It’s common knowledge that there are sweet people and savory people, chefs and pastry chefs. I’m trying to figure out where I fit into the spectrum.
Last year I embarked on The New School of Cooking’s Pro Cooking 1 course, and for 20 weeks I learned every detail that goes into making your short rib fall off the bone, lobster bisque burst with flavor and pesto pasta perfect. I was in heaven, until it came to our two weeks of baking. There was something about putting yeast to flour that was super intimidating to me. The exact measurements, the fear that my butter would not be cold enough to make a flaky crostata dough. Wait did I just throw in baking soda or baking powder? I was shaking all the way through my first loaf of cinnamon swirl bread. But when that baked into aromatic perfection, along with my dinner rolls (that I braided and finessed so they looked fancy), I was hooked. In my subsequent final, I aced my apple crostata (and ate it all to celebrate).
My hunger for knowledge wasn’t satiated even with the savories in my apron pocket. So in the beginning of this year, I decided to take on The New School’s Pro Baking series. This class is 20 weeks of scones, muffins, macarons, yeast breads, layer cakes, candy and croissants. I started this week by baking apple streusel muffins and currant cream scones. Was it easy to make the transition?
Not at first. When it was time to put together our mise en place I thought I was gathering ingredients for the muffins when I was really looking at a recipe for scones. How much flour did I just put in my bowl? Luckily, no damage was done and I quickly recovered and proceeded to grate my Granny Smith, assemble my cinnamon streusel and revive my currants for the scones.
Have a look below to see how everything turned out.
Let’s just say I was the most popular lady at the office on Thursday morning.
Of the two recipes the muffins were my favorite. There’s just something seductive about cinnamon and sugar melting together with butter into the perfect crumb of a muffin batter bursting with apple. Find the recipe for that below and happy baking!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 c. AP flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 2/3 c. sugar (white or brown)
- 1/3 c. oil
- 1 egg
- 1/2 c. buttermilk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 apple grated
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Lightly grease inside and top surface of 6 muffin tops, or insert 6 paper muffin cups.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Whisk together all wet ingredients. Mix together dry ingredients.
- Carefully fold together the wet and dry ingredients and gently fold in the apple.
- Spoon (use an ice cream scoop for less mess) batter into prepared pan and top with streusel topping mixture.
- Bake 25 minutes, or until done.
Notes
The streusal topping is what makes these muffins the best. Just combine the following ingredients together with your finger tips so that they resemble coarse crumbs. Then add to the muffin when the recipe calls for it:
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbs. (1 oz) butter
1/2 c. walnuts chopped, untoasted
Nutrition Facts
Apple Streusel Muffins
Serves: 6 large muffins
|
Amount Per Serving: 1 muffin
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 343.41 kcal | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 13.33 g | 20% | |
| Saturated Fat 1.28 g | 5% | |
| Trans Fat 0.05 g | ||
| Cholesterol 27.48 mg | 9% | |
| Sodium 291.5 mg | 12.1% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 51.56 g | 17% | |
| Dietary Fiber 1.57 g | 4% | |
| Sugars 26.51 g | ||
| Protein 4.88 g | ||
| Vitamin A 1.69 % | Vitamin C 1.78 % | |
| Calcium 9.1 % | Iron 3.54 % | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Sweet Greek Personal Chef and Culinary Services Los Angeles, CA
