11/1/08

apple-cheddar muffins w/ apple cider glaze

Sweet Charlotte these were so moist, so delicate and so darn tasty.
A little bit of apple, a little bit of buttermilk and some sharp cheddar all make for a truly tasty muffin.
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These apple muffins came about from a recent trip to a local farmers market where I got my first (of the season) homemade batch of apple cider.
I'm a huge apple cider lover. I love that cold, crisp taste of it. This batch was organic too. There are some things that do taste better organic and some other things I can't even tell the difference. But I did notice a more "apple-ly" flavor in the organic cider.
So many things you can bake with fresh apple cider.
Apple & cheddar scones, cookies, pies, endless....
Apple muffins with a hint of cheese inside a nice warm muffin...this sounds good.
I hope there are a few of you die hard New Englanders out there that love homemade apple pies with some sharp cheddar? I know the Canadians love this too as I have a lot of relatives in Canada who wouldn't have it any other way.
Adding the cheese to the muffins gave it a bit of flavor, it was worth it. The pecans, well, you all know I can never get enough pecans; you could also use walnuts in here. But the real winner, the real deal closer for these apple muffins was the apple cider glaze frosting. Really good. The apple cider glaze came from that organic apple cider I purchased mixed with some cream cheese and confectioners sugar. The cream cheese and the apple cider mesh so perfectly together; reminds me of a good pairing of wine & cheese. It has a tart bite to it with a creamy cheese undertone all wrapped up in sugar.
In my opinion, use McCoun apples if you can, they are the best for baking.
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apple-cheddar muffins w/ apple cider glaze
from vanillasugarblog.com
print recipe

3/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ts baking soda
1 ts baking powder
1/2 ts nutmeg
½ ts allspice
½ ts cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
4 TB buttermilk
½ cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 medium McCoun apples: peeled, cored and cut into 3/4 -inch chunks

Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter 12 regular-size muffin cups. Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and toast for about 8 minutes, or until fragrant. Transfer to a plate and let cool.
In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and salt.
In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy. Beat in the egg and buttermilk. Stir in the dry ingredients until fully incorporated. Recipe by dawn finicane of vanillakitchen.blogspot.com Fold in the apples, pecans, and cheddar cheese.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for about 30 - 40 minutes (depending on oven temp and muffin pans) or until the apples are tender and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. (while these are baking I like to get my cider glaze done and into the fridge to chill for a while).
Let muffins cool before glazing.

apple cider glaze

1/2 package cream cheese (4 ounces), softened
1 package of confectioners' sugar
½ ts cinnamon
3 TB apple cider (not apple juice)

I melted the cider and cream cheese over very low heat, very slowly while constantly stirring. There will be lumps. When it was cooled a bit I added in the cinnamon. In a separate bowl put the confectioner’s sugar in there and slowly add the melted cider mix to the confectioners sugar. Don’t add all the liquid in, only add in a bit at a time until you reach the glaze thickness you desire. (I only used about ¾ of the liquid mixture, use less for a frosting). Keep mixing till fully incorporated and there are no lumps.
Make sure to chill this in the fridge for a while before using.

Cook Notes: I only like to use McCoun apples for baking. I know they are in season for a couple months (oct & nov). I have no idea what else to use instead of these. Whatever apple is sweet, juicy, crispy with a little bit of tart to it would be good. I do not recommend Granny Smith apples for this recipe.
If you want to use muffin liners you can. These are very moist muffins, almost delicate.

41 comments:

  1. Such an intriguing muffin variety, and adorable cat :0)

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  2. I just want to lick that frosting!

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  3. That frosting looks amazing! I love how it is just dripping off the edge. YUM!

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  4. Drooling here, looking at that frosting!! Beautiful shots!!

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  5. Yet another lovely baked good from your kitchen. You are such a talented baker! The frosting looks AMAZING.

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  6. ive never ever had apple with cheddar cheese but i keep hearing how popular it is! i have no clue what it would taste like. i love the frosting here :)

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  7. Wow, looks too good. I'd love to sample this.

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  8. those look great! i love the cheddar! and the frosting looks delicious!

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  9. Macoun are my favorite apples for eating and for baking, too, and they are so abundant at the orchards around here. Love these muffins -- they have all the flavors of New England apple pie.

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  10. Talk about food porn! I have to do something with apple and cheddar and that frosting is to die for! I have something for you on my site today :)

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  11. Oh Tiki is soooooooooo cute! And yes, that is food porn, with a big frosting "pornyness"!

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  12. Your photos make me want to lick the screen. The muffin combo sounds interesting and delicious!

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  13. APPLE CIDER FROSTING!?!?!
    I wasn't so sure about that but looking at the pictures is enough to make me drool! GREAT pictures and the frosting dripping off is just genius.

    Thanks for the recipe!

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  14. oh my, look at the icing dripping over. I have yet to have anything with the apple/cheese combo...can you believe??? These look delicious and I need to get moving on trying that mix of flavors. Beautiful photography, Dawn.

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  15. I love the frosting drip! Great photography and delicious muffins.

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  16. Oh you are killing me with these muffins. Food porn for sure. Love that frosting!

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  17. Love the addition of the cheese! Yes I do like apple pie with sharp cheddar, delicious. And cider frosting to boot, can't go wrong there. I love how you kick things up a bit,very cool!

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  18. Good buddddeee Dawn, you totally know how I feel about cider. You mean there are people out there that don't like it? Does their tongue work? :)

    Your pics are amazing. I dunno what kind of photography class you took, but you turned instant pro :)

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  19. Hey Dawn!

    Thanks for your advice. I think I will definitely be doing antique white for those tables and ohmigod, these muffins look like they are better than sex! HA! When I get moved I am going to have to start trying out your recipes!

    Your kitty is cute too. :) From one fellow cat lover to another.

    Hope you had a good Monday!

    Michelle

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  20. To answer your question: yes, that is food porn indeed!
    My favorite thing to do with apples is pie-- but after seeing this, it might very well change! :)

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  21. These sound really good! I like the apple and cheddar combo.

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  22. Wow, that frosting has me, I'm starving right now! Looks fantastic! Love your cat too!

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  23. Oh geez, this is good stuff...that frosting is the bomb, all drippy! Wow!

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  24. i absolutely cannot accept the combination of cheddar and apples, but that frosting makes it mighty difficult to stand my ground. mighty, mighty difficult. :)

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  25. That's some serious food porn there. They look amazing! I think I could just sit and eat the frosting by the spoonful.

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  26. It all looks/sounds so great! I'm loving the frosting too - love it!

    -DTW
    www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

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  27. Those look wonderful and that frosting... wow! Cute kitty too! :)

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  28. Fabulous photos...I wanted to grab that drip of frosting with my finger!

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  29. they are lovely... the frosting looks so yum... :)

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  30. Okay now...that FIRST PICTURE? What are you trying to do here, TORTURE us to no living end? Just wow. Bordering on cruelty. Love it. :)

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  31. I want a big spoonful of that frosting! These sound delicious!

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  32. Oh. My. Gosh. I could continue, but I think that pretty much sums it up. I want those in my belly, now! :)

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  33. These look delish! I will try these for sure.

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  34. This is food porn at it's best! Love the pictures!! We love apple cider here too, we buy it a gallon at a time! I've never had apples and cheese together in a dessert but this looks so good It makes me feel Like I'm missing something very good!

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  35. Dawn,

    I felt my mouth opening to catch the icing ha! ha! Delectable!

    I felt a tear in my eye when I saw your kitty. My kitty "Smokes" passed on Monday! Sobbing has pretty much been my pastime these last few days, until I decided to bury myself in cooking ! It was not any better, but at least it helped a bit. Please forgive me for this sad bit in the comment, your muffins cheered me up!

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  36. I left an award for you on my blog!

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  37. those look great! What a great combination of flavors!

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  38. You are a genius! Macouns are one of my favorite apples, hands down. And the glaze? OMG. Yum!

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  39. Cute cat!!!

    I thank the demand of people of who want everything organic for the drastic increase in price. Same freaking reason why pork belly has jumped in price over the last year.

    Time to get my baking hat on errr....find my baking hat.

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