Muffin Mondays | Hazelnut Apple Muffins

I’m not going to lie to you; I was kind of surprised well pleasantly surprised by how delicious these muffins were. When I was making them I wasn’t sure just how good they were going to be since I have never baked with hazelnut meal before.  They are on the healthier side, which made me a little skeptical of just how tasty they would be. I also considered using only hazelnut meal and making these gluten free muffins, but I do love flour so I’m working in baby steps. I used half hazelnut meal and half flour. The resulting muffins were spongy, juicy and tender. Yes, juicy there is no other way to describe it you’ll have to just bake them to understand. The Honey Crisp apples lent a delicate sweetness that helped balance all of the hefty nuttiness from hazelnut meal and chopped hazelnuts in the muffins. These are healthy muffins that are sweet and filling.

Happy Muffin Monday!

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street. A culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week. Drop in a quick line to join her on her journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.

 

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil cooking spray

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup whole-wheat flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup hazelnut flour (bobsredmill.com)

1 teaspoon baking soda

Coarse salt

2/3 cup nonfat milk

2/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt

2 large eggs

1/4 orange, zested and juiced

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups peeled, cored, and chopped apples (from 1 1/2 Honey Crisp apples)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 16 cups of two 12-cup muffin tins with baking cups.

Whisk together sugar, flours, baking soda and ¼ tsp salt in a large bowl. Whisk together milk, yogurt, eggs, orange zest, juice and vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Fold milk mixture into flour mixture, and then gently fold in apples until combined.

Spoon batter into baking cups until each is three-quarters full. Sprinkle with hazelnuts. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of each comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer pans to wire racks, and let cool for 10 minutes. Turn out muffins onto racks, and let cool completely.