Stayman Winesap Apple Crumble (Jumbo) Muffins
Ingredients
for the batter:
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 ½ cups grated peel-on Stayman Winesap apples or other apple you like to bake with
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon Vietnamese cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon mace
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch salt
Crumble topping:
- 2/3 cup flour
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon mace
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425. Line 6 wells in a jumbo muffin tin. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer and mix together the oil, apple, eggs, buttermilk and extract. Mix until a fairly smooth batter forms.
- In a second bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add them to the apple mixture in a steam as the mixer runs. A slightly clumpy dough will form.
- Fill each well about 3/4 of the way.
- Using a fork, mix together the crumble topping in a small bowl until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle over the muffins in an even layer.
- Bake for 5 minutes then reduce heat to 375 and bake an additional 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean or with one or two coarse crumbs.
- Remove to wire rack and cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
2024 has really been a rough year. My father-in-law went into the hospital in March in NYC where my in-laws live. My dad went into the hospital in April. My father-in-law ended up going into hospice and then dying in May. My dad was in the hospital until June. Since my mom died in 2020, I’ve basically ran his life, and my husband and I have split helping him with his health. He lived alone with his dog and was very independent so it was a big switch to have him in the hospital.
Luckily I found a great pet sitter for his dog during his long stay in the hospital because we have three dogs of our own and a small house. Hospitals require more hands-on and in-person visits from caregivers than you’d expect so we were constantly at the hospital and rehab centers for those months when my father was there.
Meanwhile, my husband was also running to NYC to see his parents and since they refused to take any Covid precautions, couldn’t stay with them which was a big expense and a source of stress. My dad came home Memorial weekend with some in-home physical therapy to get him up and moving again after being in the hospital for so long.
He was able to live alone, his dog joined him after a week and then suddenly when we were pulling into the beach in June for a day trip, I got a call from the police that his friend who mowed his lawn found him dead in his house. While he wasn’t in great physical health, the doctors seemed to think he could live alone, go on walks, and soon drive his car so it was a big surprise. We had only gone to the beach because he was doing so well living alone that week and my husband had just taken him to multiple doctor visits the day before at the hospital.
Luckily the dog sitter was eager to adopt his dog so she is well taken care of. Now I’m handling his estate and as I was already the owner of his house, working on making that a studio/weekend spot for us as it is paid for and on the spot on the river where we spent our summers in an uninsulated cabin with an outhouse my grandfather bought in the 1950s. I am truly exhausted.
All that to say, we haven’t been cooking since around April. Some very basic meals here and there but we have been surviving on takeout and meals from a place near us that sells prepped meals ready to heat. I know some posts have gone up but outside of the coconut and lime muffins for the 20th anniversary of the blog in May, they were mostly scheduled recipes I made years ago and let languish in drafts but had decided to publish alongside the recipes I thought I’d be making this year.
I have not baked until yesterday when I made these muffins while my husband recovers from surgery(!).
Stayman-Winesap apples are my favorite and I ordered a half bushel from a service that seems to mostly service restaurants but will do residential orders if they are big enough. In more recent years they have become harder to find. I found just Winesap at a farm store but they aren’t as good. The farm stand I used to get them at has changed owners and is a bit far away and I didn’t have the energy to drive out there and be disappointed.
We have been eating an apple a day and these muffins were a good way to mix things up. They are so moist and tender and even though they are large, they don’t bake for very long. Mine took exactly 25 minutes.
I am not sure what we are doing for Thanksgiving yet! My brother is coming down for faux Christmas in early December and requested our classic family stuffing balls so I will make a turkey and other Thanksgiving-y holiday dishes then so I don’t want to make all of that a week earlier. Nornally we spent Thanksgiving with my parents and now they are both gone. My mother-in-law is flying to California and again we can’t stay with her or eat indoors so that’s not an option anyway. I did order some seasonal cupcakes from a bakery that’s something.
But at least we had muffins and I know I didn’t forget how to bake.
Sending hugs to you and your husband. I am sorry for all your losses. But it’s great you’ve been able to find ways to give yourself time and self-care, and I hope you continue to give yourself the space both to mourn and to rediscover what gives you joy. We’ll be here when you’re back.
Thank you! I appreciate this.