Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Apple Cardamom Crumble Muffins

Brunch Dishes, Races

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

Apple Spiral Chai Coffee Cake

I was super excited when my friend Shannon organized an apple picking field trip the other weekend to Smolak Farms! Not only would I get to check out a local orchard for the first time, I also would get to meet several of my favorite fellow Boston food bloggers,...

Mini Brownie Cheesecakes with Caramel Peanuts

A few weekends ago, I completed the Buzzard’s Bay Sprint Triathlon! This tri consisted of a 1/3 mile swim, 14.7 mile bike ride, and 3.1 mile run. My official time was 1:34:08, so my splits were almost exactly the same as the ones from the tri I did last year, but...

Creamy Lemon Summer Squash Pasta

So it’s official – I’m a triathlete! I finished my first sprint triathlon at the Cranberry Trifest yesterday. The race was a 0.5 mile pond swim, followed by a 11.5 mile bike ride, and 3.1 mile run. My official time was 1:28:00, which put me in the top fourth of my age...

Egg and Potato Squares with Gruyere, Asparagus, and Mushrooms

Happy New Year! Did anyone else make any foodie resolutions? My goal last year was to get my blog up and running, and I remember spending the first few weekends in January designing the header and side bars for my little site. This year I just want to continue...

Apricot Pecan Spiral Coffee Cake

My kitchen is currently overflowing with Pillsbury brownie mixes and refrigerated cookie dough. Don’t worry, I’m not just looking for a sugar high  - I’ve just started working on recipes for the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off! Recipes are due April 20 and I encourage all my...

Banana Boat Pancakes

I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day celebration! My parents have made it a tradition to visit us in Boston over the holiday and this year the highlights were visiting Castle Island, attending a cookbook signing with my mom (more on this in a future post!), and...

Breakfast Tostadas

Cinco de Mayo is almost here! I’m planning on making a recipe from my new Rick Bayless cookbook on Wednesday, but couldn’t resist starting the celebration early by whipping up these tasty breakfast tostadas this weekend. I will always have a fond spot in my heart for...

Blueberry Cottage Cheese Squares

It's finally time for our Lithuania trip recap! We traveled throughout the country and I'm going to spread the highlights of our adventure over the next three posts. Lithuania is the same size as West Virginia and sits above Poland and Belarus and across the Baltic...