Apple Streusel Muffin

I made these muffins almost a month ago and just thinking about them again is making me sooooo hungry. I would really love to have one (or two) of these right now and if I had any applesauce in the house I would be downstairs whipping up a batch instead of writing this post.  This actually happens to me often when I have stock piled recipes to blog about but my life has been too crazy to get around to writing for awhile. So when I do finally have a chance to sit down and write I end up really craving that food again. K and I have this week between the holidays off from work, so I think I will make some of these tomorrow morning to have for breakfast or a snack while we are home.

This December has felt especially busy with the shorter than normal time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We had lots of holiday get-togethers to attend and even had a wonderful baby shower with some of my relatives! Plus I had tons of holiday baking to do because I love giving homemade gifts this time of year.  I made at least 6 batches of salted vanilla caramels, 10 pounds of million dollar fudge, some toffee peanut butter holiday bark and that was just for gift giving. There was also lots of delicious cookie making and other dessert baking for the wonderful holiday parties we attended.  I wish that I had more time to photograph all of the recipes that I made, but I was able to capture a few of the goodies and will be sharing them soon.

So now that the holidays have gone by for another year and K and I have this nice break from work, we are going to get started preparing the nursery for our baby boy. The walls are painted and ready for the mural that my mom and I are going to paint but there is trim and ceiling painting to do, plus we are going to put down some carpeting to make the room feel more cozy.  We have already started accumulating baby gear so there is lots of organizing to figure out as well.  Plus we got some beautiful artwork from family members for the baby's room and I am so anxious to get those hung up on the walls.  We are definitely in "nesting" mode so we are extremely excited to get the nursery started!

Sorry, I got a little side tracked there...back to the delicious-ness of these muffins. The applesauce and grated apple in the batter makes them very moist and fluffy and they have a soft, smooth cake like texture that is a amazing with the crunchy streusel topping and sweet glaze drizzle.  The muffins themselves are not overly sweet which compliments the sugary toppings nicely.    The apple flavor shines through with just a hint of cinnamon and vanilla.  As I mentioned above, they really make a wonderful breakfast or snack and I hope you give them a try!

Apple Streusel Muffins

Muffins

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room temperature butter
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce (try my homemade version)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk
2 apples peeled, cored, and grated

Streusel 

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tsp water or milk

Preheat the oven to 375°F.  To make the muffin batter, cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl or use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.  Beat the eggs in one at a time and then add the applesauce, cinnamon, and vanilla and mix until well combined.  Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt mixing until everything is just incorporated and then stir in the milk.  You might need up to 1/2 cup of milk depending on humidity and how dry your flour is.  The batter should be on the thin side but not too runny.  Fold in the grated apples.  Spoon the batter into a greased or paper lined muffin tin, filling each muffin about 3/4 full. You should get 12 muffins. 

To make the streusel, combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and cut with a pastry cutter or use your hands to form small crumbs.  Top each muffin with a spoonful of the streusel and bake for about 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.  Remove the muffins from the tin and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

Stir together the ingredients for the glaze, adding just enough liquid to have a thin consistency.  Drizzle the glaze over the cooled muffins using a spoon or plastic baggie with a little hole cut in one corner. The muffins can be stored for 3-4 days in a air tight container at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Inspired by Laura in the Kitchen