Apple Cranberry Streusel Muffins
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast, Snack
Yield: One dozen muffins
Ingredients
  • For Streusel
  • 35 grams (¼ cup) sorghum flour
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 39 grams (¼ cup) coconut sugar or brown sugar
  • ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 56 grams (¾ cup) chopped walnuts or pecans (or combination)
  • 22 grams (1 ½ tablespoons) chilled coconut oil or unsalted butter
  • For Muffins
  • 64 grams (¼ cup) unsweetened applesauce, (I use homemade)
  • 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 90 ml (¼ cup + 2 tablespoons) apple cider or unsweetened apple juice
  • 90 ml (¼ cup + 2 tablespoons) milk or dairy-free alternative
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 138 grams (1 cup) sorghum flour
  • 58 grams (⅓ cup) brown rice flour
  • 68 grams (⅓ cup) sweet white rice flour
  • 42 grams (scant ⅓ cup) tapioca starch
  • 28 grams (¼ cup) ground flax seed
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
  • ¼ teaspoon fine kosher or sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 117 grams (¾ cup) maple sugar (or substitute coconut or brown sugar)
  • 110 grams (½ cup) chilled coconut oil or butter)
  • 1 medium crisp apple (6 oz), peeled, cored and diced
  • 50 grams (½ cup) fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped*
Procedure
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a standard nonstick 12-muffin tin with paper muffin liners or grease with coconut oil or butter. If you’re not using liners and your pan isn’t nonstick, grease AND flour the wells.
  2. Make the streusel: Combine all streusel ingredients in a small bowl, rubbing the mixture between your fingers to incorporate. Set aside.
  3. Make the batter: Combine applesauce, eggs, apple cider, milk and vanilla in a medium bowl or 2-cup liquid measuring cup and set aside. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together all dry ingredients (sorghum flour through maple sugar).
  4. Break the coconut oil or butter into the bowl in small bits, and use your fingers to rub the fat into the flour much the same way you would for a pastry crust. You want to work it in until all the fat is coated with flour and you don’t see any clumps larger than a pea.
  5. Start the mixer on low speed and slowly pour in the liquid ingredients, increasing the mixer speed to medium-high once all the liquid is added. The batter will be very thick! Once everything is incorporated and the batter looks uniform, turn off the mixer and use a spoon or rubber spatula to fold in the apples and cranberries.
  6. Bake the muffins: Divide the batter evenly among the wells of the muffin tin - I’ve found that the easiest way to do this is with a 2-ounce (¼ cup) cookie scoop. For each muffin you’ll want to scoop up a generous amount of batter that mounds out of the scoop. I’d estimate that each muffin uses 5-6 tablespoons of batter. Once all the wells are filled, tap the pan firmly on the counter several times to release any trapped air bubbles and make sure the batter really sinks in around the fruit. Scatter streusel evenly and generously over batter, pressing gently to adhere.
  7. Bake for 25-28 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs clinging to it. Transfer pan to a cooling rack and cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely. The muffins should pop right out of the pan, but you can always use a small offset spatula or flat knife to wedge them out. The muffins will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days. If you're not going to use them up that quickly, store them in the freezer, not the refrigerator. Frozen muffins will thaw on their own if left out long enough at room temperature, or you can speed it up by heating the oven or microwave (use the defrost setting in the microwave, as rapid heating on high power will make the muffins rubbery). Enjoy!
Notes
*Rinse the cranberries and discard any bad ones before measuring them out for the recipe. Cranberries can be a challenge to chop with a knife - they have a tendency to slip and roll around on the cutting board. If you have one of those electric mini-choppers and would rather use that than a knife, go right ahead. Just don’t over-process them, you want substantial pieces of cranberry in the muffins.
Recipe by Good Health Gourmet at https://goodhealthgourmet.com/apple-cranberry-streusel-muffins/