to make this incredibly yummy bread so make sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to view.

As a bonus for my readers, I’m giving away a copy of TOWN IN A PUMPKIN BASH. Please comment below and one lucky winner will be randomly chosen. Contest ends Thursday, October 8th at 11:59 pm. Winner will be announced on this page and on Cinnamon & Sugar’s Facebook page, as well as notified by email (so check your spam folder!) Open to U.S. residents only.

Holly Holliday’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup pumpkin, fresh or canned
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup water or milk
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the flour, sugars, and baking soda.

In a second bowl, mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, water, and spices together.

Combine the pumpkin mixture with the dry flour mixture.

Add the chocolate chips and nuts.

Pour into a well-buttered loaf pan.

Bake for 50 – 60 minutes until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean.

Take out of pan and cool on a rack or board.

Holly Holliday made this bread for Candy’s birthday every year. Happy 40th birthday, Candy!

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Cinnamon Apple Streusel Muffins

I’m always on the lookout for new muffin recipes to try and experiment with. It’s like eating cupcakes for breakfast except that there’s a bit of healthiness in muffins, generally in the form of fruit. Plus they are easy to eat on the go, be it for breakfast or a snack. I have my “go-to” muffin recipes that I make frequently for my granddaughters, but since it’s apple season I decided to broaden our horizons. Cinnamon seems to have been made for apples, so I added some warming spices to both the batter and the streusel topping and loaded the batter up with moisture providing apples. So even if my family thinks they’re getting a decadent treat for breakfast or snack, I know that in reality we’re still on track for eating healthy.

Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page to view my latest video tutorial for my Cinnamon Apple Streusel Muffins.

Cinnamon Apple Streusel Muffins

Makes 20 – 22 muffins

Ingredients

Muffins

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (3.6 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (3.7 ounces) light brown sugar)
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 apples, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup cinnamon chips (optional)

2-1/3 cup (11.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Streusel topping

2/3 cup (4.8 ounces) light brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, cold

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Streusel topping

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour and cinnamon.

Using a fork or pastry cutter, cut in the cold butter until the mixture looks like wet sand. Set the bowl aside.

Muffins

Line 2 muffin tins with paper liners.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer then add the sugar and beat until incorporated.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until smooth.

Add the vanilla and mix.

Add chopped apples and cinnamon chips if using, and stir until incorporated.

Add the flour mixture to the apple batter and stir until combined. The batter is very thick.

Divide the batter evenly between the lined muffin tins and sprinkle the streusel mixture over the tops of the batter.

Gently poke the streusel mixture into the top of the batter 4 or 5 times.

Bake in a preheated oven 14 – 16 minutes. The tops should be golden brown and spring back when pressed. A wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the muffin should come out mostly clean. The amount of apples may cause the skewer to be slightly sticky so as long as there is not gooey batter attached, the muffins should be cooked through.

Remove the muffins from the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5 days.

You may also freeze extras: wrap each muffin in plastic wrap then place in a freezer-safe Ziplock plastic bag. To defrost, remove muffins as needed from freezer and keep wrapped in the plastic. Allow to come to room temperature while wrapped. Reheat for a few seconds in the microwave and enjoy!

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