apple crumb muffins



Do your favorite recipes come from a book on your shelf, or do they tend to be those that were handed down
written for yo were u on a notecard and passed down?  While I have fond memories with the friend who originally gave me this recipe, I never met the originator of it and have made some adjustments to make them my own.  You see, the recipe hails from Canada, land of the Butter Tart, which means they’re not my healthy breakfast muffin, they’re my “company is coming over these will wow them” muffin.  They’re also my last minute playdate muffins and muffins I like to make a whole bunch of to stock in my freezer. A well-stocked freezer is a priority for me so that our family can have good homemade meals even on nights when we’re going between school and sports, and everything else in between!  Having items in my freezer for breakfast is an added bonus.



While apple pie sounds good in theory, once you’ve come home from a morning of apple picking this will be a great recipe to use.  No homemade pie crust required. If your family is anything like mine, I'm sure you picked far more than you planned on and luckily for us all, apples aren’t like peaches. You have a much longer window of when you’ll need to use them and they won’t all ripen on you at once!  

I prefer to use Granny Smith when baking, but I don’t want you to be held back from making these if that’s not what you have on hand.  Granny Smith are nice and tart and hold up well to being baked so when you bite into the muffins you’ll have nice bites of apple throughout that haven’t softened too much.




My kids love these and I love making them in a large muffin tin, something you can find at a specialty store, that’ll make you feel like you’re at a cafe, all while saving a few bucks.  Pat yourself on the shoulder, these will make you proud! The crumb topping is what really sends them over the top and makes me wonder why I’d ever make muffins without a crumb topping again.  I hope you enjoy them as much as our family does!

Apple Crumb Muffins
Ingredients You’ll Need:
  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
  • 1/2  cup chopped pecans
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup whole milk buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 cup diced  peeled apples from about 2 Granny Smith apples
For the Crumb Topping
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 2 T. melted butter
Preheat your oven to 375.  Take out a dozen muffin tin or larger muffin tin and coat with baking spray or butter.  If you’re using multiple racks, I like to cook on convection.  

Mix the dry ingredients, flour through salt and in a separate bowl mix the egg through vanilla.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients then stir in the apples. Stir until just combined and then using a little muffin scoop or tablespoon, divide into greased muffin tins.  It’s time to make the crumb topping. Mix the brown sugar through butter and spoon onto muffins evenly.


Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until center comes out clean when tested with a toothpick.  If you’re making larger muffins they will bake closer to 25 minutes.

Simple Tortellini Soup with Sausage + Spinach

 



With the weather cooling down, soup is back in the rotation. I'm dreaming up in my head a butternut squash and apple soup to have in the upcoming weeks, but for now it was a simple sausage and tortellini soup.

This is one of those dinners where you barely feel like you're cooking. You can load up everything into one pot and figure you've got protein, carbs, and veggies. Dinner, or lunch, done.

I love soups for lunch and made this one mid day. It's also a great option when you want to get dinner on the table quickly. If you have room in your freezer, stocking up on tortellini is a good idea! It's inexpensive, there are a ton of varieties, and if you're not wanting a pasta and red sauce night, throw it into soup!

Obviously this soup won't freeze well with the tortellini and I would say it's best eaten in the first two days. You could make it without the pasta and then freeze it, or sub another grain or pasta like orzo or barley.

So, let's get to it. Here's what you'll need!

Ingredients
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 5 sweet Italian sausages, casings removed
  • 20 oz. package frozen tortellini
  • 1 T Italian seasoning
  • 1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
  • 14 cups or 3.5 quarts of chicken broth
  • 4 cups fresh spinach
  1. Saute the onion and pepper until soft, about 5-7 minutes
  2. Remove the casing from the sausages and then in small pieces break up the sausage and saute so that you'll have good sized bites.
  3. Once the sausage is cooked add in your seasoning, diced tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes or until heated through.
  4. At this point toss in the tortellini and cook according to package directions.
  5. Just before you're ready to eat throw in your spinach and allow it to wilt while you stir things around.
Serve in bowls with parmesan cheese on top if you'd like, or simply on it's own. This was loved by all and something that will definitely be making another appearance at our table in the coming weeks!