Crisp air, gorgeous boots, warm layers, acorn and butternut squash, pumpkin spice lattes, and pumpkin beer all mean one thing – autumn is here! Fall has always been my favorite season for the aforementioned reasons and the fact that my birthday is in September and I always loved heading back to school when I was younger. This year I was especially ready for the season change because it’s so much easier jogging outside in cool weather! In fact, I ran the Somerville Homeless Coalition 5K with my friends Allison and Libby from lab this morning (it was their very first 5K and they rocked it – yay!) and I’m sure the cooler temperature contributed to my PR of 26:00, which is 8:23 per mile! We had such a great time and are hoping to make this an annual lab tradition and convince more people to run next year.
Apple picking is also a fun fall New England tradition and although we haven’t gone quite yet, I recently whipped up these yummy muffins to celebrate the season change. I mixed shredded apples in a yummy sour cream batter with a healthy dose of cinnamon, cardamom, and toasted pecans, and then sprinkled a lovely almond crumble on top. I can’t wait to go apple picking and make these again!
Apple Cardamom Crumble Muffins
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
Crumble Topping:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Muffins:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 apples, peeled, cored, and shredded (about 2 cups)
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. Line 20 cups of two muffin pans with liners.
To make the crumble topping, mix the melted butter, brown sugar, almond meal, and flour in a small bowl.
To make the muffins, mix the flour, cinnamon, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In another large bowl, mix the butter and sugar until creamed; mix in the sour cream, eggs, vanilla extract, and shredded apples. Slowly mix in the flour mixture and pecans.
Scoop muffin batter evenly into the 20 prepared muffin cups. Top muffins evenly with the crumble topping. Bake at 350˚F for 20 to 25 minutes or a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Makes 20 muffins.
Nutrition: 224 calories, 14.5g fat, 1.4g fiber, 3.0g protein per muffin
Cost: $0.56 per muffin
Such a clever blog!!!
I’ve always loved apple picking..I hope I can find some time to make it this year!!! Even if I don’t, I can always buy some to make these scrumptious-looking muffins! Cardamom has always been one of my fav spices.
This recipe makes me excited to go apple picking!
Congrats on the 5K! These are a great way to congratulate yourself
Congrats on a new PR
You’re awesome!! And love cardamom, what a perfect addition to fall apples 
Dude you SERIOUSLY ROCKED that 5K! I’m so inspired to really get my butt back and in gear and start running again. I want to get back up to that pace!
These muffins look like the perfect way to ring in the fall. I love putting cardamom in baked goods…it’s my latest flavor obsession.
Great job on the 5k! Fall 5k’s are the best mostly due to the fabulous weather
And these muffins look fabulous as well!
Great recipe, Kerstin! The cardamom must be a wonderful addition. I love fall too. Yay September birthdays! Awesome job on the 5k!
I love the addition of cardamom in your scrumptious muffins, so yummy!
I love apples year round, but they are even better in the fall. Great muffin recipe!
It was a PR kind of weekend
Congrats to you as well! And what a great bfast treat. Crumble on top of muffins always makes them amazing and apples are just SO fresh right now. Delicious
Yay, congrats on a running PR!! Your apple muffins sound delicious too. I’m going apple picking with friends in 2 weeks so I’m definitely stocking up on apple recipes. lol
These look so great! What an awesome Fall recipe!
Mmm… cardamom. What an interesting combo. I think I experienced a pumpkin overload these past couple weeks and am excited to add apple into my repertoire!
comgrats on the 5K PR. That is amazing! The muffins look great I can almost smell them through the screen. mmm!
The muffins look so great – love the crumble topping.
I love cardamom and never thought to combine it with apples. I’m going to give that a try!
~ingrid
I’ve never had cardamom, but these look SOO good. I love apple crumble anything!
I am loving cardamom lately! And apples…swoon! I relish every BITE of a honeycrisp right now! And yes, please make it apple picking! I plan to go again this weekend
Wow Kerstin – these have amazing written all over them in every bite. Wish I had a couple to nosh on right now.
Wow, these look so yummy! I made something similar lately. I love apple recipes!
Just perfect for this time of year. I need apple recipes since in a few more weeks we will be going apple picking and I will have a ton in my kitchen!!!!
Congrats on your PR! That’s amazing!
These muffins look amazing, too. Cardamom is underappreciated.
Yay for a PR. I have to say, I am really becoming a fan of cardamom these days. I used to only ever use it as more of a spice blend, but now I’m realizing that I love it as a standalone flavor.
These look so delicious and remind me of Fall’s back home in Massachusetts. Your blog is great and makes me hungry
xo
Sarah
brightlights-mycity.blogspot.com
Apple and cardamom is a lovely combo and I’m convinced a crumble topping makes everything better.
Great going on your time!
I am also excited about all the fall baking and cooking. And I love seeing things with cardamom in them!
Cardamom sounds great with apples! And, yes, I’m excited for pumpkin ale and pumpkin lattes. Looking forward to enjoying lots of both!
Thanks to all! I’m loving that you’re all such big cardamom fans too
Joanne – Awwww thanks, that means a lot coming from a marathon-running goddess like yourself!
These look incredibly delicious. We’ve been on an apple kick recently and I’m sure we’d love these too.
I’ve never had cardamom in baked goods before. I need to try it and see what I’m missing!
And to think, I was just looking for something to inspire all my CSA apples!
Congrats on running the 5K! You must treat yourself too these georgous muffins!
cardamom has such an interesting flavor–it’d be a tasty change from my staple cinnamon.
So delicious! Perfect for the fall, and I love the extra spice!
Hi! I found you via Sporadic Cook – this looks like a must try – LOVE cardamom!
So delicious looking!! I LOVE fall too (and partly because my bday is in fall as well – happy belated bday to you!!! I think I forgot to say that before!) These muffins sound sooooo good. Love that you added cardamom – I can see how that would pair so well with apples!
I wonder if I could convert this into a cake of some sort. I had my readers vote on the next ingredients I would use in my cakes, and one of the top few was cardamom but I’ve been completely uninspired till now. Thanks for sharing!
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