That's a common courtesy among country neighbors.
So when mine dropped off enough of their own homegrown apples to fill a tub, I wondered how to return their kindness.
I love to bake. When it comes to apples, my sons can't resist my muffins.I found the recipe nearly two decades ago while living and working on Minnesota's Canadian Border. As a single woman, I had time to page through the giant cookbook that I'd acquired a few summers earlier while doing door-to-door sales near the sparkling waters of Rhode Island's Mount Hope Bay.
For me, the recipe rouses memories of driving over the frozen waters of Rainy Lake, cross-country skiing in Voyageurs National Park, building snow benches, peeling oranges, sipping hot chocolate and munching on these cinnamon-and-sugary delights.
For our older boys, these muffins invoke images from early Sunday mornings during their preschool years. To entice our sons to eat before the church service, their dad convinced them one muffin from each batch contained a star. Whoever found the star would get a prize.
"Where's the star?" Isaac asked today as he nabbed one of the freshly rolled dozen. I frowned, "Hey! Those are for the neighbors."
"I want one," Aaron said as I shook my head and packaged up the rest. Isaac insisted, "But what's the prize?"
Aaron piped up, "The muffin!"
I couldn't help but agree. Now you can try too and see.
Rolled Apple Muffins
1-1/2 cups flour2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup milk
1 cup shredded apple
TOPPING
1/2 cup melted margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar. Cut in shortening. In a separate bowl, beat egg, milk and shredded apple together and add at once to dry ingredients. Mix well. Divide batter evenly between 12 greased muffin tins. Bake 25-30 minutes. Individually, roll hot muffins in melted margarine; Remove and roll muffin in sugar/cinnamon mixture. Serve warm... or cool - on a ski trail.
I'm off to the neighbors returning their COUNTRY KINDNESS... And will back home soon to make more.
4 comments:
Oooooooooooohhhhhh, my mouth is watering! I might have to try this one!! Thanks for giving us such yummy recipes, Wendy! (Blessings on your day...)
I don't know which I've been enjoying more in your posts lately---all of the beautiful pictures or the delicious recipes I'm anxious to try. We have a plethora of apples right now, too, so I'll look forward to trying to make your apple muffins. I can't get shortening here; do you have a recommendation for a substitute?
Hello ladies!
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I AM enjoying photographing almost as much as baking and sharing the recipes.
Michele, you asked for a shortening substitute. You could try margarine or butter. I'm not sure if the local grocers in your area carry "matfett." Long ago when I lived in Norway, I used "matfett" for shortening in my chocolate chip cookie recipe. The result made for great coffee/tea dunking. Not sure that would be as palatable with muffins.
Another alternative to the 1/2-cup shortening might be 1/2-cup of vegetable oil. For heart-conscious bakers, I've also known dietitians to recommend substituting applesauce in part or whole.
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