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